Question: In which state of India has the highest forest area (year 2020)? (IBPS AFO 2020)
Options:
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Rajasthan
Punjab
🔑Key Points:
-Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released the India State of Forest Report-2021.
-Largest forest cover in India: Madhya Pradesh > Arunachal Pradesh > Chhattisgarh > Odisha > Maharashtra.
⚡Important Points
-About India State of Forest Report 2021:-
-India State of Forest Report-2021 is released by MOEF&CC.
-It is a biennial report (released once in 2 years).
-The first survey was published in 1987, and ISFR 2021 is the 17th.
-Three categories of forests are surveyed –Â
-Very dense forests (canopy density over 70%),Â
-Moderately dense forests (40-70%) andÂ
-Open forests (10-40%).
-Scrubs (canopy density less than 10%) are also surveyed but not categorised as forests.
-India’s forest cover is now 7,13,789 square kilometres, 21.71% of the country’s geographical area, an increase from 21.67% in 2019.
-The states that have shown the highest increase in forest cover are Telangana (3.07%), Andhra Pradesh (2.22%) and Odisha (1.04%).
-Area-wise: Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.