Application of GIS & Remote Sensing Data in monitoring of plantation in the projected
forests of Barak Basin, Manipur
2. STUDY AREA
Barak basin lies between the latitudes 23 0 10' 00'' N – 24 0 40' 00'' N and longitudes 94 0 00' 00'' E
– 95 0 20' 00'' N bordering Nagaland, Manipur and adjoining Assam. The Barak River originates
from the northern hills of Manipur (Liyai Khullen village) and flows generally southwestward.
It traverses a distance of 320km in the rugged hilly terrain in the western Manipur. It has
number of tributaries viz. Jiri, Makru, Irang, Barak, Leimatak and Tuivai, which flow from north
to south and joins the Barak Basin. Barak River with its tributaries is the second largest in the
northeastern India and constitutes a part of Ganga-Brahmaputra water resource region. The
major portion of the upper catchment is a hilly terrain with medium to degraded vegetation. The
river basin is endowed with vast water resources, holding a great potential for the development
of the region. Barak watershed is a thinly populated area in the state. The status of the vegetation
is decreasing from dense to medium and further to degraded land. The villagers and forest
traders, for their needs, are exploiting the timber and non-timber produces in an unscientific
manner. The villagers still continue the conventional shifting cultivation practices for their
livelihood, as there is no other alternative for the same. The Barak Basin receives the highest
rainfall in the state (3126mm/yr). The climate is warm and humid that is suitable for the growth
of various vegetation types in the river basin. This region belongs to the sub-humid agro-climatic
zone of the country.
3. ROLE OF REMOTE SENSING AND GIS IN FOREST MANAGEMENT
The satellite based multiphase approach of forest inventories with defined objectives provides
large amount of data for further processing and computation of volume and yield tables. The
standing volume information through inventory data analysis forms as a baseline data to bring
out correlation and ground crown density maps. This leads to relate the local specific vegetative
cover with respect to its volume and density and therefore, it is possible to estimate the total
growing stock of the area by generation of stock maps and conservation through established
volume functions. The experience in generation of such stock to volume estimation in Barak
Basin has shown promising to explore to avoid cumbersome, field inventories. Similar work has
been done by using remote sensing data by Loetsch and Haller (1964), Unni (1990); Weigand
Richardson (1990); Roy (1994); Puri et al 1984; Mc Cloy and Hall 1991; Roy et al 1990 and
number of other workers have also used the same techniques for forest management and stock
assessment. In order to prepare a database and further monitoring of vegetation a Geographical
Information System (GIS) is essentially required. These maps along with other natural resources
have made a vegetation database of the river basin.
