List of how many forests and percentage of forest cover in India by state.

Tree density Tree density is the quantification of how closely the trees are growing in a hectare area. It is not the exact number of trees in the forest but, serves as an estimate to the foresters. The tree density of an area should be mentioned by the working Plan officer (WPO) or Divisional Forest Officer (Working Plan) after his field inspection of the lowest possible forest unit or compartment in the CH-4 form of compartment history. The compartment history forms are to be maintained at the Forest range and Forest division offices. The working Plan code-2014 mentions in para 105 that the density should also be mentioned on the stock map prepared by the WPO/DFO in decimal figures. The crown density is similar to the tree density. A forest area with a density of more than 0.4 is considered a good forest area and a forest area with less than 0.4 tree density is considered degraded forest.

Forest cover Forest cover is the total geographical area declared as forest by the government. As of 2021, the total forest cover in India is 80.9 million hectares, which is 21.71 per cent of the total geographical area. There is a 1,540 sq.km increase in forest cover over 2019. Madhya Pradesh has the highest forest cover by area followed by Arunachal Pradesh. Mizoram has the highest forest cover in terms of percentage of total geographical area.

Ministry of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change used the mid-resolution satellite data on LISS-III data from Indian remote sensing satellite. Minister of environment forest and climate change Bhupendra Yadav released the Indian forest survey report 2021-22 on 13 January 2022.

As per the report, 17 Indian states have a forest cover of over 33%.

Forest cover over the years

YearTotal forest area (in sq km)% of forested area%change2021713,78921.71% 0.04%2019712,24921.67% 0.13%2017708,27321.54% 0.20%2015701,67321.34% 0.11%2013697,89821.23% 0.18%2011692,02721.05%

2021

The forest cover in 2021 in India by state and union territory as published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) is shown in the table below.

Very Dense= All lands with tree canopy density of 70 percent ( 0.7 tree density) and above.

Moderately Dense= All lands with tree canopy density of 40 percent and more but less than 70 percent ( 0.4 to 0.7 tree density).

Open Forest= All lands with tree canopy density of 10 percent and more but less than 40 percent (0.1 to 0.4 tree density). (Area in square kilometers) State / UT Zone Geographical Area Very dense Moderately dense Open forest Total forest area % of the forested area before As of 2023 Andhra Pradesh Southern 18.28% 22.63% Arunachal Pradesh North Eastern 79.33% 92.86% Assam North Eastern 36.09% 23.36% Bihar Eastern 7.84% 6.64% Chhattisgarh Central 41.21% 46.89% Delhi Northern 13.15% 11.78% Goa Western 60.62% 34.75% Gujarat Western 7.61% 10.91% Haryana Northern 3.63% 0.74% Himachal Pradesh Northern 27.73% 24.99% Jharkhand Eastern 29.76% 28.10% Karnataka Southern 20.19% 16.13% Kerala Southern 27.79% 27.83% Madhya Pradesh Central 25.14% 28.31% Maharashtra Western 16.51% 16.94% Manipur North Eastern 74.34% 79.51% Meghalaya North Eastern 76% 39.32% Mizoram North Eastern 84.53% 77.75% Nagaland North Eastern 73.9% 52.08% Odisha Eastern 33.5% 35.13% Punjab Northern 3.67% 4.86% Rajasthan Northern 4.87% 8.10% Sikkim North Eastern 47.08% 75.79% Tamil NaduSouthern 20.31% 16.54% Telangana Southern 18.93% 24.70% Tripura North Eastern 73.64% 59.99% Uttar Pradesh Northern 6.15% 7.54% Uttarakhand Northern 45.44% 63.51% West Bengal Eastern 18.96% 13.53% Andaman and Nicobar Islands Southern 81.75% 94.36% Chandigarh Northern 20.07% 25.16% Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Western 37.83% 42.91% Jammu and Kashmir Northern 39.15% 55.65% Ladakh Northern 1.35% 77.77% Lakshadweep Southern 90.33% 50.47% Puducherry Southern 10.88% 0.80% Total 24.45%

2017 The forest cover in 2017 in India by state and union territory as published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) is shown in the table below.

Very Dense= All lands with tree canopy density of 70 percent ( 0.7 tree density) and above.

Moderately Dense= All lands with tree canopy density of 40 percent and more but less than 70 percent ( 0.4 to 0.7 tree density).

Open Forest= All lands with tree canopy density of 10 percent and more but less than 40 percent (0.1 to 0.4 tree density).

Scrub= All forest lands with poor tree growth mainly of small or stunted trees canopy density less than 10 percent (Less than 0.1 tree density).

