In a span of 22 years, Assam lost a vast portion of its green land even from its protected areas in the state. A recent satellite imagery-based study revealed and highlighting a systemic failure to protect even legally designated area. A study conducted over a period of 20 years showed that the forest cover within Panidihing bird Sanctuary of Sivasagar district has significantly decreased due to human activities resulting in environmental alterations.
According to the studies conducted by Namita Sharma and Anup Saikia of Guwahati university and Scott M Robeson of Indiana University (USA) forest area in the sanctuary had decline to 5.77 per cent from 2001 and the most effected changes occurred in the grassland category which decline from nearly half of the sanctuary in 2001 to about one third in2021.
This decreased of grassland in the sanctuary is cause due to human activities such as, the rapid growth of cropland in the sanctuary which comprise a major share of 25.7 percent in 2001 and later increased to 42.5 percent a 65percent of sanctuary is converted into cropland area within the sanctuary.
Within 20 years span from 2001-2021 the grassland had decreased by 11.2sqkm. in total around 15.1sqkm is converted from grassland into cropland, by 2001 to 2021 around 5.14 percent of total forest is accounted loss and neither the stories for interior forest of the state remains indifferent.
Around 4.56 of the deep jungle of the state are degraded or lost within the area. The sanctuary is a diverse ecosystem and encompasses and areas of about 34sqkm, Changes of landscape and vegetation density the research team concluded that the general health of the sanctuary and its buffer zone may be jeopardized “since grassland is fast vanishing and forest fragmentation has intensified, both of which will adversely affect the sanctuary’s fauna”.