Increase in Forest Area
Increase in Forest Area
Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry carries out the assessment of forest cover biennially and the findings are published in India State of Forest Report (ISFR). There has been an increase in forest cover of the country by 5516 square kilometre between ISFR 2017 and ISFR 2021. The State/UTs wise details of change in Forest Cover including the State of Chhattisgarh between ISFR 2017 and ISFR 2021 are given in Annexure-I.
The Ministry supports the States/Union Territories for carrying out afforestation activities through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme, namely Green India Mission. This flagship afforestation scheme of the Ministry, aims to undertake afforestation activities in degraded forest areas with people’s participation. The scheme promotes environmental conservation and rain water harvesting through afforestation and tree plantation, restoration of degraded forest landscapes, habitat improvement including through soil moisture conservation activities. The details of fund released under Green India Mission to the State of Chhattisgarh during the last five years are as follows.
Year
Fund released under GIM (Rs. In Crore)
2018-19
5.36
2019-20
5.04
2020-21
1.66
2021-22
6.12
2022-23
Nil
2023-24
Nil
Total
18.18
Afforestation activities are also undertaken in a major way under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund as per the provisions of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 and the Rules made there under. The approved Annual Plan of Operations (APO) for State of Chhattisgarh for undertaking activities under the State CAMPA fund during the last five years are as follows: –
Year
Amount approved in APO under State CAMPA (Rs. In Crore)
2018-19
897.52
2019-20
848.51
2020-21
1347.02
2021-22
1500.75
2022-23
688.47
2023-24
471.36
The Ministry is also implementing the Nagar Van Yojana which envisages creation of 600 Nagar Vans and 400 Nagar Vatika in the country during the period 2020-21 to 2026-27. The Nagar Van Yojana aims at enhancing the green cover in the urban and peri-urban areas and augmenting biological diversity.
Afforestation activities are also taken up under various programmes and schemes of line Ministries such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, National Bamboo Mission, Sub-Mission on Agroforestry etc. and under schemes of State Governments/UT Administrations through different departments, Non-Government Organizations, Civil Societies, Corporate bodies etc. The multi departmental efforts have yielded good results in conserving and enhancing forest cover in the country.
Annexure-I
(Area in Square Kilometre)
S.No.
States/UTs
Geographical area
Forest Cover
Change in Forest Cover between ISFR 2017 & ISFR 2021 (b-a)
ISFR 2017 (a)
ISFR 2021
(b)
1
Andhra Pradesh
1,62,968
28,147
29,784
1,637
2
Arunachal Pradesh
83,743
66,964
66,431
-533
3
Assam
78,438
28,105
28,312
207
4
Bihar
94,163
7,299
7,381
82
5
Chhattisgarh
1,35,192
55,547
55,717
170
6
Delhi
1,483
192.41
195.00
2.59
7
Goa
3,702
2,229
2,244
15
8
Gujarat
1,96,244
14,757
14,926
169
9
Haryana
44,212
1,588
1,603
15
10
Himachal Pradesh
55,673
15,100
15,443
343
11
Jharkhand
79,716
23,553
23,721
168
12
Karnataka
1,91,791
37,550
38,730
1,180
13
Kerala
38,852
20,321
21,253
932
14
Madhya Pradesh
3,08,252
77,414
77,493
79
15
Maharashtra
3,07,713
50,682
50,798
116
16
Manipur
22,327
17,346
16,598
-748
17
Meghalaya
22,429
17,146
17,046
-100
18
Mizoram
21,081
18,186
17,820
-366
19
Nagaland
16,579
12,489
12,251
-238
20
Odisha
1,55,707
51,345
52,156
811
21
Punjab
50,362
1,837
1,847
10
22
Rajasthan
3,42,239
16,572
16,655
83
23
Sikkim
7,096
3,344
3,341
-3
24
Tamil Nadu
1,30,060
26,281
26,419
138
25
Telangana
1,12,077
20,419
21,214
795
26
Tripura
10,486
7,726
7,722
-4
27
Uttar Pradesh
2,40,928
14,679
14,818
139
28
Uttarakhand
53,483
24,295
24,305
10
29
West Bengal
88,752
16,847
16,832
-15
30
A&N Islands
8,249
6,742
6,744
2
31
Chandigarh
114
21.56
22.88
1.32
32
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
491
207
227.75
0.26
33
Daman & Diu
111
20.49
34
Jammu & Kashmir
2,22,236
23,241
21,387
-1,854
35
Ladakh
0
2,272
2,272
36
Lakshadweep
30
27.10
27.10
0.00
37
Puducherry
490
53.67
53.30
-0.37
Grand Total
32,87,469
7,08,273
7,13,789
5,516
This information was given by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.