Delhi's green cover increased from 21.88% to 23.06% in 2 years: Report

Delhi's green cover has increased from 21.88 per cent to 23.06 per cent of its geographical area in the last two years, according to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) report released by the Union Environment Ministry on Thursday.

Delhi's tree cover increased from 129 square km in 2019 to 147 square km. The overall green cover (forest cover and tree cover) increased from 324.44 sq km to 342 sq km, according to the report.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the city is a nation-wide leader in pro-environment activities. The Arvind Kejriwal government is on track to plant 33,00,000 saplings by March 2022, he said.

The report showed a slight increase in moderate dense forest in Delhi from 56.42 sq km in 2019 to 56.60 sq km in 2021.

There is no change in the very dense forest (6.2 sq km). The open forest area, however, has reduced slightly from 132.30 sq km in 2019 to 131.68 sq km.

All lands with tree canopy density of 10 percent and above but less than 40 percent are considered open forest.

Moderately dense forests have a tree canopy density of 40 percent and more but less than 70 percent, while very dense forests have a tree canopy density of 70 percent and above.