Total Forest Area – 6,92,027 Km (As per India State of Forest Report,2011)
India’s present forest cover – 23.07%
Needed forest cover to maintain ecological balance – 33%
The largest forest cover – Madhya Pradesh (77,265 sq.(kms)
Arunachal Pradesh with 67,410 sq. kms second
Chhattisgarh with a forest covr of 55,870 sq.kms stands third
The lowest forest cover – Haryana (1745 sq.kms)
The highest concentration of forest land – Arunachal Pradesh
National Forest Policy – 1952
Economically most important forests – Moist Deciduous forests
Sundarbans are named after – Sundari trees
Sandalwood is produced mainly in – Tropical moist decidouous forests
Sandalwood – Karnataka forests
Alpine vegetation is found in – Upper Himalayas
Railway sleepers – Himalayan forests
Teak is abundqantly grown in – Karanataka Forests
Important forest-based industries : Paper,Beedi-making, Matches, Dyes, Playwood, Medicinal industries
Natural Vegetation- Forest Types
Tropical Evergreen Forests
Hilly terrain with 500-1500 mts. Altitude, rainfall – exceeding 200 cmz.
Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest
Hilly terrain and plateau surfaces.
Rainfall between 100 and 200 cms
Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests
Vast areas of plateau and plain areas with rainfall between 70 and 100 cms.
Tidal Forests
Grow in the brackish as well as fresh-water areas of the tide washed coast.
The Himalayan Temperature and Alpine forests
Entire Himalayan range in the 100-250 cms. Rainfall zone at an elevation of 1600-3000 mts and above.
Project Tiger
It was launched in 1973, in nine reserves of different States (Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal).
Right now , it covers total 43 tiger reserves in 17 states. A total area of 65,178.68 km is covered by these project tiger areas.
It is a programme for “in-situ” conservation of tigers.
The Indian government decleared the forests of Satyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu a Tiger Reserve on March 15, 2013. Satyamangalam is the fourth Tiger Reserve in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Navegaon-Nagzira has been notified as fifth tiger reserve of the Maharashtra state and 46th of the country on November 25,2013.
The four existing tiger reserves in the state are Tadoba-Andhari (625 sq km), Melghat (1677 sq km), Sahyadri (569 sq km) and Pench (257 sq km).
Largest Tiger Reserve is the Nagarjuna-Srisailam Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh.
Project Elephant
Project Elephant was launched in 1991-92 to assist the States having free roaming population of wild elephants to ensure the long-term survival of identified viable populations of elephants in their natural habits.
25 Elephant Reserves (Ers) extending over about 58,000 square kilometers notified by various State Governments till now.
The Project is being implemented in 13 States/UTs, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Largest Elephant Reserve is the Mysore Elephant Reserve in Karanataka (2002)
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