Western Ghats lost 58 sq km forest cover in 10 years; Nilgiris, Idukki, Pune top list

Of 45 Ghat districts in six states, decadal forest loss has been recorded in 25.

New Delhi: The ecologically sensitive Western Ghats recorded a net loss of over 58 sq km of forest cover in the last ten years, according to the India State of Forest Report 2023, released on Saturday.

Of the 45 Ghat districts in six states, decadal forest loss has been recorded in 25. The districts which lost maximum forest cover are Nilgiris, Idukki, Pune and Shivamogga.

In the Western Ghats, very dense forest increased by over 3,465 sq km, but moderately dense forest and open forest decreased by 1,043 sq km and 2,480 sq km, respectively, in the same period, resulting in a net loss of 58 sq km forest cover, according to the report prepared by the Forest Survey of India.

The biennial report was released by the Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav at a function in Dehradun where he also chaired a key meeting of the National Board of Wildlife.

The report that periodically assesses India’s forest and tree cover, notes that in the last two years (2021-23), there has been an increase of 1,445 sq km in the forest and tree cover, which includes 156 sq km increase in the forest cover and 1,289 sq km increase in tree cover.

But at the same time it flags that the forest growth in the last two years was a mere 156 sq km – a ten fold slowdown as against a growth of 1,540 sq km between 2019-21. The report doesn’t explain the reasons behind such a fall.

Reached out for a comment, a Union Environment Ministry official told DH that several states reported loss of forest with Madhya Pradesh topping the list. This, however, doesn’t explain such a decline in the growth of forest cover.

Increase in India’s forest cover has slowed down considerably in the recent past. Between 2017 and 2019, the rise was 3,976 sq km, but was dropped by almost 50 per cent to 1,540 sq km in the next assessment cycle (2019-21). This has now further reduced to just 156 sq km.

In the last two years, the maximum decrease in forest and tree cover has been seen in Madhya Pradesh (612 sq km) followed by Karnataka (459) Ladakh (159) and Nagaland (125).

The maximum gain, on the other hand, happened in Chhattisgarh (684 sq km) followed by Uttar Pradesh and Odisha (559 sq km each) and Rajasthan (394).

Between 2021 and 2023, the mangrove coverage was down by nearly 7.5 sq km with the maximum loss recorded in Gujarat (36 sq km) while the highest gain was in Andhra Pradesh (13) Maharashtra (12).

For the first time over 25 per cent of India’s geographical area is under tree and forest cover, as tree plantation increased massively

The report also lists forest cover of six Indian megacities with a population of 10 million or more with Delhi topping the list with 194 sq km of forests followed by Mumbai (110), Bengaluru (89) and Hyderabad (80). The meag city with the least forest coverage is Kolkata (2 sq km).

On forest fire, it notes an alarming increase in fire incidents especially in Himachal Pradesh (14-fold) and Uttarakhand (4-fold) with districts like Nainital, Garhwal, Tehri-Garhwal, Uttarkashi and Shimla entering the top-20 list.

The National Forest Policy, 1988, mandates that 33 per cent of India's geographical area should be under forest or tree cover.