CDS (I) 2022 General Knowledge · Question 34 of 120

Correct — B, Lakshadweep. On the India State of Forest Report 2021, the assessment current when this paper was set, Lakshadweep has 27.10 sq km of forest cover against a geographical area of just 30 sq km — 90.33 per cent, the highest share of any State or Union Territory in the country. The next highest anywhere is the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 81.75 per cent. Of the three States offered, Mizoram is not among them, and the best of the three is Arunachal Pradesh at 79.33 per cent, with Nagaland at 73.90 per cent. All of them trail the tiny coral territory, because on an island of thirty square kilometres the dense coconut and other tree cover that clothes almost the whole surface counts as forest cover under the Forest Survey of India's canopy-density definition.

• (a)Arunachal Pradesh — Arunachal Pradesh has by far the largest forest cover of the three States here, 66,431 sq km, and the second largest in India by area. But as a share of its own geographical area that is 79.33 per cent on ISFR 2021 — high, and still eleven points below Lakshadweep.
• (c)Nagaland — Nagaland is 73.90 per cent on ISFR 2021, fifth among the States by this measure behind Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Manipur, and well behind Lakshadweep.
• (d)Mizoram — Mizoram is the answer to the question the report itself highlights — at 84.53 per cent it leads all States. But the stem asks about States and Union Territories together, and on that wider list Lakshadweep at 90.33 per cent comes first.

Forest cover, as the Forest Survey of India measures it, is all land of more than one hectare with a tree canopy density above 10 per cent, whatever its legal status and whoever owns it. That is why orchards, bamboo and palm stands count. The India State of Forest Report is published every two years from Dehradun; the 2021 edition, released on 13 January 2022, put India's forest cover at 7,13,789 sq km or 21.71 per cent of the country's geographical area, with tree cover adding a further 2.91 per cent for a combined 24.62 per cent.

The item turns on one word in the stem — the phrase States and Union Territories. The report's own summary paragraph reads that Mizoram at 84.53 per cent has the highest percentage of forest cover, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland; but that sentence is explicitly about States from the north-eastern region. Widen the field to Union Territories and Lakshadweep at 90.33 per cent goes to the top, with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands second at 81.75 per cent. A candidate who has memorised the north-east ranking and skimmed the stem will answer Mizoram, find it absent from the options and then reach for Arunachal Pradesh or Nagaland. The other useful contrast is between share and size: Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover by area, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra, and none of those five leads on percentage.

• ISFR 2021: Lakshadweep has 27.10 sq km of forest cover in a geographical area of 30 sq km, or 90.33 per cent — the highest share among all States and Union Territories.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands stand at 81.75 per cent; among States, Mizoram leads at 84.53 per cent, then Arunachal Pradesh 79.33, Meghalaya 76.00, Manipur 74.34 and Nagaland 73.90.
• India's total forest cover in ISFR 2021 was 7,13,789 sq km, 21.71 per cent of the geographical area; forest and tree cover together came to 24.62 per cent.
• Forest cover is defined by canopy density above 10 per cent over more than one hectare, irrespective of ownership or legal status.
• By area rather than share, the largest forest cover is in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.

• Reading a States-only ranking as if it covered Union Territories — the whole question hinges on that.
• Confusing the largest forest cover by area with the highest percentage of geographical area.
• Assuming a coconut-covered coral island cannot be forest — under the canopy-density definition it is.

As a highest or lowest ranking item, as an ascending or descending order of four named States, or as a statement item on ISFR figures for a stated year.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  As per the India State of Forest Report 2021, India's forest cover as a percentage of its geographical area was closest to

  • (a)17.71 per cent
  • (b)21.71 per cent
  • (c)24.62 per cent
  • (d)33.00 per cent

  Answer(b) 21.71 per cent — forest cover alone; 24.62 per cent is forest and tree cover together, and 33 per cent is the National Forest Policy target.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following States had the highest percentage of its geographical area under forest cover as per the India State of Forest Report 2021?

  • (a)Arunachal Pradesh
  • (b)Meghalaya
  • (c)Mizoram
  • (d)Manipur

  Answer(c) Mizoram — 84.53 per cent, ahead of Arunachal Pradesh 79.33, Meghalaya 76.00 and Manipur 74.34.