Natural Vegetation

India’s forest types and their trees, vegetation zones up the Himalayas, forest conservation and social forestry, and the protection of wildlife.

Key ideas

Rainfall decides the forest type: evergreen where it is very wet, deciduous in between, and thorn forests where it is dry.
Tropical deciduous forests are the most widespread in India; their trees shed leaves in the dry season.
On the Himalayas vegetation changes with height as temperature falls: deciduous forests, then oak and chestnut, pines, silver fir and rhododendron, and finally mosses and lichens.
Mangroves grow in tidal creeks, mud flats and estuaries, as in the Sunderbans.
The forest policy aims at 33% of the area under forest; social forestry includes urban, rural and farm forestry.
Wildlife is protected by the 1972 Wildlife Act, national parks and sanctuaries, Project Tiger (1973), Project Elephant (1992) and biosphere reserves.
A biosphere reserve aims at conservation, research, and education and awareness.

Rain and forest	evergreen over 200 cm; moist deciduous 100–200 cm; dry deciduous 70–100 cm; thorn under 50 cm
Trees	evergreen: rosewood, mahogany, ebony; moist deciduous: teak, sal, sandalwood; dry deciduous: tendu, palas; thorn: babool, ber, khejri
Forest target	more area needed = (33 − present %) × area ÷ 100
Tigers	1,411 in 2006 to 3,682 in 2023, a rise of 2,271
Biosphere reserves	18 in India; the first, Nilgiri, in 1986
Sholas	temperate forests of the Nilgiri, Anaimalai and Palani hills

Which forests would you expect where the annual rainfall is (a) 42 cm (b) 370 cm? Name one tree of each.

Working: evergreen over 200; moist deciduous 100–200; dry deciduous 70–100; thorn under 50 cm

Answer: (a) tropical thorn (b) tropical evergreen; e.g. babool and rosewood