Almost a fourth of India total land area of sqkm forest and tree cover. While the proportion of this green cover has increased since the last assessment in 2017 – that fits in with India’s goal to increase green cover to a third of its total geographical area – the gains mapped in the latest 2019 report are not across the board as several states and categories of forests have seen a reduction. A look
Total forest cover has increased 11.2% since 1987
The total increase in forest and tree cover – which together make up the country’s green cover – between 2017 and 2019 was 5,188 sqkm. The increase is equivalent to an area the size of Goa and the National Capital Territory of Delhi put together
How forest Cover was mapped
The country’s forest cover includes all patches of land with a tree canopy density of more than 10% and more than 1 hectare in area, irrespective of land use, ownership and species of trees. It is assessed by a wall-to-wall mapping exercise using remote sensing followed by intensive ground verification
P. Source: TOI/31/12/2019 (https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/PrintPages.aspx?doc=TOIDEL/2019/12/31&from=2&to=2&ts=20191231001201&uq=20191030022821)