Forest Cover

Rajasthan's forest cover stands at 16,548.21 sq km, which is 4.84 per cent of the state's geographical area. It comprises 223.20 sq km of very dense forest, 4,237.41 sq km of moderately dense forest and 12,087.60 sq km of open forest.

Forest cover in Rajasthan is 4.84 per cent, with a further 1.60 per cent under scrub. Land use statistics record 8.10 per cent under forests, a legal figure that differs from the satellite-assessed forest cover.

Very dense forest in Rajasthan covers only 223.20 sq km, just 0.07 per cent of the geographical area. Of this, 216.92 sq km lies inside the recorded forest area and 6.28 sq km outside it.

Moderately dense forest extends over 4,237.41 sq km, or 1.24 per cent of Rajasthan's geographical area. Most of it, 3,892.73 sq km, falls inside the recorded forest area.

Open forest spreads over 12,087.60 sq km, amounting to 3.53 per cent of Rajasthan's geographical area. Of this, 8,596.49 sq km lies inside the recorded forest area and 3,491.11 sq km outside.

Scrub in Rajasthan measures 5,476.75 sq km, or 1.60 per cent of the geographical area. Scrub is not counted within forest cover, though it is included in forest type mapping.

Rajasthan recorded a net loss of 83.80 sq km in forest cover. Inside the recorded forest area, very dense forest gained 141.96 sq km while moderately dense forest declined by 128.38 sq km.

Rajasthan has a geographical area of 3,42,239 sq km. It lies between 23°4' and 30°11' north latitude and 69°29' and 78°17' east longitude, with an average population density of 200 per sq km.

Forest types are assigned using the Champion and Seth system of 1968, applied to the forest cover map. Rajasthan's total mapped area comes to 22,024.96 sq km, covering both forest cover and scrub.

The code 5B/C2 denotes northern dry mixed deciduous forest, which extends over 8,400.21 sq km in Rajasthan and accounts for 38.15 per cent of the total mapped area.

Anogeissus pendula forest covers 3,242.81 sq km, or 14.72 per cent of Rajasthan's total mapped area. Scrub of the same species is recorded separately over 508.04 sq km.

Boswellia forest carries the code 5/E2 and extends over 151.77 sq km in Rajasthan. Boswellia serrata also features among the top five tree species recorded inside the state's recorded forest area.

The code 6B/C1 stands for desert thorn forest, spread over 828.99 sq km in Rajasthan, which is 3.76 per cent of the total mapped area.

Desert dune scrub, coded 6/1S1, is recorded over 1,011.42 sq km, making up 4.59 per cent of Rajasthan's total mapped area. Desert thorn forest occupies 828.99 sq km.

Trees outside forests and plantations account for 3,156.16 sq km in Rajasthan, or 14.33 per cent of the total mapped area. The remaining 85.67 per cent covers natural forest formations.

Forest type mapping in Rajasthan covers 22,024.96 sq km in all, combining 16,548.21 sq km of forest cover with 5,476.75 sq km of scrub. Natural forest formations sub-total 18,868.80 sq km.

The code 6B/C2 refers to ravine thorn forest, which occupies 327.13 sq km in Rajasthan, or 1.49 per cent of the total mapped area.

Khair-sissu forest, coded 5/1S2, is recorded over 302.60 sq km in Rajasthan, some 1.37 per cent of the total mapped area. Dry tropical riverain forest covers 48.42 sq km.

Forest cover inside Rajasthan's recorded forest area totals 12,706.14 sq km. This breaks into 8,596.49 sq km of open forest, 3,892.73 sq km of moderately dense forest and 216.92 sq km of very dense forest.

Forest cover outside Rajasthan's recorded forest area amounts to 3,842.07 sq km. Open forest makes up 90.87 per cent of it, while very dense forest is just 6.28 sq km.

The recorded forest area boundary was used for Rajasthan. The 2023 assessment analysed a total of 35,963.43 sq km falling inside this boundary.

Open forest accounts for 67.65 per cent of Rajasthan's forest cover inside the recorded forest area. Moderately dense forest makes up 30.64 per cent and very dense forest 1.71 per cent.

Very dense forest inside Rajasthan's recorded forest area stands at 216.92 sq km. The 2021 assessment put it at 74.96 sq km, giving a net gain of 141.96 sq km in this class.

Some 12,128.52 sq km of Rajasthan's forest cover sits in the 0 to 500 metre band, where the state's calculated area is 3,24,906.81 sq km. Scrub in the same band measures 4,602.60 sq km.

Forest cover in the 1000 to 2000 metre band of Rajasthan is only 141.71 sq km. The calculated area of this band is 216.40 sq km, and scrub within it measures 5.61 sq km.

The altitude and slope analysis rests on the SRTM digital elevation model at 30 metre resolution, dated 2016. In Rajasthan 3,15,998.33 sq km falls in the 0 to 5 degree slope class.

Forest cover in the 0 to 5 degree slope class of Rajasthan is 8,667.22 sq km, with 3,922.32 sq km of scrub in the same class. The 5 to 10 degree class carries 2,793.60 sq km of forest cover.

Forest fires are counted using the SNPP-VIIRS sensor, covering large, continuous and repeated fires. In Rajasthan the total forest area assessed for fire proneness is 22,024.96 sq km.

Rajasthan recorded 2,059 forest fire detections in the 2022-23 fire season. Pratapgarh accounted for 646 of these and Udaipur for 443.

Rajasthan logged 4,352 forest fire detections in the 2023-24 season, up from 2,059 in 2022-23. Udaipur reported 1,438 and Pratapgarh 1,057.

The extremely fire prone class in Rajasthan covers 92.64 sq km, or 0.42 per cent of the total forest cover. The very highly fire prone class extends over 622.77 sq km.

About 86.47 per cent of Rajasthan's forest cover, or 19,045.57 sq km, falls in the less fire prone class. The moderately fire prone class accounts for 5.90 per cent and the highly fire prone class 4.38 per cent.

Anogeissus pendula is the most numerous tree species inside Rajasthan's recorded forest area, with about 49.15 million trees. Its growing stock volume is 2.47 million cubic metres.

Prosopis juliflora is the most numerous tree species in Rajasthan's rural areas, with roughly 166.71 million trees. Prosopis cineraria ranks second and carries a growing stock volume of 31.56 million cubic metres.

Azadirachta indica ranks second by tree numbers in Rajasthan's urban areas, with about 2.57 million trees recorded. Prosopis juliflora holds first place.

Tectona grandis ranks third by tree numbers inside Rajasthan's recorded forest area, with about 14.75 million trees. Its growing stock volume stands at 0.94 million cubic metres.

Butea monosperma tops Rajasthan's major non-timber forest produce species, with about 663.56 million plants recorded. Acacia catechu follows with roughly 240.23 million plants.

Diospyros melanoxylon is among Rajasthan's major non-timber forest produce species, with about 142.74 million plants recorded. Grewia flavescens and Terminalia bellirica also appear on the same list.

Cassia tora is the most widespread invasive species inside Rajasthan's recorded forest area, extending over 973.57 sq km. Prosopis juliflora is recorded across 642.73 sq km.

Lantana camara covers an estimated 870.22 sq km inside Rajasthan's recorded forest area. Senna occidentalis is recorded over 250.73 sq km and Triumfetta rhomboidea over 159.00 sq km.