Abstract
Forests are among the most important natural resources in Uttarakhand as they occupy 71% of the geographic area and contribute a good share in state economy. They are rich repositories of biodiversity and are providers of ecosystem goods and services to both regional and global community. People are dependent on forests for fuel wood, grass and other biomass. But unfortunately recent trend of data shows a huge degradation of forestland due to natural and anthropogenic activities. Variations in climatic condition and natural disasters are triggering rate of degradation of forests in Uttarakhand. The present paper reviews the status of forest in Uttarakhand and discusses the major natural and anthropogenic factors responsible for its degradation.
Highlights
The different types of forests found in Uttarakhand (Fig. 1) as classified by Champion and Seth, 1968 are: Moist Alpine Scrub: It occurs at tree line around an altitude of 3500 m and the dominant species noticed here are Betula utilis and Rhododendron campanulatum
Uttarakhand forests are subjected to different stresses like over extraction, live-stock grazing, forest fires, climate change, natural calamities, encroachment and illicit felling
A large area of forest in state is converted into other forms which has created a huge impact on biodiversity
Summary
Uttarakhand is the 27th state of Republic of India which lies between 28 44' & 31 28' N Latitude and 77 35' & 81 01' E longitude. It was carved out of Uttar Pradesh on 9th November 2000 and was divided into two divisions of Garhwal and Kumaon with total of 13 districts namely Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Champawat, Nainital, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh Nagar, Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag. It has a total geographical area of 53,483 km, of which large area is mountainous with under snow cover and steep slopes.
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