Andhra Pradesh forests, wildlife and protected areas are a steady source of questions in APPSC Group papers, AP Police prelims, Forest Beat Officer papers and general studies sections of other state exams. The topic looks simple, a list of parks and sanctuaries, but the questions are rarely about the list. They ask which sanctuary protects which species, which area is a tiger reserve and which is a biosphere reserve, what the latest forest report says, and which law protects red sanders. A candidate who has only memorised names loses marks to a small twist in wording.
This guide is built from three kinds of official material: the India State of Forest Report 2023 published by the Forest Survey of India, the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department's own website pages for protected areas, red sanders and administrative units, and the text of national laws. It does not repeat the river and coastline material in the sibling posts. For the physical map, read the AP geography notes on rivers, districts and ports; for dams, see the rivers, dams and irrigation projects notes; and for mining and ports, see the minerals, industries, SEZs and ports notes. If you plan to apply for the forest services themselves, the Forest Beat Officer post covers eligibility, papers and the walking test.
Verify before the exam: forest cover, protected area lists and district names are updated by new reports and notifications. Figures in this post are labelled with their report or source. The district names follow the 28-district map as on October 2026, with the older names given as "formerly" where the official pages still use them.
1. The forest map in one page
Start with two numbers that are often confused. The first is recorded forest area, which is land legally recorded as forest in government records, whether or not trees stand on it today. The second is forest cover, which is what satellites actually see as tree canopy, graded by density. Recorded forest area is a legal figure. Forest cover is a measured figure. The gap between them is the part of the legal forest that has lost its trees or never had a dense canopy.
| Item | Figure | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| Geographical area used by FSI | 1,62,923 sq km | ISFR 2023 |
| Recorded forest area (RFA) | 37,258 sq km (22.87% of area) | ISFR 2023 |
| Reserved forests | 31,959 sq km | ISFR 2023 |
| Protected forests | 5,069 sq km | ISFR 2023 |
| Unclassed forests | 230 sq km | ISFR 2023 |
| Forest cover | 30,084.96 sq km (18.46%) | ISFR 2023 |
| Scrub | 8,351.62 sq km | ISFR 2023 |
| Tree cover (outside forests) | 5,340.02 sq km | ISFR 2023 |
The India State of Forest Report is a biennial assessment, and the 18th edition, ISFR 2023, was released in December 2024. As on October 2026, ISFR 2023 is the latest edition that could be verified. A newer edition is expected after this post is written, so check the Forest Survey of India website before quoting "latest" in an answer.
The three recorded categories add up exactly: 31,959 plus 5,069 plus 230 is 37,258. If an option in a question gives reserved forest as a larger or smaller share, you can test it against that total in seconds. Reserved forests are about 86% of the recorded forest area, which tells you that most of the state's legal forest enjoys the strongest category of protection under forest law.
2. Reading the ISFR 2023 figures for Andhra Pradesh
Forest cover in the ISFR is graded by canopy density. Very Dense Forest (VDF) has canopy density of 70% or more, Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) has 40% to 70%, and Open Forest (OF) has 10% to 40%. Scrub is land with canopy under 10%, and non-forest is everything else. For Andhra Pradesh, ISFR 2023 gives the following breakdown.
| Class | Area (sq km) | Share of calculated area |
|---|---|---|
| Very Dense Forest | 1,995.71 | 1.22% |
| Moderately Dense Forest | 13,725.75 | 8.42% |
| Open Forest | 14,363.50 | 8.82% |
| Total forest cover | 30,084.96 | 18.46% |
| Scrub | 8,351.62 | 5.13% |
Three observations help you answer comparative questions. First, open forest is the largest class by a small margin, and very dense forest is tiny, about one fifteenth of all forest cover. Second, moderately dense and open forest together make up more than 93% of the cover. Third, the state's forest cover is not mainly a dense-forest story; it is a dry deciduous story with thin canopy.
