Forest cover up in AP; Vizag tops

- After many decades, the signs of increasing forest cover are being observed
- The State has 1,60, 204 square kilometre geographical area having 22 percent forest cover, about 11 percent less than the government norms
- It was 16.77 per cent as per a report released in 2015
- The number of wild animals have also increased over the last few years

Visakhapatnam: The forest cover has increased in the state by 116 square kilometres. It is a good sign that depletion has been stopped and afforestation has been taken up on a massive scale. The efforts are showing results.

The State has 1,60, 204 square kilometres geographical area having 22 percent forest cover, about 11 percent less than the government norms. It was 16.77 per cent as per a report released in 2015. There was loss of 273 square kilometres in the same year. After many decades, the signs of increasing forest cover have shown up. Similarly, the number of wild animals have increased over the last few years. A recent census has shown that the number of tigers in Srisailam forests was estimated between 59 to 72, said chief conservator of forests Rahul Pandey. However, the Panthers in Eastern Ghats seems to have disappeared though no census was taken in the recent times.

Forest survey report said of the 1,60,204 square kilometres geographical area of Andhra Pradesh, 24,424 square kilometres is the actual forest cover and protected forest cover is 5,063 square kilometres. The report said AP forest comprises 375 square kilometre dense forest, 13,093 moderately dense forest and 10, 956 square kilometres open forest.

``It is a good sign that the forest cover has increased as desired by the government,’’ Pandey said. He said massive steps have been taken to improve forest cover. This year it was targeted to plant saplings and seeds in 1450 acres in north coastal Andhra districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam alone.

The district has 11, 16,100 hectares of geographical area and the notified forest comprises 4, 70,800 hectares of forest which amounts to 42 per cent, the highest in the State. Since afforestation is a huge task, the department has taken up aerial seeding last year and the results are being assessed.

``We have stopped mining and other related activity in Visakhapatnam forests and encouraging the farmers for growing coffee and pepper,’’ Rahul Pandey said.

He said the forest cover in Srikakulam is 12 percent and Vizianagaram district 14 percent. Much of the forest in Vizianagaram belonged to private agency, he added.

KMP Patnaik