Forests and Vegetation

Forest covers about 29.81 percent of Jharkhand, roughly 23,766 square kilometres, according to the India State of Forest Report 2023. Sal dominates the canopy, and forest produce remains a major part of rural income.

Forest cover — about 23,766 sq km, about 29.81 percent of the state (ISFR 2023)

Forest cover in figures

Types of vegetation

• The state falls mainly in the tropical dry deciduous forest belt
• Moister pockets in the south and on the Pat surfaces carry moist deciduous forest
• Sal is the dominant species and gives its name to the sal forest belt
• Other common trees — mahua, palash, kusum, karanj, semal, bamboo
• Grassland and scrub occupy degraded slopes and abandoned mining land
• Dry western districts such as Palamu carry more open, thorny vegetation

Forest produce and rural life

• Sal leaves for plates and cups, and sal seed for oil
• Mahua flowers and seeds — food, oil and traditional brew
• Lac from host trees such as kusum and palash; Jharkhand is a leading lac producer
• Tendu leaves for bidi making, a major seasonal cash income
• Honey, medicinal plants, resin and bamboo are collected across the state
• These are called minor forest produce, though for many families they are the main income

Forests and law

• Forest land in the state is mostly classed as protected forest
• The Forest Rights Act, 2006 recognises individual and community forest rights
• Community claims to nistar rights over grazing and produce are politically important
• The sarna sacred grove is protected by tribal custom rather than by statute
• Mining clearance and forest diversion are the state's most contested environmental issue

Points that get asked

• Forest cover of Jharkhand — about 29.81 percent of areaबार-बार पूछा जाता है
• Dominant tree species — sal
• Main forest type — tropical dry deciduous
• Produce used for bidi — tendu leaves
• Sacred grove of tribal villages — sarna

Districts and their forests

• Forest is densest in the south and west — Latehar, Gumla, Simdega and West Singhbhum
• Palamu and Latehar carry the state's tiger and elephant habitat
• Saranda in West Singhbhum is one of Asia's largest sal forest blocks
• Dalma near Jamshedpur is the best known elephant tract
• Forest is thinnest in the densely settled mining and urban districts
• Netarhat and the Pat surfaces hold the state's cooler, moister forest