In many ecologically sensitive northeastern States where more than 70% of the area is covered by forests, a substantial decline in forest area was recorded in the past decade. Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam recorded more than 1,000 hectares of forest land diverted for non-forest purposes in the past decade. Meanwhile, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram recorded the maximum increase in forest land encroachments over the past two decades among all Indian States.
Forest cover
The chart depicts a State’s forest cover as % of its geographical area. Except for Assam, in the other northeastern States (marked in orange), more than 70% of the geographical area is under forest cover as of 2021.
