Lok Sabha Question No. 3808 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-09
Subject: Report on Forest Cover
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: SRINIVAS KESINENI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3808

TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.08.2016

## Report on Forest Cover

## 3808.    SHRI KESINENI NANI:

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

- (a) whether there has been an increase in forest cover in the country, as per the latest India State of Forests Report and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether  the  mangrove  cover  has  also  increased  in  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether the area under 'very dense forests' and 'mid-dense forests' has decreased and if so, the details and reasons therefor;
- (d) the names of the States with highest loss of forest cover and the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the steps taken to increase the forest cover during the last two years alongwith the future plan of the Government to raise the forest cover to 33% of the total geographical land area of the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## (SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

- (a) Forest Survey of India, Dehradun is carrying out the assessment of forest cover of the country  biennially  and  the  findings  are  published  in  India  State  of  Forest  Report.  The latest report in the series is India State of Forest Report 2015. As per this report, the total forest cover of the country is 7, 01,673 square kilometers which is 21.34% of the total geographical area of the country. There is a net increase of 3775 square kilometers in the forest  cover  of  the  country  as  compared  with  India  State  of  Forest  Report-2013.  The detailed list showing forest cover and change in forest cover States/UTs wise is given in Annexure I.
- (b) There  has  been  a  net  increase  of  112  square  kilometer  in  the  mangrove  cover  of  the country  compared  to  India  State  of  Forest  Report  2013.  The  details  are  given  in Annexure II.
- (c) As  per  India  State  of  Forest  Report  2015,  there  has  been  an  increase  of  2402  square kilometer  in  very  dense  forest  cover  and  a  loss  of  3371  square  kilometer  in  the moderately dense forest cover.
- (d) The details of States showing decline in forest cover and reasons therefore are given in Annexure-III.
- (e) To  increase  forest  cover  in  the  country,  afforestation  Programme  is  taken  up  under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes such as National Afforestation Programme (NAP), Green  India  Mission  (GIM),  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee Scheme  (MGNREGS),  Integrated  Watershed  Management  Programme  (IWMP)  which from 2015-16 has been amalgamated as the Watershed Development Component of the 'Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)'  and  under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), different State Plan/ NonPlan Schemes including Externally Aided Projects. National Afforestation Programme (NAP) of the Ministry of Environment & Forests is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for afforestation and tree plantation and eco-restoration of degraded forests and adjoining areas in the country. The scheme is being implemented through a decentralized mechanism  of  State  Forest  Development  agency  (SFDA)  at  State  Level  Development agency  (FDA)  at  Forest  Division  level  and  Joint  Forest  Management  Committees (JFMCs) at Village level. An amount of Rs. 365.93 crore has been released to the States to treat an area of around 1.12 lakh hectare during last two years and current year (201415 to 2016-17).

*********

## Annexure I

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3808 due for answer on 09.08.2016 regarding 'Report on Forest Cover'

## Change in Forest Cover in States/UTs as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR)- 2015 (Area in square Kilometers)

