Forest fires down to 2.03 lakh in 2023-24 from 2.23 lakh in 2021-22 – Times of India

DEHRADUN: The latest ‘India State of Forest Report (ISFR)’, released by Forest Survey of India (FSI) on Saturday, points out that various measures – such as the use of technology and advanced training of field staff – carried out to manage wildfires, have resulted in a decrease in blaze cases, reports Shivani Azad.
The ISFR report pointed out that “during the fire season 2023-24, the number of fire hotspots detected by sensors was 2,03,544, as against 2,23,333 in 2021-22 and 2,12,249 in 2022-23, thereby showing a declining trend.”
Highlighting the global scenario, the report stated: “From 2001 to 2022, there was a total of 126 million hectares (mha) tree cover loss from fires globally and 33 mha from other drivers of loss. The year with the most tree cover loss due to fires during this period was 2016, with 9.6 mha lost to fires – 32% of all tree cover loss for that year. From 2001 to 2022, Russia had the highest rate of tree cover loss due to fires, with an average of 2.5 mha lost per year, followed by Canada (1.2 mha) and the US (566 kha).”
It stated, “The top three states where fire incidences were observed the most in 2023-24 forest fire season were Uttarakhand (21,033), Odisha (20,973) and Chhattisgarh (18,950).” These were followed by Andhra Pradesh (18,174), Maharashtra (16,008), Madhya Pradesh (15,878), Telangana (13,479), Himachal Pradesh (10,136), Assam (7,639) and Jharkhand (7,525).
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav, at the report release event in Dehradun, expressed his concern regarding forest fires in the country. He said, “We are constantly working towards combating wildfires by employing local communities, technology and all possible methods for keeping our forest in the best form.”
FSI director, Anoop Singh, added, “Response rate of forest teams in dousing wildfires inside the protected areas of the country has been found to be praiseworthy, according to the data analysed.” FSI conducted an analysis of forest fires in 705 protected areas of the country and found that as many as 6,046 cases were detected in national parks this season.