Bhubaneswar: The total forest cover in Odisha has marginally increased by 0.53 per cent in 2019 as compared to 2017, said the Forest Survey of India in its India State of Forest Cover (ISFC) report, 2019.
According to the survey report, the forest cover in Odisha, which was 51,345 sq km in 2017, increased by 274 sq km in 2019, taking it to a total of 51,619 sq km.
The report said that there has been a gradual rise in the total forest cover over the last 10 years.
Mentioned here under is the total forest cover in the state since 2009:
2009: 48,855 sq km (31.38%)
2011: 48,903 sq km (31.41%)
2013: 50,347 sq km (32.33%)
2015: 50,460 sq km (32.40%)
2017: 51,345 sq km (32.98%)
2019: 51,619 sq km (33.15%)
The report also pointed out that there has been a fall in very dense forest (VDF) cover in the state. The total VDF cover in Odisha, which was 7073 sq km in 2009, decreased to 6970 sq km in 2019. On the other hand, the medium dense forest (MDF) recorded a negligible rise from 21,394 sq km in 2009 to 21,552 sq km in 2019.
The open forest (OF) cover in the state, however, has witnessed a gradual rise. As against 20,338 sq km in 2009, it increased to 23,097 sq km in 2019.
Except Malkangiri, all districts of Odisha recorded an increase in forest cover, the report added.
Among the districts, Kandhamal has the highest forest cover of 5393 sq km (64% of the geographical area) while Bhadrak has the lowest of only 78 sq km (1.34% of the geographical area).
The increase of 274 sq km forest cover in Odisha is the sixth largest state in the country after Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
In terms of total forest cover, Odisha is the fourth largest state after Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the report added.
In the last two years, the Odisha government has carried out massive plantation in more than 6.3 lakh hectares. A number of plantation programmes like Green Mahanadi Mission and Ama Jangala Yojana have resulted in the increase of the forest cover. Besides, efforts have been made to increase the forest cover with the distribution of more than six crore seedlings to the people.
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