[Geog-India] Forests in India

Forests in India

Synopsis

(01)   Forest

(02)  Forest Divisions in India

(03)  Forest Area in India

(04)  Geographical Distribution of Forests in India

(05)  Indian State of Forest Report, 2013

(06)  Indian States in Forest Report 2013

(07)   Major Forest Products

(08)   Minor Forest Products

(09)  Indirect Use of Forests

(10)   Forest institutions in India

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 (01)Forest

(02)Forest Divisions in India

·        Forests in India are classified into 16 types in 5 major divisions

·        5 major divisions:

(i) Moist Tropical Forests

(ii) Dry Tropical Forests

(iii) Montane Sub-tropical Forests

(iv) Montane Temperate Forests

(v) Alpine Forests

  

Moist Tropical Forests
Characteristics	Tropical Wet Evergreen	Tropical Semi-Evergreen	Tropical Moist Deciduous	Littoral and Swamp
Average Rainfall	> 250 cm	200 – 250 cm	100 – 200 cm	75 – 100 cm
Annual Temperature	25° – 27°C	24° – 27°C	27°C	26° – 27°C
Annual Humidity	>77%	75%	60% - 75 %	75%
Major Area	* Western Sides of Western Ghats * Arunachal Pradesh * Upper Assam * Nagaland * Manipur * Mizoram * Tripura	* Western Coast * Assam * Odisha * Lower Slopes of Eastern Himalayas * Andamans	* Western Ghats * Telangana * Andhra Pradesh * Chotta Nagpur Plateau * Manipur * Mizoram * Odisha	* Deltas of  Ganga, Mahanadi, Cauvery, Krishna and Godavari
Major Products	* Bamboo * White Cedar * Mesua * Jamun * Calophyllum	* Mango * Rosewood * Semul * Thorny Bamboo * Haldu	* Teak * Sal * Rosewood * Jamun * Badam	* Sundri * Amur * Agar * Bhendi * Nipa * Palms

  

Montane Temperate Forests
Characteristics	Montane Wet Temperate	Himalayan Moist Temperate	Himalayan Dry Temperate
Average Rainfall	150 – 300 cm	150 – 250 cm	< 100 cm
Annual Temperature	11° – 14° C	Around 15°	Around 10° C
Annual Humidity	> 80%	> 80%	> 80%
Major Area	* Tamil Nadu * Kerala * West Bengal * Assam * Arunachal Pradesh * Sikkim * Nagaland	* Kashmir * Himachal Pradesh * Sikkim * Uttarakhand	* Kashmir * Sikkim
Major Products	* Deodar * Plum * Blue pine	* Pines * Cedars * Spruce * Silver Firs	* Deodar * Oak * Ash * Maple

Alpine Forests
Characteristics	Sub – Alpine	Moist Alpine scrub	Dry Alpine scrub
Average Rainfall	100 – 200 cm
Annual Temperature	Around 10° C - 15°
Annual Humidity	70 - 80%
Major Area	* Kashmir * Himachal Pradesh * Uttarakhand * Arunachal Pradesh
Major Products	* Fir * Kail * Spruce * Plum * Yew

  

(03) India – Forest Area

#	Forest group	Area in million hectares	% of total area
01	Tropical Moist Deciduous	23.680	37.0
02	Tropical Dry Deciduous	18.304	28.6
03	Tropical Wet Evergreen	5.120	8.0
04	Sub-tropical Moist Hill (Pine)	4.224	6.6
05	Tropical Semi-Evergreen	2.624	4.1
06	Montane Wet Temperate	2.304	3.6
07	Himalayan Moist Temperate	2.176	3.4
08	Tropical Thorn	1.664	2.6
09	Sub-tropical Dry Evergreen	1.600	2.5
10	Alpine (all divisions)	1.344	2.1
11	Littoral and Swamp	0.384	0.6
12	Sub-tropical Broad-leaved	0.256	0.4
13	Himalayan Dry Temperate	0.192	0.3
14	Tropical Dry Evergreen	0.128	0.2
	Total	64.000	100.0

 (04) Geographical Distribution of Forests in India

  

#	Geographical Region	% of total area
01	Peninsular Plateaus & Hills	57.00
02	Himalayan Region	18.00
03	Western Ghats and Western Coastal Plain	10.00
04	Eastern Ghats and Eastern Coastal Plain	10.00
05	Great Plain of India	05.00
	Total	100.00

(05) India State of Forest Report, 2013

·        India had lost 367 square kilometres of its forest cover

·        Andhra Pradesh recording the maximum loss

  

