Forest in India

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Major Forest Areas in India
Technical Report · April 2017

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17863.70563
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INDIA –MAJOR FOREST AREAS
by
Prof.A. Balasubramanian
Centre for Advanced Studies in Earth Science
University of Mysore
Mysore-6
1
1.0 Introduction:
India comprises four broad geographical areas, namely the Great Himalayas (East & west), the vast Indo-
gangetic plains, the Great Thar Desert, and the southern Peninsular bounded by the Western and Eastern
Ghats. Bounded by the Himalayas in the north, India stretches towards south, flanked by the Bay of Bengal
and Arabian Sea and tapers off into the Indian Ocean. India’s 328 Million hectares of land mass lies within
Latitudes 8.4 and 37.6 degrees north and Longitudes 68.7 and 97.2 degrees east. Physiographically and
biogeographically, India is one of the most diverse countries. Out of the total land area of India, 142.5 million
ha (43.3%) is under agricultural development and about 76.5 million ha (23.27%) of the total land is occupied
by Forests.
Agricultural Urban and developmental expansion has forced the people to divert the unculturable waste land
with trees to produce fuel, fodder and timber for local use. This pressure has shifted on forest resources.
India is rich in biodiversity because of its diverse physiography and climatic conditions. It falls in the
confluence of three major bio-geographic realms, as
a) The Indo-Malayan
b) The Eurasian and
c) The Afro-tropical realms
It is one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries of the world. The country is divided into many types of
biogeographic zones.
In India forests meet nearly 40% of the energy needs of the country of which more than 80% is utilized in
rural areas and about 30% of fodder needs of the cattle population. Forest products play a very important
roles in the rural and tribal economy. For landless families and marginal farmers, forest related activities
often represent the primary source of income.
2.0 Constitutional provisions and mandate:
Forests are both a resource and a habitat. Forestry is an important part of landuse, and different types of
landuse complement each other. Landuse planning involves allocating land for different uses based on land
capability and agro-ecological conditions. Forests in India got evolved over centuries. The land allocation for
forestry has clearly earmarked the areas set apart as
a. Forestlands, primarily for production of goods and serivces and as protected areas, and
b. Non-forestlands where agro forestry, farm woodlots, wind belts, shelterbelts, avenue trees, urban
parks, homestead forests and sacred groves could develop.
Several socio-economic and environmental factors influence the relative role and importance of forest and
non-forest land. India places a great commitment on protecting, regenerating and growing its forests.
The constitution of India provides guidelines for protection of forests and wildlife.
The Directive Principles of State Policy have assigned duties for the states and citizens through Articles 48-A
and 51-A (g) which say that the state shall endorse to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard
the forests and wildlife of the country and the citizens are to protect and improve the natural environment
including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife.
India’s Forest Conservation Act 1980 is one of the most progressive forest conservation legislations in the
world. This Act puts severe restrictions on the diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes. The
National Forest Policy, 1988 lays out clear directions and guidelines for forest conservation and afforestation.
2
3.0 Forest area in India:
As per its revised mandate of 1986, The Forest Survey of India( FSI) has to assess forest cover of the country
on a two-year cycle and to publish the information in the form of "State of Forest Report" (SFR). Its first
assessment was published as SFR 1987.
Forest Cover in the Previous Assessments:
In 1993, the total area under forest cover in India was 640,107sq.km.
The 1995 assessment has shown that India had 3.5 million ha of forests with over 70% crown density, with 35
million ha with 40-70% crown density, 24-93 m ha with 10-40% crown cover and 6.08 m ha of scrub area.
Thus only 11.73% of the land area has reasonable good forest cover of over 40% crown density against the
33% stipulation made by the National Forest Policies of 1952 and 1988.
In the Year 2001, the recorded forest area in the country was 768,436 km2 (or 23.38 percent of the country’s
geographic area) comprising of 423,311 km2 of Reserved Forest (12.88 percent of country’s geographic area),
217,245 km2 of Protected Forest (6.61 percent) and 127,881 km2 of Unclassed Forest (3.89 percent).
In 2009, the forest and tree cover of the country was 78.37 million ha which is 23.84% of the geographical
areas and it includes 2.82% tree cover. This becomes 25.25%, if the areas above tree line i.e., 4000 m are
excluded from the total geographical area.
areas and it includes 2.78% tree cover. in 2015, the total forest and tree cover area of India was found to be
70.17mha which is 21.34% of the geographical area of the country.
area of India.
4.0 Classification of Forest Cover:
The forest cover is classified into 3 canopy density classes.
1. Very Dense Forest (VDF) with canopy density more than 70%
2. Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) with Canopy density between 40-70% and
3. Open Forest (OF) with Canopy density between 10-40%
Scrub which is a degraded forest land with Canopy density less than 10% is not considered as a part of forest
cover.
The area under each of these density classes is as follows:
Class Forest cover(m ha) % of Geographical

