Forest Type
The wide variations in Geophysical and Eco-climatic conditions ranging from hot saline deserts to humid hilly tracts and from coast to high hills have resulted in to formation of various types of forest. The forest areas of Gujarat are unevenly distributed. The major concentration of forests is found all along the eastern border of the state and the hilly portion of Saurashtra. The forests are found mainly in the districts of Dangs, Valsad, Surat and Junagadh. On the basis of forest classification by Champion and Seth 1968, following four forest types, out of 16 major types found in the country are found in Gujarat:
- Type 3B Tropical moist Deciduous Forest
- Type 5A Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest
- Type 6B Northern Tropical Thorn Forest
- Type 4B Littoral and Swamp Forest
Type 3B Tropical moist Deciduous Forest
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 5A Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest
These forests thrive in the region 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, Vadodra, Panchmahals, Sabarkantha and parts of Saurashtra in the districts of Amreli, Junagadh and Jamnagar.
Type 6B Northern Tropical Thorn Forest
These types of forests occur in the region with less than 600 mm rainfall. These forests are found are found in district Banaskantha, Rajkot, and parts of Bhavnagar, Junagadh, and Kutch. These forests contain spare and stunted growth of species like Acacia and thorn bushes etc.
4B Littoral and Swamp Forest
Mangrove forest are found in the coastal creeks in the state in the districts of Kutch, Jamnagar and Junagadh. The main species found in these forests is Avicenia sp. Out of 207 subtypes of forests, recorded by Champion and Seth, 31 subtypes, (14.7%) have been identified in the state.
Regardless of the type of forest, they all help in keeping the Earth cool and mitigate global warming or at least slow it down. Increase in forest cover is need of the hour so that there is decrease in use of Air conditioners.