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Gujarat State was constituted as the Union of India on May1, 1960 after the bifurcation of the State of

Bombay. The total geographical area of the state is 196024 sq. kms out of which 18961.56 sq. kms

(9.67%) is the declaredforest area with 7.72% of area as forest cover. The unique features of the state

are the climatic and geomorphologic conditions v.i.z the largest coastline in the country, the saline

deserts of Rann , grasslands, wetlands. These factors have bestowed the state with the diversity of flora

and fauna. The majestic Asiatic lion and wild ass have their last resorts of the world in Gujarat. The

faunal biodiversity consists of 14% fishes, 18 % reptiles, 37% avifauna and 25% of the mammal

population of the country.

Gujarat Forest department is entrusted with the prime responsibility of protection, conservation and

development of the forests and wildlife of the state.

ORGANISATION STRUCTUR

Gujarat Forest Department is a wing working under the Forests & Environment Ministry, Gujarat. The Ministry is headed by ho

Minister for Forest and Environment with principal Secretary as the head of the department. Principal Chief Conservator

Forest (PCCF) heads the Forest department with his headquarters at Old Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar. He is assisted by

Conservator of Forests (Headquarter ) and Chief Conservators of Forests.

MANDATE

Protection, Conservation and development of forests and wild life, the adoption of measures of soil

conservation, moisture conservation and increasing soil fertility.

The utilization of the forest so as to obtain the maximum yield consistent with their permanent

maintenance and the supply of the needs of the people, agriculture, industry and defense.

To conduct research into silviculture, utilization and other problems affecting the regeneration and

development of the forests.

To achieve the goals of National Forest policy 1988 and to cover the maximum area under forests.

To create awareness among the people about the forests and environment.

To increase the active participation of the local people in protection and conservation of forest with

special emphasis on tribal, poor and women.



Different category of forest area in the state is as under

SR.

NO

DATA

PERIOD

RESERVED

FOREST

PROTECTED

FOREST

UNCLASSED

FORESTTOTAL

1 2000-01 14155.18 394.85 4562.51 19112.54

2 2001-02 14216.38 377.56 4509.97 19103.91

3 2002-03 14257.09 378.12 4459.31 19094.52

4 2003-04 14225.56 378.82 4488.93 19093.31

5 2004-05 14263.70 378.85 4431.85 19074.40

6 2005-06 14271.4 379.13 4422.70 19073.23

7 2006-07 14270.94 383.37 4429.84 19084.15

8 2007-08 14349.24 389.27 4387.61 19126.12

9 2008-09 14364.55 389.31 4386.57 19140.43

10 2009-10 14368.27 389.31 4386.76 19144.34

Source : Gujarat Forest Statistic - 2008-09

Forest Type

The wide variations in Geophysical and Eco-climatic conditions ranging from hot saline deserts to humidhilly 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 andJunagadh. 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.

Working Plans

Introduction

Forestry management in India as well as in Gujarat has passed through various phases. The National Forest Policy

of 1988 has recognized the importance of managing our forests on silvicultural principles commensurate with the

societal and environmental concerns. It also mentions that no forest be permitted to work without the

government approved management plan in a prescribed format. Para 4.3.2 of the National Forest Policy clearly

states : “No forest should be permitted to be worked without the Government having approved the management plan,

which should be in a prescribed format and in keeping with the National Forest Policy. The Central Government

should issue necessary guidelines to the State Governments in this regard and monitor compliance.”

According to National Working Plan Code, Working Plan is a tool for scientific forest management. It is very

useful for evaluating the status of forest resource of a division, assessing the impact of past management

practices and deciding about suitable management interventions for future. Periodical up-dating and revision of

Working Plans is essential to keep pace with the trends emerging out of forest –people interface and to address

other national and international obligations. The preparation of Working Plan is a highly technical and time-

framed scheduled operation. The preparation of the Working Plan is based on stock maps which is prepared

through ground surveys. Recently, the use of modern tools like remote sensing, GIS & GPS is being done for

preparing the forest cover maps of divisions. Every Working Plan includes the area-specific scientific prescriptions

for proper management of forests of a particular forest division. Accordingly, the working circles, felling series,

and annual coupe area computations are done for the plan period for implementation of the Working Plan

prescriptions.

