The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Head of Forest Force, Assam on October 30th, 2019, raised concern over the low dense forest coverage in the state which is just nine per cent.
“The total forest coverage of the state is now 35 per cent, which is above than national forest coverage. But the total percentage of dense forest coverage of Assam is just 9 per cent while the percentage of the open forest area of our state is 10 to 14. It should be our mission to transform this open forest area to the dense forest,” AM Singh, PCCF said addressing the Green action Week- India state-level stakeholder consultation in Guwahati.
Moreover, expressing his concern over the rapid increase in deforestation, Singh said, “Rivers including the mighty Brahmaputra and Barak will get be dried if the deforestation continues in this speed.”
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It may be mentioned that the recorded forest area of the state is 26,832 sq km accounting for 34.21 per cent of its geographical area. As per the legal status, Reserved Forests constitute 66.58 per cent and Unclassed Forests 33.42 per cent of the total forest area.
According to the Forest Survey of India 2011, the estimated tree cover in the state is 1,564 sq km which is 1.99 per cent of the geographical area while forest cover is 27,673 sq km that is 35.28 per cent.
Green Action Week
Green Action Week is a global campaign to promote sustainable consumption. Over 50 civil society groups in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America took part in 2018. The Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum, Assam (CLPF) is observing Green Action Week Campaign 2019, in partnership with CUTS International, Jaipur and Swedish society for nature conservation. The theme of this year campaign is ‘Sustainable Development: Sharing Community’.
Photo: Mukut Das
