India Ranks 9th Globally in Forest Area, Retains 3rd Spot in Annual Forest Gain: Environment Minister

New Delhi — India has climbed to the ninth position globally in total forest area in 2025, up from the 10th spot in 2020, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced on Wednesday. The country also retained its third-place ranking for annual forest area gain, according to the Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025 released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Bali, Indonesia.

Highlighting the achievement on social media platform X, Yadav praised India’s sustained efforts in forest conservation and afforestation.

“Here is a reason to rejoice for all Indians. We have achieved ninth rank in terms of forest area globally, up from 10th previously. We have also maintained our third position in annual forest gain,” he posted.

Yadav credited the government’s policies and planning, along with state-level plantation drives, for the improvement. Programs like ‘Ek Ped Ma Ke Naam’ and campaigns emphasizing environmental consciousness have mobilized public participation in tree plantation and forest protection.

“This growing public participation is fostering a strong sense of collective responsibility towards a greener and sustainable future,” the minister said.

The GFRA 2025 report, published every five years, notes that forests cover 4.14 billion hectares, roughly one-third of the Earth’s land area. The annual net forest loss has decreased from 10.7 million hectares in the 1990s to 4.12 million hectares in 2015-2025, while the deforestation rate slowed from 17.6 million hectares per year in 1990-2000 to 10.9 million hectares in 2015-2025.

At the same time, the rate of forest expansion slightly declined from 9.88 million hectares per year in 2000-2015 to 6.78 million in 2015-2025.

The report underlines the critical role of forests in sustaining food security, livelihoods, biodiversity, and regulating global carbon and water cycles, while also mitigating risks from droughts, desertification, soil erosion, landslides, and floods.

With inputs from IANS