Status of Working Plans in Gujarat state



Gujarat state is situated along the western coast of the country with a total geographical area of 1,96,024 sq km

having only 9.8% designated forest lands, divided by the Tropic of Cancer. The forests of Gujarat consist of four

major types, namely (1) Tropical Moist Deciduous, (2) Tropical Dry Deciduous, (3) Littoral and Swamp and (4)

Northern Tropical Thorny Forests. Most of the forest area is confined mainly in the districts of Valsad, Dangs,

Vyara, Rajpipla, Chhotaudepur, Baria, Godhra, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Junagadh and Kachchh. Mangrove

forests are mainly found in Jamnagar and Kachchh districts.

For forestry management purpose, the forests of the State are divided into 20 territorial forest divisions and 2

forest sub-divisions and these are covered under 16 approved Working Plans (as shown in the Statement). Total

forest area covered under the management of Working Plans16,39,451 ha. The area covered under the working

plans are less than the actual forest area of the State because rest of the area are covered under Management

plans of Sanctuaries and National parks. All of these Working Plans have basically been formulated for improving

conservation and development of forest resources of the state. Clear-felling of forest area is not included in any

of these plans. Much higher emphasis has been given to conservation, people’s involvement for regeneration of

forests, increasing the NTFP outputs, bio-diversity conservation, medicinal plants, etc. The working plans are

supported by different ongoing research projects like Forest Resource Survey, Socio-Economic studies,

Regeneration studies and specific studies on seeds, seedlings etc.

Sr.

No.

Name of

Working PlanPrepared By Period From - to Name of Divisions

Covered

Total

Area (ha)

1 Dangs Anoop Shukla IFS 15

1997-1998

to 2012-

2013

1 Dangs North

108162 2 Dangs South

2 Vyara A.K.Verma IFS 20

1999-2000

to 2018-

2019

3 Vyara 98615

3 RajpiplaDr Jaipal Singh

IFS10

2005-

2006 to

2014-2015

4 Rajpipla East

125765

5 Rajpipla West

4 ChhotaudepurRakesh Agrawal

IFS 10 2003- 04 to

2012-2013 6 Chhotaudepur 80614

5 PanchmahalsRakesh Agrawal

IFS10

1998-1999

to 2007-

2008

7 Godhra 231795

6 Gandhinagar R.D.Kamboj IFS 10

2002-2003

to 2011-

2012

8 Gandhinagar 11263

7 Sabarkantha A.P.Singh IFS 10

2003-2004

to 2012-

2013

9 Sabarkantha

(North) 126894

10 Sabarkantha

(South)

