Forest Types
The occurrence of eight agro-climatic zones in the State reflect the diversity of Ecosystems in the state. The State has vast grasslands and scrub forests in Kachchh, Central Gujarat and Saurashtra regions while coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, coral
reefs and sea grasses are located in western parts of the state. Further, saline deserts are located in the north while moist deciduous tropical forests are found in southern areas. The hilly forests are found in eastern parts and Saurashtra regions.
As per the Champion and Seth Classification system, out of 16 major forest types found in the country, following four main types of forest ecosystems are found in Gujarat
Forest Composition- Ecosystems
- Type 3B Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests
- Type 4B Littoral and Swamp Forests
- Type 5A Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests
- Type 6B Northern Tropical Thorn Forests
Broad characteristics of above Ecosystems are as follows.
Type 3B Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests
- As the name suggests, these forests occur in the regions having an annual rainfall of over 1200 mm and are found in the Southern most part of the State in the districts of Surat, Valsad and Dangs.
- These forests form the main source of commercial timber in the state.
- Teak, Haldu, Sisam, Khair, Katas, Manvel etc. are the main species of these forests.
Type 4B Littoral and Swamp Forests
- Mangrove forests are found in the Intertidal areas of the State.
- These mangrove forests are distributed over 15 districts of the State.
- These forests are represented by 15 mangrove species and more than 100 mangrove associates. However, more than 85% of the mangrove forests are represented by a single species i.e. Avicenna marina.
Type 5A Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests
- These forests thrive in the regions having the rainfall between 600 mm to 1200 mm.
- These forests are found in the central part of the state in the districts of Bharuch, Vadodara, Panchmahals, Sabarkantha and parts of Saurashtra in the districts of Amreli, Junagadh and Jamnagar.
Type 6B Northern Tropical Thorn Forests
- These types of forests occur in the region with less than 600 mm rainfall.
- These forests are found are found in districts of Banaskantha, Rajkot and parts of Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Kachchh.
- These forests contain spare and stunted growth of species like Acacia and thorn bushes etc.
Forest Types
The forests areas of the State have been broadly classified in 11 categories as follows.
- Moist Deciduous Forests
- Slightly Moist Teak Forests
- Dry Teak Forests
- Very Dry Teak Forests
- Dry Deciduous Forests
- Dry Deciduous Scrub Forests
- Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests
- Dry Mixed Deciduous & tropical Forests
- Desert Thorn Scrub Forests
- Savannah Forests
- Mangrove Forests
Distribution of different forest types in the State is as below.
Moist Deciduous Forests
Dangs and Valsad Districts
Slightly Moist Teak Forests
Dangs, Valsad, Navsari and Tapi District
Dry Teak Forests
Vadodara, Panchmahals and Dahod Districts. Drier parts of Bharuch District. North and East parts of Sabarkantha District
Very Dry Teak Forests
Panchmahals and Dahod Districts. Gir and Girnar Area of Junagadh District
Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests
Gandhinagar, Kheda, Mehsana districts
Dry Deciduous Forests
Western and Southern part of Sabarkantha District
Desert Thorn Scrub Forests
East, North & West part of Banaskantha District
Savannah Forests
Grass Land Occurring in the Saurashtra Peninsula. Narayan Sarovar Chinkara Sanctuary in Lakhpat Taluka of Dist: Kachchh
Mangrove Forests
Kachchh and Jamnagar , Rajkot, Navsari, Valsad, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, Surat, Vadodara and Porbandar
Dry Mixed Deciduous & tropical Forests
Vadodara, Panchmahals and Dahod Districts. Southern part of Banaskantha District
Dry Deciduous Scrub Forests
Vadodara, Panchmahals and Dahod Districts. Eastern GIR Falling in Junagadh, Rajkot, Amreli Bhavnagar, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha Districts. Kutch/Patan(W), Santramlpur, Radhanpur, Sami, Harij