State Profile of Maharashtra

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    Location of Maharashtra in India

    Geographic Area and Land Use

    * The reporting area for land utilization in Maharashtra is 30.76 Mha.
    Source: India State of Forest Report 2017

  • Forest Protection and Landscape Restoration Potential

    Total area available for restoration: 19.23 Mha






    Carbon Sequestration Potential

    Maharashtra has the potential to sequester between 358.52 to 559.80 million tons (MT) of additional above-ground carbon through the improvement of tree cover. The chart and map represents potential for increase in above-ground carbon sequestration where maximum tree cover in cultivated areas is capped at 20%.

  • Past and Ongoing Initiatives

    The study on past and on-going initiatives found that Maharashtra has 22 projects that involve at least eleven types of interventions.


    These interventions cover 7,060 hectares and have been implemented by government agencies, the private sector as well civil society organisations.



    Financial Flows

    Between 2011-16, INR 800,855 crore was allocated to Maharashtra under different programs and schemes, for improvements in forest and tree cover.


    In 2018, Maharashtra’s share of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund, which was created to compensate the ecosystems services lost as a result of forest land diversion, was 5029.50 crore INR.

    Tenure and Resource Rights

    12 districts in Maharashtra are covered under the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996. Joint Forest Management Committees covering 2,708,597 households are present in 39% of the state. The potential for recognition of Community Forest Resources Rights (CFRs) under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is 3.63 Mha.

    Risks to Improvement in Forest and Tree Cover

    There are four major risks that can adversely impact improvements in forest and tree cover in Maharashtra:


    1. • Between 2011-2017, Maharashtra recorded 12,428 incidents of fires.
    2. • Between 2011-2017, Maharashtra diverted nearly 25,520.711 hectares of forest land. This is nearly 1.74% of Maharashtra’s total forest area.
    3. • According to the Land Conflict Watch, 3 conflicts between state agencies and communities were reported in Maharashtra in . These conflicts are related to land acquisition for development (3).
    4. • Biotic pressure including open grazing and the collection of fuelwood.

  • Disclaimer: Maps in the page are not to scale