India State of Forest Report 2019
New Forest Report 
(All Important Point For your Exam)
India State of Forest Report 2019 MCQ=> MCQ
India State of Forest Report is a biennial report published by Forest Survey of India (FSI), since 1987. which is under the Ministry of Environment. The India State of Forest Report 2019 is 16th such report in the series The total forest cover is 7,12,249 sq.km which is 21.67% of the geographical area of the country. The total Tree cover is 95,027 sq.km which is 2.89% of the geographical area of the country.
| Types | Area | % Share |
| Total Forest cover | 7,12,249 sq.km | 21.67% |
| Total Tree cover | 95,027 sq.km | 2.89% |
| Total Forest & Tree cover | 802088 sq.km | 24.56% |
“India’s rank in forest and tree cover 10th“
“Top 3 country in forest cover area:- Russia, Brazil, Canada ”
As per the latest FAO report, India is placed 8th in the list of Top Ten nations reporting the greatest annual net gain in forest area.
India In World
| Agriexam.com | % Share of world | Rank |
| Geographical Area | 2.4 % | 7th |
| Population | 17 % | 2nd |
| livestock population | 18 % | 1st |
| Forest & Tree Cover | 2.4% | 10th |
The Increase In Forest & Tree Cover from 2017 to 2019
| Forest cover | 3976 sq km |
| Tree cover | 1212 sq km |
| Total forest and tree cover | 5188 sq.km |
| Top 3 States with maximum increase in forest cover (2019) |
| Karnatak (1025 sq km) |
| Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km) |
| Kerala (823 sq km), |
Reasons behind the increase of forest and tree cover are:
- The national policies,
- Agro-forestry practices,
- Better conservation of forests,
- Improvement of scrub areas to forest areas,
- Increase in mangrove cover,
- Conservation and
- Protection activities have also led to increase in the forest and tree cover and
- Green Highways (Plantations & Maintenance) Policy
- Please note: Green Highways (Plantations & Maintenance) Policy aims develop 1,40,000 km long tree line with plantation along with both sides of national highways.
| Top 3 states where forest cover has decreased(2019) |
| Manipur (499 sq km) |
| Arunachal Pradesh (276 sq km) |
| Mizoram (180 sq km) |
Reasons behind the decrease of forest and tree cover are:
- Shifting cultivation,
- Other biotic pressures,
- Rotational felling,
- Diversion of forest lands for developmental activities,
- Submergence of forest cover,
- Agriculture expansion and
- Natural disasters
| Top 3 States with maximum Forest cover (in terms of area) (2019) |
| Madhya Pradesh (77,482 sq km) |
| Arunachal Pradesh (66,688 sq km) |
| Chhattisgarh (55,611 sq km) |
| Odisha (51,619) |
| Maharashtra(50,778) |
| Top states with highest Forest cover in terms of percentage geographical area(2019) |
| Lakshadweep (90.33%), |
| Mizoram (85.41%) |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands (81.74%) |
| Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%) |
| Meghalaya (76.33%) |
India State of Forest Report 2019
| 15 states/UT’s have above 33 per cent of the geographical area under forest cover.(2019) |
| 7 States/UTs have more than 75% forest cover | |
| Mizoram, | Lakshadweep |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands, | Arunachal Pradesh, |
| Nagaland | Meghalaya |
| Manipur | |
| 8 States/UTs have forest cover between 33% to 75% (2019) | |
| Tripura, | Goa |
| Sikkim, | Kerala |
| Uttarakhand | Dadra & Nagar Haveli, |
| Chhattisgarh | Assam |
Mangrove cover:
- The total mangrove cover stands at 4,975 sq km Mangrove forests(सदाबहार वन ) have increased by 54 sqkms.
- The mangrove cover in the country is 0.15% of the total geographical area of the country
- States showing increase in terms of mangrove cover:
- Gujarat (37 sqkms).
- Maharashtra (16 sqkms),
- Odisha (8 sqkms)
Please note: Mangroves play a major role in protecting coastal areas from erosion, tidal storms and tsunamis.
