India’s Tree Cover Loss and Gains: Insights from Global Forest Watch

Introduction: According to data from the Global Forest Watch (GFW) monitoring project, India has experienced a significant loss of tree cover over the past two decades. From 2000 to 2023, India lost 2.33 million hectares (Mha) of tree cover, a 6% decrease.

Key Findings:

• Humid Primary Forest Loss:
  • India lost 414,000 hectares (4.1%) of humid primary forest between 2001 and 2023, accounting for 18% of its total tree cover loss.
• Natural Forests:
  • 95% of tree cover loss from 2013 to 2023 occurred within natural forests.
• Tree Cover Gain:
  • India gained 1.88 Mha of tree cover, equivalent to 1.4% of the global total.
  • Major contributors to global tree cover gain include Russia (37.2 Mha), Canada (17.0 Mha), the United States (14 Mha), Brazil (8.06 Mha), and China (6.69 Mha).

States with Maximum Tree Cover Loss:

• Five states accounted for 60% of tree cover loss from 2001 to 2023:
  • Assam: 324,000 hectares
  • Mizoram: 312,000 hectares
  • Arunachal Pradesh: 262,000 hectares
  • Nagaland: 259,000 hectares
  • Manipur: 240,000 hectares

States with Maximum Tree Cover:

• Seven states account for 55% of all tree cover in India:
  • Arunachal Pradesh: 6.11 Mha
  • Assam: 2.57 Mha
  • Chhattisgarh: 2.28 Mha
  • Kerala: 2.28 Mha
  • Odisha: 1.92 Mha

Tree Cover Loss Due to Fires:

• India lost 35.9 kha of tree cover from fires and 2.15 Mha from other causes from 2001 to 2022.
• The highest annual loss due to fires was in 2008, with 3.0 kha.
• Odisha had the highest average annual tree cover loss due to fires (238 hectares), followed by Arunachal Pradesh (198 ha), Nagaland (195 ha), Assam (116 ha), and Meghalaya (97 ha).

Net Carbon Sink:

• Forests in India emitted 51 million tons of CO2 equivalent per year and removed 141 million tons, resulting in a net carbon sink of 89.9 million tons of CO2 equivalent annually.
• Due to tree cover loss, an average of 51.0 million tons of CO2 equivalent per year was released into the ecosystem.

About Global Forest Watch: Global Forest Watch, launched in 2014 by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in partnership with Google and USAID, among others, monitors global forest data and trends.