mangrove forest cover has been lost. The total forest cover of the Indian Sunderbans as assessed by remote sensing studies for the year 1986 was about 2,246.839 sq. in 1996, then down to 2168.914 sq km in 2001 and to 2122.421 sq km in 2012. The loss in the mangrove forest in the Indian Sunderbans is about 5.5 %. The loss of forest cover occurs despite significant addition of forest land as plantations.

Source: The Hindu July 01, 2017 18:17 UTC