By Anuj Sharma and Ranjit Barthakur
One of the biggest challenges facing conservation in India today is the big data gap when it comes to tracking the health of ecosystems at a ground level. The 2021 Forest Survey of India report, for example, identifies the overall status of forests and tracks changes between dense forests to open forest categories, which yield high level pictures of deforestation rates and degradation and loss – particularly in the regions in the North East. But a recent 2023 study by the Wildlife Institute of India showed that 22% of natural habitats in India are being overrun by invasive species, threatening overall biodiversity. This study was conducted across 20 states across 358,000 sqkm of tiger habitats – leaving huge swathes of the country’s terrestrial ecosystems to be assessed.
In regions like the Eastern Himalayas, these challenges are further amplified by the complexity of the terrain. The region is poorly studied, with new species being discovered every year as scientists and conservationists further map its vast ecosystems. Its dense forests across hilly terrain demand high investment of both time and resources in order for systematic ground monitoring. It holds one of the last remaining dense forest landscapes in the region, covering a total of 65% of its area. Despite being only 7% of India’s total land mass, it holds 25% of its forests. At the same time, these ecosystems face the highest rates of forest loss: in the 2021 FSI report, the North East was reported to have the highest forest loss figures, losing over 1000 sqkm of forests between 2019 and 2021, or over 100,000 hectares of forests. The vast majority of net deforestation today, in other words, takes place in India’s Eastern Himalayas.
Geospatial technology in conservation
As conservationists globally struggle with the problem of real time monitoring of critical habitats, a growing array of tools are leveraging high-resolution satellite data to enable responsive conservation action. The platform Global Forest Watch, for example, provides real time alerts for forest fires – allowing both conservation organisations and communities to work together to prevent large-scale damage resulting from these fires. Elsewhere, agribusinesses are beginning to leverage geospatial technology to generate traceability across the supply chain and ensure delivery of deforestation-free produce.
Conservation organisations like the Nature Conservancy use geospatial mapping to map the distribution of species in critical ecosystems and the distribution of key threats. Combining these layers to analyse the most critical ecosystems to prioritise conservation action is enabling precision targeted conservation action. Data on deforestation can be combined with high-level spatial socioeconomic data on infrastructure development or income to model potential future deforestation rates. Geospatial data is also enabling the valuation of ecosystems, by providing a means of assessing ecosystem health and the ecosystems services provided at scale – e.g. carbon, water replenishment, soil regeneration etc. Earth Analytics India, for example, is helping government stakeholders to assess the carbon storage capacity of forest ecosystems, an important factor in valuing forest ecosystems in economic terms.
For a region like the Eastern Himalayas, spatial technology can enable conservation in two ways. One is the identification of ecosystems for protection and restoration – using hyperspectral imaging combined with drone mapping, for example, to identify canopy signatures and use this as a means to map both forest loss and degradation (including where landscapes are overrun by invasive species such as Lantana Camara. The other lies in monitoring already restored lands, combining layers of biodiversity data collected from sensors or camera traps with satellite imaging of canopy layers to create a holistic image of the ecosystem. Satellite data on soil-, water- and crop stress may also be combined with these datasets for an overall assessment of ecosystem health. Meanwhile, satellite mapping of carbon through biomass assessment is gaining traction as a means of carbon credit validation.
Building enabling systems for these tools
Leveraging this technology today in India requires significant work to enhance accessibility – whether through investment in research or in policy. Data policies and security issues serve as barriers, especially in India’s Eastern Himalayas, which are almost entirely surrounded by international borders – including the sensitive border with China. A robust policy on data utilisation and sharing is urgently needed in order for geospatial data to be leveraged effectively for conservation activity in border zones.
Another critical barrier is the question of resourcing and investment. Strengthening the capabilities of the country towards greater access and availability of open-source tools, data analysis steams and tracking of land use along with policy incentives for forest land – all need to be tied together within the local context and interpretations to provide a clear picture on what is going on and how to accomplish what is needed. Greater investment needs to be directed into research on these technologies to develop them not just for monitoring biodiversity, but also for building critical regional capacity to tap into a growing global appetite for carbon credits – and the now nascent biodiversity credit market. This requires a streamlining of existing financial systems for more on-ground training, coordination, capacity-building for conservation technology, greater use of open-source platforms that helps communities build knowledge and localised designs and solutions.
Globally, the protection and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems – especially forest ecosystems – is generating growing value, whether in carbon markets or the nascent biodiversity credit market. India has the opportunity to capitalise on this meaningfully, for its ecosystems. Building the right support structure for these technologies can be transformative, not only for conservationists, but for India to leverage global valuation systems for the future of its ecosystems.
The authors are co-founder, Earth Analytics India and founder, Balipara Foundation, respectively