Very Dense Forest: Canopy density of 70 % or more
Moderately Dense Forest: Canopy density between 40 % and 70 %
Open Forest: Canopy density between 10 % and 40 %
Scrub: Forest land with canopy density of 10% and less
Category-wise topper states
| Very Dense Forests | Arunachal Pradesh |
| Moderately Dense Forests | Madhya Pradesh |
| Open Forests | Madhya Pradesh |
India State of Forest Report 2019
Bamboo Cover
- Total bamboo bearing area of the country is estimated as 1,60,037 sq km. There is an increase of 3,229 sq km in bamboo bearing area as compared to the estimate of ISFR 2017.
Salient Features
♦ The total forest cover of the country is 7,12,249 sq km which is 21.67% of the geographical area of the country. The tree cover of the country is estimated as 95,027 sq km which is 2.89% of the geographical area.
♦ The total Forest and Tree cover of the country is 8,07,276 sq km which is 24.56% of the geographical area of the country.
♦ The current assessment shows an increase of 3,976 sq km (0.56%) of forest cover, 1,212 sq km (1.29%) of tree cover and 5,188 sq km (0.65%) of forest and tree cover put together, at the national level as compared to the previous assessment i.e. ISFR 2017.
♦ Forest cover within the RFA/GW has shown a slight decrease of 330 sq km (0.05%) whereas there is an increase of 4,306 sq km of forest cover outside the RFA/GW as compared to previous assessment of 2017.
♦ The top five States in terms of increase in forest cover are Karnataka (1,025 sq km), Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km), Kerala (823 sq km), Jammu & Kashmir (371 sq km) and Himachal Pradesh (334 sq km).
♦ Forest cover in the hill districts of the country is 2,84,006 sq km, which is 40.30% of the total geographical area of these districts. The current assessment shows an increase of 544 sq km (0.19%) in 140 hill districts of the country.
♦ The total forest cover in the tribal districts is 4,22,351 sq km, which is 37.54% of the geographical area of these districts. The current assessment shows a decrease of 741 sq km of forest cover within the RFA/GW in the tribal districts and an increase of 1,922 sq km outside.
♦ Total forest cover in the North Eastern region is 1,70,541 sq km, which is 65.05% of its geographical area. The current assessment shows a decrease of forest cover to the extent of 765 sq km (0.45%) in the region. Except Assam and Tripura, all the States in the region show decrease in forest cover.
♦ Mangrove cover in the country has increased by 54 sq km (1.10%) as compared to the previous assessment.
♦ The total growing stock of wood in the country is estimated 5,915.76 million cum comprising 4,273.47 million cum inside forest areas and 1,642.29 million cum outside recorded forest areas (TOF). The average growing stock per hectare in forest has been estimated as 55.69 cum.
♦ Total bamboo bearing area of the country is estimated as 1,60,037 sq km. There is an increase of 3,229 sq km in bamboo bearing area as compared to the estimate of ISFR 2017.
♦ In the present assessment, total carbon stock in forest is estimated as 7,124.6 million tonnes.
There is an increase of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country as compared to the last assessment of 2017. The annual increase is 21.3 million tonnes, which is 78.1 million tonnes CO2 eq.
♦ Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) represents the largest pool of carbon stock in forests, which has been estimated 4,004 million tonnes. The SOC contributes 56% to the total forest carbon stock of the country.
♦ There are 62,466 wetlands covering 3.83% of the area within the RFA/GW of the country. The total number of wetlands located within the RFA/GW is 8.13%. Amongst the States, Gujarat has largest area of wetlands within RFA in the country followed by West Bengal.
♦ Dependence of fuelwood on forests is highest in the State of Maharashtra, whereas, for fodder, small timber and bamboo, dependence is highest in Madhya Pradesh. It has been assessed that the annual removal of the small timber by the people living in forest fringe villages is nearly 7% of the average annual yield of forests in the country.
♦ The information on area affected by five major invasive species in States/UTs based on analysis of NFI data has been given in the present ISFR.
♦ Fire prone forest areas of different severity classes have been mapped in the grids of 5km x 5km based on the frequency of forest fires. The analysis reveals that 21.40% of the forest cover of the country is highly to extremely fire prone.
India State of Forest Report 2019
| Forrest Report 2019 Vol-I | Open |
| Forrest Report 2019 Vol-II | Open |
| More Agriculture Study | Open |
