Forest conservancy in West Bengal started in 1864 under the Government of Bengal. With the enactment of West Bengal Private Forest (Amendment) Act, 1954 along with West Bengal Estate Acquisition Act, 1953 and abolition of the Zamindari system in 1955 and the resumption of the surplus lands of the tea gardens, forest area in the state increased. Prior to the above, two events viz. Merger of Cooch Behar State with West Bengal took place in 1950 and due reorganization of States, part of the former Manbhum district of Bihar was transferred to West Bengal on 1stNovember, 1956with the creation of the district of Purulia. Presently the State of West Bengal extends from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. It lies between 21°20’ N and 27°32’ N latitude and 85° 50’ and 89° 52’ E longitude, covering a geographic area of 88,752 sq. Km. Five states (Sikkim, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa) and three countries (Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh) surround West Bengal – Sikkim to the North, Bhutan to the North-East, Assam and Bangladesh to the East, Nepal, Bihar and Jharkhand to the West and Jharkhand and Orissa to the South-West. Total recorded forest land in the state is presently 11,879 sq. Km., of which 7,054 sq. Km. is Reserved Forest, 3,772 sq. Km. is Protected Forest and 1,053 sq. Km. is Unclassed State Forest, thus constituting 13.38% of the geographical area of the state. During last four decades, lots of radical changes have taken place in the civil administrative set up of the State due to various reasons. Naturally, changes have also been made in the Forest Organization, in consideration of the present day need of the administration to meet the whole gamut of functions of forest and wildlife management, consolidation of participatory forest management in different agro climatic regions and execution on a very large scale of activities related to social/farm/urban forestry in non-forest areas of the state. In 1974, West Bengal Forest Development Corporation Ltd. Came into being for large scale harvesting of forest produces, creation of new eco-tourism centres, productions and marketing of forest products and such allied activities. The administration of West Bengal Forest Development Corporation Limited at various level is headed by the officers of the Forest Directorate on deputation.
For further details please visit
Forest : www.westbengalforest.gov.in
Wildlife : www.wildbengal.com
WB Forest Dev. Corp. Ltd : www.wbfdc.com
WB Zoo Authority : Wbza.co.in
WB Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Project : Wbfbcp.org
WB Wasteland Development Corporation Ltd : Wbwdcl.com
WB Ecotourism Board : Wbetab.in
WB State Forest Development Agency :