90 forest fire alerts in 7 days

Srinagar, Apr 14: J&K forest fires have been making more news and destroying more forests recently, with 90 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) fire alerts reported between April 5 and April 12 this year, the data from Global Forest Watch (GFW) reveals.

This is alarming considering the eco-fragile region where deforestation and emissions are already grave issues, threatening the future.

As per the Global Forest Watch, forest fires have shown relentless activity – 5227 VIIRS fire alerts recorded from April 11, 2021, to April 6, 2025.

“Of these, 1.1 percent were high confidence alerts,” it said.

The environmental impact of these fires, a lot of these reported this year, is staggering.

From 2001 to 2023, forest fires accounted for 23 percent of the tree cover loss in J&K.

With 952 hectares of vital forest cover lost to fires, J&K lost one of every four forest trees it had to this natural disaster.

In addition, human activities like deforestation and conversion of forest land into agricultural and residential lands led to an additional 3230 hectares loss over the same period.

The GFW reports that in the four weeks, between March 15 and April 12, the most significant number of fire alerts – four - were in Rajouri.

“This represents 80 percent of all alerts detected in J&K and is high compared to the number of fires in the same period in 2012,” the report records.

District Rajouri has been the worst hit due to forest fires in J&K as per the report, losing an average of 8 hectares of tree cover annually.

This massive forest cover loss due to fires is a looming threat to J&K’s biodiversity and is at the tipping point of disrupting wildlife ecosystems.

In addition, it is a serious blow to the livelihoods that depend on forest resources.

Ecologists have flagged the frequent fires and unchecked tree cover loss that are eroding natural defences against climate change.

The GFW data reveals that between 2001 and 2023, forests in J&K emitted 86.2 ktCO2e/year, and removed -4.50 MtCO2e/year - a net carbon sink of -4.42 MtCO2e/year.

In simpler words, forests released more greenhouse gases than they absorbed due to deforestation and other factors.

Forests that are carbon sinks and absorb carbon dioxide lose impact due to being net emitters, worsening climate change.

Forest fires increase greenhouse gases and worsen global warming.

In J&K, dry weather and suspected human-induced fires, in addition to rudimentary forest fire monitoring and combating systems are creating a recipe for an ecological disaster.

A total of 11 percent of land cover in J&K is natural forests and 3.3 percent is non-natural tree cover.

Areas in Kupwara, Udhampur, Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar, and Rajouri have forest cover that constitutes 54 percent of the tree cover in J&K.