Parliament Question: Change in forest cover

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1506 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.02.2026 Change in forest cover

1506. SHRI SUKHENDU SEKHAR RAY:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to

state:

(a) the details of change in forest cover as indicated in India State of Forest Report (ISFR 2021 and 2023), State-wise/UT-wise;

(b) the details of dwindling forest cover in the country and the reasons therefor; and

(c) the State/UT-wise yearly targets and achievements under Green India Mission and Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam initiative since their launch? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) & (b) Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, carries out the assessment of forest and tree cover of the country biennially and the findings are published in the India State of Forest Report

(ISFR). The forest cover assessment is a wall-to-wall mapping exercise based on remote sensing supported by intensive ground verification and field data from the National Forest Inventory.

As per ISFR 2023, the forest cover of the country is 7,15,342.61 square kilometer which is

21.76% of the total geographical area of the country. The forest cover of the country has increased by 156.41 square kilometer as compared to the last assessment of ISFR 2021. The State/UT wise details of change in forest cover in the country is given in Annexure-I.

The positive changes in forest cover arise due to natural growth of vegetation, afforestation initiatives, improved protection of plantations and forest areas, increase in trees outside forests, and regeneration in shifting cultivation areas, while negative changes occur due to harvesting of short-rotation plantations, shifting cultivation, encroachment and natural calamities such as storms, floods and landslides.

(c) The National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The Mission aims at protecting, restoring, and enhancing India’s forest and tree cover, while responding to the challenges of climate change through eco-restoration and plantation activities in both forest and non-forest areas.

The implementation of GIM commenced during 2015-16 and it is being implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through the State Forest Departments, based on Annual Plans of Operation (APOs) approved by the Ministry. The State/UT wise yearly targets and achievements under the Green India Mission since its launch are placed at Annexure-II (a) & II (b) respectively.A plantation campaign “एक पेड़ माँ के नाम # Plant4Mother” has been launched on the occasion of World Environment Day 2024 and in the current year also to undertake plantation activities across the country. This campaign follows the “Whole of Government” and “Whole of Society” approach with participation of all stakeholders for increasing the green cover in the country. Under the campaign, during the years 2024-25 and 2025-26, the cumulative progress reported by the States/UTs is more than 268 crore saplings, as against the combined target of plantation of 260 crore saplings for the said period ******Annexure I Annexure referred to in reply of (a) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1506 due for answer on 12.02.2026 regarding ‘Change in Forest Cover’ asked by Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.

State/UT wise change in forest cover between ISFR 2021 and ISFR 2023 (Area in Square kilometre) Total Total Change in forest Forest Forest Geographical cover between S.No. State /UT Cover as Cover as Area (GA) ISFR 2021 and per ISFR per ISFR ISFR 2023 2021 2023 1 Andhra Pradesh 1,62,922.57 30,223.62 30,084.96 -138.66 2 Arunachal Pradesh 83,743.22 65,972.74 65,881.57 -91.17 3 Assam 78,438.00 28,325.31 28,313.55 -11.76 4 Bihar 94,163.00 7,403.26 7,532.45 129.19 5 Chhattisgarh 1,35,192.00 55,830.88 55,811.75 -19.13 6 Delhi 1,483.00 195.36 195.28 -0.08 7 Goa 3,702.00 2,267.22 2,265.72 -1.50 8 Gujarat 1,96,244.00 14,836.57 15,016.64 180.07 9 Haryana 44,212.00 1,628.22 1,614.26 -13.96 10 Himachal Pradesh 55,673.00 15,525.62 15,580.35 54.73 11 Jharkhand 79,716.00 23,706.97 23,765.78 58.81 12 Karnataka 1,91,791.00 39,106.57 39,254.27 147.70 13 Kerala 38,852.00 21,925.94 22,059.36 133.42 14 Madhya Pradesh 3,08,252.11 77,444.98 77,073.44 -371.54 15 Maharashtra 3,07,713.00 50,913.00 50,858.53 -54.47 16 Manipur 22,327.00 16,640.29 16,585.46 -54.83 17 Meghalaya 22,429.00 16,996.84 16,966.84 -30.00 18 Mizoram 21,081.00 17,748.73 17,990.46 241.73 19 Nagaland 16,579.00 12,274.36 12,222.47 -51.89 20 Odisha 1,55,707.00 52,281.67 52,433.56 151.89 21 Punjab 50,362.00 1,846.54 1,846.09 -0.45 22 Rajasthan 3,42,238.99 16,632.01 16,548.21 -83.80 23 Sikkim 7,096.00 3,353.21 3,358.40 5.19 24 Tamil Nadu 1,30,060.00 26,511.18 26,450.22 -60.96 25 Telangana 1,12,122.44 21,279.46 21,179.04 -100.42 26 Tripura 10,486.00 7,680.08 7,584.77 -95.31 27 Uttar Pradesh 2,40,927.56 14,927.37 15,045.80 118.43 28 Uttarakhand 53,483.36 24,326.81 24,303.83 -22.98 29 West Bengal 88,752.00 16,782.11 16,832.33 50.22 30 A & N Islands 8,249.00 6,736.94 6,732.92 -4.02 31 Chandigarh 114.00 23.80 25.00 1.20 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 32 602.00 225.94 225.62 -0.32 and Daman & Diu 33 Jammu & Kashmir 21,262.84 21,346.39 83.55 2,22,236.00 34 Ladakh 2,278.55 2,285.92 7.37 35 Lakshadweep 29.63 27.06 27.06 0.00 36 Puducherry 490.00 44.15 44.31 0.16 Total 32,87,468.88 7,15,186.20 7,15,342.61 156.41Annexure II (a) Annexure referred to in reply of (c) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1506 due for answer on 12.02.2026 regarding ‘Change in Forest Cover’ asked by Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.

