Madhya Pradesh Forests in India and its wildlife

Madhya Pradesh is the second largest state in India, geographically. The state covers 9.38% of geographical area of India. It hosts 6% of the country’s population. Rural population (72.37%) dominates the urban (27.63%). The state ranks first in India for possessing recorded forest area (28.27%). Small percentage of this forest area is classified as very dense. Inside the recorded forest area, there are around 8540 wetlands (1.83% of recorded forest area). In Madhya Pradesh natural forests 146 species of trees, 79 species of shrubs and 72 species of herbs are recorded. The state also has 10 national parks and 25 wildlife sanctuaries. The ‘tiger state’ hosts to a sizable number of bewildering 526 striped tigers. Apart from tigers, it boast number of wildlife fauna (panther, chital, chinkara, bison, wild boar, wild dog, hyena, wolf, fox, wild cat, jackal, crocodile, black buck, monkey, spotted deer, sambhar, four horned antelope, barking deer, bears, blue bull, alligator, tortoise, dolphin, porcupine and other mammalian and reptilian species and peacock, kharmour, the great Indian bustard and around 200 bird species). The rich forests of Madhya Pradesh provide nutrition not only to its wildlife biodiversity but also livelihood to proportion of tribal population of the state in the form of forest produce. In the present era of COVID-19 crisis, the perceived role of forests as ‘safety nets’ is even greater because they are shielding humans from harmful pathogens since ages. The forests and biodiversity of Madhya Pradesh state in India will be discussed in brief.