Moa Jamir
Dimapur | December 29
The detection of forest fires in Nagaland has declined by approximately 31.39% during the dry season from November 2023 to June 2024, as reported in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023. The report highlights that forest fire detections by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), using both MODIS and SNPP-VIIRS sensors, decreased from 4,912 incidents in the previous season to 3,370 this season.
Using the MODIS sensor, fire detections showed a downward trend from 1,309 in the November 2021–June 2022 period, to 1,030 in November 2022–June 2023, and 761 in November 2023–June 2024. Similarly, fire detections based on the VIIRS-SNPP sensor dropped from 3,471 incidents in November 2021–June 2022 to 2,609 in November 2023–June 2024, down from 3,882 in the previous period.
On a national level, the FSI recorded a decline in forest fire detections across India, with MODIS detections falling from 31,145 in the 2022-23 period to 26,390 in 2023-24. Likewise, the VIIRS-SNPP sensor detected a decrease from 212,249 to 203,544 incidents during the same period.
Notably, a total of 22 forest fires were detected in Nagaland's Intanki National Park, while 6,046 fires were recorded across India by the VIIRS-SNPP sensor. To aid in timely detection and monitoring, the FSI has established a satellite-based ‘Forest Fire Monitoring and Alert System,’ which sends alerts via SMS and email to registered users.
As per the report, the number of subscribers to the FSI’s forest fire alert service has reached 307,137 nationwide, with only 28 subscribers from Nagaland in the 2023-24 season. Madhya Pradesh leads with the highest number of subscribers at 88,526, followed by Himachal Pradesh (66,870) and Jharkhand (32,701).
The FSI uses the MODIS sensor on NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites, and the VIIRS sensor on the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite, to alert state forest departments about detected forest fire incidents. The November–June period is considered the fire season in India.
Fire-Prone Forests
The ISFR 2023 also highlighted that there are no ‘Extremely Fire Prone’ forests in Nagaland, whereas 11,018.24 square kilometres (1.45% of the total forest cover and scrub) across India were classified as such. However, 385.65 sq km (2.99% of Nagaland’s forest cover and scrub) were classified as ‘Very Highly Fire Prone,’ and 2,938.57 sq km (22.80%) were classified as ‘Highly Fire Prone.’
On a national scale, the ‘Very Highly Fire Prone’ and ‘Highly Fire Prone’ forest cover and scrub areas in India totalled 75,084.02 sq km (9.89%) and 126,187.87 sq km (16.63%), respectively. Additionally, 4,410.46 sq km (34%) of forest cover and scrub were considered ‘Moderately Fire Prone,’ while 5,155.06 sq km (39.99%) were designated as ‘Less Fire Prone.’
AS reported earlier, Nagaland lost a total of 125.22 sq km of forest and tree cover during the 2021-23 period, informed the ‘India State of Forest Report 2023’ (ISFR), ranking as the fourth highest among the states in India.
The maximum decrease in forest and tree cover was observed in Madhya Pradesh (612.41 km²), followed by Karnataka (459.36 km²), Ladakh (159.26 km²), and Nagaland, reflected the report released the FSI on December 21.
This is the second consecutive decline for Nagaland, as the ISFR 2021 also highlighted that the state recorded a 235 sq km decline in forest cover during the 2019-21 period.
Between 2013 and 2023, the Forest Cover in Nagaland has decreased from 13,017.35 sq km to 12,222.47sq km representing a loss of 794.88sq km.
Out of this, 360.22sq km decline was reported from 2019-2023.
