As per the state of forest report 2021, the forest cover in India is 7,13,789 sq km. This area is 21.71 % of the total geographical area of India. The total recorded forest area (RFA) in India is 23.58 % (7,75,288 sq km) of the total geographical area. Do you know what is the difference between forest cover and recorded forest area? Let’s find out.
What is the difference between forest cover and recorded forest area?
The difference between forest cover and the recorded forest area is that the recorded forest area is the land listed as ‘forest land’ in government records. There may not be trees growing on the land. The forest cover area is any area of more than 1 hectare with a tree canopy density of more than 10 %. This is determined using satellites.
The total forest and tree cover in India is 24.62 % (8,09,537 sq km) of the total geographical area of the country.
The recorded forest area is much more as compared with forest cover. Madhya Pradesh is the state with the highest forest cover as well as recorded forest area.
Lakshadweep has zero recorded forest area.
As forest cover area is determined using remote sensing (using satellites), it is more accurate.
Northeast India has a forest cover of 1,69,521 sq km. The region accounts for 23.75 percent of the total forest cover in the country.
