India’s Forests Fires

Why in News?

Recently, the data showed that in the past 5 fire seasons, over 11 lakh fires incidents reported in India.

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change – Mentioned that 4 states have reported over 1 lakh forest fire incidents each in the last five forest fire seasons.
• 4 States – Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
• They accounted for 4,73,834 forest fires, which constitutes approximately 43% of the total forest fire incidents in India.

India has reported a staggering 11,09,588 forest fires. Each year from November to June, forests across the country ignites, threatening ecosystems, wildlife and livelihoods.

• India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 – Over 36% of the country’s forest cover is estimated to be vulnerable to frequent forest fires.
  • 2.81% - Extremely fire-prone.
  • 7.85% - Very highly fire-prone category.

• ISFR 2023 – Around 275 million rural people in India depend on forests for their livelihood security.
• Communities residing near forested areas rely heavily on forests for Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs).
• Major Factors – Collection of tendu leaves and mahua flowers contributing to forest fires.
• Shifting cultivation practices adopted by local farmers, where an estimated 4.35 million hectares (mha) of forest area is affected by fires.
• Reasons for fires – Unsustainable exploitation of forest resources and coupled with increasing human activities threat to the balance of forest ecosystems.
• Impacts – It leads to loss of:
  • Human lives
  • Depletion of biodiversity
  • Habitat destruction
  • Reduced agricultural productivity
  • Landscape degradation
  • Disruptions to local livelihoods.

Reference

The Hindu Business Line| India’s Forests Ablaze