Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC), under a comprehensive project in collaboration with North East Space Application Centre (NESAC), has identified over 25,000 hectares (ha) of oak forest areas in three districts — Chamoli, Pauri Garhwal and Bageshwar — which are suitable for Tasar silk production in the state.
As part of the project which was funded by the Central Silk Board (CSB), USAC identified forest land with the help of remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) mapping.
Based on the information collected using high resolution satellite data and ground survey, 26,621 ha of oak forests were found in the three districts. Chamoli has a maximum of 15,896 ha, of which 8,535 ha was highly suitable for Tasar silkworm rearing. Bageshwar district has 10,317 ha and Pauri Garhwal 1,408 ha.