BHUBANESWAR: Despite immense pressure on its forests, Odisha has added 1,889 sq km green cover to its geographical landscape in the last one decade, improving its growing stock by 10 per cent for the recorded forest area (RFA) and 58 pc for the tree cover outside (RFA) during the period.
This was stated in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, released by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) recently. The report revealed that it was an important indicator of forest health and productivity. Odisha is fifth among all states in terms of decadal growth of forest cover between 2013 and 2023, the report added.
As per the report, the state’s green cover has increased from 50,544.71 sq km in 2013 to 52,433.56 sq km in 2023, an increase of 3.74 per cent. Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has recorded the highest decadal change of 3,041.43 sq km in its forest cover followed by 3,675.41 sq km in Kerala, 3,083.59 sq km in Karnataka and 2,205.01 sq km in Tamil Nadu.
While Odisha’s decadal change of forest cover is 133.14 sq km within the RFA, it is 1,755.71 sq km for the green cover outside the RFA.
The change has been of significant help for the state in improving its growing stock, one of the key yardsticks to measure the health and productivity of a forest.
As per the report, Odisha’s growing stock in forest area has increased by 23.98 million cubic metre (mm3) from 235.76 mm3 in 2013 to 259.74 mm3 in 2023, registering a growth of 10 per cent in the last one decade.
Similarly, the growing stock for the green cover outside recorded forest area has increased by 43.20 mm3, from 74.49 mm3 in 2013 to 117.69 mm3 in 2023, registering an impressive growth of around 58 per cent during the period.