We must move beyond viewing forests as mere carbon sinks or timber sources. They are living, breathing climate regulators, intimately tied to rainfall, soil fertility, human health, and biodiversity. Losing them is not just an ecological loss — it is a strategic failure in our fight against climate change
As the world grapples with the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity collapse, tropical forests have emerged as both frontline casualties and frontline defenders. Often referred to as the lungs of the Earth, these dense, humid, and biologically rich ecosystems do much more than just absorb carbon dioxide — they regulate rainfall, influence weather systems across continents, cool the Earth’s surface, and anchor traditional and indigenous livelihoods.
Yet, they are being destroyed at a terrifying rate — cleared for cattle ranching, palm oil, timber, mining, and infrastructure. In doing so, we are not just losing trees — we are weakening the Earth’s climate defence system itself.
The Climate Machinery of Tropical Forests
Tropical forests span the equatorial belt, including the Amazon Basin in South America, the Congo Basin in Central Africa, and the rainforests of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Malayan region. These biomes maintain complex water and energy cycles.
Through evapotranspiration, they release moisture into the atmosphere, forming clouds that contribute to regional and global rainfall. This process also cools surrounding air, making forests natural “air conditioners” for the planet.
In terms of carbon, tropical forests store approximately 250 billion tonnes of carbon, both in biomass and soil. They remove and sequester 1.2-1.8 gigatonnes of CO2 annually, helping mitigate the impacts of fossil fuel emissions.
Deforestation: The Domino Effect
But these climate services are being rapidly eroded. According to Global Forest Watch, over 4.1 million hectares of tropical primary forest were lost in 2023 alone.
Brazil, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Bolivia top the charts of forest loss. Each hectare cleared emits vast amounts of stored carbon, converting forests from sinks into sources.
But the impacts go far beyond emissions. Forest loss reduces local humidity and rainfall, increases surface temperatures, and alters wind patterns.
One of the lesser-known consequences is the disruption of atmospheric rivers — narrow bands of moisture that transport water vapour across continents. The Amazon rainforest, for instance, helps sustain agriculture in southern Brazil, Argentina, and even parts of the US Midwest. Its deforestation is now linked to prolonged droughts and erratic monsoons.
A Global Issue with Local Roots
The drivers of deforestation are complex and interconnected. On the one hand are economic forces — agribusiness, logging, illegal mining, infrastructure development. On the other are policy gaps — poor land governance, unclear forest tenure, lack of enforcement, and skewed subsidies.
Add to this the pressures of poverty, population growth, and rising global demand for commodities, and you get a perfect storm.
In the Congo Basin, slash-and-burn agriculture is a key factor. In Southeast Asia, palm oil plantations have replaced entire rainforests. In India, road projects, hydropower dams, and mining leases continue to chip away at forested landscapes.
India’s Tropical Forests: Anchors of the Monsoon
India may not have rainforests of the scale of the Amazon or Congo, but it is home to tropical moist deciduous and evergreen forests in the Western Ghats, Northeast, and parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
These ecosystems play a pivotal role in the Indian monsoon system.
The Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, act as a water tower for peninsular India, generating rivers and stabilising monsoon rainfall. Similarly, forests in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Meghalaya modulate local climate and serve as biodiversity hotspots.
Deforestation in these regions, driven by jhum (shifting cultivation), urban expansion, and unregulated development, threatens not only carbon stocks but also monsoon variability, with cascading effects on agriculture, water security, and rural livelihoods.
Hope in Restoration and Carbon Finance
Despite the grim trends, tropical forests still offer hope — if we act fast. Global models show that halting deforestation and restoring degraded forests could deliver over 30 per cent of the climate mitigation needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals.
India’s National Mission for a Green India, and the state-level Afforestation and Rejuvenation of Rivers (ARR) and Agroforestry for Livelihood Management (ALM) projects, point in the right direction. So do community-led forest protection initiatives through Joint Forest Management (JFM), Van Dhan Yojana, and Panchayati Raj institutions.
Moreover, with the rise of carbon markets and payment for ecosystem services (PES) models, there is a new economic logic for forest conservation.
Through REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and voluntary carbon offsets, Governments and communities can receive financial incentives for protecting or restoring forests.
The Role of Technology and Indigenous Wisdom
Emerging tools like satellite-based forest monitoring, drone-based inventory, and AI-enabled MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) systems are revolutionising how we track forest health. These tools can help identify illegal encroachments, quantify carbon sequestration, and build transparent data systems for climate finance.
But technology alone is not enough.
Indigenous communities have lived in harmony with tropical forests for generations. Their knowledge of flora, fauna, weather cycles, and conservation practices must be recognised and integrated into formal forest governance. Granting community forest rights, as mandated under India’s Forest Rights Act, can empower these custodians and reduce deforestation.
A New Climate Diplomacy on Forests
Forests need to be elevated in global climate diplomacy. India, as a key player in the Global South, can champion a Tropical Forest Alliance focused on:
Such a coalition can push for climate justice, where the custodians of forests — indigenous peoples, forest-dwellers, and local communities — are not just beneficiaries but partners in global climate action.
Forests Are More Than Carbon Stocks
We must move beyond viewing forests as mere carbon sinks or timber sources. They are living, breathing climate regulators, intimately tied to rainfall, soil fertility, human health, and biodiversity.
Losing them is not just an ecological loss — it is a strategic failure in our fight against climate change. Tropical forests are Earth’s green pulse. Let us not let it fade into silence.
The writer is Head, NbS & Strategy, IORA Ecological Solutions and Retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Karnataka