8 BanaskanthaDr.A.K.Varshney

IFS10

2004-2005

to 2014-

2015

11

Banaskantha &

Patan Sub-

Divn

160564

9 Junagadh M.V.Parmar IFS 10

2004-2005

to 2014-

2015

12

Junagadh &

Porbandar

Sub-Divn

38164

10 Bhavnagar R.D.Kamboj IFS 10

2002-2003

to 2011-

2012

13 Bhavnagar 38852

11 Jamnagar D.B.Ande IFS 10 1999-2000 14 Jamnagar 77135



to 2008-

2009

12 Surendranagar R.K.Sugoor IFS 10

2004-2005

to 2013-

2014

15 Surendranagar 50143

13 Kutch D.B.Ande IFS 10

2003-2004

to 2012-

2013

16 Kutch East

284842 17 Kutch West

14 Valsad U.D.Singh IFS 10

2004-2005

to 2013-

2014

18 Valsad South

118611

19 Valsad North

15 Dahod S.N. Tyagi IFS 10

2008-2009

to 2017-

2018

20 Baria 88032

16

BanniProtected

Forest S.C.Srivastav IFS 10

2009-2010

to 2019-

2020

21

Banni

Grassland

Division

118700

Grassland,

Kutch

Grassland Management

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( ..) 2000-01 87.73

2001-02 151.97

2002-03 88.50

2003-04 144.62

2004-05 120.78

2005-06 139.58

2006-07 153.93

2007-08 142.86

2008-09 111.39

2009-10 77.42

2010-11 98.67

2011-12 92.57

STATEMENT SHOWING THE DETAILS OF GRASS STOCK AS ON30/04/2013



Quantity in Lac Kilogram

DIVISION DISTRICT OLD GRASS

OF YEAR

2011-12

NEW

GRASS

OF

YEAR

2012-13

TOTAL

Jamnagar Jamnagar 3.88 23.95 27.83

Rajkot Rajkot 5.43 13.86 19.29

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar 29.65 16.28 45.93

Surendranagar Surendranagar 0.59 2.46 3.05

Porbandar Porbandar 0.05 0.96 1.01

Junagad Porbandar 1.50 0.67 2.17

Total Porbandar district 1.55 1.63 3.18

Junagad Junagad 18.45 3.71 22.16

Gir West

Junagad

Junagad 10.69 2.47 13.16

Total Junagad district 29.14 6.18 35.32

Gir East Dhari Amreli 7.72 2.27 9.99

Baria Dahod 15.41 28.13 43.54

Godhara Panchmal 0.00 8.76 8.76

Chotaudepur Vadodara 0.00 0.00 0.00

Kachchha

East

Kachchha 0.34 5.02 5.36

Kachchha

West

Kachchha 2.56 7.35 9.91

Total Kachcha district 2.90 12.37 15.27

Valsad North Valsad 0.00 3.86 3.86

Valsad South Valsad 0.00 2.76 2.76

Dangs North Dang 0.00 5.11 5.11

Dangs South Dang 0.00 3.36 3.36

Surat Surat 0.00 5.07 5.07



Narmada Narmada 0.00 6.51 6.51

Vyara Tapi 0.00 5.23 5.23

Bharuch Bharuch 0.00 0.47 0.47

Sabarkantha Sabarkantha 0.00 1.11 1.11

Sabarkantha-

South

Sabarkantha 0.00 1.81 1.81

Banaskantha Banaskantha 0.00 1.00 1.00

Grand Total 96.27 152.18 248.45

JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT

Introduction

Forest is both ecological as well as economic resource.

Based on the National Forest Policy, 1988 and. the guidelines thereon from the Government of India in

June, 1990 regarding the involvement of the local communities and voluntary agencies in forest

protection, management and regeneration to rejuvenate degraded forest lands, the Joint Forest

Management (JFM) programme was launched in Gujarat vide government resolution in March 1991.

Since than the activity of involving the people in the protection and regeneration of forests was

expanded to other areas. Thus a decentralized approach of participatory management based on the

broad principal of Care and Share is under progress and increasingly gaining recognition and

acceptance as a major strategy for the eco-restoration and rehabilitation of the degraded forest land in

the State.

Benefits Sharing

Development works in the form of entry point activities / support activities were carried out in the

villages which include

Land development works- land leveling

Creation of minor irrigation facilities

Drinking water facilitiesEnergy saving devices such as Bio gas / gobar gas plants,solar cookers and solar lights,

improved chullahas and improved crematories have been promoted.

Distribution of grafted fruit trees

Construction of school buildings and aganvadis

Construction of Van Talavadiesl/Check Dams

Fish rearing

Construction of link road

Community utensils

Leaf cup machines etc;



In monsoon, wetlands absorb and restore water and therefore, reduce the risk of flood. In winter and

summer, they gradually release water and thus ensure its availability to surrounding and downstream

areas. Inland wetlands are important water resources replenishing groundwater and sub-soil aquifers.

Coastal wetlands, including mangroves and coral reefs, often function as natural barriers against salt-

water intrusion, protecting coastal land and inland water habitats.

Wetlands are source of life. Much of the world's biodiversity depends upon, or is linked to them. This

includes many endangered and/or migratory species. Richness of waterfowl, including that of migratory

ones in Gujarat is attributed to varieties of wetland habitats. Wetlands are thus part of global network of

water-dependent, cross boundary resources, whose constituents can not be managed in isolation.

