📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Sam Hood
Agriculture
2,500 Trees Girdled in Chhattisgarh Tiger Reserve, Satellite Images Reveal Extent
✍️ The Indian Express
🗓 03 Oct 2026, 02:32 PM
👁 8
Satellite imagery has confirmed that about 2,500 trees in a Chhattisgarh tiger reserve have been girdled, indicating large‑scale forest damage.
Satellite photographs analysed by forest officials show that roughly 2,500 trees within a tiger reserve in Chhattisgarh have been deliberately girdled, a practice that severs the bark and often leads to tree death. The images, taken over the past few weeks, reveal a pattern of damage that stretches across several square kilometres of protected forest.
The girdling appears to be systematic, suggesting coordinated activity rather than isolated incidents. Experts warn that such large‑scale removal of tree cover can undermine the habitat of the reserve's flagship species, the Bengal tiger, and disrupt the ecological balance of the area.
State forest department officials have launched an investigation to identify the perpetrators and assess the extent of ecological loss. While no arrests have been reported yet, authorities have pledged to increase patrols and employ remote‑sensing tools to monitor further illegal activities.
Conservation groups have called for urgent remedial measures, including re‑planting of affected trees and stricter enforcement of forest protection laws, to safeguard the reserve's biodiversity.
The incident underscores the growing challenge of illegal forest exploitation in protected areas and highlights the role of satellite technology in early detection and response.
The girdling appears to be systematic, suggesting coordinated activity rather than isolated incidents. Experts warn that such large‑scale removal of tree cover can undermine the habitat of the reserve's flagship species, the Bengal tiger, and disrupt the ecological balance of the area.
State forest department officials have launched an investigation to identify the perpetrators and assess the extent of ecological loss. While no arrests have been reported yet, authorities have pledged to increase patrols and employ remote‑sensing tools to monitor further illegal activities.
Conservation groups have called for urgent remedial measures, including re‑planting of affected trees and stricter enforcement of forest protection laws, to safeguard the reserve's biodiversity.
The incident underscores the growing challenge of illegal forest exploitation in protected areas and highlights the role of satellite technology in early detection and response.