Forests are a renewable resource and perform productive as well as protective functions. Apart from providing various products, forests reduce soil erosion, regulate the channel flow of water, control floods, moderate climate, increase rainfall and enrich genetic reserve of flora and fauna. Forests play an important role in improving the quality of environment. 

According to the State of Forest Report, published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) , India has a recorded forest area of 76.5 million hectare or 23.3% of the total geographic area of the country. But the actual forest cover is 63.34 million ha (19.27% of the country's area) of which 26.13 million ha are degraded. There is another 5.72 million ha scrub in addition to the reported forest cover of 63.34 million ha. Thus, in total, 31.85 million ha forests in the country are degraded or open. 

The Punjab is not fortunate in having a large forests area. Whatever forests were there, were cleared and felled for agriculture, settlements and other cultural activities. Moreover, the arid and semi arid climate of Punjab is also not favorable and conducive to good growth of forests.

As per Forests department records the total forests cover is 3054.28 sq.Km which amounts to approx. 6% of the total geographical area. As per FSI(2000) the forest cover based on satellite data 1412 Sq.Km. This amounts to only 2.8% of the state `s geographical area. Out of this 517 sq.Km is dense forest cover and 895 sq.Km is open forest. 

     Growth of Area under Forests in Punjab –1965-66 to 1999-2000    

The awareness amongst  the people in general and government in particular about the degrading environment, pollution, scarcity of timber and fuel wood etc has encouraged the people and the forest deptt. to grow more and more trees in the form of strips along railways lines, roads, canals, and fields etc, has resulted in increasing the area under the forests in the state. In 1992-93, 290.20 lakh trees particularly, eucalyptus, poplar, shisham and kikar  were planted in Punjab by the forests department of Panchayat Deptt. and other agencies and by people in general. This figure declined to 211.5 lakh  trees in 1995-96 and 176.16 lakh trees in 1999-00. The forests of Punjab on the basis of control have been categorized  into two types namely: State Forests and Private Forests. The Forest Deptt and Civil Auth. owns the state forests, its about 44.22% of the total forest area of Punjab. The Private forests owned by corporated  bodies and private individuals accounts for 55.78% of the total area under forests.  

The major forest areas in the state are asfollows:  

Shivaliks Forests  

  As per IIRS (Roy et al. 2001 – unpublished), the total Shivalik area covers 1137 sq km out of which dense forest, open forest & scrub forest comprises 6.4%, 11.64% & 0.98% area respectively. The natural forest categories are as follows:

•  Tropical Moist Mixed Deciduous Forests  

• Northern Tropical Dry Mixed Deciduous Forests  

•  Dry Deciduous Scrub Forests  

•  Dry Grasslands  

•  Khair & Dalbergia sissoo  

•  Shivalik Chir Pine Forests

Bir Forests

These are protected forests mainly in Patiala district and are characterized by species of Butea, Cassia, Citrus, Ziziphus, Dalbergia and Morus in the north western parts and Acacia, Eugenia, etc. in the south-eastern parts of the state. A small area under Bir Forests is present in Kapurthala district also. Besides a large chunk of bir forests called "Rakhs" are present in Amritsar district also.  

Mand Area Forests  

This is flood plain area characterized by wetlands.  The natural forests are characterized by presence of Acacia, Dalbergia & Ziziphus.  

The forest areas in Punjab are however, under serious threat due to a number of factors.  Prior to the 19^th century these forests were protected by local rulers but the vegetation cover started declining due to unrestricted felling and over grazing when these areas were transferred to villages. The enactment of the Punjab Land Preservation (Choes) Act, 1900 provided power to the government to temporarily regulate, restrict or prohibit certain activities in forest areas (expect in mund areas where this act has not been enforced) and take up reforestation and soil conservation programmes.  Poor enforcement of the act has, however, lead to deterioration of forests in Punjab.  Further, large displacement of population and its re-settlement in the wake of partition of Punjab also lead to diversion of large tracts of forest areas for habitation and agriculture. The improvement of irrigation facilities also helped divert certain forest areas to agriculture.  

Sustainability of forest ecosystem is an essential component of the environmental conservation efforts and any degradation of forests will have an adverse impact on various systems such as water resources, agriculture, biodiversity, environment, climate and human health, besides, the subsistence living of tribals and other communities living in and around forest areas. Therefore, the functions with respect to conservation of soil, water and biodiversity are vital for the welfare of present and future generations.