Global wetland area was estimated at about 7.5 to 7.8 million sq. km., however, this figure excludes

many wetland types such as salt marshes, coastal flats, sea grass, meadows and reservoirs. India

harbours about 5 % of global wetlands.

Jheels (lakes), Talav (ponds), dams, seasonal waterbodies, paddy fields, streams, marsh lands,

coastline, mangroves, coral reefs, estuaries and large stretches of mudflats etc. contribute significantly

to make this land beautiful. It would not be an exaggeration to state that Gujarat is "a land of Wetlands"

in India. A report by Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad in 2011 estimated wetland area in

the country at about 152606 sq. km. Of this, Gujarat's contribution is about 35000 sq. km (23%).

Waterfowl concentration in Gujarat during winter is

one of the highest in the country as the area falls on

monitory route of the birds. Migratory birds from

Europe and Asia pass through western part of the

country to Indian plateau and they enjoy varied

habitats in the state. Many stay in Gujarat for entire

wintering season and some move to Decca plateau.

Again during their reverse migration in March and April, birds stay at wetlands for sometime before their

departure from the country to their breeding grounds.

Area (sq. km) of wetlands in Gujarat

WETLANDS INDIA GUJARAT

Inlands wetland 105649 6679

Coastal wetland 41401 28070

Total 75819 34750

Categories and areas of wetlands in Gujarat

INLAND WETLANDS AREA (SQ. KM.) COASTAL WETLANDS AREA (SQ. KM.)

Natural lakes 236 Mangroves 905

Water logged 346 Coral reefs 335

Reservoirs 2490 Mudflat 22603

Tanks/ponds 739 Salt pans 922



River/Stream 2759 Other 3305

others 109

Total 6679 Total 28070

The Gulf of Kutch, the Gulf of Chambray and the two Ranns cover vast area of coastal wetlands,

making this part of the land incomparable. Total population of wintering waterfowl in these areas has not

been estimated, but is expected to be in millions. Sometimes, just less than a million flamingos nest in

the Great Rann during the season. Dr. Salim Ali estimated half a million Greater Flamingos in a nesting

colony in known Flamingo City in the Great Rann of Kutch in 1945. About 70,000 lesser flamingos were

estimated in a nesting colony in the Little Rann in August 1998. Nalsarovar alone supports about one to

two hundred thousand waterbirds in winter. Over 40,000 waterbirds can be seen in Thol Lake in a day

during peak wintering season. Kutch, a known district for wetlands, has numerous seasonal

waterbodies. Sample survey and monitoring of four typical wetlands indicate that millions of water birds

find suitable home in this area. The four wetlands in the Little Rann supported 82,000 waterbirds inwinter of 1998, proving beyond doubt that large number of water birds visits this area. There are

hundreds of such wetlands in Saurashtra and Kutch. Regionwise distribution of wetlands and their areas

are given below.

Of 831 wetlands in the state, 438 are coastal and 393 are inland (including 231 small and big

reservoirs). In Gujarat, the coastal and inland wetlands cover 92.3% and 7.7% of the total wetland area

respectively. Gujarat State recognized geomorphological, floral and faunal values of important wetlands

and constituted seven sanctuaries to preserve total area of 13052 sq. km.

Weatlands in different regions

REGION NO. OF

WETLAND

AREA (SQ.

KM.)

North

Gujarat

159 107

Kutch 258 21772

Saurashtra 352 2598

South

Gujarat

62 1698

Total 831 27175

Protected Area covering Coastal

Wetlands

1. Great Rann Wildlife Sanctuary

2. Wild Ass Sanctuary in Little Rann

3. Marine National Park & Sanctuary

Protected Areas in Inland Wetlands

4. Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary

5. Thol lake Bird Sanctuary

6. Porbandar Bird Sanctuary

7. Khijadia Bird Sanctuary

Note: Wetlands smaller than 56 ha are not included in above table.

