India must Leverage Latest Technologies in Forest Assessment Says Environment Minister

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organised a national workshop on ‘Leveraging Latest Technologies in Assessment of Forest and Tree Resources’ in New Delhi today.

Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, presided over the inaugural session, along with MoS (EFCC) Kirti Vardhan Singh.

The Workshop brought together State Forest Departments, scientific institutions, scientists, technology experts, and other stakeholders to explore technology-led approaches to strengthen the assessment, monitoring, and management of forest and tree resources.

It witnessed three technical sessions on the topics: Digitisation of Forest Boundaries; Forest and Tree Cover assessment; and Estimation of Carbon Stock.

In his address, Mr Yadav emphasised that humans are not above Nature and must respect it by working towards coexistence with it.

He stressed the need to harness technology to strengthen data on natural resources, improve decision-making and accelerate India’s climate commitments, particularly through nature-based solutions.

The Minister highlighted that increasing carbon sinks through forest and tree cover is the third NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions) target under the UNFCCC and underscored the Forest Survey of India (FSI) as a premier institution for forest conservation and documentation of green cover.

India has undertaken regular biennial assessment of forest and tree resources through FSI since 1987, with the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) serving as an important scientific basis for monitoring changes and supporting national and international reporting.

Mr Yadav called for standardising parameters across institutions to enable coordinated action on forest conservation and stressed that compensatory afforestation must be clearly aligned with preserving plantations and improving the quality of green cover.

He also emphasised the need to classify forest fire-prone regions by incident frequency and identify hotspots for targeted prevention strategies.

He noted that wetlands are critical ecosystems for conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecological balance, and called for maintaining an appropriate balance of wetlands, woodlands and grasslands.

The Minister encouraged innovation and the adoption of the latest technologies, while stressing the importance of indigenous technologies and capacity building for forest staff.

He called for improved data quality and the integration of field experience into a robust Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for preparing the ISFR, so the report can serve as a stronger base document for forest conservation and management.

He emphasised that achieving India’s enhanced ambition of creating a 3.5–4.0 billion tonne CO₂-equivalent carbon sink by 2035 will require technological innovation alongside strong institutional capacities, effective policies and active participation of people and communities.

The Ministry continues to provide technical and financial support to States and UTs for enhancing forest and tree cover through initiatives including Green India Mission, MISHTI, Nagar Van Yojana, Namo Van and Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam.

During the Workshop, participants discussed technologies and strategies that can be adopted and scaled up through strengthened institutional capacities, with the objective of bolstering forest governance, supporting climate action, and ensuring sustainable management of India’s natural resources.