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List of states where forest cover increased in last 4 years

Largest Forest in India; Forest plays a major role in the lives of people by providing food, timber, gum and shelter to the wild

By Ground Report 01 Jan 2024

New Update

List of states where forest cover increased in last 4 years

The 2023 State of India’s Environment report highlights that India's total forest cover has increased by a little more than 0.5% between 2017 and 2021. However, the report also cautions that this seemingly positive development has some caveats.

The report highlights that very dense forests, which are critical for carbon sequestration and absorb maximum carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, occupy just 3% of India's total forest cover. This underscores the need for more focused conservation efforts to protect these forests and prevent their degradation.

The increase in India's forest cover is certainly a positive development. However, as you mentioned, the distribution of the increase among different types of forests is a cause for concern.

State/UTs details of Forest Cover

S. No	State/UT	Geo-graphical Area (GA)	Total Forest Cover	Scrub
1	Andhra Pradesh	1,62,968	29,784	8,276
2	Arunachal Pradesh	83,743	66,431	797
3	Assam	78,438	28,312	228
4	Bihar	94,163	7,381	236
5	Chhattisgarh	1,35,192	55,717	615
6	Delhi	1,483	195.00	0.38
7	Goa	3,702	2,244	0
8	Gujarat	1,96,244	14,926	2,828
9	Haryana	44,212	1,603	159
10	Himachal Pradesh	55,673	15,443	322
11	Jharkhand	79,716	23,721	584
12	Karnataka	1,91,791	38,730	4,611
13	Kerala	38,852	21,253	30
14	Madhya Pradesh	3,08,252	77,493	5,457
15	Maharashtra	3,07,713	50,798	4,247
16	Manipur	22,327	16,598	1,215
17	Meghalaya	22,429	17,046	663
18	Mizoram	21,081	17,820	1
19	Nagaland	16,579	12,251	824
20	Odisha	1,55,707	52,156	4,924
21	Punjab	50,362	1,847	34
22	Rajasthan	3,42,239	16,655	4,809
23	Sikkim	7,096	3,341	296
24	Tamil Nadu	1,30,060	26,419	758
25	Telangana	1,12,077	21,214	2,911
26	Tripura	10,486	7,722	33
27	Uttar Pradesh	2,40,928	14,818	563
28	Uttarakhand	53,483	24,305	392
29	West Bengal	88,752	16,832	156
30	A & N Islands	8,249	6,744	1
31	Chandigarh	114	22.88	0.38
32	Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu	602	227.75	4.85
33	Jammu & Kashmir	2,22,236	21,387	284
34	Ladakh	2,22,236	2,272	1.35
35	Lakshadweep	30	27.10	0.00
36	Puducherry	490	53.30	0.00
Total		32,87,469	7,13,789	21.71

The fact that most of the increase has occurred in the open forest category, which includes commercial plantations, suggests that the increase may not necessarily represent a gain in biodiversity or ecosystem health.

According to the India State of Forest Report 2023, three southern states (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka) and two eastern states (Odisha and Jharkhand) have recorded the highest increase in forest area.

Largest forest in India

Covering a total area of 77, 493 km2, Madhya Pradesh holds the biggest forest area-wise in India. Here's a breakdown of the largest forest cover in India.

The Satpura forest, located in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, holds the title of the largest forest in India. With an area covering 77,493 square kilometers (30,000 sq mi), it stands as the largest contiguous forest in India. A variety of wildlife, including tigers, leopards, elephants, and bears, call the Satpura forest their home.

Several tribal communities also reside here, having traditionally relied on the forest for their livelihood. UNESCO recognizes the Satpura forest as a World Heritage Site. It serves as an important water source for the people of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh contributes to climate regulation and combats soil erosion. Let's discover some other large forests in India:

Forest Name	Area (sq.km)
Sundarbans	10,000
Nagarhole	6,183
Kaziranga	1,030
Kanha	940
Gir	1,412
Bhimashankar	551
Bandipur	874
Dudhwa	1,290

State with the Largest forest in India

State	Area of forest cover (in sq. km)	Details
Madhya Pradesh	77,493	Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country.
Arunachal Pradesh	66,431	Arunachal Pradesh has the second-largest forest cover in India.
Chhattisgarh	55,717	Chhattisgarh ranks third in terms of forest cover in India.
Odisha	52,156	Odisha has the fourth-largest forest cover in the country.
Maharashtra	50,978	Maharashtra ranks fifth in India in terms of forest cover

States with increased forest area

State	Forest area 21	Forest area 2019	Increase (in sq km)
Andhra Pradesh	29,784	29,137	647
Telangana	21,214	20,582	632
Odisha	52,156	51,619	537
Karnataka	38,730	38,575	155
Jharkhand	23,721	23,611	110

It is worth noting that these increases in forest area may not necessarily reflect a gain in natural forest cover, as some of the gains may be due to the establishment of commercial plantations or other forms of land use change.

