NEW DELHI: Forest fire alerts have become one of the most crucial activities undertaken by the Forest Survey of India (FSI). For several years, the FSI has been disseminating pre-fire and near-real-time alerts to help manage and mitigate forest fires. The latest report by FSI provides detailed information on forest fires in 705 Protected Areas for the first time, and introduces a comprehensive burnt area assessment at the national level, aiming to support policymakers in course correction and strategic planning.
FSI has implemented several measures to prevent and manage forest fires, including:
Pre-Fire Alerts: Generated weekly using a forest fire danger rating system that considers factors like the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI), forest types, and Indian Meteorological data. These alerts are shared with state forest departments via email and uploaded to the SACHET portal.
Forest Fire Risk Zonation Mapping: FSI conducted a study to map different risk areas in the West Himalayan region based on static factors. This involves using layers like forest cover, forest type, topographical gradients, and plot-level field inventory data from the National Forest Inventory.
FSI Van Agni Geo-portal: An interactive portal that allows users to visualize forest fire data, including near real-time detections, large forest fire detections, forest fire danger ratings, and fire-prone forest areas.
Identification of Fire-Prone Areas: Based on spatial analysis of forest fire detections using the SNPP-VIIRS sensor over the past seven years, FSI has identified fire-prone forest areas to optimize resource allocation for fire control during the fire season.
Launched the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 in Dehradun today.
Sharing the key findings:
🌳The forest and tree cover of India is 8,27,357 sq km, which is 25.17% of the geographical area of the country, consisting 7,15,343 sq km (21.76%) as forest cover and 1,12,014 sq… pic.twitter.com/3hTSKCsVSs
— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) December 21, 2024
On August 7, 2023, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, presented data to the Lok Sabha indicating that from November 2022 to June 2023, India recorded 2,12,249 forest fires, with Chhattisgarh topping the list at 20,306 fires. This data highlights the significant challenge of managing and preventing forest fires in the country, emphasizing the vulnerability of certain regions to these incidents.
The maximum fire-affected forest areas were observed in Andhra Pradesh (5,286.76 km²) , followed by Maharashtra (4,095.04 km²) and Telangana (3,983.28 km²). Telangana reported the highest percentage of RFA/GW area affected by forest fires at 14.82%, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 13.94% and Bihar at 10.71%. Nearly 93% of the fires observed were surface fires, classified as low-burnt areas.
ALSO READ: India’s green cover expands to 25.17%: ISFR 2023
Timely detection of forest fires is essential for taking immediate remedial measures. Equally important is assessing the forest areas affected by fires to evaluate the damage to biodiversity and plan for restoration. Remote Sensing and GIS techniques are actively employed for real-time monitoring and damage assessment. Multi-temporal satellite data plays a pivotal role in identifying changes in forest cover and evaluating the extent of fire damage.
The current burnt area assessment was conducted to evaluate fire-affected forest areas across the country using Sentinel 2 and Landsat 8/9 satellite data. Along with high temporal and high spatial resolution satellite data, ancillary data was utilized to enhance the accuracy of the assessment. Near Real-Time Forest Fire Detections and Large Forest Fire Detections were used for precise identification and delineation of burnt areas. Geo-coordinates of near real-time detections assisted in accurately locating burnt scars, while large forest fire polygons helped in determining the extent of the damage.