Report on the State of Forests in India (ISFR)2023,

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR), which gives a thorough description of the nation's forest cover, has been more than a year behind schedule in its publication. Particularly among forestry authorities, this delay has given rise to conjecture. A division of the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the Forest Survey of India (FSI) publishes the ISFR. The ISFR has been a significant publication since its debut in 1991 and is released every two years.

ISFR 2023 Delay and Illnesses

• The ISFR is published biennially from 1991 and assesses the forest cover of country.
• The 2023 report is the second that has been postponed after a first time in 2007 over diminishing forest cover.
• The 2021 report continued a trend of forest cover increasing slightly, though there are concerns over deforestation and how forests are classified.
• Concerns regarding environmental damage have been raised from the recent forest ban on new development projects with a revised law.
• The Supreme Court directed in February 2024 that the MoEFCC make State Expert Committee (SEC) reports online as part of transparency classification.§
• Global Forest Watch: (natural forest) loss in tree cover from 2001 to 2023 happens on a significant part of all axis, with figure at attractive value up to communicate by this quantity for escape natural forests.
• The MoEFCC minister accepted that certain forest areas have gone due to development projects but pointed out progress in afforestation efforts.
• Assuming that the data is even accurate — and considering it relies so heavily on satellite images, various questions can be raised.