Odishas forest cover the extent of land covered by forest grew by 537 square km in the past two years, which is third highest among Indian states after Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km) and(632 sq km), the India State of Forest Report 2021 released on Thursday said.
The states increase in the past two years is double the increase in the two preceding years of 2017-2018 when it had gone up by 237 square km. Odishas forest cover has grown by a significant 1.04% in the past two years compared to the countrys Growth of 0.22% since 2019, the biennial report said.
Besides Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, Karnataka and Jharkhand reported increase in the forest cover while other states showed a decline. Odisha now has forest cover over 51,156 of its 1,55,707 square km. The report attributed the growth in the five states to better conservation and protection measures, afforestation and agroforestry.
Odisha also met the national mandate of having at least one-third forest cover which is 33.50% compared to the national Average of 21.71%. Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
Out of the 30 districts of Odisha, the forest cover has decreased in Malkangiri, Dhenkanal,Sundargarh, Rayagada and Keonjhar while it has increased in the others. The survey said 1,134 square km non-forest land has perceptible forest cover.
Odisha saw eight square km rise in mangrove forests or salt-tolerant plant varieties along its coast, which is the highest among the states. Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Balasore have recorded a rise in mangrove forests. The report attributed it to natural regeneration and plantation along banks of rivers near the estuary.
Similipalin Odisha has the second largest forest cover (2,562.86 square ) after Nagarjunsagar (2,932.95 square km) among the 52 Tiger Reserves in the country.