Management of Social Forestry in Maharashtra

Maharashtra has a forest area of 63,920 sq km which is 20.76 per cent of its geographical area. Such a large area of forest in the third biggest State in the country is, however, able to supply only a part of the forest produce required by the industries and the public in the State. The remaining part is met through imports from the other States. With the rapid industrialization of the supplier States and the depletion of forests even in those States, their supplies to Maharashtra have begun to wane.