Tree Cover & India- Data By Global Forest Watch Monitoring Project

April 19, 2024

GS Paper III Environment

Context:

As per the latest data from the Global Forest Watch monitoring project, India has lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000, equivalent to a 6% decrease in tree cover.

Crucial Insights on Data Provided by the Global Forest Watch:

A Huge Loss: India lost 4,14,000 hectares of humid primary forest (4.1%) from 2002 to 2023, making up 18% of its total tree cover loss.
- The data showed that 95% of the tree cover loss in India from 2013 to 2023 occurred within natural forests.
On Carbon Emission: Between 2001 and 2022, forests in India emitted 51 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year (in total, 1.12 gigatons) and removed 141 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year.
- It represents a net carbon sink of 89.9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year.
Maximum Loss: In 2017, India faced a maximum tree cover loss of 189,000 hectares.
- India lost 175,000 hectares of tree cover in 2016 and 144,000 hectares in 2023.
On State Data: Five states (all northeastern states) accounted for 60% of all tree cover loss between 2001 and 2023.

About Tree Cover Loss (TCL):

Caused by: TCL includes both human-caused loss and natural disturbances, and loss that is permanent or temporary.
Examples: TCL includes loss from logging, fire, disease or storm damage.
- TCL is not always deforestation, which typically refers to human-caused, permanent removal of natural forest cover.

About Primary forests:

Primary forests are some of the densest, wildest and most ecologically significant forests on Earth.
Global Distribution: They span the globe, from the snow-locked boreal region to the steamy tropics, though 75% of them can be found in just seven countries.
Primary forests have only been mapped comprehensively in the humid tropics.
Importance:
- These are mature, natural forests that have remained undisturbed in recent history.
- They often store more carbon than other forests and are rich sources of biodiversity.

About the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):

It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that was established in 1945 and leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
Members: 195 members (194 countries and the European Union), India is a member of FAO.
Headquarters: Rome (Italy)

- 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 lost 262,000 hectares.
- Nagaland lost 259,000 hectares.
- Manipur lost 240,000 hectares.
Tree Cover Loss Due To Fires: 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).
- Data on States: From 2001 to 2022, Odisha faced the highest loss, an average of 238 hectares lost per year.
  - Arunachal Pradesh lost 198 hectares, Nagaland 195 hectares, Assam 116 hectares, and Meghalaya 97 hectares.
Raised Concerns:
- Impact on Climate Change: 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.
  - Carbon sink refers to any system that absorbs more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it releases, effectively removing this carbon dioxide from the air.
- Technical & Monitoring Challenges: 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 to monitor using satellite imagery.
Significance of Data: GFW data 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.

About Global Forest Watch (GFW):

GFW is an online platform that provides data and tools for monitoring forests.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) established Global Forest Watch in 1997 as part of the Forest Frontiers Initiative.
It tracks forest changes in near real-time using satellite data and other sources.
- By harnessing cutting-edge technology, GFW allows anyone to access near real-time information about where and how forests are changing around the world.
It 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.