Change since 2021. The report shows a net change of minus 138.66 sq km in forest cover compared with the 2021 raster-based assessment, which the report lists among the larger state-level losses. Inside the recorded forest area the net change was minus 83.47 sq km, and outside it the change was minus 55.19 sq km. In the same report the mangrove cover of the state rose by 13.01 sq km, which was the largest increase among all states. If a question asks whether the state's forest cover rose or fell between 2021 and 2023, the answer from this report is that it fell, while mangroves rose.
Inside and outside the recorded forest area. Of the 30,084.96 sq km forest cover, 23,867.76 sq km lies inside the recorded forest area and 6,217.20 sq km lies outside it, which includes plantations, orchards and patches in revenue land. This also explains how a state can have recorded forest area of 37,258 sq km but forest cover inside it of only 23,867.76 sq km. The rest of the recorded forest is scrub or open land. In the 2023 report about 36% of the recorded forest area has no forest cover.
District pattern. The district table in ISFR 2023 still uses the 26-district map of 2022, which matters for the two districts formed on 31 December 2025. The highest forest cover in absolute terms is in Alluri Sitharama Raju district with 6,917.32 sq km, which is 55.58% of its area. Prakasam follows with 3,250.93 sq km, then Annamayya (2,356.35), Y. S. R. Kadapa (2,347.60), Tirupati (2,104.03), Nandyal (2,098.76) and Eluru (1,689.54). The very dense forest is concentrated: Alluri Sitharama Raju has 1,183.18 sq km, Eluru has 366.19 sq km and Prakasam has 256.87 sq km of it. Several districts, including Ananthapuramu, Guntur, Kurnool and West Godavari, have a forest cover share below 3%. A question that asks "which district has the highest percentage of forest cover" may have Visakhapatnam in the options because its small area gives it 28.61% on paper, but its absolute area is small. Read whether the question asks for area or percentage.
One more trap: Polavaram district was carved partly out of the Alluri Sitharama Raju district, so the 6,917 sq km figure includes forest that is now inside Polavaram district. Any question written after December 2025 may assume a different split. Treat district-wise ISFR 2023 numbers as belonging to the old boundary.
3. The legal classes: reserved, protected and unclassed
Forest law in India classifies forest land by legal status. The Indian Forest Act, 1927 created the system of reserved forests, protected forests and village forests, and states have their own forest acts. Andhra Pradesh has the Andhra Pradesh Forest Act, 1967, which was amended in 2016 for red sanders offences (see section 11).
- Reserved forest (RF): the strongest class. Rights of use are not allowed unless the government grants them, and entry or grazing without permission is an offence.
- Protected forest (PF): a middle class. Activities are allowed unless they are prohibited, and some rights are recorded.
- Unclassed forest: land owned by the government and recorded as forest but not yet reserved or protected. Andhra Pradesh has only 230 sq km of it, a tiny part of the total.
The numbers are a good lesson in why you should always ask which area base a question uses. The Forest Survey of India takes the state's geographical area as 1,62,923 sq km and the recorded forest area as 37,258 sq km, which is 22.87%. The Forest Department's own website page, which was accessed in October 2026, gives a notified forest area of 36,914.69 sq km, which it describes as 22.46% of a geographical area of 1,64,325.89 sq km. The two statements are not in conflict. They use different bases and different dates. Both are legitimate figures, and an exam question will normally state the source. If it does not, the national report figure of 22.87% is the more widely cited one.
A worked example. A question gives you recorded forest area of 37,258 sq km, forest cover inside it of 23,867.76 sq km and asks for the percentage of recorded forest that has forest cover. Divide 23,867.76 by 37,258 and you get about 64.06%, so the share without forest cover is about 35.94%, which is exactly the figure the report states. Practising such two-step checks makes the report's numbers feel connected instead of random.
