The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017, released by the Forest Survey of India on Monday, shows that there has been a net increase of 37 sq. km of mangrove cover across Andhra Pradesh since 2015.
The increase between 2013-15 was 17 sq.km.
The highest net increase of 18 sq. km has been recorded in Guntur district and in the case of Krishna, it is 11 sq.km.
An incredible increase in moderate dense mangrove cover has been recorded in the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary spread across Krishna and Guntur districts.
Ironically, West Godavari district witnessed a negative growth (-1) between 2015 and 2017.
In East Godavari, the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, home to the mangrove forest, has reported an increase of 4 sq.km. Nellore district, which shares the border with Tamil Nadu, has witnessed an increase of 5 sq.km.
The figure was arrived at with the help of satellite imagery.
“Protection measures being taken in the sanctuaries, afforestation taken up in the past few years are the very immediate reasons for the increase in mangrove cover. Those planted a few years ago could only be traced in the satellite imagery,” State Chief Wildlife Warden N. Pradeep Kumar told The Hindu .
Mr. Pradeep Kumar said the results of the earlier afforestation initiatives done with the support of the local communities are expected to be highlighted in the next forest assessment in 2019.
Regeneration
The ISFR has concluded that ‘plantation and regeneration’ were the prime reasons for the increase in mangrove cover in the State, which has 404 sq.km of total over, including 213 sq. km of moderate dense forest. Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife-Eluru) P. Saibabu told The Hindu that the department was gearing up for plantation of mangrove species in over 200 hectares by year-end.
