India State of Forest Report 2023 (Volume 1) PDF

# India State of Forest Report 2023 (Volume 1) ## Executive Summary Periodic assessment of forest resources of the country based on robust scientific methodologies is a pre-requisite for monitoring of these resources and better planning for the forestry sector. Forest Survey of India, an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has been mandated to carry out a regular assessment of forest resources of the country using satellite data and field based information and publish the results in a biennial report named as India state of Forest Report (ISFR). The first report was published by FSI in 1987 and since then 17 such reports have been published by FSI. The ISFR 2023 is 18th in the series. The information on various forestry parameters given in the ISFR are very useful for monitoring of the resources, evaluation of the various polices and making better planning for optimum utilization of the forest resources. In addition, the inputs given in the report are very useful for monitoring of NDC targets, reporting of Green House Gas (GHG) inventory to UNFCCC for the forest land under the LULUCF sector, and country reporting to FAO for the Global Assessment of Forest Resources. The first major input that goes into the ISFR is forest cover mapping of the country based on nationwide forest cover mapping using satellite data. The forest cover is defined as “all lands, more than one hectare with a tree canopy density of more than or equal to 10% irrespective of ownership, legal status and land use. Such lands may not necessarily be a recorded forest area. It also includes orchards, bamboo and palm". In the current cycle, Forest Cover Mapping has been carried out using medium-resolution indigenous satellite data, with a spatial resolution of 23.5 m sourced from the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) indigenous LISS-III sensor, part of the IRS Resourcesat satellite series, at a scale of 1: 50,000. This satellite data was acquired for all states within the timeframe of October 2021 to December 2021. In certain regions of the country, such as the North Eastern region, the coastal belt, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, additional satellite images were procured for the period from January 2022 to April 2022, to obtain better-quality satellite imagery. This specific time window was chosen because it typically offers cloud-free satellite data and full vegetation foliage, resulting in enhanced reflectance and precise satellite image interpretation. The classification of forest cover used in the present report is based on tree canopy density, viz., Very Dense Forest (VDF) having canopy density equal to or more than 70%, Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) having canopy density equal to or more than 40% but less than 70%, and Open Forest (OF) having canopy density equal to or more than 10% but less than 40%. The Forest Cover is assessed using an approach involving satellite digital image processing; visual image analysis; ground verification by the analysts and State Forest Departments; incorporation of post-field corrections; quality checks including ground validation by officers; followed by generation of output in the form of maps and area statistics. Over the years, this methodology has continuously evolved and improved to keep pace with advancing technology and the latest image interpretation techniques. Since the initial forest assessment report in 1987, the methodology for Forest Cover Mapping has been consistently refined and updated. To ensure consistency, uniformity, and a high level of accuracy in the Forest Cover Mapping exercise, all steps of the methodology have been standardized. To minimize subjectivity, a comprehensive manual has been developed to guide and facilitate these processes, helping to maintain the quality and reliability of the mapping results. The second major input that goes into ISFR is based on the inventory of Forests and Trees Outside Forests (TOF) under the National Forest Inventory (NFI) Programme of FSI. FSI launched a National Forest Inventory in 2002, with the onset of the 10th five-year plan, by developing a sampling design, to generate the national level estimates of growing stock and other parameters. Under this NFI design, the country was stratified into 14 physiographic zones