(Area in square kilometers) State / UT Geographical Area Very dense Moderately dense Open forest Total forest area % of forested area % change since 2015 Andhra Pradesh 162,968 1,957 14,051 12,139 28,147 17.27% +1.31% Arunachal Pradesh 83,743 20,721 30,955 15,288 66,964 79.96% -0.23% Assam 78,438 2,797 10,192 15,116 28,105 35.83% +0.72% Bihar 94,163 332 3,260 3,707 7,299 7.75% +0.05% Chhattisgarh 135,192 7,064 32,215 16,268 55,547 41.09% -0.01% Delhi 1,483 7 56 129 192 20.6% +0.25% Goa 3,702 538 576 1,115 2,229 60.21% +0.51% Gujarat 196,244 378 5,200 9,179 14,757 7.52% +0.02% Haryana 44,212 28 452 1,108 1,588 3.59% +0.02% Himachal Pradesh 55,673 3,110 6,705 5,285 15,100 27.12% +0.71% Jammu and Kashmir 222,236 4,075 8,579 10,587 23,241 10.46% +0.11% Jharkhand 79,716 2,598 9,686 11,269 23,553 29.55% +0.04% Karnataka 191,791 4,502 20,444 12,604 37,550 19.58% +0.57% Kerala 38,852 1,663 9,407 8,251 20,321 52.30% +2.68% Madhya Pradesh 308,252 6,563 34,571 36,280 77,414 25.11% -0.00% Maharashtra 307,713 8,736 20,652 21,294 50,682 16.47% -0.01% Manipur 22,327 908 6,510 9,928 17,346 77.69% +1.18% Meghalaya 22,429 453 9,386 7,307 17,146 76.76% -0.52% Mizoram 21,081 131 5,861 12,194 18,186 86.27% -2.52% Nagaland 16,579 1,279 4,587 6,623 12,489 75.33% -2.71% Odisha 155,707 6,967 21,370 23,008 51,345 32.98% +0.57% Punjab 50,362 8 806 1,023 1,837 3.65% +0.13% Rajasthan 342,239 78 4,340 12,154 16,572 4.84% +0.14% Sikkim 7,096 1,081 1,575 688 3,344 47.13% -0.13% Tamil Nadu 130,060 3,672 10,979 11,630 26,281 20.21% +0.06% Telangana 112,077 1,596 8,738 10,085 26969 18.22% +0.50% Tripura 10,486 656 5,246 1,824 7,726 73.68% -1.56% Uttar Pradesh 240,928 2,617 4,069 7,993 14,679 6.09% +0.12% Uttarakhand 53,483 4,969 12,884 6,442 24,295 45.43% +0.04% West Bengal 88,752 2,994 4,147 9,706 16,847 18.98% +0.02% Andaman and Nicobar Islands 8,249 5,678 684 380 6,742 81.73% -0.11% Chandigarh 114 1 14 6 22 18.91% -0.09% Dadra and Nagar Haveli 491 0 80 127 207 42.16% +0.20% Daman and Diu 111 1 6 13 20 18.46% +0.79% Lakshadweep 30 0 17 10 27 90.33% 0.13% Puducherry 490 0 18 36 54 10.95% -0.67% Total 3,287,469 98,158 308,318 301,797 708,273 21.54% +0.21%

2015 According to Forest Survey of India (FSI), the forest cover by State/UT in India in 2015 is listed below.

Very Dense= All lands with tree canopy density of 70 percent and above.

Moderately Dense= All lands with tree canopy density of 40 percent and more but less than 70 percent.

Open Forest= All lands with tree canopy density of 10 percent and more but less than 40 percent.

(Area in square kilometers) State / UT Geographical Area Very dense Moderately dense Open forestAndhra Pradesh 162,968 421 14,352 11,233Arunachal Pradesh 83,743 20,806 31,181 15,167Assam 78,438 1,425 11,256 14,857Bihar 94,163 248 3,362 3,644Chhattisgarh 135,192 7,001 32,305 16,253Delhi 1,483 6.94 57.15 154.68Goa 3,702 536 580 1,094Gujarat 196,244 378 5,198 9,134Haryana 44,212 28 444 1,108Himachal Pradesh 55,673 3,225 6,387 5,095Jammu and Kashmir 222,236 4,061 8,815 10,112Jharkhand 79,716 2,601 9,692 11,231Karnataka 191,791 1,783 20,177 14,489Kerala 38,852 1,529 9,328 8,421Madhya Pradesh 308,252 6,586 34,837 36,003Maharashtra 307,713 8,685 20,792 21,222Manipur 22,327 729 5,964 10,390Meghalaya 22,429 417 9,555 7,290Mizoram 21,081 135 5,800 12,782Nagaland 16,579 1,284 4,690 6,965Odisha 155,707 6,985 21,470 22,005Punjab 50,362 0 733 1,038Rajasthan 342,239 77 4,414 11,615Sikkim 7,096 499 2,157 697Tamil Nadu 130,060 3,005 10,472 12,731Telangana 112,077 465 11,340 8,049Tripura 10,486 110 4,699 3,111Uttar Pradesh 240,928 2,171 4,043 8,187Uttarakhand 53,483 4,804 13,662 5,806West Bengal 88,752 2,943 4,176 9,707Andaman and Nicobar Islands 8,249 5,686 685 380Chandigarh 114 1.36 13.92 6.38Dadra and Nagar Haveli 491 0 80 126Daman and Diu 111 1.4 5.82 12.39Lakshadweep 30 0 17.22 9.84Puducherry 490 0 28.78 28.17 Total 3,287,469 88,633 312,739 300,123

See also List of countries by forest area List of forests in India Indian Forest Service

References