Chhari - Dhandh, a natural wetland, covering about 60sqkm in Banni is a wonderful site proposed and

accepted by the Government of India as a Ramsar site. This unique wetland deserves a high protection

status.

INLAND WETLANDS



Natural lake; like Nal lake, dams/reservoirs, rivers/streams, ponds, paddy fields water logged areas and

lowlands like Bhal area are typical inland wetlands. Inland wetlands are those which. have no sea-water

input. These are the wetlands which are not inundated by the tidal waters, but solely fed by rain-waters

and/or freshwater courses.

Different types of inland wetlands (standing water and running water) existing in the state include

freshwater lake (locally called 'Sarovar'), village pond/tank ('Gam Talav'), countryside pond (Sim Talav),

reservoirs (Talav/Sinchai Talav), marshes (Saran/Kalan), paddyfields, dams (Bandh), canals (Naher),

rivers (Nadi) and streams (Nalo/Vahelo/ Vonklo). There are also some other wetlands like oxbow lake,

waterlogged area, abandoned quarries and cooling ponds.

According to a survey recently conducted by the Space Applications Center (ISRO), there are 393

inland wetlands of fairly good size in the state covering an area of 667899 ha. Of the various wetland

types mentioned above, 'Gam Talav' (village ponds) and the 'Sim Talav' (countryside ponds) are

abundant in the state. They dominate the rural landscape of Gujarat. The rural Gujarat is dotted with

numerous natural, semi-natural and man-made ponds of varied shapes, size and depth. Though many

of them are seasonal, they play an important role of providing habitat to numerous resident and

migratory waterfowl. The growth of trees at several inland wetlands provides roosting and/ or nesting

site to the resident waterfowl like egrets, herons, cormorants, storks, ibises and spoonbills. Several

ponds in rural and sub-urban areas provide breeding site for the endangered Indian Sarus Crane.

ManySim Talav' are rich in social-economically important aquatic plants like Typha ('Ghabajariyun'),

Nymphaea ('Kamal Kakdi'), Nelumbo ('Kamal' /'Gretel') and Traphy ('Singed'). Rural communities still

depend on ponds for various domestic and economic purposes (ranging from drinking water to

irrigation), though such dependence was much more in the past.

Apart from the ponds, the state harbours a large number of reservoirs, which are primarily meant for

irrigation purpose. Pariej and Kanewl in Kneda District (Central Gujarat) and Thol in Meshing district (N.

Gujarat) are well known for their high diversity and population of the wintering waterfowl. There are

several reservoirs in Saurashtra and Kutch. Some of them are: Lalpari, Nyari, Aji, Veri, Sardhan,

Alangsagar, Hargovind, Ramdhan, Valavas, Hiram, Sapde, Falzar, Muli, Sukhbhadar, Nava Talav in

saurashtra; and Hamirsar, Bhimasar, Sinnari, Dewisar, Rudramata, Ningher, Lair, Don, Topansar,

Vijaysagar in Kutch. Wadhvana, Ajwa, Timbi, Mowal, Mahasar, Mohmmad pura, Pratap-pura are from

Vadodara. Total area of tanks and reservoirs in the state is about 1,600 sq. km.

There are few natural lakes in the state having the total area of 15380 ha. Nal Sarovar, one of thelargest lakes of the country in Viramgam taluka (North Gujarat) is a treasure trove of waterfowl and

aquatic plants. The lake is the life-supporting system for a large number of local people. Some lakes like

Chandola and Goblej near Ahmedabad supported high waterfowl diversity in the past.

Marshes (with total area of 4956 ha) are mainly associated with other wetlands like ponds, lakes and

Rivers. However, there are few large marshes like one near Sitapur and Nayakpura villages in

Viramgam taluka.

Though there are a number of rivers and streams in the state, a large proportion of it retains water for

the brief period of a year. During the brief period from post-monsoon to winter, these water-courses

provide resting/roosting and/or feeding sites to the waterbirds like ducks, waders, herons, egrets,



cranes, terns etc. Major rivers like the Nrmada and the Tapti play important role in nurturing the

biodiversity and people of central/southern Gujarat throughout the year. 5 medium, 25 minor and 5

desert rivers also maintain biodiversity in the state.

