Question : India State of Forest Report 2017

(a) whether the India State of Forest Report 2017 has been released and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether there is change in forest cover in 2017 over 2015, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) the States that showed most increase in forest area along with top five States in terms of percentage of area under forest, State/UT-wise;
(d) whether any legal provision exists to check deforestation and large scale felling of trees, if so, the details thereof along with the funds allocated, sanctioned and utilized for protection and conservation of forests during each of the last three years and the current years, State/UT-wise;
(e) the progress made so far in preparing comprehensive mapping of forest cover/area in the country; and
(f) the details of the steps taken by the Government to increase the forest cover along with the achievement made so far in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a)& (b) Yes, Madam. The India State of forest Report-2017 was released recently by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The total forest and tree cover of the country, as per the latest “India State of Forest Report 2017” published by Forest Survey of India, is 8,02,088 square kilometers which is 24.39% of the total geographical area of the country. It shows an increase of 8021 square kilometers over that of the India State of Forest Report 2015 (updated).The State-wise details of changes in forest cover and tree cover are given in Annexure-I & II. The probable reason for change in India State of Forest report is given in Annexure-III.

(c) The details of forest cover change in State showing increase is given in Annexure IV. The top five States in term of percentage area under forest is given in Annexure V.

(d) Protection of forests by taking various measures including legal measures as per the extant acts, rules and regulations is primarily the responsibility of respective State/UT Governments. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change supports the efforts of the state/UT Governments in forest protection by providing financial assistance under the erstwhile Intensification of forest Management Scheme (IFMS) which was revised and replaced as Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme (FPM). The details of fund release to States/UTs under the erstwhile IFMS Scheme during 2014-15 to 2016-17 under the revised FPM Scheme during the current financial year (2017-18) is given in Annexure VI.

(e) Forest Survey of India carries out wall to wall mapping of forest cover once in every two years using remote sensing satellite imageries followed by intensive ground truthing. The first India State of Forest Report (ISFR) was published in 1987. The 15th report in this series, i.e. ISFR 2017 was released recently which coincides with three decades of forest cover mapping.

(f) To further increase the forest cover in the country, afforestation programmes are being taken up under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes such as National Afforestation Programme (NAP) and Green India Mission (GIM) being implemented by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Afforestation activities are also taken up under various programmes/funding sources such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) and under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).

National Afforestation Programme (NAP) of the Ministry of Environment & Forests is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for afforestation and eco-restoration of degraded forests and adjoining areas through people’s participation in the country. An amount of Rs. 3778.63 crores has been released to the states to treat an area of 21.78 lakh hectares since inception of this programme during 2000-02 to 2017-18 (as on 28.02.2018).

National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change. So far fund amounting to Rs. 157.19 crore has been released under GIM to nine States for carrying out various activities under the mission, during 2015-16 to 2017-18 (as on 28.02.2018).

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