In 10 years, Goa loses a fifth of its tree cover

Margao: The state has lost over a fifth or 22% of its tree cover in recent years. Centre’s data shows that Goa’s tree cover peaked at 334sqkm in 2010-11, but fell to 258sqkm by 2021-22 — a loss of 76sqkm over a decade.

This represents a 22.8% drop from the peak coverage.According to the latest data released by the Union ministry of statistics and programme implementation in the ‘EnviStats India 2025: Environment Statistics’ report, Goa’s tree cover peaked at 334sqkm in 2010-11, but declined to just 258sqkm by 2021-22 — a loss of 76sqkm over a decade. This represents a 22.8% reduction from the peak coverage.The data shows a significant initial recovery period from 2000 to 2010-11, when tree cover expanded from a mere 62sqkm to 334sqkm — a more than five-fold increase.

However, this positive trend reversed sharply after 2010-11, with consistent year-on-year losses.The steepest decline occurred between 2015-16 and 2017-18, when tree cover dropped from 323sqkm to 272sqkm — a loss of 51sqkm in just two years.Experts said this period coincides with increased development pressures and infrastructure expansion across the state.The current tree cover of 258sqkm represents approximately 7% of Goa’s total area of 3,702sqkm.

Activists have already been calling for immediate action to reverse this trend and protect the remaining green cover in the state.The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 released by the Union environment ministry in Dec showed that from 2021 to 2023, Goa’s total forest cover came down by 1.50sqkm or 150ha. Goa’s total forest cover now stands at 2,265.7sqkm.The loss of forest cover was higher in North Goa at 90ha, besides a loss of 60ha of forest cover in South Goa.

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