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While the green cover inside the officially recognised forests (government-owned, private or community forests) in these districts has decreased by 32 sq km, the cover outside them has risen by 2,428 sq km. West Bengal recorded a substantial increase of 2,246 sq km and Nagaland showed a decrease of 274 sq km.
Being the indigenous population of India, the tribals have been a part of the forest ecosystem for generations now. They depend heavily on forests to meet their basic and economic needs.
This boom of forests in tribal areas gives a hope for green activists and the tribal community alike as both the groups have been fighting against the government’s massive coal and mines expansion programmes.
| Change in forest cover in tribal districts | ||
| States | No. of tribal districts | Increase/decrease in last two years (sq km) |
| Andhra Pradesh | 8 | -238 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 13 | -89 |
| Assam | 16 | -48 |
| Chhattisgarh | 9 | -40 |
| Gujarat | 8 | 5 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 3 | 4 |
| Jharkhand | 8 | 339 |
| Karnataka | 5 | 0 |
| Kerala | 9 | -311 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 18 | -73 |
| Maharashtra | 12 | -25 |
| Manipur | 9 | -100 |
| Meghalaya | 7 | 13 |
| Mizoram | 8 | -63 |
| Nagaland | 8 | -274 |
| Odisha | 12 | 544 |
| Rajasthan | 5 | -10 |
| Sikkim | 4 | -1 |
| Tamil Nadu | 6 | 25 |
| Tripura | 4 | -111 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1 | -8 |
| West Bengal | 11 | 2,246 |
| A&N Islands | 2 | -13 |
| Dadra&Nagar Haveli | 1 | 2 |
| Daman & Diu | 1 | -0.01 |
| Lakshwadeep | 1 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 189 | 2,396 |