DEHRADUN: National Green Tribunal (NGT), taking suo-motu cognisance of a media report earlier this year which indicated loss of forest cover up to 23 lakh hectares (ha) in the country since 2000, has directed Forest Survey of India (FSI), headquartered in Dehradun, to provide a comprehensive report on the matter.
NGT, in an ongoing hearing of the matter, observed that the figure cited is equivalent to a 6% diminishment in tree cover during the given period. The report by news agency PTI in April, had attributed the 23 lakh hectares figure to Global Forest Watch, an online platform that tracks forest changes in near real-time using satellite data and other sources.
If one were to look at it in relative terms, the total shrinking forest cover would be “almost 15 times the size of Delhi”. The report did not specify the yearwise breakup of the 23 lakh hectares figure cited in the Global Forest Watch data, but mentioned that five northeastern states accounted for 60% of all tree cover reduction between 2001 and 2023.
Assam exhibited the maximum depletion at 324,000 ha compared to an average of 66,600 ha. Mizoram lost 312,000 ha of tree cover, Arunachal 262,000 ha, Nagaland 259,000 ha and Manipur 240,000 ha, as per the report.
The report further said India experienced a reduction of 4,14,000 ha of humid primary forest (4.1%) from 2002 to 2023, constituting 18% of its total tree cover depletion within the same time frame.
NGT, citing the report, held that forests act as both a carbon sink and a source, removing carbon dioxide from the air when standing or regenerating and releasing it when cleared or degraded. It also expressed concern at the report mentioning that “the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization data indicates the nation’s deforestation rate was 3,668,000 ha annually between 2015 and 2020, ranking second globally.”
The matter was initially examined by the green court on May 20, whereupon the Central Pollution Control Board, ministry of environment and forest, and Survey of India were impleaded.
The tribunal had at the time instructed Survey of India to submit reports depicting the country’s forest cover status, particularly the North-East, from 2000 onwards at five-year intervals till March 2024. Survey of India, during the hearing on Nov 18, stated that FSI maintains the forest cover information.
Accordingly, NGT directed the FSI’s director general to submit the report within a month. The order was issued on the day of the hearing but was made available last week.