4. Forest types of Andhra Pradesh
India classifies natural vegetation by the Champion and Seth system of 1968, which gives each type a code, such as 5A for southern tropical dry deciduous forest. The ISFR 2023 chapter on Andhra Pradesh lists the mapped areas. The table keeps the most important types.
| Code and type | Area (sq km) | Share of mapped area |
|---|---|---|
| 5A/C3 Southern dry mixed deciduous | 15,128.05 | 39.00% |
| 5/DS1 Dry deciduous scrub | 12,551.35 | 32.36% |
| 6A/C1 Southern thorn forest | 1,677.28 | 4.32% |
| 3B/C2 Southern moist mixed deciduous | 1,733.76 | 4.47% |
| 5A/C2 Dry red sanders-bearing forest | 1,115.87 | 2.88% |
| 5A/C1b Dry teak forest | 546.16 | 1.41% |
| 4B/TS2 Mangrove forest | 418.07 | 1.08% |
| 7/C1 Tropical dry evergreen forest | 426.73 | 1.10% |
| 5/E9 Dry bamboo brake | 304.51 | 0.79% |
Each type is easy to attach to a place once you know the logic. Southern dry mixed deciduous forest is the backbone of the state and dominates the Nallamala, Seshachalam and Veligonda hills. Dry deciduous scrub covers a third of the mapped area and is typical of the drier interior, such as the Rayalaseema plateau. Southern thorn forest belongs to the lowest rainfall belt. Southern moist mixed deciduous forest is the type of the wetter northern hills in the Eastern Ghats, including the Papikonda area. Dry red sanders-bearing forest is a named forest type, which is rare for a single tree species and tells you how closely the tree is tied to the Seshachalam and neighbouring hills. Mangrove forest belongs to the Godavari and Krishna estuaries, and tropical dry evergreen forest is the unusual coastal type of the Nellore and Tirupati belt, including the Sriharikota island on the Pulicat side.
The mapped dry deciduous scrub is also a reminder that "forest" in this state often means thin forest in a dry climate. When an exam asks the dominant forest type of Andhra Pradesh, the safe answer is tropical dry deciduous, with dry mixed deciduous as the leading specific type.
5. The Eastern Ghats and the forest regions
The state's forests mostly lie in the Eastern Ghats, which here are not a single wall but a series of broken ranges separated by river valleys. Reading them in order from south to north gives a map for revision.
- Seshachalam hills in the south, around Tirumala, with red sanders, the Sri Venkateswara National Park and the Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve.
- Veligonda, Lankamala and Palakonda ranges in the south-central part, named by the Forest Department along with Seshachalam as the home of red sanders.
- Nallamala hills in the centre, a long stretch between the Krishna and Penna basins, with the Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve.
- Erramala and Nallamala gap region around Rollapadu, where the Forest Department describes the sanctuary lying between the two hill ranges.
- Papi hills along the Godavari gorge, with the Papikonda National Park.
- Northern Eastern Ghats in the Alluri Sitharama Raju and Parvathipuram Manyam region, which hold the state's densest forests and its tribal areas.
The geographical pairing of range and protection category is a common examination pattern. Nallamala goes with tiger, Seshachalam with red sanders, biosphere reserve and golden gecko, and Papi hills with the Godavari gorge and gaur.
6. The protected area network at a glance
The Forest Department's website describes the state's network as one tiger reserve, one elephant reserve, one biosphere reserve, three national parks and thirteen wildlife sanctuaries. The department's figure for forest under the protected area network is 8,139.89 sq km, which it gives as 22.05% of the notified forest area. It also lists two zoological parks managed by the department, the Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park at Tirupati (275 ha) and the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park at Visakhapatnam (253 ha).
