As per the 'India State of Forest Report - 2021' which of the following States has registered maximum increase in the forest cover during the last two years?

The correct answer is Andhra Pradesh.

Key Points

• Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change has released the ‘India State of Forest Report 2021’ prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) which has been mandated to assess the forest and tree resources of the country.

Key findings of ISFR 2021:

• According to the report, India's total forest and tree cover is now spread across 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62% of the geographical area of the country.
• The total tree-and-forest cover in the country includes an increase of 1,540 square kilometres of forest cover and 721 sq km of tree cover compared to the 2019 report.
• The top five states in terms of increase in forest cover are Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km), Telangana (632 sq km), Odisha (537 sq km), Karnataka (155 sq km), and Jharkhand (110 sq km). Hence option 2 is the correct answer.
• The gain in forest cover or improvement in forest canopy density may be attributed to better conservation measures, protection, afforestation activities, tree plantation drives, and agroforestry
• Area-wise, Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Maharashtra.
• The report also added that the northeast did not show positive results as the current assessment showed a decrease of forest cover to the extent of 1,020 sq km in the region.
• Arunachal Pradesh lost the maximum forest cover of 257 sq km, followed by Manipur which lost 249 sq km, Nagaland 235 sq km, Mizoram 186 sq km, and Meghalaya 73 sq km.
• The Kanha to Navegaon-Nagzira-Tadoba-Indravati corridor has the highest area under ‘Very Dense Forest’ comprising 857.65 sq km.
• Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
• Mangroves have shown an increase of 17 sq km. India’s total mangrove cover is now 4,992 sq km.
• 35.46% of the forest cover is prone to forest fires. Out of this, 2.81% is extremely prone, 7.85% is very highly prone and 11.51% is highly prone.
• Bamboo forests have grown from 13,882 million culms (stems) in 2019 to 53,336 million culms in 2021.