Water spread area drastically reduces in summer in Inland wetlands of Gujarat, unlike the good rainfall

areas of the country. The reduction in the extent of water spread area and aquatic vegetation adversely

affect the habitat of avifauna, fishes and other aquatic fauna during the summer. During the post-

monsoon season, water-spread is 2015 sq. km, which gets reduced to only 763 sq. km during summer

or the pre-monsoon season in case of inland wetlands.

As a concluding remark, it may be stated that waterfowl and man are the most visible components of the

biodiversity, which the inland wetlands of Gujarat support. In actuality, these wetlands support one or

the other life requisites of great array of plants, invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians and mammals.

COASTAL WETLANDS

The ocean covers 70.8% of the earth's surface, with

70% of water having a depth above 300 m. The

coastal wetland area consists of 2807051 ha. The

penetration of light in the sea water is important factor

to regulate the sea life. The reduced level of sun light

can reach up to the depth of 200 m, and this light-

penetration zone of the ocean is known as 'Euphoric

Zone' which abounds with high density of sea life, although life exist in deep water also.

Temperature, salinity and depth of water are the chief barriers against free movement of marine

organisms. Many kinds of waves, tides, cyclones and currents etc. in sea influence the physical and

biological conditions of the marine ecosystems. Richness increases with productivity, geological and

climatic stability and decreasing latitude. Gulfs in the tropical zone are considered to be important areas

for diversity and reproduction of marine life.

Marine ecosystems in Gujarat can be classified in to:

Coral reefs

Mangroves : (a) Dense mangroves and (b)

Scrub mangroves

Mudflats : (a) High tidal (b) Inter tidal (c)Low tidal (iv) Algal bed (v) Marsh

vegetation (vi) Creeks (vii) Salt encrustation

(viii) Estuaries (ix) Salt pan (x) Sandy beach

/coasts (xi) Rocky beach (xii) True saline

desert (xiii) Bets (xiv) Island systems in theGulf(bets) (xv) Gulf water - Gulfs of Kutch

and Khambhat and (xvi) Open sea water.

Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambhat are the two Gulfs in Gujarat state, out of total three in the country.

The vast coastline of Gujarat has a remarkable feature' of the extreme diversity of ecosystems i.e.

coastal sands, estuaries, bays, muddy and rocky areas, coral reefs and mangroves. Gulf to Kutch,

covering an area of 7350 sq. km. with its shallow inertial zone and chain of islands, has one of the

richest marine habitats in this subcontinent. The entire southern coast of the Gulf in Jamnagar district is

ringed by cluster of 42 islands, many of them are fringed by coral reefs and bear mangrove vegetation.



The National Committee on Wetlands, Mangroves and Coral Reefs constituted by the Government of

India has identified mangroves and coral reefs in the Gulf of Kutch for intensive conservation and

development.

MANGROVES

Mangroves grow in tropical climate in inertial zone.

Approximately 75% of world's mangroves are found

In tropical coastal line between 25°N and 25°S

latitudes. This ecosystem develops well in inertial

area, where water temperature varies between 21°C

and 27°C. India harbours some of the best

mangroves in the world. These are located in thealluvial deltas of rivers such as the Ganga, the

Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Cauveri as well as on the Andaman and Nicobar group of

islands. The Sundarbans of West Bengal represent the largest stretch of mangroves in the country,

where tree cover was estimated at 2123 sq. LAN. Although Gujarat accounts for an area of 1031 sq.

LAN (FSI 1999), majority of its mangroves are scrubby and of low height

Area wise, Gujarat stands second after West Bengal, 'but it is considered to be inferior in floristic

composition and height.