A quick way to keep the categories apart:
| Category | Number | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| National park | 3 | Strongest category; no human use inside |
| Wildlife sanctuary | 13 | Protected area where some activities may be allowed |
| Tiger reserve | 1 | Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam, partly in Telangana |
| Elephant reserve | 1 | Koundinya sanctuary plus Rayala Elephant Reserve area |
| Biosphere reserve | 1 | Seshachalam |
| Zoological parks (department) | 2 | Tirupati and Visakhapatnam |
The national parks are the Sri Venkateswara National Park, the Rajiv Gandhi (Rameswaram) National Park and the Papikonda National Park. Memorise them with a one-word anchor each: Seshachalam, sand dunes and Godavari gorge.
7. The three national parks
Sri Venkateswara National Park. The department page records that the Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary has a total area of 525.97 sq km and was declared a sanctuary on 2 September 1985. Within it, 353.62 sq km was declared the Sri Venkateswara National Park on 16 October 1989. The park lies in the Seshachalam hills of the Tirumala region. The page lists Cycas beddomei, red sanders, the slender loris and the Indian golden gecko as indicator species. Mammals include leopard, sloth bear, mouse deer, giant squirrel and four-horned antelope. The department page lists the district as Chittoor, which was correct before the 2022 reorganisation; the Tirumala hills now belong mainly to Tirupati district, with the range extending into Annamayya district. A question that asks about "the district of Sri Venkateswara National Park" should be answered according to the map date it states.
Rajiv Gandhi (Rameswaram) National Park. This is the smallest of the three and the most unusual: the department page gives its area as only 2.3 sq km and describes it as a sand dune ecosystem on the Penna river near Proddatur in the Y. S. R. Kadapa district (the department lists Kadapa). The forest type is tropical dry deciduous, with Dalbergia sissoo among the plants, and the page names burrowing snakes as the indicator group. The page shows its legal status as pending, while the Forest Survey of India lists it among the national parks in its fire detection table, so you should treat it as one of the three recognised national parks in most question banks while knowing that the notification status is a detail some sources flag.
Papikonda National Park. The department page gives an area of 1,012.858 sq km. The sanctuary was set up in 1978 and upgraded to national park status in 2008 according to the reference sources. The park lies in the Papi hills, where the Godavari cuts a gorge. The forest types on the department page are dry mixed teak forest, southern dry mixed deciduous forest and southern moist mixed deciduous forest. The page mentions tiger, leopard, hyena and gaur, names the gaur as the keystone species, and gives 92 bird species. The department page also records part of the area as the submergence area of the Indira Sagar (Polavaram) project. The department lists the district as West Godavari, but present maps place the Papi hills in the Polavaram and Eluru districts; check the map date before choosing.
8. The thirteen wildlife sanctuaries
The Forest Department site lists thirteen sanctuaries, which makes it the reference for most question banks. The table below gives the department's area and date of declaration. Districts are given with the present name first where there is a known change; the department page itself still uses older names in several entries.
| Sanctuary | Present district(s) | Area (sq km) | Declared | Flagship |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coringa | Kakinada (formerly East Godavari) | 235.70 | 5 Jul 1978 | Mangroves, fishing cat, olive ridley |
| Kolleru | Eluru and Krishna | 308.55 | 25 Sep 1995 (dept.) | Grey pelican, wetland birds |
| Krishna | Krishna and Bapatla | 194.81 | 26 Jun 1989 | Mangroves, fishing cat |
| Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam) | Nandyal, Prakasam, Palnadu | tiger reserve | see section 9 | Tiger |
| Gundla Brahmeswaram | Nandyal and Prakasam | 1,193.68 | 18 Sep 1990 | Tiger, leopard |
| Rollapadu | Nandyal (formerly Kurnool) | 6.14 | 23 Apr 1988 | Great Indian bustard |
| Sri Lankamalleswara | Y. S. R. Kadapa and Nellore | 464.42 | 17 Jul 1998 | Jerdon's courser |
| Sri Penusila Narasimha | Nellore and Y. S. R. Kadapa | 1,030.90 | 15 Sep 1997 | Cycas beddomei, leopard |
| Koundinya | Chittoor | 357.60 | 18 Dec 1990 | Asian elephant |
| Sri Venkateswara | Tirupati and Annamayya hills | 525.97 | 2 Sep 1985 | Red sanders, golden gecko |
| Kambalakonda | Visakhapatnam | 70.70 | 13 Sep 2002 | Leopard, dry evergreen forest |
| Nelapattu | Tirupati (dept. lists Nellore) | 4.58 | 25 Sep 1976 | Grey pelican breeding |
| Pulicat | Tirupati (dept. lists Nellore) and Tamil Nadu | 600 (dept.) | 20 Sep 1976 | Flamingo, brackish lagoon |
A few notes make the table useful rather than just long.
