NEW DELHI: India’s forest cover increased by 3,775 square km since 2013, taking the total to 701,673 sq. km, or 70.17 million hectares, equivalent to 21.34% of the country’s geographical area.In the very dense forest category, the thickest and oldest of forest patches, an increase of 2,402 sq. km was offset by a shrinking of 3,371 sq. km in moderately dense forest areas, according to the India State of Forest Report 2015 released on Friday.There were worrying signs for the northeastern states, an area that accounts for one-fourth of the country’s forest cover. The report, published by the Forest Survey of India , noted that “there is a net decline of 628 sq. km in forest cover as compared to the previous assessment.” Similar trends were observed in the 2013 forest report, where both the northeastern states and the moderately dense forest areas recorded a decline in cover.India now has no more than nine contiguous uninterrupted forest patches measuring over 10,000 hectares.“The nine forest patches constitute 39.84% of India’s total forest cover. Another 13% area is covered by forest patches measuring 5,000-10,000 hectares. Overall, this means that 79% of the total forest area in the country is covered by uninterrupted patches of at least 11 sq. km. This is very good news, showing forest size is not decreasing and it is also a great challenge to maintain this,” said Dr Anmol Kumar, Director General of the Forest Survey of India.Assessments of the status in tiger reserves, disclosed for the first time, showed that while forest cover in core and buffer areas of Corbett National Park increased in 1990-2000, it decreased in 2000-10 due to flooding of rivers and rotational felling. In Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, there is a positive change in the forest cover, while in Valmiki Tiger Reserve, there has been a decrease of forest cover and carbon stock.The report records an increase in mangrove cover by 112 sq. km and a rise of 103 million tonnes in the country’s forest carbon stock to over 7 billion tonnes.Kumar said the increased forest cover and carbon stock was an indicator that India is well equipped to meet targets enunciated in the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) aimed at limiting climate change.“India has set out a target to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent in forests in its INDCs for the ongoing COP 21 meeting in Paris. It appears very possible to meet this target through strong afforestation measures, use of alternative fuels and sustainable forest management practices,” he said.Environment minister Prakash Javadekar said the forest report was a great indicator to the world at the time of the global climate meet Paris that India is increasing its forest cover even as global warming challenges loom large.