The Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) is a department of the Indian state of Maharashtra responsible for forestry and wildlife management. The headquarters of Maharashtra Forest Department is in Nagpur.

The office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Head of Forest Force (HoFF) is situated at Nagpur, which is considered as Headquarter of the forest Department in Maharashtra.

There are 11 territorial forest circles in Amravati, Aurangabad, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, Thane and Yavatmal. The three wildlife circles are Wildlife-West (Borivali) , Wildlife-East (Nagpur) and Wildlife (Nashik).

Rights of tribal people in the forest areas under Forest Rights Act are also governed by the Forest Department.

Wildlife-Protected Areas

Tiger Reserve

+ Source: Tiger Reserve Year declared Core Area (km2) Buffer Area (km2) Total Area (km2) Melghat Tiger Reserve 1974 1,500 1,268 2,768 Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve 1993 626 1,102 1,728 Pench Tiger Reserve 1999 257.23 483.96 741.19 Sahyadri Tiger Reserve 2007 600 565 1,166 Navegaon National Park 2013 654 1241 1895 Bor Wildlife Sanctuary 2014 138 678 816Total 3775 5338 9113

National Parks Pench National Park

Sanctuaries Kanhargaon Wildlife Sanctuary Pranhita Wildlife Sanctuary Wan Wildlife Sanctuary Dnyanganga Wildlife Sanctuary

C.R.s

33 Crore Tree Plantation Drive

To fight climate change and droughts in Maharashtra, the forest department planned 33 crore tree plantation drive. It was three-month long tree plantation drive across 36 districts from 1 July to 30 September in the State of Maharastra. The State over achieved the target by planting more than 33 Crore saplings. In total, Maharashtra Forest Department planted, 52 crore trees between 2017 and 2019 and the survival rate remains to be 81%.

Departmental Hierarchy

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Head of Forest Force (PCCF & HoFF) Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Conservator of Forests (CF) Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) / Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Range Forest Officer (RFO) Dy. Ranger (DyRFO)/ Field Assistant Section Forest Officer (SFO)/Forester Beat Forest Officer/ Forest Guard(FG)

See also List of Forests Departments in India Tamil Nadu Forest Uniformed Services Recruitment Committee Rajasthan forest department Department of Forest and Wildlife (Punjab)

References

External links Official Website of the Maharashtra Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra