232. Natural Vegetation, Biodiversity and Conservation

Rajasthan's natural vegetation is shaped by aridity, the Aravalli divide and a sharp east-west moisture gradient. Rajasthan Forest Cover (ISFR 2023) records 16,548.21 sq km of forest cover in the state: 223.20 sq km very dense forest, 4,237.41 sq km moderately dense forest and 12,087.60 sq km open forest. Scrub is separately recorded at 5,476.75 sq km, so forest cover, tree cover and scrub should not be merged into one figure. Western districts such as Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner and Churu carry thorny xerophytic species, scattered grasses and shrubs adapted to drought, grazing and wind erosion. Khejri, Rohida, Ber, Ker, Phog, Thor and Lana belong to this dryland ecological vocabulary. East and south-east Rajasthan support more dry deciduous and mixed deciduous vegetation because rainfall, rocky hill slopes and water availability improve from Alwar and Jaipur toward Kota, Baran, Jhalawar, Banswara and Dungarpur. Mount Abu in Sirohi forms the small but important sub-tropical hill forest pocket. The Aravalli range is therefore not only a landform; it is a vegetation boundary, a water-divide and a corridor for species movement. Rajasthan's low forest percentage makes open forests, village commons, orans, grasslands, wetlands and scrubland ecologically important. District comparison also matters: Udaipur, Sirohi and Pratapgarh gain from hill slopes and comparatively better rainfall, while Churu, Hanumangarh and Sri Ganganagar remain extremely sparse because irrigated farming and desert plains dominate the land surface. The vegetation map is therefore a risk map as well, showing where fire, grazing, invasive Prosopis, mining and drought can quickly shift habitat quality. A narrow reading that counts only dense forests misses Godawan habitat in Desert National Park, blackbuck grassland in Tal Chhapar and saline wetland bird habitats at Sambhar.