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Forest Resources
- Forest Area
Madhya Pradesh is endowed with rich and diverse forest resources. Lying between lat. 21004'N and long. 74002' and 82 049' E, it is a reservoir of biodiversity. The geographical area of the state is 3,08,252 sq. km which constitutes 9.38%
of the land area of the country.The forest area of the state is 94689.38sq. km constituting
30.71% of the geographical area of the state and 12.44% of the forest area of the country. Legally this area has
been classified into
"Reserved Forest,
Protected Forest and Unclassified
Forest", which constitute 65.36%,32.84% and 1.7% of the forest area
respectively. District-wise details of recorded forest area are furnished in the
Table
Per capita forest area is 0.16 ha. as against the national
average of 0.07 ha.
- Forest Cover
The "forest cover" is an important parameter of forest
resources as it provides a quantitative estimate of land area under
forest/tree cover. The National Forest policy, 1988 envisages bringing one-third of the geographical area of the country under forest/tree cover. It is,therefore,essential to measure this parameter periodically to find the status and trends of change taking place.
This parameter is being measured at biennial interval
by Forest Survey of India using satellite data. The scale of mapping is
1:250,000. In the absence of boundaries of the recorded forest area on the requisite scale,
it is not possible to segregate the cover lying within and outside the recorded
forest area as the estimates are based on satellite data.
The forest cover has been classified in dense forest and open forest. The
latest estimates of FSI, published in the State of Forest Report (SFR)
2003, suggest that the total
forest cover of M.P. is 76,429 sq. km., which is 24.79% of the land area - dense forest constituting 13.57% and open forest 11.22%. In addition to these two categories of cover, the land having canopy cover of less than 10% is classified as scrub.The area under scrub is
not included in the forest cover. Extent of forest cover in different
districts of the state is given in the
Table
Central,eastern and southern parts of the state are rich, whereas northern and western parts are deficient in forest.
- Forest composition
Variability in climatic and edaphic conditions brings about significant difference in the forest types of the state. There are four important forest types viz. Tropical Moist, Tropical Dry, Tropical Thorn ,Subtropical broadleaved Hill forests. The forest area can also be
classified based on the composition of forest and terrain of the area.
Based on composition, there are three important forest formations namely
Teak forest , Sal forest and Miscellaneous Forests. Bamboo bearing areas are widely distributed in the state.To obviate pressure on the natural forests , plantations have been undertaken in forest and non forest areas to supplement the availability of fuel wood , small timber , fodder etc.
- Forest Growing Stock
The total growing stock (volume of timber / wood) is 500 lakh cu. m valued worth Rs 2.5 lakh Crores.
- Dependence on Forest
The total population of the state is
6.03 crores (2001 census) of which 73.33% is rural and 26.66% urban -
population density being 196 persons per sq. km. The total livestock
population of the state is 3.15 crores .Of the total 52,739 villages
in the state, 22,600 villages are located in or near forest areas.
Being away from the mainstream of development, most of the villagers are
dependent on forests for their livelihood. In addition to these, there
are a host of items like leaves,flowers,fruits,bark,seeds,roots etc. commonly referred to as
non-wood forest products (NWFP), which contribute significantly in socio-economic
development of the rural communities.
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