cent of the land under forest. Hilly topography and heavy rainfall are good for forest growth. There is a lot of variation in actual forest cover, which ranges from . per cent in Jammu and Kashmir to .
per cent in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. From the table showing the distribution of forests in India (Appendix IV), it is clear that there are states where the forest cover is more than one-third of the total area, which is the basic requirement for maintaining the ecological balance. On the basis of the percentage of the actual forest cover, the states have been grouped into four regions: The Region Percentage Cover of the Forest The region of high concentration > (ii) The region of medium concentration - (iii) The region of low concentration - (iv) The region of very low concentration < Taking the data from Appendix IV, list the states under the four regins of forest cover F OREST C ONSERVATION Forests have an intricate interrelationship with life and environment. These provide numerous direct and indirect advantages to our economy and society.
Hence, conservation of forest is of vital importance to the survival and prosperity of humankind. Accordingly, the Government of India proposed to have a nation-wide forest conservation policy, and adopted a forest policy in , which was further modified in . 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 per cent of the geographical areas under forest Figure .
: Mangrove Forests 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,