Current Affair 1:

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 is a biennial publication by the Forest Survey of India, a primary information document on the country's forest resources.

India State of Forest Report 2023 is 18th cycle of biennial assessment of forest and tree resources in the country.

Forest Survey of India (FSI) is a premier national organization under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. It is responsible for regularly assessing and monitoring the country's forest resources. In addition, it is also engaged in providing training, research, and extension services.   Established on June 1, 1981, the Forest Survey of India succeeded the "Pre-investment Survey of Forest Resources" (PISFR), a project initiated in 1965 by the Government of India with the sponsorship of FAO and UNDP.   The main objective of PISFR was to ascertain the availability of raw materials for the establishment of wood-based industries in selected areas of the country.

We will see every section of the report with images. You will enjoy the reading.

Over the years, several technological and methodological advances have significantly improved the forest cover mapping conducted by FSI. The advancements include use of better satellite data, higher scales of mapping, and improvement in methods of interpretation.

Table 1.2 provides a brief information on the major land use patterns in the country:

The last GFRA was published in the year 2020 by FAO. As per the GFRA:

Few definitions: Tree and Forest cover.

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%).

1. The current assessment shows an increase of 156.41 km2 in the Forest Cover at national level as compared to the previous assessment.
2. The total forest and tree cover of the country has increased by 1445.81 km2 as compared to the last assessment of 2021.
3. 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 ).
4. 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 ).

Ok remember one thing, Forest cover (FC) is divided in two categories below:

1. The States showing maximum increase of Forest Cover inside the RFA (recorded forest area) are Mizoram (192.92 km2 ) followed by Odisha (118.17 km2 ), Karnataka (93.14 km2 ).
2. 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 ).

1. 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 ).
2. Forest cover of Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive Areas (WGESA) has decreased in last 10 years.
3. Forest Cover in hill districts of the country has increased by 234.14 km2.
4. The total forest and tree cover in the North Eastern region has decreased.
5. The major mega cities are Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.

Delhi has the largest forest cover (194.15 km2 ) followed by Mumbai (110.84 km2 ) and Bengaluru (89.61 km2 ).

1. The total Mangrove cover of the country is 4,991.68 km2 , which accounts for 0.15 % of the country’s total geographical area. In comparison to the 2021 assessment, there has been a net decrease of 7.43 km2 in the country’s Mangrove coverage.

If question comes in MAINS about importance of mangroves, you can use this extract:

If you see global status of Mangroves:

Considering the above, and in line with the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030, Government of India has recently announced Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI). MISHTI is a government-led initiative with an aim of increasing the mangrove cover along the coastline and on salt-pans along the country.

West Bengal and Gujarat tops the list:

 

 

1. Top three Stares where fire incidences have been observed the most in 2023- 24 season are Uttarakhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

1. The growing stock is the total volume of all living trees in a forest area. It's a key parameter for assessing the health and productivity of a forest, and is used to calculate the economic value of forests.

 

There is a total increase of 262.32 M m3 (4.25%) in the growing stock of the country as compared to the estimates reported in ISFR 2021. Arunachal Pradesh has maximum growing stock (457.83 M m3) in forests.

If I give you example:

1. There is an increase of 5,227 km2 in the bamboo bearing area of the country as compared to the previous assessment.

Madhya Pradesh has maximum bamboo bearing area followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha.

1. There is an increase of 81.5 Mt of carbon stock as compared to the estimates of previous assessment.

Estimation of carbon stock is carried out for all the carbon pools, as shown in Figure: (Soil organic carbon is the largest pool of forest carbon accounting for (55.06%).)

Arunachal Pradesh has maximum carbon stock of 1,021 Mt followed by Madhya Pradesh (608 Mt), Chhattisgarh (505 Mt) and Maharashtra (465 Mt).

1. 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.

If we talk about India:

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 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

1. Soil organic carbon (SOC) PER UNIT AREA has increased as compared to2021 assessment.

As per the report, Sikkim has highest SOC per unit area (91.05 t/ha), while Delhi has the lowest SOC per unit area (42.22 t/ha).

1. 42.25 % of forest area is having moderate to very dense grass while 44.14 % of forest area is having scanty to no grass.

 

1. At national level, only about 22.05 % forest area is not prone to grazing. In general, the incidences of grazing have reduced in the past decade.

1. The instances of heavy and moderate soil erosion have increased in last decade.

1.  

 

Few definitions mentioned in report:

It is revealed that 1.79 % of Forest area is heavily affected by Girdling.

Any further reference, you can see PDF:

https://fsi.nic.in/uploads/isfr2023/isfr_book_eng-vol-1_2023.pdf

 

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