Lok Sabha Question No. 2788 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-07
Subject: Forest Cover
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 2788

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.08.2023

## Forest Cover

## 2788.  SHRI RAM MOHAN NAIDU KINJARAPU:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE be  pleased  to state:

- (a) the trend in forest cover in the State of Andhra Pradesh since 2015, year-wise;
- (b) whether the State Government of Andhra Pradesh has submitted any proposals or plans for improving the green cover in the State;
- (c) if so, the details of the proposed  initiatives and  the progress made  for  their implementation; and
- (d) the number of forests that have been cleared in Andhra Pradesh since 2019?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun carries out the assessment of forest cover biennially, since  1987  and  the  findings  are  published  in  India  State  of  Forest  Report  (ISFR).  The  forest cover  in  the  State  of  Andhra  Pradesh  has  increased  by  3,778  square  kilometer  between  ISFR 2015 to ISFR 2021.

The  details  of  forest  cover  in  the  State  of  Andhra  Pradesh  since  2015  as  per  ISFR  reports  is given below:-

|   S. No. |   ISFR | Total Forest Cover (square kilometer)   |
|----------|--------|-----------------------------------------|
|        1 |   2015 | 26,006                                  |
|        2 |   2017 | 28,147                                  |
|        3 |   2019 | 29,137                                  |
|        4 |   2021 | 29,784                                  |

- (b) & (c) The Ministry provides financial assistance to States/UTs under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme    Green India Mission (GIM) to support and supplement the efforts of States and Union Territories, since 2015-16. The State Government submits the Annual Plan of Operations (APO) to the Ministry under various schemes for undertaking afforestation and eco-restoration activities so as to increase the green cover.  So far, a sum of Rs. 6.19 Crore has been released to the State of  Andhra Pradesh under Green India Mission for creation of plantation over an area of 1433 hectares.

The  Ministry  also  provides  financial  assistance  to  States  to  funded  under  the  Compensatory Afforestation  Fund  (CAMPA),  under  'Nagar  Van  Yojana'  which  aims  to  enhance  the  green cover  in  the  urban  and  peri-urban  areas  including  biological  diversity,  provide  ecological benefits and improve the quality of life of city dwellers.  Till date, 13 proposals from Andhra Pradesh have been approved and an amount of Rs. 14.06 Crores have been released to the State of Andhra Pradesh under Nagar Van Yojana.

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAMPA fund) is being utilized by States/UTs for taking up compensatory afforestation as per approved Annual Plan of Operations for compensating the loss  of  forest  &  tree  cover  due  to  diversion  of  forest  land  for  developmental  projects  as  per provisions  of  Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Act,  2016  (CAF  Act)  and  CAF  Rules,  2018. During the last three  years, an amount of Rs. 1848.86 Crore has been released to the State of Andhra Pradesh under CAMPA funds.

Afforestation activities are also taken up under various programmes and schemes of line Ministry such  as  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme,  National  Bamboo Mission,  Sub-Mission  on  Agroforestry  etc.  and  under  schemes  of  State  Government/UT Administration  through  different  departments,  Non-Government  Organizations,  Civil  Society, Corporate bodies etc. The multi departmental efforts have yielded good results in conserving and enhancing forest cover in the country.

(d) As per information provided by Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, an area of 1223.489 hectares  of  forests  have  been  cleared  for  125  projects  under  Forest  (Conservation)  Act,  1980, since 2019 .

********