Madhya Pradesh, the state with maximum forest cover area

May 31, 2012

As per latest India State of Forest Report 2011, amongst all the Indian states, MP has the maximum Forest Cover area in country.

As per latest India State of Forest Report 2011:

Geographical area of the country is under Forest and Tree cover: 23.81% i.e. 78.29 million hectare
Madhya Pradesh has 11.24% of the total forest land in the country
Arunachal Pradesh with 67,410 kms under forest cover stands, second
Chhattisgarh with a forest cover of 55,870 kms, stands third
As compared to the data of 2009 there is a decline of 367 sq km in country’s forest cover
15 states registered aggregate increase of 5000sq km in their forest cover with Punjab at the forefront with an increase of 100sqkm
12 states/UTs (mainly the NE states) show a loss of 867sqkm forest
Decrease of 281 sq km in Forest cover of Andhra Pradesh is mainly related to harvesting of mature plantation of Eucalyptus & other species
Fall in Forest cover of North East is attributed to the practice of shifting cultivation in this region
In terms of % of forest cover in compared to total geographical area, Mizoram tops the chart with 90.68% followed by Lakshadweep with 84.56%

*Some path-breaking chapters added in 2011 report are concerned with:

Assessment of bamboo resources
Production-consumption assessment of wood based on data stock in India’s forests
Assessment of carbon stock in India’s forests