In September 2025, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) compiled and released the 8th edition of its environmental-accounts report titled “Environment Accounting on Forest – 2025”, during the 29th Conference of Central and State Statistical Organizations (CoCSSO) held in Chandigarh.
- India’s forest cover grew by 17,444.61 square kilometre (sq. km), reaching 7.15 lakh sq. km (21.76% of country’s geographical area) from 2010-11 to 2021-22.
Exam Hints:
- What? “Environmental Accounting on Forest – 2025” report released
- Who? MoSPI
- Where? During the 29th CoCSSO in Chandigarh
- India forest growth: Increase of 17,444.61 sq. km to 7.15 lakh sq. km
- Top Contributors: Kerala (Physical Asset), Uttarakhand (Extent Account), Madhya Pradesh (Condition Account), Maharashtra (Provisioning Account), Arunachal Pradesh (Regulating Services)
- Framework: UN SEEA Framework
- Adoption: In 2018
Dignitaries: Union Minister of State (MoS) Independent Charge (IC) Rao Inderjit Singh, MoSPI; Nayab Singh Saini, Chief Minister (CM) of Haryana, and Bhawani Singh Pathania, Deputy Chairman, State Planning Board, Himachal Pradesh (HP), were present.
Background: Since 2018, MoSPI has adopted the United Nations (UN) System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework, a globally agreed standard for integrating environmental data with economic accounts.
About Environmental Accounting on Forest – 2025 Report:
The 2025 edition is the first report entirely dedicated to forest accounting, aiming to present comprehensive forest ecosystem accounts at both national and state/Union Territory (UT) levels
The 2025 report was released in volumes I and II. Volume I covers four types of accounts such as
- Physical Asset Accounts tracks the actual area under different forest areas by type over time
- Extent Accounts, shows changes around different forest ecosystems
- Condition Accounts describe the quality and characteristics of forests and how they change
- Service Accounts, values forest services such as timber, non-timber products, carbon storage, and cultural benefits.
Volume II: It provides data at state and UT level, showing decadal changes in forest assets, extent, condition, and services. It also includes a review of forest-related work done in states and UTs.
To develop this report, MoSPI relied on the biannual India State of Forest Report (ISFR) as a primary source, along with data from Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE’s) Report on Forestry Statistics 2021, the SEEA Central Framework, SEEA Ecosystem Accounting, Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES), and National Accounts Statistics.
Key Findings:
Physical Asset Account: As per the report, from 2010-11 to 2021-22, India’s forest cover grew in states such as Kerala by 4,137 sq.km, Karnataka (3,122 sq. km), and Tamil Nadu (TN) (2,606 sq. km), indicating effective regeneration and conservation efforts.
Extent Account: India’s forest extent account recorded a net increase of 3,356 sq. km between 2013 and 2023, mainly due to reclassification and boundary adjustments. It is measured using the Recorded Forest Area (RFA), which includes all legally notified forest land, regardless of tree cover.
- The RFA share of states such as Uttarakhand (6.3%), Odisha (1.97%), and Jharkhand (1.9%), with total RFA increased slightly from 23.48% to 23.59%.
Condition Account: During the period from 2013 to 2023, India’s growing stock, a measure of the volume of usable wood in living trees, rose by 305.53 million cubic metres (million cum) at (7.32%). States, including Madhya Pradesh (MP) (136 million cum), Chhattisgarh (51 million cum), and Telangana (28 million cum), and among Union Territories (UTs), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (77 million cum) are the top contributors.
- From 2017 to 2023, carbon storage rose 2.87%, from 99.99 to 101.85 tonnes per hectare. India’s forests have improved in biomass and carbon storage, and severe degradation has reduced. However poor regeneration and fire risks exist.
Services Account: Provisioning services (Timber and Non-Timber Products) value increased from Rs.30.72 to Rs.37.93 thousand crores between 2011-12 and 2021-22, accounting for 0.16% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021-22. The top performing states include Maharashtra (Rs.23.78 thousand crores), Gujarat (Rs.14.15 thousand crores), Kerala (Rs.8.55 thousand crores).
- Regulating Services (Carbon Retention) value rose by 51.82%, from Rs.409.1 to Rs.620.97 thousand crores between 2015-16 and 2021-22, accounting for 2.63% of GDP in 2021-22, with Arunachal Pradesh (AR) (Rs.296 thousand crores), Uttarakhand (Rs.156.6 thousand crores), Assam (Rs.129.96 thousand crores) as the top contributors.
About the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI):
Minister of State (MoS) (Independent Charge, IC) – Rao Inderjit Singh (Constituency – Gurgaon, Haryana)