| States/UTs          | Geographical Area   | Total Forest Cover 2015   | Total Forest Cover 2013   |   Change in Forest Cover | Change Percent   |
|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------|------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh      | 1,60,204            | 24,424                    | 24,357                    |                    67    | 0.27             |
| Arunachal Pradesh   | 83,743              | 67,248                    | 67321                     |                   -73    | -0.11            |
| Assam               | 78,438              | 27,623                    | 27671                     |                   -48    | -0.17            |
| Bihar               | 94,163              | 7,288                     | 7291                      |                    -3    | -0.04            |
| Chhattisgarh        | 1,35,191            | 55,586                    | 55621                     |                   -35    | -0.06            |
| Delhi               | 1,483               | 189                       | 180                       |                     9    | 4.75             |
| Goa                 | 3,702               | 2,224                     | 2219                      |                     5    | 0.22             |
| Gujarat             | 1,96,022            | 14,660                    | 14653                     |                     7    | 0.05             |
| Haryana             | 44,212              | 1,584                     | 1586                      |                    -2    | -0.13            |
| Himachal Pradesh    | 55,673              | 14,696                    | 14683                     |                    13    | 0.09             |
| Jammu& Kashmir      | 2,22,236            | 22,988                    | 22538                     |                   450    | 1.96             |
| Jharkhand           | 79,714              | 23,478                    | 23473                     |                     5    | 0.02             |
| Karnataka           | 1,91,791            | 36,421                    | 36132                     |                   289    | 0.79             |
| Kerala              | 38,863              | 19,239                    | 17922                     |                  1317    | 6.85             |
| Madhya Pradesh      | 3,08,245            | 77,462                    | 77522                     |                   -60    | -0.08            |
| Maharashtra         | 3,07,713            | 50,628                    | 50632                     |                    -4    | -0.01            |
| Manipur             | 22,327              | 16,994                    | 16990                     |                     4    | 0.02             |
| Meghalaya           | 22,429              | 17,217                    | 17288                     |                   -71    | -0.41            |
| Mizoram             | 21,081              | 18,748                    | 19054                     |                  -306    | -1.63            |
| Nagaland            | 16,579              | 12,966                    | 13044                     |                   -78    | -0.60            |
| Odisha              | 1,55,707            | 50,354                    | 50347                     |                     7    | 0.01             |
| Punjab              | 50,362              | 1,771                     | 1772                      |                    -1    | -0.06            |
| Rajasthan           | 3,42,239            | 16,171                    | 16086                     |                    85    | 0.53             |
| Sikkim              | 7,096               | 3,357                     | 3358                      |                    -1    | -0.03            |
| Tamil Nadu          | 1,30,058            | 26,345                    | 23844                     |                  2501    | 9.49             |
| Telangana           | 114,865             | 21,591                    | 21759                     |                  -168    | -0.78            |
| Tripura             | 10,486              | 7,811                     | 7866                      |                   -55    | -0.70            |
| Uttar Pradesh       | 2,40,928            | 14,461                    | 14349                     |                   112    | 0.77             |
| Uttarakhand         | 53,483              | 24,240                    | 24508                     |                  -268    | -1.11            |
| West Bengal         | 88,752              | 16,828                    | 16805                     |                    23    | 0.14             |
| A&N Islands         | 8,249               | 6,751                     | 6711                      |                    40    | 0.59             |
| Chandigarh          | 114                 | 22,.03                    | 17.26                     |                     4.77 | 21.65            |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 491                 | 206                       | 213                       |                    -7    | -3.40            |
| Daman &Diu          | 112                 | 19.61                     | 9                         |                    10.61 | 52.73            |
| Lakshadweep         | 32                  | 27.06                     | 27.06                     |                     0    | 0.00             |
| Puducherry Grand    | 480                 | 55.38                     | 50.06                     |                     5.32 | 9.61 0.54        |
| Total               | 32,87,263           | 701,673                   | 697898                    |                  3775    |                  |

## Annexure II

Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3808 due for answer on 09.08.2016 regarding 'Report on Forest Cover' Change in Mangrove Cover in States/UTs as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR)- 2015

(Area in square Kilometers)

| States/UTs     |   Total Mangrove cover as per ISFR 2015. |   Total Mangrove cover as per ISFR 2013. |   Change w.r.t 2013 Assessment |
|----------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh |                                      367 |                                      352 |                             15 |
| Goa            |                                       26 |                                       22 |                              4 |
| Gujarat        |                                     1107 |                                     1103 |                              4 |
| Karnataka      |                                        3 |                                        3 |                              0 |
| Kerala         |                                        9 |                                        6 |                              3 |
| Maharashtra    |                                      222 |                                      186 |                             36 |
| Odisha         |                                      231 |                                      213 |                             18 |
| Tamil Nadu     |                                       47 |                                       39 |                              8 |
| West Bengal    |                                     2106 |                                     2097 |                              9 |
| A&N Islands    |                                      617 |                                      604 |                             13 |
| Daman &Diu     |                                        3 |                                        2 |                              1 |
| Puducherry     |                                        2 |                                        1 |                              1 |
| Grand Total    |                                     4740 |                                     4628 |                            112 |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (d) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3808 due for answer on 09.08.2016 regarding 'Report on Forest Cover'

## States showing decline in forest cover and reasons for decline

| Sl. No.   | States/UTs          |   Change (km2) | Reasons for decline                                                           |
|-----------|---------------------|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Mizoram             |           -306 | Shifting cultivation and other Biotic pressure                                |
| 2         | Uttarakhand         |           -268 | Rotational felling and diversion of forest lands for developmental activities |
| 3         | Telangana           |           -168 | Shifting cultivation and other Biotic pressure                                |
| 4         | Nagaland            |            -78 | Shifting cultivation and other Biotic pressure                                |
| 5         | Arunachal Pradesh   |            -73 | Shifting cultivation and diversion of forest lands for development activities |
| 6         | Meghalaya           |            -71 | Shifting cultivation and other Biotic pressure                                |
| 7         | Madhya Pradesh      |            -60 | Rotational felling, submergence of forest cover encroachment etc              |
| 8         | Tripura             |            -55 | Shifting cultivation and encroachment on forest lands                         |
| 9         | Assam               |            -48 | Rotational felling, Shifting cultivation, Biotic pressure etc.                |
| 10        | Chhattisgarh        |            -35 | Rotational felling, diversion of forest land for other activities etc         |
| 11        | Dadra &Nagar Haveli |             -7 | Heavy biotic pressure                                                         |
| 12        | Maharashtra         |             -4 | Rotational felling, diversion of forest land, encroachment etc.               |
|           | Others (4)          |             -7 |                                                                               |
|           | Total               |          -1180 |                                                                               |