Question : Forest Cover

(a) the names of States where forest cover has increased/decreased during the last three years, State/UT-wise;
(b) the details of the schemes implemented by the Government during the last few years to increase forestcover and develop new forest areas in various cities of the country, State/UT-wise including Madhya Pradesh;
(c) whether the Government has any scheme to increase forest coverage on the basis of their utility and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise; and
(d) the status of forest cover in Maharashtra particularly Thane district and SidhiLokSabha Constituency of Madhya Pradesh?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

(a) Forest Survey of India (FSI),Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry carries out the assessment of forest cover of the country biennially since 1987 and the findings are published in 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 National Forest Inventory.As per ISFR 2019, the total forest and tree cover of the country is 8,07,276 square kilometers which is 24.56 % of the geographical area of the country. There is an increase of 13,209 square kilometer of forest and tree cover at the national level in the ISFR-2019 as compared to the ISFR- 2015.The State/UTs wise details of change in forest and tree cover as compared with ISFR-2019 and ISFR-2015 is given in Annexure.

(b) & (c) Various schemes are being implemented by Central and State Government for increase inforest cover of the country.These include National Afforestation Programme (NAP) and Green India Mission (GIM) being implemented by the 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, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, Compensatory Afforestation Funds under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA). Afforestation activities are also taken up under various schemes of State Government /UT Administration.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is also implementing National Agroforestry Policy 2014 with an objective to meet the demand of timber, food, fuel, fodder, fertilizer, fibre and other agroforestry products, conserving the natural resources and forest; protecting the environment & providing environmental security; and increasing the forest/tree cover. Also, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root & tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo. These schemes are implemented in all over the country including the State of Madhya Pradesh.

(d) The Forest Survey of India, Dehradun assess the forest cover of the country district wise. As per ISFR-2019, the total forest cover for the State of Maharashtra is 50,777.56 square kilometre which is 16.5% of the total geographical area of the State. The total forest cover of Thane District of Maharashtra is 2998.09 square kilometre which is 31.37% of the total geographical area of the district. The forest cover of Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh is 1969.16 square kilometre which is 40.59% of total geographical area of the district.

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