The State/UT-wise yearly targets under Green India Mission since its launch i.e. from 2015-16 onwards: (Area in hectares) Total Sl.

States 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 afforestation No. targets 1 Andhra Pradesh - 534 - 2,203 - - 1,656 - - 4,393 2 Arunachal Pradesh - - - - - - 10,777 - - 10,777 3 Chhattisgarh 19,128 - - - - 1,063 4,419 - - 24,610 4 Haryana - - - - - 1,568 - - 1,568 5 Himachal Pradesh - - - - - 5,480 - - - 5,480 6 Jammu & Kashmir - - - - - 2,327 - 1,891 - 4,218 7 Karnataka 760 - - 600 560 515 360 - 2,795 8 Kerala 4,978 - 7,320 - - - - - - 12,298 9 Madhya Pradesh - - - 11,914 11,444 - 7,259 5,000 - 35,617 10 Maharashtra - - - 6,766 - - - - - 6,766 11 Manipur 8,798 - - - 8,122 2,056 1,000 - 19,976 12 Mizoram 19,643 - - - 1,000 - 20,643 13 Odisha 2,178 21 21 6,965 7,450 - 2,108 2,030 - 20,772 14 Punjab 3,018 - - - - 1,600 1,500 1,650 - 7,768 15 Sikkim - - - 1,509 - - 2,474 2,998 - 6,981 16 Uttarakhand 7,483 - - - - 3,562 2,295 3,557 - 16,897 17 West Bengal - - - - 995 - 1,611 - 2,606 18 Uttar Pradesh - - - - - - - - 20,944 20,944 Total 46,343 20,198 7,341 29,957 19,889 22,714 38,238 19,486 20,944 2,25,109Annexure II (b) Annexure referred to in reply of (c) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1506 due for answer on 12.02.2026 regarding ‘Change in Forest Cover’ asked by Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.

The State/UT-wise yearly achievements under Green India Mission since its launch i.e. from 2015-16 onwards: (Area in hectares) Sl. 2015- 2016- 2017- 2018- 2019- 2024- Total States 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 No. 16 17 18 19 20 25 achievements Andhra 1 - 534 - - - 899 - - - - 1,433 Pradesh Arunachal 2 - - - - - - - 4,412 902 5,314 Pradesh 3 Chhattisgarh 19,128 - - - - - - - - - 19,128 4 Haryana - - - - - - - 1,301 - - 1,301 Himachal 5 - - - - - - - 574 556 169 1,299 Pradesh Jammu & 6 - - - - - - 951 115 712 - 1,778 Kashmir 7 Karnataka 760 - - 600 - 560 405 397 - - 2,722 8 Kerala - 2,762 6,253 - 631 2,171 480 - - 12,297 Madhya 9 - - - 10,554 8,236 680 - 7,127 6,234 - 32,831 Pradesh 10 Maharashtra - - - 5,223 - - - - - - 5,223 11 Manipur 8,798 - - - 2,942 2,692 - - 2,056 16,488 12 Mizoram 19,643 - - - - - - - - 19,643 13 Odisha 2,178 21 21 6,965 7,450 1,473 2,603 - - - 20,711 14 Punjab - 1,286 1,732 - - 1,100 875 1,575 600 - 7,168 15 Sikkim - - - 1,509 - - 2,474 2,584 - - 6,567 16 Uttarakhand - - - 7,483 - - 1,706 3,297 2,350 - 14,836 17 West Bengal - - - - - - 995 1,611 - - 2,606 18 Uttar Pradesh - - - - - - - - - - - Total 30,864 24,246 8,006 32,335 16,317 9,825 13,181 18,581 14,864 3,127 1,71,345