India lost 18 km2 of forest for every km2 gained between 2015-2019: Study

ISTANBUL

A recent study found that between 2015 and 2019, India has lost 18 square kilometers (6.9 square miles) of forest for every square km (0.3 sq mi) gained.

The study, done by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), discovered that all states in India "experienced a net loss in forest cover," according to a statement from the institute.

The researchers applied Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis to digital forest cover maps of India for the five-year time period.

Raaj Ramsankaran, a professor of civil engineering at IIT Bombay, and his collaborators, Associate Professor Vasu Sathyakumar and Sridharan Gowtham of SASTRA Deemed University, used a new framework in the study to map forest connectivity at both the state and national levels, with remote sensing data and open-source digital tools.

The framework can be used to "analyze the impact of afforestation efforts, determine the resilience of different forest types to deforestation, and identify the states undergoing severe changes in forest cover," it said.