tidal creeks, mud flats and estuaries. Figure . : Montane Forests They consist of a number of salt-tolerant species of plants. Crisscrossed by creeks of stagnant water and tidal flows, these forests give shelter to a wide variety of birds.
In India, the mangrove forests spread over , sq. km which is per cent of the world’s mangrove forests. They are highly developed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Sunderbans of West Bengal. Other areas of significance are the Mahanadi, the Godavari and the Krishna deltas.
These forests too, are being encroached upon, and hence, need conservation. F OREST C OVER IN I NDIA According to state records, the forest area covers . 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 , the actual forest cover in India is only . per cent.
Of the forest cover, the share of dense and open forests are . and . per cent respectively. Both forest area and forest cover vary from state to state.
Lakshadweep has zero per cent forest area; Andaman and Nicobar Islands have . per cent. Most of the states with less than per cent of the forest area lie in the north and northwestern part of the country. These are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
Most of the forests in Punjab and Haryana have been cleared for cultivation. States with - per cent forest area are Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. In Peninsular India, excluding Tamil Nadu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Goa, the area under forest cover is - per cent. The northeastern states have more than per