Published 13:58 IST, December 30th 2019
BIG: India added forest cover equal to Trinidad & Tobago's total area in the last 2 years
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on December 30, informed that India's total tree and forest cover increased by 5,188 square kilometres in the last two years.
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Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Prakash Javadekar on Monday, December 30, released the India State of Forest Report 2019. Prakash Javadekar informed that India's total tree and forest cover increased by 5,188 square kilometres in the last two years. While releasing the report, Javadekar said there is an increase of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country as compared to the last assessment of 2017.
'We are on track to achieve our Paris Agreement goals'
"This report gives us confidence that we are on track to achieve our Paris Agreement goals," he said. He also said the current assessment shows a decrease of forest cover to the extent of 765 sq km (0.45%) in northeast India region. Except for Assam and Tripura, all states in the region show a decrease in forest cover. The mangrove cover in the country has increased by 54 sq km (1.10%) as compared to the previous assessment, he said.
#Mangrove cover has been separately reported in #ISFR2019 as 4,975 sq km. An increase of 54 sq Km has been observed as compared to 2017. Top 3 states showing increase are Gujarat (37 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (16 sq km) and Odisha (8 sq km): Union Minister @PrakashJavdekar pic.twitter.com/lVvycyK6kD
— PIB India (@PIB_India) December 30, 2019
According to the report, 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). Every two years, Forest Survey of India (FSI) undertakes an assessment of the country’s forest resources, the results of which are presented as the ‘India State of Forest Report (ISFR)’. Since 1987, 15 such assessments have been completed and the current assessment is the 16th in the series.
In the present assessment, the total #Forest and tree cover of the country is 80.73 million hectares which is 24.56 per cent of the geographical area of the country: Environment Minister @PrakashJavdekar #GreenIndia pic.twitter.com/keAjaYOWdq
— PIB India (@PIB_India) December 30, 2019
The report provides a comprehensive account of the Forest Cover Scenario of the Country to different user groups. They are of great importance for Policy Planners, Managers, Researchers, Academicians, etc. The exercise involves both satellite mapping and surveys to map the increase or decrease in forest cover.
13:58 IST, December 30th 2019