India’s Himalayan green shield shrinks by over 2% in two years: ISFR 2023

Tree cover across the Indian Himalayan region has declined by 2.27 per cent between 2021 and 2023 , according to data presented in Parliament by Union Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh.

Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Singh said the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 , compiled by the Forest Survey of India, found that tree cover in the Himalayan region fell from 15,427.11 square kilometres in 2021 to 15,075.5 square kilometres in 2023 .

The Indian Himalayan region spans 13 states and Union territories, including Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and parts of West Bengal. These areas contain some of India’s most ecologically sensitive forests and play a crucial role in regulating climate and water systems.

Despite the decline in tree cover, the government noted that the total forest carbon stock in the region has shown a marginal increase. According to the report, carbon stock rose slightly from 3,272.68 million tonnes in 2021 to 3,273.10 million tonnes in 2023 , indicating that existing forests continue to store large amounts of carbon.

Experts attribute the reduction in tree cover to a combination of factors such as land-use changes, infrastructure expansion, forest degradation, shifting cultivation practices and natural disturbances like landslides and extreme weather events in the fragile Himalayan ecosystem.

Singh also emphasised that forest health cannot be measured solely by the greenness of forest areas . The Forest Survey of India assesses several ecological and biophysical parameters including soil depth, soil erosion, vegetation structure and potential threats to determine the overall condition of forest landscapes. In the Himalayan region, these indicators present a mixed picture: while forest cover in some areas remains stable or has expanded, many ecosystems are under stress from climate change, landslides, forest fires, infrastructure expansion and biodiversity loss, making the situation a matter of concern that requires sustained conservation efforts.

These interacting factors, the government said, influence the state of forests at any given time and are comprehensively documented in the ISFR 2023 , which provides a periodic assessment of India’s forest and tree resources.