India State of Forest Report 2021 : Less than 11 per cent of total area in India's Northeast is covered by very dense forest

Only 10.95 percentage of total geographical area of India’s northeast region is covered by very dense forest, with tree canopy of 70 per cent and above, states the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2021. Of the total 2,62,179 sq. km area of the region, total land under Very Dense Forest cover in northeast is 28,718 sq. kms. Total forest cover in eight states of the region is estimated to be 64.66 per cent of its total geographical area.

Mizoram has the lowest 0.74 per cent of its land under Very Dense Forest. The state has the highest percentage of forest cover with 84.53 percentage of total geographical area under its forest cover. Arunachal Pradesh has the highest percentage of 25.15 per cent Very Dense Forest cover, followed by Sikkim with 15.53 per cent.

Photo: nezine.com

The IFSR, 2021 data show that North-eastern states have lost 1,020 square kilometres of forest cover in two years between 2019 and 2021. Arunachal Pradesh, the largest north-eastern state of India has lost 267 sq. kms forest cover since 2019. This is followed by Manipur with loss of 249 sq. kms forest cover and Nagaland with 235 sq. kms. The Report highlights that every north-eastern state has lost its forest cover while the country recorded an increase of 1,540 sq. kms at national level.

State-wise percentage of Very Dense Forest in Northeast, ISFR 2021

“The loss in Forest Cover and deterioration of forest canopy may be attributed to shifting cultivation, felling of trees, natural calamities, anthropographic pressure, and developmental activities” it states.

Loss of forest cover in ISFR 2019 and ISFR 2021

The Report also states that altogether 72,482 sq kms of land in the region is under Moderately Dense Forest with tree canopy ranging from 40 percent to 70 per cent. Almost half of the total geographical area of Tripura (49.7 per cent) comes under moderately dense forest cover. Assam has the lowest 12.74 per cent of total area is covered by moderately dense forest.

State-wise percentage of Moderately Dense Forest in Northeast, ISFR 2021

The open forests, where tree canopy is below 40 per cent covers 68,321 sq. kms of total geographical area in north east. Percentage in his category is the highest in Mizoram with 56.68 and lowest in Sikkim with 9.69 per cent.

State-wise percentage of Open Forest in north-eastern states, ISFR, 2021

Mizoram has the highest 84.53 per cent of its geographical land under forest cover, followed by Arunachal Pradesh with 79.33 per cent, Meghalaya with 76 per cent, Manipur with 74.34 per cent, Nagaland with 73.90 per cent and Tripura with 73.64 per cent

“ The Forest Cover includes all lands more than one hectare in area with tree canopy density of more than 10 percent. The Forest cover reported in the ISFR does not make any distinction between the origin of tree crops (whether natural or man-made), or tree species and encompasses all types of lands irrespective of their ownership, land use and legal status. Thus all the tree species along with bamboos, fruit bearing trees, cocoanut palm trees, etc and all the areas including forest, private, community, government institutional land meeting the above criteria, has been defined as Forest Cover”, states the Report.

NEZINE (nezine.com) bureau

Source : https://www.fsi.nic.in/forest-report-2021