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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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