 ·        As per the National Forest Policy 1988, state needs to have 33% forest cover

·        The present assessment shows that 15 states/UTs have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover (Out of these states and UTs, eight states have more than 75 percent forest cover while seven states have forest cover between 33 percent and 75 percent)

·        By area wise, the states with the maximum forest cover are:-

Ø     Madhya Pradesh (77, 522 sq km)

Ø     Arunachal Pradesh (67, 321 sq km)

Ø     Chhattisgarh (55, 621 sq km)

Ø     Maharashtra  (50, 632 sq km)

Ø     Odisha (50, 347 sq km)

·        States / UTs with forest are of 33% and more than that:

Ø     Mizoram (90.38%)

Ø     Lakshadweep (84.56%)

Ø     Andaman &Nicobar Islands (81.36%)

Ø     Arunachal Pradesh (80.39%)

Ø     Nagaland (78.68%)

Ø     Meghalaya (77.08%)

Ø     Manipur (76.10%)

Ø     Tripura (75.01%)

Ø     Goa (59.94%)

Ø     Sikkim (47.32%)

Ø     Kerala (47.32%)

Ø     Uttarakhand (45.82%)

Ø     Dadra & Nagra Haveli (43.48%)

Ø     Chhattisgarh (41.14%)

Ø     Assam (35.28%)

(06) Indian States and Forest – Report 2013

#	State/UT	% of forest
1	Mizoram	90.38
2	Lakshadweep	84.56
3	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	81.36
4	Arunachal Pradesh	80.39
5	Nagaland	78.68
6	Meghalaya	77.08
7	Manipur	76.10
8	Tripura	75.01
9	Goa	59.94
10	Sikkim	47.32
11	Kerala	46.12
12	Uttarakhand	45.82
13	Dadra & Nagra Haveli	43.38
14	Chhattisgarh	41.14
15	Assam	35.38
16	Odisha	32.33
17	Jharkhand	29.45
18	Himachal Pradesh	26.37
19	Madhya Pradesh	25.15
India’s Average Forest Cover		21.23
20	West Bengal	18.93
21	Karnataka	18.84
22	Tamil Nadu	18.33
23	Andhra Pradesh	16.77
24	Maharashtra	16.45
25	Chandigarh	15.14
26	Delhi	12.12
27	Puducherry	10.43
28	Jammu & Kashmir	10.14
29	Daman & Diu	8.28
30	Bihar	7.74
31	Gujarat	7.48
32	Uttar Pradesh	5.96
33	Rajasthan	4.7
34	Haryana	3.59
35	Punjab	3.53

(07) Major Forest Products

·        Indian forest produces about 5000 species of wood, of which 450 are commercially valuable

·        Hardwoods and Softwoods are obtained from Indian forests

Hardwoods	Softwoods
Includes Teak, Mahogany, Logwood, Ironwood, Ebony, Sal, Kikar etc	Includes Deodar, Pine, Fir, Cedar, Balsan etc
Used for furniture, wagons, tools	Used for constructional timber, mainly paper pulp
70% of hardwood is burnt as fuel and 30% of hardwood is used in industries	70% of softwood is used in industries and 30% of softwood is burnt as fuel

Timberwood 1) Jammu and Kashmir 2) Punjab 3) Madhya Pradesh

Fuelwood 1) Karnataka 2) West Bengal 3) Maharashtra

 (08) Minor Forest Products

·        Grasses, Bamboos and Canes

·        Tans and Dyes

·        Oils

·        Gums and Resins

·        Fibers and Flosses

·        Leaves

·        Drugs, Spices and Poisons

·        Edible Products

·        Animal Products

Ø     Bamboo is called as Poor Man’s Timber, as it provides cheap material for roofing, walling, flooring, matting, basketry, and a host of other things

 (09) Indirect Use of Forests

·        Prevention and Control of soil erosion

·        Flood control

·        Checks on spread of deserts

·        Increase of soil fertility

·        Effect on climate

(10) Institutions connecting with Forests in India

·        Indian Council of Forest Research and Education – Dehra Dun

·        Forest research Institute – Dehra Dun

·        Institute of Arid Zone Forestry Research – Jodhpur

·        Institute of Rain and Moist Deciduous Forests – Jorhat

·        Institute of Wood Science and Technology – Bangalore

·        Tropical Forestry Research Institute – Jabalpur

·        Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding – Coimbatore

·        Temperate Forest Research Centre – Shimla

·        Centre for Forest Productivity – Ranchi

·        Centre for Social Forestry and Environment – Allahabad

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