Types of Forest in Uttarakhand :

Uttarakhand is one of the densest forest areas of India because it is extremely rich in natural resources and a rich biodiversity. Forests have been an integral part of cultural, social and economic life of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand mainly consists of a hilly terrain except the tarai and bhabar areas. Most of this region is covered with forests. About 35, 399 sq km. area that is 5.2 million hectares (about two– third of the geographical area) of this state is under forest cover, out of which 23000 sq km is under the control of the forest department. Chamoli and Pithoragarh districts have comparatively less forest cover because sizable parts of these districts remain snow covered all round the year.

Peoples who live in remote villages or far flung areas depend completely upon forests for meeting their day to day needs, like timber, fuel, fodder for animals, drugs etc. The First Forest Research Institute of the country was founded at Dehradun in 1914; a forest ranger college was established in Dehradun and forest rangers were trained there. At that time the income of the state was around Rs.600 crore from the forest resources. Most of the hilly area of this region is covered with thick forests with pine (chir), spruce, mainly oak, rhododendron, deodar, sal, teak, khair, behara, haldu, semal, shisham at different altitudes. Forest of Birch and Rhododendron are mostly found below the snowline. These are succeeded downhill by forests of silver fir, spruce, deodar, oaks and chir (pine). On the foothills, in Bhabbar and Tarai, the valuable sal forests are found. The forests are divided into four groups for efficient administration: Private Forests, Reserved Forests, Protected Forests, State Forests, Common Forests, and Unclassified Forests.

Geographically, the forests in Uttarakhand can be classified into four categories:

Himadri Forest  :

These forests are found at the height of about 3000 to 3800 m and are dominated by little shrubs and rhododendron. These forests are mostly found in Tehri Garhwal, Dehradun and Almora districts.

Tropical Pine Forests :

These forests are found at the height of about 1000 to 1800 m and are known as tropical-pine forests. These are evergreen forests and are found in the lower Himalayan region, in between the moist semi temperate forests and tropical moist deciduous forests. Pine is the dominating species of this zone. Extensive presence of pine forests is quite evident in Ranikhet and Almora. The temperate forests are generally found between 1,050 and 1,900 m on the southern slopes and between 900 and 1,800 m on northern slopes.

Himalayan Moist Semi-temperate Forests :

These forests are found at the height of about 1600 to 2900 m. These are evergreen and have needle shaped leaves. Deodar is the main species which is called gold wood because of its durability, strength and long life span. Other trees are blue pine, silverfir, bamboo, birch, chinar, maple. Rhododendrons are the most commonly found species in this region.

Tropical Forests  :

These are mixed forests and are found below the height of 1000 m. Commercially these forests are very important and are of deciduous type. Sal, shisham, haldu, khair, teak, mahogany, mulberry are the main species.

Forests are useful in having a check on floods, as rain water runoff is reduced and less water goes to the rivers, prevent land degradation, and also help maintain natural landscape of the area. Roots of trees tightly bind soil particles together and thus forest cover has a check on soil erosion. Forests also provide raw materials to a large number of industries. Human existence is fully dependent upon forests because many medicinal plants which are effective in curing diseases are provided by forests. Besides, timber, fuel and many other valuable things are provided by forests  which sustain humans and animals .