- According to state records, the forest area covers 23.28% of the total land area of the country.
- Madhya Pradesh has the largest areas under forests followed by Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh has the highest per capita forest area.
- The lowest forest percentage is an Haryana and Punjab, because of the extensive agriculture.
CLASSIFICATION OF FORESTS
(Administration Classification)
Reserved Forests
- These forests are under the direct supervision of the government where no public entry is allowed for collecting timber and grazing of cattle. About 53% of forest area falls under this category.
Protected Forests
- These forests are looked after by the governments, but local public are allowed to collect timber/firewood and graze their cattle without causing serious damage to the forests. These occupy about 29% of the total forest cover.
Unclassified Forests
- These are unclassified Forests where there is no restriction on cutting trees or grasing animals. About 18% of total forest are under this category.
(Constitutional Classification)
State Forests
- These are under the full control of the government (state/central) and include almost all the important forest areas of the country. About 93.8% of total forest covers are under this category.
Communal Forests
- These forests are owned and administered by the local bodies (municipal corporation, municipal board, town area, district board, village panchayat etc) and occupy about 4.9% of the country's forest area.
Private Forests
- These are under the private ownership and cover only 1.3% of the forest area. Now these forests are rapidly converted to waste lands. Odisha has highest private Forests in the country.
Forests Cover in India
- Forest cover is defined as "All lands more than one hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10% irrespective of ownership and legal status. Such lands may not necessarily be a recorded forest area. It also includes orchards, bamboo and palm."
Very Dense Forest
- All lands with tree canopy density of 70% and above. It spreads over 2.54% of the geographical area in India.
Moderately Dense Forest
- All lands with tree canopy density between 40% and 70%. These area spreads over 9.70% of the total geographical area.
Open Forest
- All lands with tree cover of canopy density between 10% and 40%. It covers 8.99% of total geographical area.
Scrub
- Degraded forest lands with canopy density less than 10%. In India, it is upto 1.26% of total area.
Non-forest
- Any area not included in the above classes and has 77.51% of total geographical area in the country.
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