The ISFR reports present lots of stats, but in this thread, I focus on the headline statistic: trends in India’s total forest cover over time.
So, let’s go… here, in one graph, is a 35-year summary of the official line on India’s forest cover: from 1999, it has been nonstop good news.
India’s forest cover declined until 1997, after which it rose an whopping 45,000 km² — an area greater in extent of Kerala state, or the country of Denmark — over the next three reports. Two key changes made in the 2001 assessment contributed to this: FSI adopted a fully digital analysis workflow, and it dramatically changed its definition of a forest (more on this soon).