Five states in India including Nagaland accounted for 60 percent of all tree cover loss between 2001 and 2023
According to the most recent data from the Global Forest Watch monitoring project, India has experienced a loss of 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000, marking a six percent decrease in tree cover over this timeframe. The project, which utilizes satellite data and other resources to monitor forest changes in nearly real-time, reports that from 2002 to 2023, India lost 414,000 hectares of humid primary forest, constituting 4.1 per cent of its overall tree cover loss during this period, totaling 18 percent.
During the period from 2001 to 2022, forests in India were found to emit 51 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually while also absorbing 141 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. This results in a net carbon sink of 89.9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
An average of 51.0 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year was released into the atmosphere as a result of tree cover loss in India. In total, 1.12 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent was emitted during this period.
Forests are both a sink and a source for carbon, removing carbon dioxide from the air when standing or regrowing and emitting it when cleared or degraded. Loss of forests, thus, accelerates climate change.
The data showed that 95 per cent of the tree cover loss in India from 2013 to 2023 occurred within natural forests.
The maximum tree cover loss of 189,000 hectares occurred in 2017. The country lost 175,000 hectares of tree cover in 2016 and 144,000 hectares in 2023, the highest in the last six years.
The GFW data showed that five states accounted for 60 per cent of all tree cover loss between 2001 and 2023.
Assam had the maximum tree cover loss at 324,000 hectares compared to an average of 66,600 hectares. Mizoram lost 312,000 hectares of tree cover, Arunachal Pradesh 262,000 hectares, Nagaland 259,000 hectares, and Manipur 240,000 hectares.
The tree cover loss data featured on the Global Forest Watch represents the best available spatial figures on how forests are changing around the world. However, changes have occurred to the data over time due to algorithm adjustments and improved satellite data. Therefore, the GFW cautions users against comparing old and new data, especially before/after 2015.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the rate of deforestation in India was 668,000 hectares per year between 2015 and 2020, the second highest worldwide.
The data showed India lost 35,900 hectares of tree cover due to fires from 2002 to 2022, with 2008 recording the maximum tree cover loss due to fires (3,000 hectares).
From 2001 to 2022, Odisha had the highest rate of tree cover loss due to fires with an average of 238 hectares lost per year. Arunachal Pradesh lost 198 hectares, Nagaland 195 hectares, Assam 116 hectares, and Meghalaya 97 hectares.
What is Tree Cover Loss?
Tree cover loss is not always deforestation, which typically refers to human-caused, permanent removal of natural forest cover. It includes both human-caused loss and natural disturbances, and loss that are permanent or temporary. Examples of tree cover loss that may not meet the definition of deforestation include loss from logging, fire, disease or storm damage.
The Global Forest Watch refers to tree cover when talking about forest extent, loss and gain. Tree cover is a convenient metric for monitoring forest change because it is easily measurable from space using freely available, medium-resolution satellite imagery. This means that tree cover can be monitored frequently, at low cost, and over large geographic scales.
However, the existence of tree cover does not always make a forest, tree cover loss does not always imply forest loss or deforestation, and tree cover gain does not always imply forest gain or restoration.
Measuring these variables directly poses technical challenges, since most definitions of forest involve a combination of tree cover and land use. The latter is much more difficult, if not impossible in some cases, to monitor using satellite imagery, the GFW says.
(With inputs from PTI)
