Lok Sabha Question No. 1433 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-08
Subject: Classification of Forests
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: B.V. NAYAK

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1433

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.12.2015

## Classification of Forests

## 1433. SHRI B.V. NAIK:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the classification of the forests in the country was undertaken in the 1960's;
- (b) if so, whether  the Government is considering to revise the forest types of the country;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether any institution of the Ministry like ICFRE/Wildlife Institute has undertaken any study to find out the changes and if so, the details thereof along with the key findings; and
- (e) the action plan to implement the findings?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a)  to  (e)  Champion  and  Seth  revisited  the  earlier  work  carried  out  in  1936  and  published  'A Revised Survey of the Forest type of India' in 1968. This work recognized 16 groups of forests  in  the  country.  There  is  no  proposal  for  revision  of  forest  types  of  India. However, Forest Survey of India , Dehradun has carried out a project on mapping of the forest  types  for  the  entire  country.  The  forest  types  of  the  States  and  UTs  have  been brought out in the form of a National Atlas in the year 2011.  The salient findings of the project are as follows:-
- (i) About 41.87% of India's forest cover falls in the Tropical Dry Deciduous type group,  Tropical  Moist  Deciduous  type  group  (19.73%)  and  Tropical  Semi Evergreen type group (13.79%)
- (ii) Sub Tropical Dry Evergreen type group is the smallest (0.03%) followed by Tropical Dry Evergreen type group (0.13%)
- (iii) 178 out of 200 forest types have been mapped. 22 forest types could not be mapped due to various reasons including some limitations of the data used in the  study,  limitation  of  ground  truthing  and  in  a  few  cases  due  to  possible disappearance of the forest  type  of  degradation  stages.  The  details  of  forest cover area under different forest type groups are given in Annexure.

Indian  Council  of  Forestry  Research  and  Education  (ICFRE),  Dehradun  has  also revisited  Forest  Types  of  India  in  the  year  2012-13  to  assess  the  change.  The Outcome of the study is in the form of a book title 'Forest Types of India: Revisited' published by ICFRE in May, 2013.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1433 due for answer on 8-12-2015 regarding 'Classification of Forests'

## Details of forest cover area under different forest type groups

| S. No.   | Type Groups                                 | Area (in square kilometers)   |   Percentage of the total |
|----------|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------|
| 1        | Group1-Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests       | 20,927.31                     |                      2.92 |
| 2        | Group2-Tropical Semi Evergreen Forests      | 98,668.93                     |                     13.79 |
| 3        | Group3-Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests     | 141,185.85                    |                     19.73 |
| 4        | Group4-Littoral &Swamp Forests              | 4964.19                       |                      0.69 |
| 5        | Group5- Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests      | 299,574.25                    |                     41.87 |
| 6        | Group6-Tropical Thorn Forests               | 16,123.84                     |                      2.25 |
| 7        | Group7- Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests      | 928.01                        |                      0.13 |
| 8        | Group8-Subtropical Broadleaved Hill Forests | 19,217.04                     |                      2.69 |
| 9        | Group9-Subtropical Pine Forests             | 18,826.92                     |                      2.63 |
| 10       | Group10-Subtropical Dry Evergreen Forests   | 196.06                        |                      0.03 |
| 11       | Group11-Montane Wet Temperate Forests       | 4,963.88                      |                      0.69 |
| 12       | Group12-Himalayan Moist Temperate Forests   | 29,462.20                     |                      4.12 |
| 13       | Group13-Himalayan Dry Temperate Forests     | 5,976.21                      |                      0.84 |
| 14       | Group14-Sub Alpine Forests                  | 13,497.31                     |                      1.89 |
| 15       | Group15-Moist Alpine Scrub                  | 1,675.38                      |                      0.23 |
| 16       | Group16-Dry Alpine Scrub                    | 3,080.82                      |                      0.43 |
|          | Sub-Total                                   | 679,268.20                    |                     94.93 |
| 17       | Plantation/TOF (Tree Outside Forests)       | 36,294.33                     |                      5.07 |
| 18       | Total                                       | 715,562.53                    |                    100    |