During the year 2021, which state had the largest forest cover in India?

Question

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Correct — B, Madhya Pradesh. The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021, published by the Forest Survey of India and released in January 2022, recorded Madhya Pradesh's forest cover as 77,493 sq km — the largest forest cover of any state or Union Territory, and about 25.1% of MP's own geographical area. Note what the superlative is measured on: MP leads on area of forest, not on the share of the state that is forested. On percentage the leaders are the north-eastern states and Chhattisgarh, and MP is nowhere near the top.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Maharashtra does carry a large forest area — about 50,798 sq km in ISFR 2021 — but that is fifth in the country and roughly two-thirds of Madhya Pradesh's figure. In proportional terms it is only about a sixth of the state.  (c) Odisha's forest cover, about 52,156 sq km, is fourth largest. Odisha is far ahead of MP as a proportion of the state — roughly a third of Odisha is under forest — but the question asks which state has the largest forest cover, which is an area comparison.  (d) Andhra Pradesh's forest cover sits well outside the top five by area. It was, however, credited in ISFR 2021 with the single largest increase in forest cover over the previous assessment (about 647 sq km) — an 'increase' headline that is easy to misread as a 'largest' headline.

Concept: In the ISFR, 'forest cover' is a satellite-measured, land-use-blind category: all land more than one hectare in extent with a tree canopy density above 10%, irrespective of ownership, legal status or species. That is why orchards, bamboo and plantations count. It is deliberately different from 'recorded forest area', which is the legal category carried in government records. The Forest Survey of India (Dehradun, under MoEFCC) publishes the assessment every two years, with canopy-density classes Very Dense Forest (>70%), Moderately Dense Forest (40-70%) and Open Forest (10-40%); land below 10% density is scrub and is not counted as forest.

State PCS 2025 Q76 — Environment & Ecology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q76 — Environment & Ecology PYQ with Answer