Forest types of Nagaland  

  Though Nagaland is a small state but as far as types of forests are concerned it has been endowed with a wide variety of forest types. This is mainly due to the fact that though it is mainly in tropics, Nagaland has land elevation ranging from a few hundred meters up to about four thousand meters.

  (i)  Northern Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests -

            These forests once covered the Namsa- Tizit area but now only a small vestige is found in the Zankam area. It is found only in Mon District. The dominant species in this type of forest are Hollong (Dipterocarpus macrocarpus), Makai ( Shorea assamica), Nahor ( Mesua ferae ) etc

 (ii)  Northern Tropical Semi Evergreen Forests  -

This type of forests are found in the foothills of Assam-Nagaland border in Mokokchung, Wokha and Kohima Districts. The Species that make up these forests are similar to those of the Northern Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests. The only difference is that in the former case the evergreen species dominate though there are deciduous species like Bhelu, Paroli, Jutuli etc, whereas in the present case, the number of evergreen species decreases and the deciduous species are dominant.

(iii)  Northern Sub-tropical Broad Leaved Wet Hill Forests -

This type of forests are found in the hill areas below 1800m and above 500m in all the districts of Nagaland. The wet evergreen species are conspicuous by their absence and the dominant  species are mostly semi-deciduous. Some of the important timber species in this type are - Koroi, Pomas, Sopas, Gamari, Gogra, Khokan, Hollok, Sam, Am, Badam, Betula etc.

  (iv)  Northern Sub-tropical Pine Forests -

This types of forests are found in hill elevation of 1000 meters to 1500 meters in parts of Phek  and Tuensang  Districts of Nagaland. Pine is the dominant  species  and is found mixed with Quercus, Schima, Prunus, Betula and Rhododendron.

  (v) Northern Montane Wet- temperate Forests  -

This type of forests are found on the higher reaches of the tallest mountains in Nagaland above 2000 meters in - Japfu, Saramati, Satoi, Chentang  ranges. The species are typically evergreen with Quercus, Michelia, Magnolia, Prunus, Schima, Alnus and Betula.

(vi)  Temperate Forests  -

This type of forests are found in peaks of the tallest mountains (above 2500 meters) like Saramati and Dzukou area. The species that dominate are Rhododendron, Patches of Juniperus coxie and Birch.

Source: F.S.I. State of Forests1999