Introduction
The state of Jammu and Kashmir is covered by lofty mountains, which receive heavy rainfall and snow. Dense forests are found everywhere particularly in outer and inner Himalayan ranges. High mountains of Ladakh and Kargil receive a very little rainfall; therefore, these are devoid of forest cover. However vast grass lands and abundant medicinal and aromatic plants grow there.
Table 1
Land use pattern
Land use types | area(000’h˜) |
Percentage |
---|---|---|
Total Geographical Area |
22,224 |
|
Reporting area for land utilization(o) |
4012 |
100.00 |
Forests |
2254 |
56.20 |
Not available for land cultivation |
573 |
14.29 |
Permanent pastures and other grazing lands |
114 |
2.84 |
Land under misc. tree crops and groves |
65 |
1.62 |
Culturable wasteland |
134 |
3.34 |
Fallow land other than current fallows |
16 |
0.40 |
Current fallows |
114 |
2.84 |
Net area sown |
741 |
18.47 |
(o): Excludes area under illegal occupation of Pakistan and China
Source: Land use Statistics. Ministry of Agriculture GOI, 2013 (Source: ISFR, 2017)
Table 9.2
Forest Cover Within and outside Green wash area
Forest cover within green wash area | (area in sq.km) |
---|---|
Very dense Forest |
3698 |
Moderately dense forest |
6148 |
Open forest |
5564 |
Total |
15410 |
Forest cover outside green wash area |
|
Very dense Forest |
377 |
Moderately dense forest |
2431 |
Open forest |
5023 |
Total |
7831 |
Total forest cover |
23241 |
Tree cover |
7815 |
Total forest &Tree cover |
31056 |
Of State’s Geographical area |
13.97 % |
Of India’s Forest and Tree cover |
3.87 % |
Per capita forest and Tree Cover |
0.25 ha |
(Source: ISFR, 2017)
Table 3
Altitude-wise Forest Cover (area in sq. km)
Altitude Zone | G. A |
VDF |
MDF |
O. F |
Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0-500 |
5084 |
1 |
227 |
681 |
909 |
500-1000 |
6585 |
51 |
1367 |
2242 |
3660 |
1000-2000 |
16089 |
666 |
2391 |
2941 |
5998 |
2000-3000 |
19306 |
2716 |
3343 |
2890 |
8949 |
3000-4000 |
33728 |
641 |
1248 |
1995 |
3684 |
>4000 |
141,444 |
0 |
3 |
38 |
41 |
Total |
222236 |
4075 |
8579 |
10587 |
23241 |
Based in SRTM digital elevation model (Source: ISFR, 2017)
Table 4
Forest cover in different patch size classes
S.No | Patch size Range in sq.km |
No. of patches |
Area(sq, km) |
% |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
≥0.01≤1.0 |
41,872 |
2900 |
12.48 |
2 |
≥1.0≤10 |
798 |
2067 |
8.89 |
3 |
≥10≤100 |
97 |
2754 |
11.85 |
4 |
≥100≤500 |
15 |
3120 |
13.42 |
5 |
≥500≤1000 |
4 |
2874 |
12.37 |
6 |
≥1000≤5000 |
5 |
9526 |
40.99 |
|
TOTAL |
42,791 |
23,241 |
100 |
(Source: ISFR, 2017)
Table 5
District -wise Forest Cover
District | G. A |
2017 Assessment |
%of G. A |
Change |
Scrub* |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
VERY DENSE |
MDF |
O F |
Total |
|
|
|
Anantnag |
3,984 |
149 |
617 |
621 |
1387 |
34.81 |
-14 |
14 |
Baramulla |
4,588 |
4,55 |
321 |
391 |
1157 |
25.22 |
34 |
15 |
Budgam |
1371 |
108 |
69 |
135 |
312 |
22.76 |
61 |
17 |
Doda |
11691 |
589 |
1663 |
1567 |
3819 |
32.69 |
22 |
7 |
Jammu |
3097 |
0 |
315 |
581 |
896 |
28.93 |
1 |
53 |
Kargil |
4037 |
0 |
1 |
45 |
46 |
0.33 |
7 |
27 |
Kathua |
2651 |
111 |
618 |
645 |
1374 |
51.83 |
-24 |
7 |
Kupwara |
2379 |
468 |
369 |
313 |
1150 |
48.34 |
0 |
3 |
Leh |
45,110 |
0 |
14 |
78 |
92 |
0.20 |
-3 |
28 |
Outside LOC |
1,20,848 |
1347 |
2460 |
4322 |
7229 |
5.98 |
245 |
335 |
Poonch |
1674 |
187 |
289 |
239 |
715 |
42.71 |
-13 |
4 |
Pulwama |
1398 |
104 |
102 |
292 |
498 |
35.62 |
21 |
5 |
Rajouri |
2630 |
48 |
437 |
759 |
1244 |
47.30 |
4 |
8 |
Srinagar |
2228 |
162 |
217 |
207 |
586 |
26.30 |
-41 |
8 |
Udhampur |
4550 |
357 |
1087 |
1292 |
2736 |
60.13 |
-47 |
42 |
Total |
222236 |
4075 |
8579 |
10587 |
23241 |
10.46 |
253 |
573 |
*Change compared to updated 2017 Assessment (Source: ISFR, 2017)
Table 6
Growing Stock
|
Growing Stock |
% Contribution to country |
---|---|---|
Growing Stock in Recorded Forest Area |
232.837 m cum |
5.52 |
Growing Stock in TOF |
146.082 m cum |
9.11 |
Potential Production of industrial wood from TOF |
2.80 m cum |
3.76 |
Bamboo bearing area within forest area of the state |
- |
- |
Total number of culms |
- |
- |
Total green weight equivalent of culms |
|
|
(Source: ISFR, 2017)
Carbon Stock in forest
The total Carbon stock of forests in the State is 275.926 million tonnes (1011.729 million tonnes of CO, equivalent) which is 3.90% of total forest carbon of the country (Source: ISFR, 2017)