India major forest types

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INDIA –MAJOR FOREST TYPES
By
Prof. A. Balasubramanian
Centre for Advanced Studies in Earth Science
University of Mysore,
India
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.
Physiographic zones of India
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.
1. Forest area in India.
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. 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.

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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.
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.
The present forest and tree cover of the country is 78.37 million ha in 2007 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., 4000m are excluded from the total geographical area.
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 Area
(GA)
Forest Cover
Very Dense Forest 8.35 2.54
Moderately Dense Forest 31.90 9.71
Open Forest 28.84 8.77
Total Forest Cover
Tree Cover
69.09
9.28
21.02
2.82
Total Forest & Tree Cover
Non-Forest
Scrub
Non-Forest land
78.37
4.15
255.49
23.84
1.26
77.72
Total Geographical Area 328.73 100.00
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.
India’s Forests 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

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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
(National Parks, Sanctuaries, etc., )
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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 240
C and the mean January
winter temperature is above 80
C without any frost condition.
The subtropical Forests have the mean annual temperature between 17 and 240
C with frost
conditions in January, with 10-180
C mean temperature of winter.
The Temperature forests have 7 to 170
C as mean annual temperature with 1 to 100
C in January
containing frost and snow during winter.
The Alpine Forests have less than 70
C as mean annual temperature and < 10
C in January with full of
winter snow.
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 :
D. Detailed Forest Types of India
Sl.
No.
Forest Type Characteristics Major tree species
1. TROPICAL FORESTS
1. Tropical wet
evergreen forest (two
sub-groups)
Dense tall forests, 45 meters or more,
entirely evergreen or nearly so, no
specie occurs gregariously. No
individual species forms more than one
percent of the upper canopy
Dipeterocarpus,
artocarpus,
hopeadysoxylum,
mesua, cane and bamboo

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2. Semi-evergreen forest
(two sub-groups)
Dominants include deciduous species
but evergreens predominate. The
canopy is typically less dense than the
true evergreen
Dipeterocarpus,
artocarpus, terminalia,
albizzia, hopea, etc.,
cane and bamboo
3. Moist deciduous
forest (three groups)
Dominates mainly deciduous but sub
dominant and lower canopy largely
evergreen. Canopy rarely dense and
even but over 25 m high.
Tectona (teak) in south,
shorea robusta (sal) in
North, albizzia,
terminalia,
largerstroemia,
anogeissus,
peterocarpus, dalbergia
and bamboo
4. Littoral and swamp
forest (five sub
groups)
Mangroves, mainly evergreen, varying
density and height but always associated
with wetness.
Casuarina, heriteiora,
bruguiera, syzygium,
myristica, rhyzophora &
palm
II SUB TROPICAL FORESTS
5. Dry deciduous forest
(two sub groups)
Entirely deciduous or nearly so.
Top canopy rather light rarely over
25 meters high, usually 8-20 mts.
Tectona (Teak) in south,
shorea in North,
anogeissus, dalbergia,
terminalia, meadhuca,
acacia, diospyros, etc.,
and grasses.
6. Thorn forest (two Sub
groups)
Deciduous with low thorny trees.
Canopy more or less broken height
under 10 mts
Prosopia, acacia,
Zizyphus, Calotropis,
Prosopis, salvadora and
Euphorbia, etc.,
7. Dry Evergreen Forest Hardleaved evergreen trees predominant
with some deciduous emergents, often
dense, but usually under 20 meters high
Memicylon, mimusops,
maha, etc.,
8. Sub tropical
broadleaved
hill forest (two sub
group)
Broadleaved, largely evergreen high
forests.
Calophyllu,
cinnamomum,
castanopsis, ficus,
schima and michelia,
etc.
9. Subtropical
broadleaved hill forest
(two subgroup)
Pine association premominate Pinus roxburghii (in
west), P.kesiya and
pinus insularies (in east)
10. Subtropical dry
evergreen forest
Low xerophytic forest and scrub Olea cuspidate and
acacia modesta,
dodonea, etc.,
III. TEMPERATE FORESTS
11. Montane wet
temperate forest (two
subgroup)
Evergreen forest without conifers Termostroemia and
Michelia in souther hills
and Quercus (oak), acer,
alnus and machilus in
Himalayas.
12. Himalayan Moist
Temperate forest
Open coniferous mainly oak and
conifers
Cedrus deodara, abies
pindrow(fir), Quercus
(oak), Picea smithiana
(spruce), etc.

