Tamil Nadu has registered an increase in of forest cover by more than 2,000 sq km, which is maximum among all the states in the country.

Disclosing this in the Assembly today the Forest Minister, Dindigul C. Sreenivasan, said that Tamil Nadu has 22,877 sq km of recorded forest area, which amounts to 17.59 per cent of the geographical area of the State. He said as as per the Forest Survey of India’s assessment, the forest cover of the State is 26,345 sq km, constituting 20.25 per cent of the total region. “This is because forest cover of the State got increased by 2,501 sq km”, he said.

According to him, the forest and tree cover of the State is 30,850 sq km now, which constitutes 23.77 per cent of the total geographical area of the State as against 33 per cent forest and tree cover to be achieved as mandated in the National Forest Policy.

Tabling the policy note for his department, the Minister also said that the diversion of forest lands for non-forestry purposes in Tamil Nadu continues to be lowest in the country.

“In a span of more than 30 years, the diversion of forest areas for non-forestry purpose is only about 4,546.80 hectares involving 338 cases,” he said.