The state consists of two prominent zones, North Bihar and South Bihar, demarcated by the river Ganges. The state is categorized into three agro-ecological areas.
The Chotanagpur Plateau and south Bihar Plains extending over the southern part of the state boasts considerable forest resources while the Gangetic Plains which is densely populated and intensively cultivated, has scanty forest resources. By legal status, the reserved forest area comprises 17.28%, protected forest area 82.69% and unclassed forest area a mere 0.03%.
The forest area of Bihar is dominated by the following three types of vegetation:
- Tropical Moist Deciduous
- Tropical Dry Deciduous
- Subtropical Broadleaved Hill Forests
| Item | National | State |
| Recorded forest area relative to geographical area | 23.57% | 6.87% |
| Total forest cover relative to geographical area | 20.64% | 5.90% |
| Tree cover relative to culturable non-forest area | 4.56% | 2.04% |
| Trees/Hectare of culturable non-forest area | 12.30 | 13.80 |
The following information about the forest area of Bihar is pertinent:
| Description | Area(square km) | % |
| Geographical Area | 94,163 | 100 |
| Forest Area | 6,473 | 6.87 |
| Very Dense Forest | 76 | 0.08 |
| Dense Forest | 2,951 | 3.13 |
| Open Forest | 2,531 | 2.69 |
The total area of Bihar has been reduced after its bifurcation into Bihar and Jharkhand.
Last Updated on 14 June 2013