Year 2015 Area (GA)-2015
Forest Cover
Very Dense Forest 85904 2.61
Moderately Dense 315374 9.59
Forest
Open Forest 300395 9.14
Total Forest Cover 701673 21.34
Tree Cover 92572 2.82
Total Forest & Tree 794245 24.16
Cover
Non-Forest
Scrub 41362 1.26
3
Non-Forest land 2544 278 77.40
Total Geographical 3287263 100.00
Area
The Recorded Forest Area consists of Reserved Forests (RF) and Protected Forests (PF) which have been
constituted under the Provisions of the Indian Forest Act 1927, and also an additional category as unclassed
forests.
5.0 India’s Forest Areas Classified
A. Functional classification
The National Forest Policy of 1952 indicated the following functional classification:
a) Protection Forests-to be preserved (or) created for Physical (or) climatic consideration
b) National Forests-to be maintained and managed to meet the needs of defense, communication,
industry and other general purposes of public importance
c) Village Forests to be maintained to provide fuel wood, small timber, fodder and other local
requirements
d) Tree lands-area which are outside the scope of forest management, but the scope of forest
management, but are essential for amelioration of physical, environmental and climatic conditions.
The distribution is as follows.
Types of Forest Area in m ha

Protection Forests 10
Production Forests 15
Social Forests 25
Protected are Network 14
(National Parks, Sanctuaries, etc., )
Total 64.0
B. Vegetation Classification
Climatic, rainfall, soil, topography and other ecological factors influence the vegetational types of forests.
Indian Forests show a great variation and range from tropical to coastal temperate forest types.
The major forest types of India are
a) Tropical Forests
b) Sub tropical Forests
c) Temperate Forest
d) Alpine Forests
The tropical Forests have the mean annual temperature greater than 240C and the mean January winter
temperature is above 80C without any frost condition.
The subtropical Forests have the mean annual temperature between 17 and 240C with frost conditions in
January, with 10-180C mean temperature of winter.
The Temperature forests have 7 to 170C as mean annual temperature with 1 to 100C in January containing
frost and snow during winter.
The Alpine Forests have less than 70C as mean annual temperature and < 10C in January with full of winter
snow.
4
c. DETAILED FOREST CLASSIFICATION
Based on the vegetation including major tree species and other ecological factors, India’s forests are classified
into sixteen forests types. They are :
6.0 Detailed Forest Types of India
Sl.
Forest Type Characteristics Major tree species
No.
1. TROPICAL FORESTS
1. Tropical wet evergreen Dense tall forests, 45 meters or more, Dipeterocarpus,
forest (two sub-groups) entirely evergreen or nearly so, no specie artocarpus,
occurs gregariously. No individual species hopeadysoxylum, mesua,
forms more than one percent of the upper cane and bamboo
canopy
2. Semi-evergreen forest Dominants include deciduous species but Dipeterocarpus,
(two sub-groups) evergreens predominate. The canopy is artocarpus, terminalia,
typically less dense than the true evergreen albizzia, hopea, etc., cane
and bamboo
3. Moist deciduous forest Dominates mainly deciduous but sub Tectona (teak) in south,
(three groups) dominant and lower canopy largely shorea robusta (sal) in
evergreen. Canopy rarely dense and even North, albizzia, terminalia,
but over 25 m high. largerstroemia, anogeissus,
peterocarpus, dalbergia
and bamboo
4. Littoral and swamp Mangroves, mainly evergreen, varying Casuarina, heriteiora,
forest (five sub groups) density and height but always associated bruguiera, syzygium,
with wetness. myristica, rhyzophora &
palm
II SUB TROPICAL FORESTS
5. Dry deciduous forest Entirely deciduous or nearly so. Tectona (Teak) in south,
(two sub groups) Top canopy rather light rarely over shorea in North,
25 meters high, usually 8-20 mts. anogeissus, dalbergia,
terminalia, meadhuca,
acacia, diospyros, etc.,
and grasses.
6. Thorn forest (two Sub Deciduous with low thorny trees. Canopy Prosopia, acacia, Zizyphus,
groups) more or less broken height under 10 mts Calotropis, Prosopis,
salvadora and Euphorbia,
etc.,
7. Dry Evergreen Forest Hardleaved evergreen trees predominant Memicylon, mimusops,
with some deciduous emergents, often maha, etc.,
dense, but usually under 20 meters high
8. Sub tropical Broadleaved, largely evergreen high forests. Calophyllu, cinnamomum,
broadleaved castanopsis, ficus, schima
hill forest (two sub and michelia, etc.
group)
9. Subtropical broadleaved Pine association premominate Pinus roxburghii (in west),

