According to state records, the forest area covers 23.28 per cent of the total land area of the country. According to India State of Forest Report 2011, the actual forest cover in India is only 21.05 per cent. Both forest area and forest cover vary from state to state.
- Lakshadweep has zero per cent open 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 im th# nprth and north-western part of %• country. These are Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.
- States with 10-20 p#r cent |jrea are Tamil Nadu and West ^Ungfl.
- In Peninsular India, exciting Trnnil Nadu, Dadra and Nagar Hav^i %jad ^pa, the area under forest cover is 20-30 per cent.
- The north-eastern states have :yppe than 30 per cent of the land u^#r fjrtst. Hilly topography and lg}*vy |re
good for forest growth.
- There are 15 states where the forest cover is more than one-third of t]p t^al area, which is the basic requirement for maintaining the ecological balance.
