India State of Forest Report 2021

• The Indian State of Forest Report 2021 is the 17th biennial evaluation of India's forests (MoEFCC).
• The ISFR 2021 provides the most up-to-date information on the country's 'Forest cover' and 'Tree cover'.
• It also presents the estimates of growing stock, the extent of trees outside forests, mangrove cover, bamboo resources, and forest carbon stock assessments.
• The chapter on forest carbon assessment also includes India's progress toward meeting its Nationally Determined Contribution commitments.

India State of Forest Report 2021

India State of Forest Report 2021 - New Features

• A special chapter on "Forest Cover Assessment in Tiger Reserves and Tiger Corridor Areas of the Country and Decadal Change in Forest Cover" has been added to the standard chapters this time.
• This report also includes the results of two special studies: Above Ground Biomass Estimation Using Synthetic Aperture Radar Data (carried out in partnership with ISRO) and Climate Hot Spots in Forest Areas Studies.
• A separate chapter is dedicated to new initiatives undertaken by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) team in the recent two years.
• The Indian State of Forest Report 2021 has also assessed forest cover in tiger reserves, tiger corridors, and the Gir forest, which is home to the Asiatic lion, for the first time.

India State of Forest Report 2021 - Major Findings

Increase in Total Forest and Tree Cover

• The total forest and tree cover of the country has increased by 2,261 sq km since the last assessment in 2019 (ISFR-2019).
• The increase in forest cover is 1,540 square kilometres, and the increase in tree cover is 721 square kilometres.
• The country's entire forest and tree cover is 80.9 million hectares, or 24.62% of its overall geographical area.

Increase in Forest Cover (Top States)

• The open forest has seen an increase in forest cover, followed by dense forests.
• According to ISFR-2021, Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km), Telangana (632 sq km), and Odisha (632 sq km) are the top three states with increased forest cover (537 sq km).

Area-wise Forest Cover

• According to ISFR 2021, Madhya Pradesh has the country's largest forest cover, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Maharashtra.

Percentage-wise Forest Cover

• The top five states in terms of forest cover as the percentage of total geographical area.
  • Mizoram (84.53 %)
  • Arunachal Pradesh (79.33 %)
  • Meghalaya (76.00 %)
  • Manipur (74.34 %)
  • Nagaland (73.90 % )

States/ UTs with more than one-third area under Forest Cover

• According to the ISFR 2021 findings, 17 states/UTs have forest cover covering more than 33% of their land area.
• More than 75%: Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya.
• Approximately 33% to 75%: Forest cover ranges from 33 percent to 75 percent in 12 states/UTs, including Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Goa, Kerala, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Assam, and Odisha.

Increase in Mangrove Cover

• According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021, mangrove cover has increased by 17 square kilometres since the previous assessment in 2019.
• The country's total mangrove cover is 4,992 square kilometres.
• Odisha (8 sq km), Maharashtra (4 sq km), and Karnataka are the top three states wit increasing mangrove cover (3 sq km).

Total Carbon Stock

• According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021, the country's carbon stock has increased by 79.4 million tonnes since the previous assessment in 2019.
• Carbon store increases by 39.7 million tonnes every year.
• The country's forest carbon stock is projected to be 7,204 million tonnes.

Bamboo Forests

• According to ISFR 2021, bamboo forests have increased from 13,882 million culms (stems) in 2019 to 53,336 million culms (stems) in 2021.

Forest Fires in India

• According to the conclusions of the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021, forest fires threaten 35.46 percent of the country's forest cover.
• 2.81 % are extremely vulnerable, 7.85 percent are very highly vulnerable, and 11.51 percent are highly vulnerable.

Climate Change Hotspots in Indian Forests

• According to ISFR 2021, climate change and rising temperatures would have a negative influence on 45-64 percent of Indian forests by 2030.
• Forests would be highly sensitive climate hotspots in all Indian states (excluding Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Nagaland).
• Climate change and rising temperatures are most likely to harm the UT of Ladakh (forest cover 0.1-0.2 percent).

Forest Cover in Tiger Reserve Areas

• IFSR 2021 added a new chapter on forest cover assessment in India's Tiger Reserves, Corridors, and Lion Conservation Areas.
• In the recent decade, forest cover has decreased by 22.62 square kilometres across the 52 tiger reserves (sq km).
• Twenty of the 52 tiger reserves have exhibited signs of growth.
• Buxa (West Bengal), 238.80 sq km is one of the top three Tiger Reserves with rising forest cover.
• Anamalai (Tamil Nadu) is 120.78 square kilometres, while Indravati (Chhattisgarh) is 64.48 square kilometres.
• The 32 remaining reserves are shrinking, ranging in size from 0.06 square kilometres in Orang, Assam, to 118.97 square kilometres in Kawal, Telangana.

India State of Forest Report - Significance

• The Indian State of Forest Report is widely utilised as a primary information source among the central government, state governments, state forest department forestry professionals, academics, foreign organisations, and other stakeholders.
• The Indian State of Forest Report is also used for developing forest policies, planning, and management, as well as investments that affect the country's forestry sector.
• This report serves as a valuable resource for students and academics interested in natural resource management.
• The Indian State of Forest Report supplies a substantial amount of data that satisfies India's reporting duties to international organisations, different conventions and pledges, including:
  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
  • UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
  • Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

Governments Initiatives

National Mission for a Green India

• It is one of the National Action Plan on Climate Change's eight missions (NAPCC).
• It was established in February 2014.
• The main goal is to protect our country's biological resources and associated livelihoods from the dangers of climate change.
• It also aims to recognise the critical role of forestry in ecological sustainability, biodiversity conservation, food, water, and livelihood security.

National Afforestation Programme (NAP)

• The National Afforestation Programme’s objective is to promote the afforestation of degraded forest lands.
• It was established in the year 2000.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is in charge of implementing it.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)

• The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority was established in 2016.
• 90% of the funds go to the states while the remaining 10% goes to the Centre.
• The funds can be used for catchment area treatment, assisted natural generation, forest management, wildlife protection and management, village relocation from protected areas, human-wildlife conflict management, training and awareness generation, supply of wood-saving devices, and other related activities.

National Action Programme to Combat Desertification

• It was established in 2001 in order to address the growing problem of desertification and to take necessary action.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change is in charge of implementing it.
• The Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme (FFPM) is the only federally financed programme dedicated to helping states deal with forest fires.

Conclusion

The goal of this collaborative work as a report was also to map climatic hotspots over India's forest cover using computer model-based temperature and rainfall data projections for future time periods as well. The level of accuracy reached in this report is really high. The classification accuracy of forest cover has been determined to be 92.99 per cent which is really a significant figure.

FAQs

Question: What is the primary objective of the Indian State of Forest Report (ISFR)?

Question: How often is the Indian State of Forest Report published?

Question: What role does ISFR play in climate change mitigation?

Question: Which Indian state has the highest forest cover according to the latest ISFR?

Question: What are the different forest density categories used in the ISFR?