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13. Himalayan dry
temperate forest (two
subgroup)
Open coniferous forest with sparse
xerophytic under growth
Pinus wallichiana, pinus
gerardiana, ilex, quercus
harix, betula, salix spp.
Etc.
IV. ALPINE FOREST
14. Sub alpine forest Stunted deciduous or evergreen forest,
usually in close formation, with or
without conifers
Picea smithiana abies
spectabilis in west, and
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.
E. 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
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

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k. Growing stock
l. Trees outside forests
Tables showing state-wise forest areas:
STATE : THE THEN 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 %
Recorded Forest Area (RFA) 85 5.73
Forest Cover (FC) 170 11.46
Forest + Tree Cover (FTC) 268 18.08
STATE : GOA
Sq. km %

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STATE : GUJARAT
Sq. km %
STATE : HARYANA
Sq. km %
STATE : HIMACHAL PRADESH
Sq. km %
STATE : JAMMU & KASHMIR
Sq. km %
STATE : JHARKHAND
Sq. km %
STATE : KARNATAKA
Sq. km %
STATE : KERALA
Sq. km %

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STATE : MADHYA PRADESH
Sq. km %
STATE : MAHARASHTRA
Sq. km %
STATE : MANIPUR
Sq. km %
STATE : MEGHALAYA
Sq. km %
STATE : MIZORAM
Sq. km %
STATE : NAGALAND
Sq. km %
STATE : ORISSA
Sq. km %

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STATE : RAJASTHAN
Sq. km %
STATE : SIKKIM
Sq. km %
STATE : TAMIL NADU
Sq. km %
STATE : TRIPURA
Sq. km %
STATE : UTTAR PRADESH
Sq. km %
STATE : UTTARANCHAL
Sq. km %
STATE : WEST BENGAL
Sq. km %

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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 %
STATE : PONDICHERRY
Sq. km %
E. Mangrove and Tree Cover
A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term,
Mangrove is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves occur
worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S. Mangroves are

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salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions.
Mangroves contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water
immersion and wave action. They are adapted to the low oxygen (anoxic) conditions of waterlogged
mud. Presence of Mangrove ecosystems on coastline can save lives and property during natural
hazards like cyclones, storm surges and erosion, as well.
Mangroves Forests in India:
The mangrove tidal forests are found in the coastal areas influenced by tides. Dense mangroves are
the common varieties with roots of the plants submerged under water. The deltas of the Ganga, the
Mahanadi, the Krishna, the Godavari and the Kaveri are covered with mangrove vegetation.
Mangroves in India account for about three percent of the world's mangrove vegetation. The
following table shows the presence of mangroves in the different states of India and the total area
covered by them in square kilometres.
Table: Area under Forest Types and its Percentage of Total Recorded Forest Area
Sl.
No.
Forest Types
Area in
(Million
ha)
Percentage
of forest
Area
Occurrence in States/UTs of India
1. Tropical wet evergreen
forest
4.5 5.8 Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka,
Kerala, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland,
Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Andaman and
Nicobar islands and Goa
2. Tropical Semi
evergreen forest
1.9 2.5 Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra,
Nagaland, Orissa, T.N. Andaman &
Nicobar Islands and Goa
3. Tropical moist
deciduous forest
23.3 30.3 A.P., Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka,
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
forest
29.4 38.2 A.P., Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana, H.P.,
Karnataka, 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
forest
0.1 0.1 A.P., T.N
8. Subtropical broad-
leaved hill forest
0.3 0.4 Assam, Meghalaya
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
evergreen forest
0.2 0.2 H.P., and J & K
11. Motane wet temperate 1.6 2.0 A.P., Karnataka, Manipur, Nagaland,
Sikkim, T.N.

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12. Himalayan moist
temperate forest
2.6 3.4 H.P., J & K, U.P.
13. Himalayan dry
temperate forest
0.2 0.2 J & K and H.P.
14. Sub alpine 3.3 4.3 A.P., H.P.
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.

India major forest types

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