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.
(i)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.
(ii)These are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi Most of the forests in Punjab and Haryana have been cleared for cultivation. States with 10-20 percent forest area are Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
(iii)In Peninsular India, excluding Tamil Nadu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Goa, the area under forest cover is 20-30 per cent.
(iv)The northeastern states have more than 30 per cent of the land under forest. Hilly topography and heavy rainfall are good for forest growth.
(v)There is a lot of variation in actual forest cover, which ranges from 9.56 per cent in Jammu and Kashmir to 84.01 per cent in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
