refers to a plant community that has been left undisturbed over a long time, so as to allow its individual species to adjust themselves to climate and soil conditions as fully as possible.

• Himalayan heights are marked with temperate vegetation;
• the Western Ghats and the Andaman Nicobar Islands have tropical rain forests,
• the deltaic regions have tropical forests and mangroves;
• the desert and semi desert areas of Rajasthan are known for cactii, a wide variety of bushes and thorny vegetation

TYPES OF FORESTS

(i) Tropical Evergreen and Semi Evergreen forests

(ii) Tropical Deciduous forests

(iii) Tropical Thorn forests

(iv) Montane forests

(v) Littoral and Swamp forests.

Tropical Evergreen and Semi Evergreen Forests

• found in the western slope of the Western Ghats, hills of the northeastern region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
• found in warm and humid areas with an annual precipitation of over 200 cm and mean annual temperature above 22oC.
• well stratified, with layers closer to the ground and are covered with shrubs and creepers, with short structured trees followed by tall variety of trees.
• trees reach great heights up to 60 m or above. There is no definite time for trees to shed their leaves, flowering and fruition. As such these forests appear green all the year round. Species found in these forests include rosewood, mahogony, aini, ebony, etc. 

The semi evergreen

• found in the less rainy parts of these regions. 
• Such forests have a mixture of evergreen and moist deciduous trees. The undergrowing climbers provide an evergreen character to these forests. Main species are white cedar, hollock and kail The British were aware of the economic value of the forests in India, hence, large scale exploitation of these forests was started. The structure of forests was also changed. The oak forests in Garhwal and Kumaon were replaced by pine (chirs) which was needed to lay railway lines. Forests were also cleared for introducing plantations of tea, rubber and coffee. The British also used timber for construction activities as it acts as an insulator of heat. The protectional use of forests was, thus, replaced , thus, replaced by commercial use. 

Tropical Deciduous Forests 

• These are the most widespread forests in India.
• They are also called the monsoon forests.
• They spread over regions which receive rainfall between 70-200 cm.
• On the basis of the availability of water, these forests are further divided into moist and dry deciduous 

The Moist deciduous: 

• forests are more pronounced in the regions which record rainfall between 100-200 cm.
• These forests are found in the northeastern states along the foothills of Himalayas, eastern slopes of the Western Ghats and Odisha.
• Teak, sal, shisham, hurra, mahua, amla, semul, kusum, and sandalwood etc. are the main species of these forests. 

Dry deciduous forest – 

• covers vast areas of the country, where rainfall ranges between 70 -100 cm. found in rainier areas of the Peninsula and the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• the dry season begins, the trees shed their leaves completely and the forest appears like a vast grassland with naked trees all around. 
• Tendu, palas, amaltas, bel, khair, axlewood, etc. are the common trees of these forests.

Tropical Thorn Forests

• in the areas which receive rainfall less than 50 cm.
• These consist of a variety of grasses and shrubs. 
• It includes semi-arid areas of south west Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
• plants remain leafless for most part of the year and give an expression of scrub vegetation.
• babool, ber, and wild date palm, khair, neem, khejri, palas, etc. Tussocky grass grows upto a height of 2 m as the under growth.

Montane Forests

• In mountainous areas, the decrease in temperature with increasing altitude leads to a corresponding change in natural vegetation.
• Mountain forests can be classified into two types, the northern mountain forests and the southern mountain forests
• The Himalayan ranges show a succession of vegetation from the tropical to the tundra, which change in with the altitude. Deciduous forests are found in the foothills of the Himalayas.

The southern mountain forests-

• found in three distinct areas of Peninsular India viz; the Western Ghats, the Vindhyas and the Nilgiris.
• As they are closer to the tropics, and only 1,500 m above the sea level, vegetation is temperate in the higher regions, and subtropical on the lower regions of the Western Ghats, especially in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
• The temperate forests are called Sholas in the Nilgiris, Anaimalai and Palani hills. Some of the other trees of this forest of economic significance include, magnolia, laurel, cinchona and wattle. Such forests are also found in the Satpura and the Maikal ranges

Littoral and Swamp Forests 

• India has a rich variety of wetland habitats. 
• About 70 per cent of this comprises areas under paddy cultivation.
• Two sites — Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur) are protected as water-fowl habitats under the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention).
• The country‘s wetlands have been grouped into eight categories, viz. 

(i) the reservoirs of the Deccan Plateau in the south together with the lagoons and other wetlands of the southern west coast;

(ii) the vast saline expanses of Rajasthan, Gujarat and the Gulf of Kachchh

(iii) freshwater lakes and reservoirs from Gujarat eastwards through Rajasthan (Keoladeo National Park) and Madhya Pradesh;

(iv) the delta wetlands and lagoons of India‘s east coast (Chilika Lake);

(v) the freshwater marshes of the Gangetic Plain;

(vi) the floodplains of the Brahmaputra; the marshes and swamps in the hills of northeast India and the Himalayan foothills;

(vii) the lakes and rivers of the montane region of Kashmir and Ladakh; and

(viii) the mangrove forest and other wetlands of the island arcs of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Mangroves grow along the coasts in the salt marshes, tidal creeks, mud flats and estuaries

FOREST COVER IN INDIA

• the forest area covers 23.28 per cent of the total land area of the country.
• It is important to note that the forest area and the actual forest cover are not the same. The forest area is the area notified and recorded as the forest land irrespective of the existence of trees, while the actual forest cover is the area occupied by forests with canopy. 
• The former is based on the records of the State Revenue Department, while the latter is based on aerial photographs and satellite imageries. 
• According to India State of Forest Report 2011, the actual forest cover in India is only 21.05 per cent.
• Lakshadweep has zero per cent forest area; 
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands have 86.93 per cent.
• Most of the states with less than 10 per cent of the forest area lie in the north and northwestern part of the country. These are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
• there are 15 states where the forest cover is more than one-third of the total area, which is the basic requirement for maintaining the ecological balance.

FOREST CONSERVATION 

• a forest policy in 1952, which was further modified in 1988. According to the new forest policy, the Government will emphasise sustainable forest management in order to conserve and expand forest reserve on the one hand, and to meet the needs of local people on the other.
• The forest policy aimed at:

(i) bringing 33 per cent of the geographical areas under forest cover;

(ii) maintaining environmental stability and to restore forests where ecological balance was disturbed;

(iii) conserving the natural heritage of the country, its biological diversity and genetic pool;

(iv) checks soil erosion, extension of the desert lands and reduction of floods and droughts;

(v) increasing the forest cover through social forestry and afforestation on degraded land;

(vi) increasing the productivity of forests to make timber, fuel, fodder and food available to rural population dependant on forests, and encourage the substitution of wood;

(vii) creating of a massive peoples movement involving women to encourage planting of trees, stop felling of trees and thus, reduce pressure on the existing forest