Deputy Conservator of Forests Office (Territorial)

About the Department

Karnataka is blessed with some of the most magnificent tropical forests of the Indian sub-continent. The state is endowed with varieties of forest vegetation with an enormous diversity of species the floral diversity is so wide and varied that in some districts, all types of forest from wet evergreen to dry thorn forest are encountered within a crow-fly distance of less than 100 km. About 60 of Karnataka’s forests are situated in the Western Ghats, one of the mega biodiversity hotspots of the world. The remaining forests situated in the Eastern Plains – although these have limited coverage – exhibit high degree of plant diversity including varieties of medicinal plants. The total number of flowering plants (angiosperms) so far recorded in Karnataka is about 4,700 species belonging to 1,512 genera under 189 families. Out of these, over 600 species are endemic to southern India and 95 are exclusively endemic to Karnataka.

Department Activities

The work carried out by the Department can be broadly classified into the following categories: regulatory, protection, conservation and sustainable management. As part of the regulatory functions, the department enforces provisions of various legislations such as Karnataka Forest Act 1963, Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976, etc. and corresponding rules. Protection functions include, boundary consolidation, protection of forest areas from encroachment, illicit-felling, mitigation of human-wildlife conflict, undertaking fire prevention and control measures etc. The conservation functions include taking up of plantation works, soil-moisture conservation and watershed development works for water security, conservation of rare, endangered and threatened (RET) species and conducting awareness activities to sensitize all sections of the society on the importance of forests, wildlife and biodiversity. In territorial areas, the department is also involved in sustainable extraction and marketing of timber and other forest produce as per the specifications of the Working Plans. The Department is also engaged on a large scale in promoting agro-forestry through incentivization to support farmer’s income.

Department Schemes/Projects having importance of State Level/National Level along with the Website Address

Karnataka Forest Department provides certain facilities for general public through a number of schemes involving tree planting and/or raising of awareness. The schemes are:

1. Krushy Aranya Protsaha Yojane (KAPY) – Provides seedlings at subsidized rates and monetary incentive for tree planting;
2. Raising of seedlings for public distribution (RSPD) – provides seedlings at subsidized rates;
3. Maguvigondu Mara Salegondu Vana – provides free seedlings to school children for planting trees in school compounds and house premises
4. Tree Park – provides facilities to general public for recreation and environmental awareness;
5. Daivivana – provides facilities to general public for recreation and environmental awareness; and
6. Chinnara Vana Darshana – provides facilities to school children to visit forest and wildlife areas to increase their environmental awareness.

      State Level Website: https://aranya.gov.in

Department Forms / Documents issuing to the Citizen in PDF Format (Hard Copy)

     KAPY Registration Form Enclosed