and 60 districts were selected for the detailed inventory for a cycle of 2 years. About 3,500 sample plots were inventoried in the forest areas and 5000 sample plots were inventoried in TOF every year. FSI modified the sampling design of NFI in 2016, considering the data requirements at National and International level, to generate the precise estimates at the State level and to reduce the revisit time from 20 years to 5 years. Under the modified design, FSI has switched over to a grid based design having uniform grids of size 5 km x 5 km and selecting specified grids each year for the detailed inventory. Under this design, FSI is laying about 6,000 plots in forest area and 10,000 plots in TOF areas every year. The information of growing stock, tree cover, bamboo stock, carbon stock, agroforestry and important characteristics are derived from the field inventory data collected from forest and TOF. The ISFR 2023 has been produced into two volumes considering the wealth of information generated from forest cover mapping and NFI. The Volume-l gives the national level assessment such as forest cover, mangrove cover, forest fires, growing stock, carbon stock, agroforestry, important characteristics of forest and decadal change. The Volume-ll gives information about forest cover for each State/UT of the country, districts and divisions and state wise information derived from the field inventory. ## Salient Findings: * The total forest and tree cover of the country is 8,27,356.95 km2 which is 25.17% of the geographical area of the country. The total Forest Cover has an area of 7,15,342.61 km2 (21.76%) whereas the Tree Cover has an area of 1,12,014.34 km2 (3.41%). * The current assessment shows an increase of 156.41 km2 in the Forest Cover at national level as compared to the previous assessment. * The total forest and tree cover of the country has increased by 1445.81 km2 as compared to the last assessment of 2021. * The maximum increase in forest and tree cover has been observed in the States of Chhattisgarh ( 683.62 km2) followed by **Uttar Pradesh (559.19 km2), Odisha (558.57 km2) and Rajasthan (394.46 km2).** The maximum decrease in forest and tree cover has been noticed in the state of **Madhya Pradesh (612.41 km2)** followed by **Karnataka (459.36 km2), Ladakh (159.26 km2) and Nagaland (125.22 km2).** * The States showing maximum increase of Forest Cover inside the RFA/GW are **Mizoram (192.92 km2)** followed by **Odisha (118.17 km2), Karnataka (93.14 km2), West Bengal (64.79 km2) and Jharkhand (52.72 km2)**, whereas the States showing the maximum decrease of Forest Cover inside the RFA/GW are **Tripura (116.90 km2)** followed by **Telangana (105.87 km2), Assam (86.66 km2), Andhra Pradesh (83.47 km2) and Gujarat (61.22 km2).** * The forest cover outside RFA has been shown maximum increase in the state of **Gujarat (241.29 km2)** followed by **Bihar (106.85 km2), Kerala (95.19 km2), Uttar Pradesh (79.27 km2) and Assam (74.90 km2).** The states showing decrease in the forest cover outside RFA are **Madhya Pradesh (344.77 km2)** followed by **Rajasthan (110.65 km2), Andhra Pradesh (55.19 km2), Arunachal Pradesh (45.32 km2) and Maharashtra (41.07 km2)**. * The extent of TOF (forest cover outside the RFA & GW and tree cover) has been found to be 30.70 M ha, which is 37.11% of the total forest and tree cover in the country. * The maximum tree cover has been found in the State of **Maharashtra (14,524.88 km2)** followed by **Rajasthan (10,841.12 km2) and Uttar Pradesh (8,950.92 km2).** The maximum positive change as compared to ISFR 2021 has been observed in **Chhattisgarh (702.75 km2)** followed by **Rajasthan (478.26 km2) and Uttar Pradesh (440.76 km2).** In general, twenty-one States and UTs have shown an increasing trend in tree cover, which indicates that agroforestry, is being promoted in these States * Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive Areas (WGESA) occupies an area of approximately 60,285.61 km2 based on the digital boundary provided by MoEF & CC. Forest cover in all districts under WGESA has been estimated as 44,043.99 km2 (73%). * FSI has carried out a decadal changes analysis of forest cover of WGESA and observed that there has been an overall loss of 58.22 km2 in forest cover during the last 10 years. Very Dense forest increased by 3,465.12 km2, whereas Moderately Dense Forest and Open Forest