Status and Opportunities for Forest Resources Management Using Geospatial Technologies in Northeast India

Abstract

The forest resource of North East Region (NER) of India is a store house of several unique, endangered, endemic, medicinal plant, bamboo, etc. species in diverse forest type and high forest density. Several authors and organizations have contributed to the study of the richness and diversity distributed in different forest types and forest density. This chapter attempts to highlight the uniqueness of the forest of NER and the role of geospatial technology and presents various interesting studies pertaining to the region as an input to forest resource assessment. Remote sensing and GIS have an important role in NER forest resource assessment, management, and conservation. Various studies carried out with the help of remote sensing and GIS technology have highlighted the ongoing forest degradation and deforestation taking place in this region due to developmental activity and economic benefits. There is continuous improvement in the forest estimates from coarse resolution satellite data to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the recent times.