Importance of forest resources: Civilization and human development originated from the forests. The forests are national property. The forests provide shelter, food and employment. The importance of forest resources can be understood through its direct and indirect advantages:

Direct Advantages: 

1. 2% of total national income of the country is obtained from the forests. 

2. 2.5 crore tribals live in forests and their livelihood depends on forests. 

3. Lakhs of people get employment from the forests. 

4. Nearly 5.5 crore animals use forests as grazing lands. 

5. Major timber such as saal, sagvan, shesham, devdar and pine trees are found in forests which are used in making furniture, agricultural implements or tools, railway coaches, vehicles and as fire wood. 

6. For several industries, raw material is obtained from the forest such as- paper, match, silk, lac, furniture, plywood, packaging and toy industries. 

7. Several products from the forests such as – gum, bamboo, turpentine oil, fruits, flowers, leaves, biroja, leather coloring materials are obtained. 

8. Precious herbs such harar, bahera, amla and several others are obtained from the forests. 

9. Forests provide shelter and food to wild animals.

Indirect Profit: 

1. Forests help in bringing rain.

2. Forests reduce temperature and make the climate mild and reduce greenhouse effect. 

3. Forests reduce soil erosion and reduce the effect of floods. 

4. Forests increase underground water level. 

5. Forests reduce the speed of storms and fast winds. 

6. Forests increase soil fertility by increasing quantity of mico – rorganisms and humus in the soil. 

7. Forests control air and noise pollution, they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Besides exchange of gases in nature goes on without any obstruction.

Types of Forests: Due to huge size of India, differences are seen here in relief, climate and soil and that is why six types of forests are found in the country.

1. Tropical evergreen forests: These are found in those parts of India, where annual rainfall is more than 200 cm and temperature is 28° centigrade. Tropical evergreen forest are found here.

In India, such forests are found in three regions:

• North – eastern India and in Lower Himalayas. 
• Western slopes of Western Ghats.

Andaman and Nicobar islands: The wood of these forests is hard and due to their dense growth, sunrays do not reach upto the ground. In these forests, trees of different species are found jointly.

Main trees: Mahogany, gataparcha, Ebony, loh kasht, toon, rubber, cinchona, bamboo, saal, gurjan, bamboo, chaplus and tulsar.

2. Monsoon or autumn forests: This kind of forest is found where average annual rainfall is from 100 to 200 cm and temperature remains between 26°C to 31°C. These forests shed their leaves before summer season. That is why these are called antumn forests. These forests can easily be exploited due to their less dense growth.

In India, main regions of such forests are the following:

• Outer and lower slopes of Himalayan mountain range. 
• In Madhya Pradesh, in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and central India. 
• Eastern slopes of Western Ghats. 
• Southern parts of Eastern Ghats.

Main trees: Shisham, sal, sagwan, sandal, rosewood, bamboo, palash, haldu, mango, ebony, mahua, pipal, banyan, cottonwool (semal) and Khair.

3. Tropical dry forests: Such forests are found in areas where annual average rainfall is from 50 cm to 100 cm and temperature is between 20°C to 35°C. In India, there are two regions of such forests:

• In north – west India south – west Punjab, Haryana, eastern Rajasthan, Aravalli mountains and south – western Uttar Pradesh. 
• Dry areas of south peninsular regions. The roots of these trees are long, leaves are thick, and trunk is rough. Main trees are babool, neem, mango, jamun, khejri, banyan, kikar and mahua, etc.

4. Desert forests: In India, these forests are found where average rainfall is less than 50 cm and the temperature is from 25°C to 35°C. These forests are found in south – western Punjab, western Rajasthan and Gujarat state. The roots of these trees are thick and long, leaves are thick, small and thorny. The number of bushes are more. Trees are found at distance and in small numbers.

Main trees: Cactus, kair, khair, kejra, dates, babool, neem, pipal, banyan and rambas etc.

5. Mountain forests or temperate evergreen forests: In India, these forests are found in eastern Himalayas, western Himalayas, hills of Assam, Mahabaleswar hills of Maharashtra. The leaves of these trees are dense and stem is thick, bushes are found below the trees.

Main trees : Chir, sanovar, deodar, fir, spruce, larch, maple, elm, chestnut, ujenia, micholia and rhododendron trees are found in high mountainous areas.

6. Tidal or marshy forests: These forests are chiefly found in deltaic areas of Ganga – Brahmaputra and Hooghly rivers and at the mouth of Krishna, Kaveri, Mahanadi, and Godawari and in coastal areas. Due to tides, the roots of these trees remain submerged in sea water and the branches of the roots spread in all direction. The wood of these trees is soft.

Main Trees: In Deltaic part of the Ganga and Brahmaputra and Hooghly rivers, the tree sundari is found in large numbers.