decreased by 1,043.23 km2 and 2,480.11 km2. * Forest cover in the hills districts of the country is 2,83,713.20 km2, which is 40% of the total geographical area of these districts. In the current assessment, Forest Cover has in hill districts of the country has increased by 234.14 km2. * The total forest and tree cover in the North Eastern region is 1,74,394.70 km2, which is 67% of geographical area of these states. The current assessment shows a decrease of forest cover of 327.30 km2 in the region. * The total Mangrove cover of the country is 4,991.68 km2, which accounts for 0.15% of the country's total geographical area. Among this, Very Dense Mangrove comprises 1,463.97 km2 (29.33%) of the total Mangrove cover, Moderately Dense Mangrove is 1,500.84 km2 (30.07%) while Open Mangroves constitute an area of 2,026.87 km2 (40.60%). In comparison to the 2021 assessment, there has been a net decrease of 7.43 km2 in the country's Mangrove coverage. **Gujarat has a notable decrease of 36.39 km2**. Notable increase in Mangrove forest cover is observed in **Andhra Pradesh (13.01 km2), followed by Maharashtra (12.39 km2).** * During the fire season 2023-24, the number of fire hotspots detected by SNPP-VIIRS sensor were 2,03, 544 as against 2,23,333 in 2021-22 seasons and 2,12,249 in 2022-23 season. * Top three Stares where fire incidences have been observed the most in 2023-24 season are Uttrarakhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. * The total growing stock of wood in the country is estimated at 6,429.64M m3, which comprises of 4,478.89 M m3 inside forest areas and 1,950.75 M m3 outside recorded forest areas (TOF). There is a total increase of 262.32M m3 (4.25%) in the growing stock of the country as compared to the estimates reported in ISFR 2021. Out of this, the increase in growing stock is 90.92 M m3 (2.07%) inside the forests, and 171.40 M m3 (9.63%) outside the forest areas. * It is observed that the growing stock at the national level has been estimated as 86.10 m3 per ha in forest areas. * Arunachal Pradesh has maximum growing stock (457.83 M m3) in forests, followed by Uttarakhand (400.02 M m3), Chhattisgarh (398.54 M m3) and Madhya Pradesh (387.18 M m3). In TOF, Maharashtra has maximum growing stock (213.93 M m3) followed by Karnataka (137.62 M m3), Madhya Pradesh (130.46 M m3) and Chhattisgarh (129.04 M m3). * Among the States, the highest per ha growing stock in forest is in Himachal Pradesh (219.46 m3) followed by Kerala (179.78 m3) and Uttarakhand (164.39 m3). Among the UTs, the highest per ha growing stock in forest is in Jammu & Kashmir (296.22 m3) followed by A&N Islands (246.61 m3) and Chandigarh (78.64 m3). * Inside the forests, Shorea robusta has the maximum contribution in total volume (11.43%), followed by Tectona grandis (4.46%), Pinus roxburghii (4.43%) and Terminalia tomentosa (3.59%). * In the Trees Outside Forests, Mangifera indica contributes maximum volume of 13.25% to total volume followed by Azadirachta indica (7.00%), Madhuca latifolia / Madhuca longifolia / Madhuca indica (4.37 %) and Cocos nucifera (4.16 %). * The potential production of industrial wood from TOF has been estimated as 91.51 M m3 per year. There is an increase of 22.47 M m3 in the potential production of industrial wood as compared to the estimates reported in ISFR 2017. * The total bamboo bearing area of the country has been estimated to be 1,54,670 km2. There is an increase of 5,227 km2 in the bamboo bearing area of the country as compared to the previous assessment reported in ISFR 2021. * Madhya Pradesh has maximum bamboo bearing area of 20,421 km2, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (18,424 km2), Maharashtra (13,572 km2), and Odisha (12,328 km2). It has been observed that bamboo-bearing area in Arunachal Pradesh has shown the highest increase of 2,685 km2 followed by Madhya Pradesh (2,027 km2). Similarly, Karnataka has shown the highest decrease of 1,290 km2 in the bamboo bearing area, followed by Manipur (860 km2). * Total tree green cover under agroforestry at the national level has been estimated at 1,27,590.05 km2 in 2023. There is a total increase of 21,286.57 km2 (20.02%) in the total tree green cover under agroforestry of the country as compared to the estimates reported in ISFR 2013. * The total growing stock under agroforestry in the country is estimated at 1,291.68 M m3 in 