NEWS –  Global Forest Watch monitoring project released

HIGHLIGHTS

• Tree Cover Loss in India
  • India lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000.
  • Represents a 6% decrease in tree cover during this period.
  • Data from Global Forest Watch using satellite data.
• Carbon Emissions and Sinks
  • Between 2001 and 2022, forests in India emitted 51 million tons of CO2 per year.
  • Removed 141 million tons of CO2 per year, resulting in a net carbon sink of 89.9 million tons per year.
• Tree Cover Loss vs. Deforestation
  • Tree cover loss includes human-caused loss, natural disturbances, and temporary loss.
  • Accelerates climate change by releasing CO2.
• Regional Impact
  • 95% of tree cover loss in India from 2013 to 2023 occurred within natural forests.
  • Five states accounted for 60% of all tree cover loss between 2001 and 2023.
• Specific State Data
  • Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur experienced significant tree cover loss.
  • Odisha had the highest rate of tree cover loss due to fires.
• Global Forest Watch’s Caution
  • Changes in data over time due to algorithm adjustments and improved satellite data.
  • Caution against direct comparison of old and new data, especially before/after 2015.
• Forest Metrics and Challenges
  • Tree cover is a measurable metric for monitoring forest change using satellite imagery.
  • Difficulties in directly measuring forest loss or gain due to complexities in land use definitions.

GLOBAL FOREST WATCH (GFW)

• Global Forest Watch (GFW) is a web application for monitoring global forests.
• Developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI), based in Washington.
• Functionality and Accessibility
  • Provides near real-time monitoring using satellite data and other sources.
  • Free and user-friendly, accessible to anyone.
• Features
  • Allows users to create custom maps, analyze forest trends, and subscribe to alerts.
  • Data can be downloaded for local areas or the entire world.

NOTE – Tree Cover Metric

• Refers to tree cover when discussing forest extent, loss, and gain.
• Tree cover is easily measurable from space using medium-resolution satellite imagery.
• Importance of Tree Cover
  • Convenient metric for monitoring forest change globally.
  • Enables frequent monitoring at low cost over large geographic scales.