There has been an increase of eight sqkm in the mangrove forest cover in Odisha during last two years, putting the State among the top-3 States showing mangrove cover expansion.
As per the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019, Odisha is placed in the third position after Gujarat (37 sqkm) followed by Maharashtra (16 sqkm). The country’s total mangrove cover has been recorded at 4,975 sqkm, an increase of 54 sqkm in last two years.
In Odisha, there has also been an increase of 273.51 sqkm in the total forest cover compared to the previous assessment in 2017.
The ISFR 2019 was released by Union Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar in the presence of Director General of Forests Siddhant Das at New Delhi on Tuesday.
The report reveals that Odisha forests are well-stocked, diverse, multistoried and dense.
As per the Champion & Seth Classification of Forest Types (1968), the forests in Odisha belong to four forest type groups which are further divided into 19 forest types.
Realising the need for community participation in forest protection, the Odisha Government has pioneered in implementing the Joint Forest Management Programme.
The recorded Forest Area (RFA) in the State is 61,204 sqkm, of which 36,049 sqkm is Reserved Forest, 25,133 sqkm is Protected Forest and 22 sqkm is Un-classed Forests.
A total of 4,968.48 hectares of forestland was diverted for non-forestry purposes under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 during the period ranging from January 1, 2015 to February 5, 2019.
As per the information received from the State, 6,30,896 hectares of plantations were raised in the last two years, Based on the interpretation of IRS Resourcesat-2 LISS III satellite data between November 2017 and February 2018, the forest cover in the State is 51,618.51 sqkm, which is 33.15% of the State's geographical area.
In terms of forest canopy density classes, the State has 6,969.71 sqkm under Very Dense Forest (VDF), 21,551.93 sqkm under Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) and 23,096.87 sqkm under Open Forest (OF).
The State has reported extent of recorded forest area (RFA) 61,204 sqkm, which is 39.31% of its geographical area.
The Reserved, Protected and Un-classed forests are 58.90%, 40.75% and 0.35% of the recorded forest area in the State, respectively.