hill forest (two P.kesiya and pinus
subgroup) insularies (in east)
10. Subtropical dry Low xerophytic forest and scrub Olea cuspidate and acacia
evergreen forest modesta, dodonea, etc.,
III. TEMPERATE FORESTS
11. Montane wet temperate Evergreen forest without conifers Termostroemia and
5
forest (two subgroup) Michelia in souther hills
and Quercus (oak), acer,
alnus and machilus in
Himalayas.
12. Himalayan Moist Open coniferous mainly oak and conifers Cedrus deodara, abies
Temperate forest pindrow(fir), Quercus
(oak), Picea smithiana
(spruce), etc.
13. Himalayan dry Open coniferous forest with sparse Pinus wallichiana, pinus
temperate forest (two xerophytic under growth gerardiana, ilex, quercus
subgroup) harix, betula, salix spp.
Etc.
IV. ALPINE FOREST
14. Sub alpine forest Stunted deciduous or evergreen forest, Picea smithiana abies
usually in close formation, with or without spectabilis in west, and
conifers abies densa and betula
utilis in east, rhododendron
spp. Etc.,
15. Moist alpine scrub Low but often dense scrub Betula utilis,
rhododendron, juniperus
and betula spp. Etc.
16. Dry alpine scrub Xerophytic scrub in open formation Juniperus communis and
juniperus wallichiana in
west and juniperus recruva
in east. Also some salix
and Hyricaria spp.
7.0 Distribution of Forests:
India is one of the few countries in the world which has gone for an operational system of wall-to wall
mapping of forest cover on a regular cycle of 2 years. The forest survey of India is the organization under the
ministry of environment and Forests responsible for monitoring the forests and tree cover of India. It has been
regularly assessing the forest cover since 1987.
Based on remote sensing, interpretation of 300 satellite images, detailed ground truth verification, proper tree
cover assessment and systematic monitoring, the distribution of forests in India has been snapped with greater
accuracy by the Forest Survey of India.
The classification scheme of forest cover mapping is as follows:
a) Very Dense Forest – All lands with tree cover of canopy density of 70% and about
b) Moderately Dense Forest- All lands with tree cover of canopy density between 40% and 70%
c) Open Forest-All lands with tree cover canopy density between 10% and 40%
d) Scrub- Degraded forest lands with canopy density less than 10%
e) Non-forest- any area not included in the above classes.
Considering the high ecological significance, the Mangrove Forest cover in India has been separately mapped
in the 3 canopy density classes.
The distribution of Forests in India has been assessed by the ministry with reference to the following
divisions:
a. Distribution of Forest cover in States and Union Territory

6
b. Forest cover in Hilly Districts
c. Forest cover in Tribal Districts
d. Forest cover in the North-Eastern States
e. Forest cover in Different Altitude Zones
f. Area above Tree line
g. Forest cover in Different Forest Types
h. Change in Forest cover
i. Mangrove cover
j. Tree cover
k. Growing stock
l. Trees outside forests.
8.0 Tables showing state-wise Forest areas-2009:
STATE : ANDHRA PRADESH

Sq. km %
Geographical Area 275,069
Recorded Forest Area (RFA) 63,821 23.20
Forest Cover (FC) 44,419 16.15
Forest + Tree Cover (FTC) 56,539 20.55
STATE : ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Sq. km %
STATE : ASSAM
Sq. km %
STATE : BIHAR
Sq. km %
STATE : CHHATTISGARH
Sq. km %
STATE : DELHI
Sq. km %
7
Recorded Forest Area (RFA) 85 5.73
Forest Cover (FC) 170 11.46
Forest + Tree Cover (FTC) 268 18.08
STATE : GOA
Sq. km %
STATE : GUJARAT
Sq. km %
STATE : HARYANA
Sq. km %
STATE : HIMACHAL PRADESH

