Question

The State that has the largest area under forests is _________.
(A) Kerala
(B) Karnataka
(C) Madhya Pradesh
(D) Assam

Answer 1

Hint: The area under forest stands for the total area that has been announced as forests by the Government of India. About 67.83 million hectares area of the total land in India is covered with forests. From a geographical view, it covers about 20.64% area of total India's land. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) is a government-approved body that looks after the forests in India.

Complete answer:
The forest of India covers the second highest land part after agriculture. The ICFRE which stands for Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education looks for the welfare of forests, to provide education to peoples related to forests and to upgrade them with new techniques using modern technologies. It was inaugurated in 1986 by the Ministry of Environmental and Forest with its research centre at Hyderabad, Shimla, Ranchi, Jabalpur and other major cities.

India is ranked 10th in the whole world in forestry. The forests of India contain huge varieties of flora and fauna. There are in total 45,000 species of flora and 81,000 species of fauna. The forest life of India includes about 95 National Parks, 500 Wildlife Sanctuaries and 2 conservation reserves.

Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under forests. The state has an area of 12.44% of the total forest area in India. These forests are categorized as Reserved, Unclassified and Protected Forests. The state of Maharashtra has over 10 National Parks and 25 wildlife sanctuaries. Madhya Pradesh is home to many famous and reputed National Parks such as Kanha National Park, Madhav National Park, Van Vihar National Park and many more. The natural sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh consist of National Chambal Sanctuary, Ken Gharial Sanctuary and many others situated all over Madhya Pradesh. The most common timber species which are found in Maharashtra are Teak, Sal, Khair, Bamboo and Aonla.

Hence, the correct answer is option C.

Note:
 The Ghatigaon Sanctuary which is in Madhya Pradesh is home to the large number of Son Chiriya, a species of birds known as Indian bustards. Kanha National Park and Panna National Park are reserved for protecting Tigers and their species. The forest of Madhya Pradesh is known as the ‘State of Tigers' because it is home to about 20% of the total Indian population of the Tigers and approx 10% of the total population of Tigers in the world.