The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate, Bhupender Yadav while quoting the annual report released by the Indian State of Forests (ISFR 2023) on December 2024 said, J&K has the most productive forest covers among all states and Union Territories.
The report said that J&K highest growing stock among all states/UTs is at 296.22 cum/ha, followed by Himachal Pradesh at 2nd position, which has 219.46 cum/ha.
J&K also has the highest Carbon stock per ha among UTs, at 174.10 tons/ha, and has increased forest cover by 34.78 sq km.
To celebrate the achievements of the J&K Forest Department reported in the latest release of ISFR 2023, all the HoDs and senior officers of the J&K Forest Department led by the PCCF and HoFF, B K Singh, participated in a plantation drive held at the FRMC Complex, Narwal, and Jammu today.
Two former PCCFs of the J&K Forest Department also participated in the plantation drive.
It was informed that the leftover portion of the FRMC complex has been selected for Plantation Drive, where a variety of indigenous plant saplings were planted.
It was stated by the PCCF & Hoff that all the leftover portions of the FRMC complex shall be covered with plantations to erect a green barrier around the main office building.
Apart from that, the increase of 25.17% breaks down to 21.76% of forest cover (7.15 lakh sq. km) and 3.41% of tree cover (1,289 sq. km).
The Forest Survey of India (FSI) defines “forest cover” as land with tree canopy density exceeding 10% and covering at least one hectare. Thus “forest” in ISFR includes plantations.
The Government of India passed the Forest Conservation Amendment Act 2023 to streamline the forest conservation laws while addressing developmental needs.
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