FSI Stops AI-Based Deforestation Alerts to States

Why in the News

The Forest Survey of India (FSI) has stopped issuing fortnightly deforestation alerts through its AI-based Anavaran Deforestation Alert System. The portal has not been updated since November 2025.

What was the Anavaran System?

• An AI and satellite-based monitoring system launched in January 2024.
• Provided deforestation alerts every 15 days to states.
• Alerts included precise geographic coordinates where forest cover loss was detected.

Purpose:

• Enable quick field inspections by forest officials.
• Improve near-real-time monitoring of deforestation.

Technology Used

The system used remote sensing and machine learning:

• Google Earth Engine
• Sentinel-2
• Sentinel-1

Features:

• Optical satellite imagery (Sentinel-2).
• Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from Sentinel-1 for cloudy or monsoon conditions.
• Machine learning algorithms compared before-and-after images to detect forest loss.

Performance of the System

• 12,351 alerts issued between Jan 2024 and Oct 2025.
• Average alerts per month: 561
• Alerts increased to 1,028 per month during Nov–March, when deforestation peaks.

Why Alerts Were Stopped

• According to FSI officials:
  • The system was only a pilot project.
  • The government is currently reviewing feedback from states on its usefulness.
  • Active monitoring reportedly stopped in January 2026.

Comparison with Global Systems

• The system was considered similar to Terra‑I, used in countries like Peru. However, Anavaran had higher spatial resolution:
  • 10–20 metre resolution (Sentinel satellites)
  • Terra-I: 250 metre resolution

Other Forest Monitoring Systems in India

• Van Agni Portal
• Fire alerts using satellite data have been operational since 2004.