India lost 2.3 million hectares of tree cover between 2001 and 2023: Report
Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur accounted for 60% of all tree cover loss during the period, the data showed.
India lost 2.3 million hectares of tree cover between 2001 and 2023, latest data from the Global Forest Watch monitoring project showed on Friday. The figure is equivalent to a 6% decrease since 2000.
Five states from the North East accounted for 60% of all tree cover loss between 2001 and 2023 in the country, the report found.
Assam had the maximum tree cover loss at 324,000 hectares compared to an average of 66,600 hectares during the period. Mizoram lost 312,000 hectares of tree cover, Arunachal Pradesh 262,000 hectares, Nagaland 259,000 hectares and Manipur 240,000 hectares.
During this period, India reported the maximum tree cover loss of 189,000 hectares in 2017. In 2016, the country had lost 175,000 hectares of tree cover and 144,000 hectares in 2023, the report said.
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, the report said. Arunachal Pradesh lost 198 hectares, Nagaland 195 hectares, Assam 116 hectares and Meghalaya 97 hectares due to the same reason.
The Global Forest Watch, which tracks forest cover changes in near real-time using satellite data, among other sources, said that India lost 414,000 hectares of humid primary forest (4.1%)...
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