PANJIM: While the total forest cover of Goa increased by 8.49 sq kms in the last two years; the tree cover reported a reduction by almost 51 sq km as compared to the previous assessment of 2017.
This was revealed by the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019, which was released on Monday in New Delhi at the hands of Union Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change, (MoEFCC) Prakash Javdekar.
The report also mentions that during the period from January 1, 2015 to February 5, 2019, a total of 42.57 hectares of forest land was diverted for non-forestry purposes under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
As per the report, the forest cover in the State stood at 2,237.49 sq km which is 60.44 per cent of the State’s geographical area. In 2017, the forest cover was 2,229 sq km. The total increase is hardly 0.36 per cent.
In terms of forest canopy density classes, the State has 538 sq km under Very Dense Forest (VDF), 576.09 sq km under Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) and 1,123.40 sq km under Open Forest (OF). Forest Cover in the State has increased by 8.49 sq km as compared to the previous assessment reported in ISFR 2017. The increase is reported only in the open forest cover, while VDF and MDF remained same.
The State has reported extent of recorded forest area (RFA) 1,225 sq km, which is 33.09 per cent of its geographical area. The reserved and un-classed forests are 20.65 per cent and 79.35 per cent of the recorded forest area in the State respectively.
South Goa has the highest forest cover with total 1,304.58 sq km area under green cover, while North Goa has 932.91 sq km area.
As per the information received from the State, 140 ha of plantations have been raised in the State in the last two years; however, the tree cover has decreased by 51 sq km as compared to the previous assessment reported in ISFR 2017. The State has around 204 plant species of which 118 are tree species.
The State has around 26 sq km of mangrove cover, of which 20 sq km is moderately dense with mangroves.
The survey has identified total 71 wetlands covering total area of 1,025 ha.