Therefore, it is important to carefully examine the quality and composition of the forest cover to assess the ecological and conservation benefits of these changes.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has been running the Nagar Van Yojana (NVY) since 2020. This program aims to create 400 Nagar Vans and 200 Nagar Vatika across the country from 2020 to 2025. The funding for this comes from the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAMPA).

The goal of NVY is to increase green spaces in urban and suburban areas, improve biodiversity, provide ecological benefits, and enhance the quality of life for city residents. So far, the Ministry has approved 270 projects under NVY, costing a total of Rs.238.64 Crore.

Forest land diversion state-wise data

The government passed the Forest Conservation Act in 1980, and since then, they have used a lot of forest land for other purposes. This land is roughly seven times the size of Delhi. They used the most forest land for other purposes in 1990 and 2000.

On August 7, 2023, the government announced in the Lok Sabha that various entities have used a significant amount of forest land for other purposes in the last 15 years. Over the last 5 years, they have primarily used this forest land for roads and mining.

State/UT	Forest Land Converted for Non-Forest Use (in hectares)
Jammu and Kashmir	450.65
Himachal Pradesh	2,512.65
Uttarakhand	3,368.89
Punjab	2,391.57
Uttar Pradesh	4,090.64
Sikkim	124.87
Chandigarh	0.46
Bihar	1,852.75
Haryana	2,161.49
Rajasthan	2,972.12
Gujarat	8,064.76
Dadra and Nagar Haveli	85.05
Delhi	2.43
Daman and Diu	18.41
Madhya Pradesh	19,730.36
Maharashtra	2,137.89
Goa	0
Assam	1,357.17
Meghalaya	33.97
Mizoram	603.75
Manipur	392.89
Tripura	1,153.65
Jharkhand	4,416.55
West Bengal	621.68
Odisha	13,304.79
Chhattisgarh	2,802.38
Telangana	3,706.52
Andhra Pradesh	1,946.61
Arunachal Pradesh	7,448.34
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	-100
Total	90,001.15 (hectares)

In the last five years, users have applied 43% of all the forest land to roads and mining. Many have also used a significant amount of forest land for power lines, irrigation, defense projects, hydro projects, and railways.

People have also used a lot of forest land for things like canals, hospitals, drinking water, transforming forest villages into other types of villages, industries, fiber optic cables, pipelines, rehabilitation, schools, solar energy, thermal energy, wind energy, and village electrification.

Funds released from 2017-18 to 2022-23 for Green forest

S. No.	States	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
1	Andhra Pradesh	0.45	2.67	Nil	Nil	2.02	Nil
2	Arunachal Pradesh	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	13.43	Nil
3	Chhattisgarh	10.95	5.36	5.04	1.66	6.12	Nil
4	Haryana	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	9.55	Nil
5	Himachal Pradesh	Nil	Nil	Nil	17.09	Nil	Nil
6	Jammu & Kashmir	Nil	Nil	Nil	25.73	Nil	6.49
7	Karnataka	0.86	1.62	2.21	2.35	4.45	2.93
8	Kerala	Nil	Nil	16.32	Nil	Nil	Nil
9	Madhya Pradesh	Nil	24.16	30.65	Nil	18.29	17.93
10	Maharashtra	Nil	10.30		Nil	Nil	Nil
11	Manipur	6.42	4.89	4.16	6.74	9.93	5.45
12	Mizoram	20.00	22.36	17.71	2.99	29.86	36.27
13	Odisha	1.41	4.74	14.19	26.01	17.74	8.48
14	Punjab	6.22		3.19		3.32	2.7393
15	Sikkim	Nil	3.32	3.12	2.19	7.77	6.57
16	Uttarakhand	Nil	Nil	Nil	27.89	33.99	28.40
17	West Bengal	Nil	Nil	9.43	Nil	Nil	0.76
Total		46.30	79.43	106.01	112.65	156.46	116.01

States use the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAMPA) to replace lost forests due to development projects, by the CAF Act 2016 and CAF Rules 2018. Plans are drafted for wildlife conservation, soil preservation, etc., to mitigate the effects of forest land diversion.

Various programs and schemes also carry out afforestation activities. These include the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the National Bamboo Mission, the Sub-Mission on Agroforestry, and others. These are run by different departments of the State Government/UT Administration, Non-Government Organizations, Civil Society, Corporate bodies, etc. These combined efforts have been successful in preserving and increasing the forest cover in the country.