The forest cover has increased approximately more than 95.59 sq. km. across 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh, said Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in the Parliament on Monday.
In response to a question by Nellore MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, the Union Minister informed that Vizianagaram and SPSR Nellore districts recorded the maximum growth in forest cover, at 35.35 sq. km. and 17.77 sq. km. respectively.
Among other districts, the forest cover increased to 10.68 sq. km. in Konaseema, 9.34 sq. km. in Krishna, 9.16 sq. km. in West Godavari, 6.04 sq. km. in Srikakulam, 4.12 sq. km. in Kakinada, 0.78 sq. km. in Sri Sathya Sai and 0.25 sq. km. in Guntur.
“The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 released on December 21, 2024, by the Forest Survey of India, there is a net increase of 1445.81 sq. km. in forest and tree cover of the country, as compared to ISFR 2021,” the Union Minister added.
“The total forest and tree cover of the country is 8.27 lakh sq. km. which is 25.17% of the geographical area of the country. As per ISFR 2023, the forest cover of the country is 7.15 lakh sq. km., which also includes the eco-sensitive areas of Western Ghats,” he informed.
Further, there has been a net increase of 16,630.25 sq. km. in forest cover during the last 10 years in the country between ISFR 2013 and ISFR 2023, which includes an increase of 3,465.12 sq. km. in the category of very dense forest in the eco-sensitive area of Western Ghats.
Published – February 10, 2025 08:28 pm IST