2023. There is a total increase of 286.94 M m3 (28.56%) in the growing stock under agroforestry of the country as compared to the estimates reported in ISFR 2013. * Among the States, the highest growing stock in agroforestry is observed in Maharashtra (136.45 M m3) followed by Karnataka (98.31 M m3), Odisha (88.53 M m3) and Rajasthan (86.26 M m3). Among the UTs, the highest growing stock is observed in Jammu & Kashmir (29.59 M m3) followed by A&N Islands (0.90 M m3) and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (0.53 M m3). * Top five prevalent species in agroforestry as given in ISFR 2013 were Mangifera indica, followed by Areca catechu, Cocos nucifera, Azadirachta indica, and Acacia arabica / Acacia nilotica. On the other hand, as per ISFR 2023 the top five prevalent species in agroforestry are Mangifera indica, followed by Azadirachta indica, Prosopis juliflora / Neltuma juliflora, Areca catechu, and Eucalyptus species. * The carbon stock for 2023 has been estimated as 7,285.5 Mt. There is an increase of 81.5 Mt of carbon stock as compared to the estimates of previous assessment. The annual increase of carbon stock is estimated as 40.75 Mt, which is 149.42 Mt of CO2 equivalent. Soil organic carbon is the largest pool of forest carbon accounting for (55.06%) followed by AGB (32.69%), BGB (10.09%), Litter (1.48%) and Dead Wood (0.78%). * Arunachal Pradesh has maximum carbon stock of 1,021 Mt followed by Madhya Pradesh (608 Mt), Chhattisgarh (505 Mt) and Maharashtra (465 Mt). The per hectare carbon stock among different States/UTs indicates that Jammu & Kashmir is contributing maximum per hectare carbon stock of 174.10 t/ha, followed by Sikkim (169.20 t/ha), Himachal Pradesh (163.68 t/ha) and, Andaman & Nicobar Islands (161.62 t/ha). * Regarding the monitoring of the target of NDC, the current assessment shows that India has reached to 30.43 billion tonnes of CO2 eq, which indicates that as compared to the base year of 2005, we have already reached to 2.29 billion tonnes of additional carbon sink. ## During the decades 2013-2023, the changes in different forestry parameters are positive and encouraging as given follows: * The forest cover of the country has shown an increase of 16,630.25 km2 out of which increase inside RFA/GW is 440.47 km2 and increase outside RFA/GW is 16,189.78 km2. In the hill districts of the country, the forest cover has increased by 2,649.04 km2. * Mangrove cover of the country has increased by 296.33 km2. * The tree cover has shown an increase of 20,747.34 km2. * The tree green cover in the agroforestry has increased by 21,286.57 km2 and growing stock in agroforestry has increased by 286.94 M m3. * The growing stock in forest and TOF has increased by 305.543 M m3 and 466.07 M m3 respectively. ## The important characteristics of forests have been analyzed for forest enabling conditions, disturbances in forests area, and status of forest vegetation; and given in a separate chapter. Some of the highlights are given as follows: * There is a general improvement in soil health (87.16% of shallow to deep soil as against 83.53% in 2013) reflected by improvement in humus (18.04% medium to deep humus as against 11.43% in 2013) which is, in turn, reflected in better grass cover (17.21% dense to very dense grass cover as against 15.64% in 2013) and better undergrowth (25.58% dense to very dense undergrowth as against 20.32% in 2013). * The soil organic carbon has also increased marginally during this period from 55.85 tonnes per hectare to 56.08 tonnes per hectare. * The load of moderate to heavy grazing has come down to 35.79% as compared to 41.04% in 2013. * Biotic influences on forests have also come down to 26.66% from 31.28% in 2013. All this has reflected in increase in forest areas under mixed size classes (38.11% as against 21.12% in 2013), which indicates improved floral biodiversity, and improved surroundings for faunal biodiversity. ## Table: Forest and Tree Cover of India | Class | Area (km2) | Percentage of GA | |---|---|---| | Forest Cover | 7,15,342.61 | 21.76 | | Tree Cover | 1,12,014.34 | 3.41 | | Total Forest and Tree Cover | 8,27,356.95 | 25.17 | | Scrub | 43,622.64 | 1.33 | | Non Forest | 24,16,489.29 | 73.50 | | Geographical Area of the country | 32,87,468.88 | 100.00 |

India State of Forest Report 2023 (Volume 1) PDF

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