Uttar Pradesh: Forests and wildlife

Uttar Pradesh is largely made of fertile Gangetic plains. Most of its forests lie in the terai and bhabhar area, while the Vindhyan forests are mostly scrub. As per the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, the state (geographical area 2,40,928 km2) has a forest cover of 15,045.80 km2, or 6.24% of its area. The state budget notes that UP secured second place nationwide in the increase of forest and tree cover.

Forest Cover (ISFR 2023)

• Very Dense Forest (VDF): 2,688.73 km2 (1.12%).
• Moderately Dense Forest (MDF): 4,001.41 km2 (1.66%).
• Open Forest (OF): 8,355.66 km2 (3.46%).
• Scrub: 639.51 km2 (0.27%).
• Inside Recorded Forest Area: 9,338.76 km2; outside: 5,707.04 km2.
• Earlier (ISFR 2021): forest cover 14,817.89 km2 (6.15%); tree cover 7,421 km2; carbon stock 117.241 million tonnes (1.6% of India's forest carbon).
• Districts (ISFR 2021): highest forest cover in Sonbhadra (2,436.75 km2, 35.29% of its area), followed by Chandauli and Chitrakoot; lowest in Bhadohi (3.71 km2).
• Bamboo-bearing area rose from 1,235 km2 in 2019 to 1,832 km2 in 2021.

Forest Types and Flora

• Forests fall into five forest-type groups and 28 Forest Types (Champion & Seth Classification, 1968).
• Largest type (ISFR 2023): Northern dry mixed deciduous forest, 5,459.24 km2 (34.58% of mapped area); others include Western light alluvium plains sal (1,540.00 km2) and Ravine thorn forest (904.89 km2).
• Sal and haldu grow on the Shivalik foothills and terai-bhabhar; shisham along rivers.
• Vindhyan forests: dhak, teak, mahua, salai, chironji and tendu (leaves used for bidis).
• Uses: khair yields kattha; babul is the main tanning material; baib grass and bamboo feed the paper industry.
• Top trees in Recorded Forest Area: Shorea robusta (Sal), 35,091 thousand trees, then Tectona grandis (Teak), 16,160 thousand.
• Top invasive species inside RFA: Lantana camara (1,080.84 km2).

Protected Areas

• One national park and 26 wildlife sanctuaries cover 11.82% of the state's area.
• 23890 wetlands larger than 2.25 ha and 8 Ramsar wetland sites.
• Dudhwa National Park: in Lakhimpur Kheri district, in the Terai-Bhabhar region bordering Nepal, about 230 km from Lucknow; known for swamp deer, with tigers, leopards, elephants and rhinos.
• Pilibhit Tiger Reserve: declared in September 2008 as India's 45th Tiger Reserve; spans Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich; over 127 animals, 326 bird species and 2,100 flowering plants.
• Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (Bahraich): part of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve; links Dudhwa and Kishanpur with Bardia National Park in Nepal. Its Gairwa river is a sanctuary for Mugger and Gharial and home to Gangetic dolphins.
• Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary: shelters Gangetic dolphins along the Chambal river.
• Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary: in Sravasti, Balrampur and Gonda; a tiger habitat linked with the Mahadevpuri forest in Nepal.
• Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary (Lucknow-Kanpur highway) hosts Siberian cranes in winter; Chandra Prabha (Chandauli) was once a habitat of Asiatic Lions.

Wildlife

• The state's avifauna is among the richest in the country.
• Mammals: tiger, leopard, sloth bear, chital, sambhar, blackbuck, barking deer, hog deer and swamp deer.
• The elephant is confined to the terai and foothills; chinkara and sandgrouse prefer the dry Vindhyan forests.
• A rhinoceros rehabilitation programme runs in the terai forest of Dudhwa; crocodile and gharial numbers are growing due to conservation.
• Common fishes: mahaseer and trout.

Plantation and Budget 2026-27

• More than 242 crore 13 lakh saplings have been planted since 2017; on 9th July 2025, more than 370 million saplings were planted across the state.
• Target for monsoon 2026: 35 crore saplings.
• Provisions: Social Forestry Scheme ₹800 crore, Nursery Management Scheme ₹220 crore, State Compensatory Afforestation Scheme ₹189 crore.
• Night Safari Park in the Kukrail forest area of Lucknow: about ₹207 crore; Ranipur Bandh Foundation, Chitrakoot: ₹50 crore corpus.
• UP Clean Air Management Project (2025-26 to 2030-31), World Bank assisted: ₹194 crore.