Nepal ranks second in South Asia for forest cover
KATHMANDU: Nepal has the second highest share of land covered by forests in South Asia, the Economic Survey for fiscal year 2025/26 released on Wednesday shows.
The survey reports Bhutan at the top with 69.71% of its land under forest, followed by Nepal at 46.08% and Sri Lanka at 34.1%. Other countries in the region record lower shares: China 22.96%, India 21.71%, Bangladesh 12.8%, Pakistan 4.8%, Maldives 2.7% and Afghanistan 1.9%. Globally, forests cover 32% of the world’s land.
In 2024, Nepal’s forest cover reached 46.08% of the country’s land area. Of that total, 43.38% is dense forest, and 2.7% consists of bush and shrub. The report notes a steady increase over recent decades: forest cover was 39.6% in 1990, rose to 44.74% in 2015 and stood at 45.31% in 2019.
The survey also states that 34,420 square kilometres of Nepal are designated as protected areas, representing 23.4% of the country’s total area. To date, 194,156 hectares of forest have been managed under 11 forest protected areas. As of February, 899 community forest groups have been formed in buffer and protected areas, covering about 225,008 hectares.
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