1. Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and other North East states contributed to 60% of tree cover loss.
2. The data from the Global Forest Watch project indicates a 6% decline since 2000.
3. North East India experienced significant deforestation, impacting regional ecosystems and biodiversity.
New Delhi, April 15: Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and other North East states accounted for 60% of tree cover loss during the period, according to the data.
Data from the Global Forest Watch monitoring project showed that the figure is equivalent to a 6% decrease since 2000. Five states from the North East accounted for more than 50% of all tree cover loss.
Assam had the maximum tree cover loss at 324,000 hectares, Mizoram lost 312,000 hectares of tree cover, Arunachal Pradesh 262,000 hectares, Nagaland 259,000 hectares and Manipur 240,000 hectares.
From 2001 to 2022 Arunachal Pradesh lost 198 hectares, Nagaland 195 hectares, Assam 116 hectares and Meghalaya 97 hectares due to forest fires but Odisha remained on the top of the list with tree cover loss of 238 hectares lost per year.
The Global Forest Watch, which tracks forest cover changes in near real-time using satellite data, and other sources, said that India lost 414,000 hectares of humid primary forest (4.1%) from 2002 to 2023. This makes up almost 18% of its total tree cover loss at the same time.
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The Union government passed the Forest Conservation Amendment Act, of 2023. The law allowed the diversion of forests for the construction of roads, railway lines or strategic linear projects of national importance within 100 kms of India’s international borders – without allowing forest clearance.
However, in February, the Supreme Court told states and Union Territories to follow the definition of forest that is mentioned in a 1996 judgement, which said that any area that has a forest cover will be protected under conservation laws.
The 1996 judgement has protected vast tracts of Adivasi lands under the Forest Conservation Act, of 1980, even if they are not formally classified as a “forest” in records.
