In what could be termed as a major sign of disaster in the coming days, Assam, which curently has a total forest coverage of 30,708 sq km against the geographical area of 78,719 sq km , stands to lose about 1,000 sq km of well-stoked forest areas before the turn of the next millennium. The departmentally-related standing committee on Development Department (A), which had submitted its report relating to the Forest Department in the House on May 4, expressed serious concern that in spite of being termed a diverse biological realm, the State could do precious little to preserve the rich forest cover.