India lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000: Global Forest Watch

India’s Tree Cover Loss and its Impact on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

India has lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000, which accounts for a six per cent decrease in tree cover during this period, according to the latest data from the Global Forest Watch monitoring project.

Tree Cover Loss and its Environmental Impact

1. The Global Forest Watch, a project that tracks forest changes in near real-time using satellite data and other sources, revealed that India lost 414,000 hectares of humid primary forest (4.1 per cent) from 2002 to 2023, contributing to 18 per cent of its total tree cover loss during the same period.
2. Between 2001 and 2022, forests in India emitted 51 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, while removing 141 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. This represents a net carbon sink of 89.9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
3. 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 play a crucial role in climate change mitigation as they act as both a sink and a source for carbon. They remove carbon dioxide from the air when standing or regrowing, but emit it when cleared or degraded. Therefore, the loss of forests accelerates climate change, hindering progress towards the SDGs.

Types of Tree Cover Loss and Deforestation

• Tree cover loss is not always synonymous with deforestation, which refers to the permanent removal of natural forest cover caused by human activities. Tree cover loss includes both human-caused loss and natural disturbances, whether 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 data showed that 95 per cent of the tree cover loss in India from 2013 to 2023 occurred within natural forests.

Regional Analysis of Tree Cover Loss in India

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, marking the highest loss in the last six years.

Five states accounted for 60 per cent of all tree cover loss between 2001 and 2023:

1. Assam had the highest tree cover loss at 324,000 hectares compared to an average of 66,600 hectares.
2. Mizoram lost 312,000 hectares of tree cover.
3. Arunachal Pradesh lost 262,000 hectares.
4. Nagaland lost 259,000 hectares.
5. Manipur lost 240,000 hectares.

Data Accuracy and Limitations

The tree cover loss data provided by the Global Forest Watch represents the best available spatial figures on global forest changes. However, changes have occurred over time due to algorithm adjustments and improved satellite data. Therefore, it is cautioned against comparing old and new data, especially before/after 2015.

India’s Deforestation Rate and Fire-related Tree Cover Loss

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, India had the second-highest rate of deforestation worldwide between 2015 and 2020, with a loss of 668,000 hectares per year.

The data also revealed that India lost 35,900 hectares of tree cover due to fires from 2002 to 2022, with the highest loss recorded in 2008 (3,000 hectares).

Odisha had the highest rate of tree cover loss due to fires, with an average of 238 hectares lost per year from 2001 to 2022. Arunachal Pradesh lost 198 hectares, Nagaland 195 hectares, Assam 116 hectares, and Meghalaya 97 hectares.

Understanding Tree Cover and Forest Change

The Global Forest Watch refers to tree cover when discussing forest extent, loss, and gain. Tree cover is a convenient metric for monitoring forest change as it can be easily measured from space using freely available, medium-resolution satellite imagery. This allows for frequent monitoring at a low cost and over large geographic scales.

However, it is important to note that the existence of tree cover does not always indicate the presence of a forest. Additionally, 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, as most definitions of a forest involve a combination of tree cover and land use. Monitoring land use using satellite imagery is much more difficult, if not impossible in some cases.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 13: Climate Action
• SDG 15: Life on Land

The article discusses the loss of tree cover in India, which is directly related to climate change (SDG 13) and the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems (SDG 15).

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
• SDG 15.2: Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally

The article highlights the need to address climate-related hazards and natural disasters by reducing tree cover loss and promoting sustainable forest management.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator for SDG 13.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected people attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
• Indicator for SDG 15.2: Forest area as a proportion of total land area

The article does not explicitly mention these indicators, but they can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets. The reduction in tree cover loss and the increase in forest area would contribute to achieving these indicators.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Note: The indicators mentioned in the table are examples and may not be the only indicators relevant to the identified targets.

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Source: indianexpress.com

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