Bhubaneswar: Odisha's forest cover went up by 885sqkm in 2017.

According to the Forest Survey of India report for 2018, the state's forest area has been measured at 51,239sqkm as against 50,354sqkm recorded in 2015.

Additional chief secretary in charge of forest and environment Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said that Odisha had ranked fourth in the country in terms of growth in forest cover. "Due to concentrated efforts taken by the forest department in last two years, there has been an increase in forest area in the state," he added.

The matter was discussed at the meeting of the state-level steering committee on Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (Campa) funds held here on Saturday.

The steering committee approved an annual action plan of Rs 563 crore for execution of several programmes for wildlife conservation and forest development in the state.

Principal chief conservator of forests Subash Chandra Mishra said that the fund would be spent on several wildlife projects, including restoration of forests and increasing the number of water bodies for wild animals in forest area.

The annual action plan was discussed at the steering committee meeting.