Nepal has the second highest percentage of land covered by forests in South Asia.
As per the Economic Survey of fiscal year (FY) 2082/83 BS unveiled on Wednesday, Bhutan has the highest area covered by forests with 69.71 percent.
Similarly, Nepal has 46.08 percent of its land covered by forests followed by Sri Lanka with 34.1 percent. Likewise, China has 22.96 percent of its land covered by forests, India has 21.71 percent, Bangladesh has 12.8 percent, Pakistan has 4.8 percent, Maldives has 2.7 percent and Afghanistan has 1.9 percent.
Thirty-two percent of the world's land is covered by forests. In 2024, the area covered by forests was 46.08 percent in Nepal. Out of 46.08 percent forest area, 43.38 percent is covered by dense forest and 2.7 percent has bush and shrub.
Nepal had 39.6 percent forest area in 1990 which increased to 44.74 percent in 2015 and 45.31 percent in 2019. Of the total area of the country, 34,420 square kilometers is protected area which is 23.4 percent of the total area.
Similarly, total 194,156 hectares of forest area has been managed so far under 11 forest protected areas. Total 899 community forest groups have been formed at buffer and protected areas till February and such area has covered around 225,008 hectares of land.
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