India ranks among the top three countries in terms of forest area increase from 2010 to 2020

New Delhi: India has added 2,66,000 hectares of forest area annually between 2010 and 2020, making it the third country in the top 10 countries with the largest increase in forest area during this period, a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization has found.

The report, released on Monday, said China led the world with the maximum increase in forest area at 1,937,000 hectares, followed by Australia with 4,46,000 hectares and India. Other countries in the top 10 were Chile, Vietnam, Turkey, the United States, France, Italy and Romania.

The UN agency commended India for its efforts to restore degraded lands and expand agroforestry through innovative approaches. This includes developing a new national policy aimed at better supporting agroforestry in the country.

The report highlighted significant reductions in deforestation in some countries. Indonesia, for example, saw an 8.4 percent decrease in deforestation from 2021 to 2022, while Brazil’s Amazon saw a 50 percent decrease in deforestation in 2023.

The FAO report also found that the rate of global mangrove forest loss decreased by 23 percent between 2000-2010 and 2010-2020.

However, the FAO stresses that climate change increases the vulnerability of forests to various stressors, including forest fires and pests.

“The intensity and frequency of wildfires are increasing. Boreal forests were responsible for almost a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions from wildfires in 2021. In 2023, global wildfires emitted an estimated 6,687 megatonnes of carbon dioxide, more than double the European Union’s carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion that year,” the report said.

According to the report, by 2027, 25 million hectares of forestland in the United States are expected to experience a loss of more than 20 percent of their host basal area due to insects and diseases.