CLASSIFICATION OF FORESTS

The forests of India have been classified in a number of ways.

A. On the basis of administration, the forests have been classified into the following three categories:

1. Reserved Forests: These forests are under the direct supervision of the government and no public entry is allowed for collection of timber or grazing of cattle. About 53 per cent of the total forest area falls in this category.

2. Protected Forests: These forests are looked after by the government, but the local people are allowed to collect fuel-wood/timber and graze their cattle without causing serious damage to tire forests. These forests occupy about 29 per cent of the total forest area of the country.

3. Unclassified Forests: The unclassified forests are those in which there is no restriction on the cutting of trees and grazing of cattle. About 18 per cent of the total forest area of the country falls under this category.

B. In the Constitution of India, forests have been classified under the following categories:

1. State Forests: These are under the full control of the government (State/Central) anti include almost all the important forest areas of the country. They constitute about 94 per cent of the total forest area of the country.

2. Commercial Forests: These iorests are owned and administered by the local bodies (municipal corporations, municipal boards, town areas, district boards, and village-panchayats). They occupy about 5 per cent of the total forest area of the country.

3. Private Forests: These are under private ownership and cover slightly more than one per cent of the total forest area of the country.

C. On the basis of merchantability, Indian forests may be grouped under two categories:

1. Merchantable: which are accessible. About 82 per cent of the total forest area belongs to this category.

2. Non-Merchantable: These are not accessible being situated in high mountainous areas with inaccessible topographical features. About 18 per cent of the total forest area (especially conifers) of the country fall in this category.

D. Based on Composition: Based on composition and types of leaves, Indian forests fall into two broad groups:

1. Conifer Forests: These are temperate forests occupying about 6.50 per cent of the total forest area of the country.

2. Broad leaf Forests: These are tropical and subtropical monsoon forests. About 94 per cent of the country’s forests belong to this category. They are found in the plains, plateau, and mountainous areas of the country.

E. Based on Exploitability: On the basis of exploitability, the Indian forests may be classified into;

1. Exploitable Forests: These forests contribute 58 per cent of the total forest areaofthe country.

2. Potentially Exploitable; These forests are reserved to be utilised in future. These forests cover about 22 per cent of the total forest area of the country.

3. Other Forests: These forests also cover about 20 per cent of the total forest area of the country. There is no restriction on their exploitation.

F. On the basis of Average Annual Rainfall: On the basis of average annual rainfall, Indian forests have been classified by L.D. Stamp into the following four categories (Table 5.3):

Table 5.3 India—Classification of Forests on the basis of Rainfall Distribution

The natural vegetation of India has been shown in Fig. 5.3.

The Indian forests were also classified by H.G. Champion (1936) into eleven categories. The main categories according to this classification are as under:

1. Tropical Evergreen: These forests are mainly found in the areas recording over 150 cm of average annual rainfall where the temperature varies between 25°C to 27°C. North-East India, parts of Western Ghats, the Andaman and Nicobar, upper Assam, lower slopes of Eastern Himalayas, Odisha, along the foot-hills of Himalayas, Bhabhar and Tarai regions (Fig. 5.3). In the areas where the average annual rainfall is more than 250 cm, the forests are dense; composed of tall trees (45 m) epiphytes, parasites, lianas and rattans so as to look like a green carpet when viewed from above. Trees have multi-storeyed structures with good canopies. These trees do not shed their leaves annually and are hence evergreen. The floor lacks grasses because of deep shade. There are, however, canes, palms, bamboos, ferns, and climbers which make passage difficult. The important species of these forests are white cedar, toon, dhup, palaquinum, mesua, collophyllum, hopea, and canes, gurjan, chaplas, agor, muli, and bamboo. Due to poor accessibility these forests have not been properly exploited.

In areas where rainfall varies between 200 to 250 cm and the mean monthly temperature varies between 24°C to 27°C , the evergreen forests degenerate into semi-evergreen forests. These forests are found along the Western Ghats, upper Assam, slopes of the Himalayas, and Odisha. The important varieties include aini, semul, gutel, mundane, hopea, kadam, irul, rosewood, laurel, haldu, kanju, holloch, champa, and mesua.

2. The TYopical Moist Deciduous: These are typical monsoon forests with teak {Tectonagrandis) and sal {Shorea robusta) as the dominant species. They form the natural vegetation all over the country where the average annual rainfall ranges between 100-200 cm. The tropical moist deciduous forests are found in Sahyadris, the north-eastern parts of the peninsula and along the foothills of the Himalayas (Fig. 5.3). These forests on the whole have gregarious species. The typical landscape consists of tall teak trees with sal, bamboos, and shrubs growing fairly close together to form thickets. Both teak and sal are economically important and so are the Sandalwood (Santalum album) Shisham (Dalbergia. sissod}. Hurra (Terminalia chebula), and Khan (Acacia catechu).

