(a) whether various States in the North-East have sought special aid for reinforcing steps for conservation and promotion of forests and wildlife;
(b) if so, the details of aid sought by each State; and
(c) the extent to which forest cover and wildlife population have been depleted especially Rhinos in these States during the last five Years?
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SHRI T.R. BAALU):
(a) and (b) Ministry of Environment and Forests has earmarked an amount of Rs.85 crores
for North-Eastern States during the year 2000-2001 for conservation and promotion of
forests and wildlife etc.
(c) The details of forest cover and extent of depletion is given in the enclosed
statement-I. Amongst the North East States, one horned Rhino is found in the State
of Assam only and the census figure of 1999 shows an increase in its population over
the previous census of 1995. The details are given in the enclosed statement – II.
Statement I
Details of forest cover and the extent of its depletion
State Forest Cover (sq.km) 1993-95Assessment 1995-98AssessmentTotal loss in forest area (-) 244 Sq. kms.
Arunachal Pradesh 68602 68847 Assam 23824 23688 Manipur 17418 17384 Meghalaya 15657 15633 Mizoram 18775 18338 Nagaland 14221 14164 Tripura 5546 5745 Total 164043 163799
National Parks/Sanctuaries 1995 1998/1999Percentage of increase – 1.54%
Kaziranga 1250 1550 Manas 80 12 Pobitora 60 74 Orang 100 46 Other Pockets 40 - Total 1530 1684