Forests are important
The forests of Jammu and Kashmir have always been more than trees. From the deodar slopes of Pir Panjal to the alpine woods of Gurez and the conifer belts of Chenab Valley, they have been the region’s silent guardians.
The forests hold the soil on steep mountains, feed the rivers that irrigate our orchards, cool the air in summer, and shelter the Hangul, musk deer, and snow leopard.
For generations, Kashmiris forest is known as the green gold. And this name is enough to signify that our economy always got a huge impetus from our forest reserves. Even today the houses that we construct for using as our abode won’t be possible to see completion without the forests playing its part in the process.
However, the situation is turning dangerous as the latest India State of Forest Report says that J&K has 21,346 sq km of forest cover which transforms to about 39% of our geographical area. With tree cover added, nearly 48% of the Union Territory is green — among the highest in India.
In the last decade, forest cover has grown by 398 sq km. Between 2021 and 2023 alone, it increased by 84 sq km, thanks to plantations and natural regeneration. On paper, we are winning. However, on the ground, we are losing.
Only 4,209 sq km qualifies as very dense forest. The largest portion is open forest — thin canopies, degraded undergrowth, and broken patches. An increase in forest cover does not necessarily mean an increase in healthy forests. This means that quantity has gone up but quality is slipping.
The warning signs are no longer distant. The dry winter of 2025 saw an 80% precipitation deficit. Springs ran low. Forest divisions across Kashmir faced moisture stress and a heightened risk of fires. Scientists from the University of Kashmir warn that rising temperatures, declining snowfall, and longer dry spells are pushing tree lines higher into the alpine zone and changing what grows at lower elevations.
Forests, glaciers, wetlands and rivers are one system. When snow cover shrinks, streams weaken. When forests fragment, floods and landslides hit harder. Last year, the Supreme Court itself observed that illegal felling and forest degradation may have worsened devastation in Himalayan states. And Jammu and Kashmir is no exception.
Climate is not the only stress. Road widening, hydropower projects, urban expansion, and illegal felling continue to slice through ecologically fragile mountains. Each new road cuts a corridor. Each new settlement pushes wildlife further up. As habitats shrink, animals lose the forest links they need to survive. For communities, the cost shows up in other ways: drying springs, unstable slopes, and floods that come faster and fiercer.
The shrinkage in forest cover is not just an environmental issue. It is about water, food, and safety. Our forests recharge the springs that villages drink from. They stabilize slopes above our homes. They buffer cloudbursts and extreme rainfall that are now becoming frequent. Without healthy, connected forests, adaptation to climate change in the Himalayas becomes far more expensive — and far more dangerous.
Kashmir’s forests gave us resilience for centuries. Now they need resilience from us. The challenge is not to claim more green on a map. It is to ensure that the trees standing on our mountains remain dense, connected, and standing for the next generation.