About four dozen core mangrove species have been documented in India. Floristic diversity ofmangroves is poor in Gujarat. Out of 13 species recorded in western coasts of India, 11 were

encountered in Gujarat. At present, 8 species of mangroves belonging to 6 genera have been recorded

in the State. They are; Avicenna marina, A. afficinalis, A. alba, Ceriops tagal , Rhizophora micromata,

Algiers corniculatum, Acanthus illicifolius and Soneratia opetata. Other three species i.e. R. apiculate,

Burguiera gymnorrhiza and B. cylindrica were not seen during recent years and hence it can be

considered that they are exterminated or at verge of extermination. A. marina is the dominant species,

which constitutes over 95 % of total mangrove trees in Gujarat.

Mangroves function as stabilizer of sediment on shoreline and protect coast from storm and salty wind.

They are important nursery grounds for fish, prawn and variety of marine creatures. Mangrove forests inthe Gulf of Kutchh are important nesting areas for resident water birds as thousands of nests were

counted in the Gulf during summer. Mangroves protect coral reefs and function as genetic resource

conservation area. Some of the species have very high medicinal value. In the Gulf of Kutchh,

mangroves were used for supply of fodder to the livestock. In some areas, dependency of local people

on mangroves for fodder, fuel and timber is very high. In recent years, mangrove areas are used for

tourism. Lush green forest and attractive environment makes visit of a tourist incomparable and

memorable.

Over 90 % of mangroves of Gujarat occur in the Gulf of Kutch, mainly on the coast of Kutchh and

Jamnagar, Mangroves in and around the Kori creek bordering Pakistan constitute the 'largest blocks of

good forest in Gujarat, which constitute over 60%of total mangroves in the state. The Government of



India initiated a scheme on conservation and management of mangroves and coral reefs during 1986-

87. A National Committee on Conservation and Management of mangroves and coral reefs has been

constituted to advise the Government on policy and research related to conservation of these fragile

ecosystems. Gulf of Kutch is an important site identified by the GOI for conservation and development.

Estuaries in Surat, Val sad and Bharuch also support good mangroves.

State Government has notified an area of 1324.4 sq. LAN (665.9 sq. LAN in Jamnagar, 529.5 sq. LAN

in Kutch and 77.7 sq. LAN in Rajkot) as mangrove or cher' forests. In the past, Gulf of Kutch had

extensive 'Cher' cover along coast, but they were destroyed as a result of cutting, lopping and camel

grazing. People realised impact of degradation, the Government initiated conservation measures and

afforestation was done on suitable sites. Forest Department has planted 11860 ha area of inertial

mudflats from 1983 to 1999. Impact is now visible on the Bets and in coastal area. As per the Forest

Survey of India reports, mangrove cover increased progressively from 419 sq. km in 1993 to 689 sq. km

in 1995, 991 sq. km in 1997 and 1031 sq. km in 1999. GEER Foundation made independent study in

1999 and estimated mangrove cover of about 940 sq. km in the state. There is potential area of another

600 to 700 sq. km, which is suitable for mangrove regeneration. Thus, mangroves can be expanded

from about 1000 sq. km at the close of the millennium to about 1600 to 1800 sq. km in future under

appropriate conservation and development measures.

Mangrove cover in the state has started improving after severe drought in 1987. Surprisingly, major

areas transformed into dense cover of tidal forests, however some areas in Jamnagar and Kori creek of

Kutch faced loss of mangroves as result of cyclones that occurred in the year 1998 and 1999.

ECO-TOURISM

This is a new scheme to be introduced during the 10th plan for the wildlife education interpretation,

training and Eco-tourism. Here education is mainly nature education through nature camp for the

students, teachers and other elite group. The training is for departmental staffs working for wild-life wing.

The interpretation programme is for visitors visiting the national parks and sanctuaries. The Eco-tourism

programme is for the public. The outlay of the 10th plan is Rs.815.00 lakh. A token provision of Rs.1.00

lakh was made in the year 2003-04 The proposed outlay for 2004-05 is Rs. 50.00 lakhs. From Financial

Year 2005-06 to 2009-10 total provision of Rs. 2013.00 was made.

Sr. No. Financial Year Financial Provision 1 2005-06 110.00

2 2006-07 1000.00

3 2007-08 800.00

4 2008-09 53.00

5 2009-10 50.00

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