Overview
- FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025, launched in Bali, estimates 4.14 billion hectares of forests worldwide—about 32% of land—with net forest loss slowing to 4.12 million hectares per year in 2015–2025.
- India now ranks ninth by total forest area and third by annual net gain at roughly 191,000 hectares per year, trailing China and Russia.
- Asia is the only region to post a net increase in forest area since 1990, driven largely by expansion in China and India.
- India’s environment ministry points to national policies, large state plantation drives and the ‘Ek Ped Ma Ke Naam’ public campaign as key contributors.
- Interpretation carries caveats because FAO compiles country-reported data and India’s definition includes plantations and unrecorded land; ISFR 2023 still found 40,709 km² of degraded forests and 92,989 km² suitable for density upgradation with an estimated 636.50 million tonnes carbon potential.