India's forest report 2023:

The report presents a varied picture across states. Madhya Pradesh leads with the largest forest and tree cover (85,724 sq km), followed by Arunachal Pradesh (67,083 sq km) and Maharashtra (65,383 sq km).

- Jayashree Nandi and Amit Bathla

NEW DELHI/DEHRADUN: India's total forest and tree cover has grown by 1,445 square kilometers - an area equivalent to Delhi - reaching 827,357 sq km or 25.17% of the country's geographical area, according to data released by the government on Saturday that also revealed a complex picture where increased coverage through plantations runs parallel to significant degradation of natural forests.

The latest biennial State of Forest report by the Forest Survey of India, delayed by more than a year, showed that while India's green cover has grown to encompass 25.17% of its geographical area, almost all the growth (149.13 sq km out of 156.41 sq km) has occurred outside natural forests through plantations and agroforestry.

At the same time, over 92,000 sq km of natural forests have degraded from dense to open categories in the past decade, raising concerns about the quality of India's forest resources despite the headline growth in numbers.

"I am happy to introduce here the achievements made by our country in an important area of carbon sequestration," said Bhupender Yadav, Union environment minister, at the report's launch at the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun.