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Forestry
Forests
cover 7.171 sq.m of the total area of the islands. The forests come under the general equatorial belt of tropical rain.
The
main type are the tropical evergreen, moist deciduous and mangrove forests. There
are about 200 species but only 44 are harvested, of which only 29 are used for
industrial purposes. The most important Andaman timber is the deciduous
type which dominate but none of these are available in Nicobar. A few more other
important species among hardwoods are, Badam , white Chuglam, Taungpeinne, Lal
Bombeive, Nabbe, Red Dhup, Pyinma, Sea Mohwa and Koko. Among soft woods are
white Dhup, Bakota, Didu or Semul , Papita, Lambapathi, Thitpok. Among
ornamental woods are silver-gray, Satinwood, Marble wood and Chool.
The Forest Department started functioning in 1883. Isolation and remoteness
from the mainland has been the main constraints. There has been thus no
large-scale forest operation in the Nicobar Islands.
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