Sq. km %
STATE : JAMMU & KASHMIR

Sq. km %
STATE : JHARKHAND
Sq. km %
STATE : KARNATAKA
8
Sq. km %
STATE : KERALA
Sq. km %
STATE : MADHYA PRADESH

Sq. km %
STATE : MAHARASHTRA
Sq. km %
STATE : MANIPUR
Sq. km %
STATE : MEGHALAYA
Sq. km %
STATE : MIZORAM
Sq. km %
9
STATE : NAGALAND
Sq. km %
STATE : ORISSA
Sq. km %
STATE : RAJASTHAN
Sq. km %
STATE : SIKKIM
Sq. km %
STATE : TAMIL NADU

Sq. km %
STATE : TRIPURA
Sq. km %
STATE : UTTAR PRADESH

Sq. km %
10
STATE : UTTARANCHAL
Sq. km %
STATE : WEST BENGAL

Sq. km %
STATE : ANDAMAN & NICOBAR

Sq. km %
STATE : CHANDIGARH
Sq. km %
Geographical Area 114
STATE : DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI

Sq. km %
STATE : DAMAN & DIU

Sq. km %
Forest Cover (FC) 8.34 7.45
STATE : LAKSHADWEEP
Sq. km %
11
STATE : PONDICHERRY
Sq. km %
C. Mangrove and Tree Cover
Table: Area under Forest Types and its Percentage of Total Recorded Forest Area
Percentage
Sl. Area in
Forest Types of forest Occurrence in States/UTs of India
No. (Million ha)
Area
1. Tropical wet evergreen 4.5 5.8 Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala,
forest Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu,
Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar islands and
Goa
2. Tropical Semi evergreen 1.9 2.5 Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra,
forest Nagaland, Orissa, T.N. Andaman & Nicobar
Islands and Goa
3. Tropical moist deciduous 23.3 30.3 A.P., Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka,
forest Kerala, M.P., Maharashtra, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland,
Orissa, T.N., U.P., West Bengal, Andaman &
Nicobar Islands, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli
4. Littoral and swamp forest 0.7 0.9 A.P., Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa, T.N., West
Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
5. Tropical dry deciduous 29.4 38.2 A.P., Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana, H.P., Karnataka,
forest Kerala, M.P., Maharashtra, J & K, Orissa,
Punjab, Rajasthan, T.N., U.P.,
6. Tropical Thorn forest 5.2 6.7 A.P., Gujarat, Haryana, H.P., M.P., Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, T.N., U.P.,
7. Tropical dry evergreen 0.1 0.1 A.P., T.N
forest
8. Subtropical broad-leaved 0.3 0.4 Assam, Meghalaya
hill forest
9. Subtropical pine forest 3.7 5.0 A.P., H.P., J & K, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Nagaland, Sikkim, U.P., Haryana and Punjab
10. Subtropical dry 0.2 0.2 H.P., and J & K
evergreen forest
11. Motane wet temperate 1.6 2.0 A.P., Karnataka, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim,
T.N.
12. Himalayan moist 2.6 3.4 H.P., J & K, U.P.
temperate forest
13. Himalayan dry temperate 0.2 0.2 J & K and H.P.
forest
14. Sub alpine 3.3 4.3 A.P., H.P.
12
15. Moist alpine scrub forest 3.3 4.3 J & K and U.P.
16. Alpine forest 3.3 4.3 J & K and U.P.
Total 77.0 100
Source: Forest survey of India (1995)
Of the 16 forest types, tropical dry deciduous forms the major forest type of India with 38.2 per cent of the
total forest area. Other predominant type is tropical moist deciduous covering 30.3 per cent of the forest area
of the country.
13
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See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

Major Forest Areas in India

Technical Report · April 2017

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

2.0 Constitutional provisions and mandate:

Forest Cover in the Previous Assessments:

4.0 Classification of Forest Cover:

The forest cover is classified into 3 canopy density classes.

The area under each of these density classes is as follows:

Class Forest cover(m ha) % of Geographical

5.0 India’s Forest Areas Classified

The distribution is as follows.

Types of Forest Area in m ha

The major forest types of India are

6.0 Detailed Forest Types of India

9. Subtropical broadleaved Pine association premominate Pinus roxburghii (in west),

7.0 Distribution of Forests:

The classification scheme of forest cover mapping is as follows:

a. Distribution of Forest cover in States and Union Territory

8.0 Tables showing state-wise Forest areas-2009:

STATE : ANDHRA PRADESH

STATE : ARUNACHAL PRADESH

STATE : HIMACHAL PRADESH

STATE : JAMMU & KASHMIR

STATE : MADHYA PRADESH

STATE : TAMIL NADU

STATE : UTTAR PRADESH

STATE : WEST BENGAL

STATE : ANDAMAN & NICOBAR

STATE : DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI

STATE : DAMAN & DIU

C. Mangrove and Tree Cover

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