An IIT Kharagpur study has found that India’s forests are losing photosynthetic efficiency, with croplands rather than forests driving the country’s greening trend. The findings warn of threats to biodiversity, climate targets, and rural livelihoods unless urgent management and emission cuts are adopted.
A recent study by the IIT Kharagpur has uncovered a contradiction in India’s environmental story. While national reports highlight significant greening, the health of India’s forests is actually on the decline.
The current greening trend, largely attributed to irrigated croplands rather than forests, may not support long-term sustainability or India’s climate goals.
The study, ‘Weakening of forest carbon stocks due to declining Ecosystem Photosynthetic Efficiency under the current and future climate change scenarios in India’, was led by Professor Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath and Rahul Kashyap from IIT Kharagpur’s Centre for Ocean, River, Atmosphere and Land Sciences.
Their findings show that despite India’s contribution to global carbon sequestration, true forest health is deteriorating due to environmental and human pressures.
STUDY HIGHLIGHTS A TROUBLING PARADOX
India’s greening success has been driven more by agricultural expansion than by the preservation or growth of natural forests. As highlighted in the research, “Greening of India: Forests or Croplands?” and “Browning of vegetation in efficient carbon sink regions of India during the past two decades is driven by climate change and anthropogenic intrusions” capture this contradiction.
Photosynthetic efficiency in Indian forests has dropped by 5% between 2010 and 2019 compared to the previous decade.
The most dramatic declines have occurred in the Eastern Himalaya, Western Ghats, and Indo-Gangetic Plain, regions known for their rich biodiversity and carbon-absorbing capacity.
Only 16% of the forests studied are considered to have high integrity. Most forests have shown low resilience to warming, drying, aridity, and extreme events such as wildfires.
“Much of the decrease in forest health is contributed by global warming driven by reduced soil moisture and higher air temperatures. Wildfires and landslides are the other natural factors. However, deforestation, mining, and other development activities also contribute to the decline in forest health,” said Professor Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath.
GREENER FIELDS, WEAKER FORESTS
India has emerged as one of the global leaders in ‘greening,’ with satellites showing a sharp rise in vegetation cover, as also noted by NASA studies.
But this greening is largely driven by the rapid expansion of irrigated croplands, wheat, rice, sugarcane and more, rather than forests.
In fact, pristine forests in the Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats and Indo-Gangetic plains are losing photosynthetic efficiency, making them less healthy and weaker in storing carbon.
The paradox is clear: while India looks greener on paper, the country’s forest health and ecological resilience are quietly slipping away.
FUTURE IMPACTS AND URGENT ACTION NEEDED
The weakening of forest carbon sinks is forecast to become more severe in the coming years as a result of continued climate change and human activities. The limited storage capacity of forests is unlikely to keep pace with rising atmospheric carbon dioxide.
The degradation of forests is expected to affect the economy, with potential impacts on timber production, market stability, and the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities.
“It also threatens biodiversity and pushes them towards extinction. Degradation of forests in ecologically fragile regions can lead to more frequent climatic extremes in the future,” noted Rahul Kashyap.
“It is imperative to avoid misconstruing forest-based climate mitigation as a solution to current anthropogenic carbon emission levels. In the future, accelerated deforestation and forest degradation due to changing climate, rising extremes, agricultural expansion, plantation growth, and rapid developmental activities can lead to savannisation of Indian forests,” cautioned Professor Kuttippurath.
These measures are essential if India is to achieve sustainability and meet its goal of net-zero emissions by 2070.