3. The Tropical Thorny Forests: The tropical thorny forest is a degraded version of the moist deciduous forest. They are found in the average annual rainfall varies between 75 and 100 cm and the average annual temperature between 16°C and 22.5°C. These forests are found in peninsular India, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, Kachchh, Madhya Pradesh and the foothills of the Himalayas (Fig. 5.3). The important trees of

these forests are acacia, wild-palms, euphorbias, jhad, tamarix, khair, kokko, dhaman, erunjha, cacti, kanju, and palas.

4. The Subtropical Montane Forests: These forests are found in areas where the average annual rainfall varies between 100 to 200 cm and the temperature varies between 15u and 22°C. These forests are found in the north-western Himalayas (except in Ladakh and Kashmir), Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and on the slopes of northeastern hill states (Fig. 5.3). Chir (pine) is the main tree but broad leaved trees are also found in these areas. Oak, jamun, and rhododendron are the other varieties in these forests.

5. The Dry Deciduous Forests: These forests are found in areas where the average annual rainfall ranges between 100-150 cm. These forests are characterised by closed and rather uneven canopies. Enough light reaches the ground to permit the grow th of grasses and climbers. Acacia, jamun, modesta, and pistacia are the main trees. Grasses and shrubs appear during the season of general rains.

6. The Himalayan Moist Forests: These forests are found inJammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and northern hilly parts of North Bengal (Fig. 5.3). The wet temperate type is found in a belt where the altitude varies between 1000 and 2000 metres. They occur largely as bands of crested dark green landscape of coniferous varieties. The important varieties are oak, chestnut, chir, sal, shrubs, and nutritious grasses.

7. The Himalayan Dry Temperate Forests: These forests are found in Jammu and Kashmir, Lahul, Chamba, Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh), and Sikkim (Fig. 5.3). These are predominantly coniferous forests with shrubs. The important varieties of trees are deodar, oak, chilgoza, ash, maple, olive, mulberry, willow, celtis, and parrotia.

8. Montane Wet Temperate Forests: These forests are found in the entire Himalayas from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh between the altitudes of 1500 m to 3500 m where the temperature varies between 12°C to 15°C, and the mean annual rainfall is between 100 to 250 cm. Oak, fir, spruce Picea, deodar, (Cedrus deodard), magnolia (Magnolia glandiford) celtis, chestnut, cedar (Chamaecyparis} and maple, spruce, deodar, silver-fir (Abies alba), kail, and yew are found here. These forests also contain scrubs, creepers, and fems. The woods of these forests are durable. At higher altitudes above 3500m, are the alpine pastures known as Margs in Kashmir and Bugyals in Uttarkhand.

9. Alpine and Sub alpine Forests: The Alpine forests are found all along the Himalayas at altitudes ranging between 2500 to 3500 metres. These areas are characterised with short dwarf conifers and lush green nutritious grasses during the summer season. The trees found in the zone are kail, spruce, yew, firs, birch, honeysuckle, artemesia, potentilla, and small scrubs.

10. Desert Vegetation: The desert vegetation is confined to the west of Aravallis in the states of Rajasthan and northern Gujarat (Fig. 5.3). The average annual rainfall in this zone is less than 50 cm, the diurnal and annual range of temperature are high. Acacia, cacti, jhar and khejra, kanju, and wild palms are the main trees of the desert.

11. Tidal (Mangrove): These forests are found along the coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal in the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, and along the coastal areas of Kachchh, Kathiwar, and Gulf of Khambat. Their main concentration is found in areas where tides are frequent. The mangrove which attains a height up to 30 metres is the most important tree. It is utilised for fuel. The famous delta of Sundarban is covered by the

Fig. 5.3 Natural Vegetation—2012

Sundri (Ileritiera minor) trees which supply hard durable timber for construction and boat making. Here, higher grounds support screw-pines {Pennanus spp.).

Palms occupy creeks, and epiphytes are predominant all over the region (Fig. 5.3).

The percentage share of the different categories of forests have been given in the Table 5.4.

Ta ble 5.4 Percentage Share of Different Types of Forests (2001)

Source: Oxford School Atlas. 2004.

It may be seen from Table 5.4 that tropical moist deciduous forests cover 37 per cent of the total forest area of the country followed by the tropical dry

deciduous at 28.8 per cent. The tropical evergreen forests occupy 12.1 per cent and the subtropical 9.5 per cent. The rest of the forest area is under montane wet temperate (7.0 per cent) and alpine and sub-alpine (2.9 per cent). The tropical thorny forest occupy about 2.6 per cent and about 0.06 per cent is under mangrove vegetation.