The Kolleru date needs care. The department's page gives 25 September 1995 as the legal date, while some encyclopaedic sources say the sanctuary was declared in November 1999. The two numbers appear in different reference sources, so a question with only one of them should be answered with the one it gives. The Ramsar designation is a separate event, reported as 19 August 2002 in the Ramsar site listing.
The Pulicat area is stated differently by different sources. The department gives 600 sq km, while the figure often quoted for the lagoon as a whole is larger. The lagoon lies partly in Tamil Nadu, so a figure that includes only the Andhra Pradesh sanctuary will be smaller than one for the lagoon.
Rollapadu is the state's only great Indian bustard sanctuary, a tiny grassland patch of 6.14 sq km. The department says it owes its origin to the discovery of the bird in the area in 1982, and that livestock-free grassland enclosures were made for it. The bustard is among the most threatened birds in India, which makes this a favourite factual question.
Sri Lankamalleswara is the home of Jerdon's courser, a nocturnal bird that was believed extinct and was rediscovered in 1986 according to the department page. The shrub Carissa carandas, called Kalimi in Telugu, is linked with its habitat.
The two coastal sanctuaries, Coringa and Krishna, are both mangrove sanctuaries and both are nesting grounds for olive ridley turtles in the department's description, with the fishing cat as the signature mammal.
9. The Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve
This is the single most tested protected area. The department describes it as the largest tiger reserve in India, in the Nallamala hills of the Eastern Ghats, with the Krishna river cutting a gorge through the hills for about 270 km. Its page gives these figures: total area 3,727.50 sq km, made of a core area of 2,444.14 sq km and a buffer area of 1,283.36 sq km, with the 1,193.68 sq km Gundla Brahmeswaram Wildlife Sanctuary treated as an extended core area. The Andhra Pradesh part falls in the Nandyal, Prakasam and Palnadu districts, and the reserve continues into Telangana. A reference page for the reserve says it was designated a tiger reserve in 1983, which is the year commonly quoted, but treat that as a reference-source date.
Key points for the exam:
- The sanctuary inside it is named after Rajiv Gandhi on the department page, so the question may say "Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary" and mean the same area.
- The reserve is also an Important Bird Area, according to the department.
- Forest type is southern dry mixed deciduous forest with patches of moist deciduous forest, scrub, bamboo and grass.
- The Krishna river flows through the reserve and the Srisailam plateau, where the river flows north and is called Uttaravahini in the department's history note. The temple town of Srisailam lies in this landscape.
- Other mammals include leopard, Indian wolf, wild dog, striped hyena, spotted deer, sambar, chinkara and four-horned antelope. The department says about 200 bird species occur.
Tiger numbers change with each all-India estimation and are not given here; check the latest official tiger estimation report if a question asks for a count. The structural facts above are the stable ones.
10. Seshachalam, the biosphere reserve, and the elephants
The Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve is the state's single biosphere reserve, notified in 2010 and covering about 4,756 sq km across the Seshachalam hills in the districts that were Chittoor and Kadapa at the time. These two figures come from news and reference summaries rather than from an official notification page that could be opened, so use them with the word "reported" if you must give them. The reserve contains the Sri Venkateswara National Park, which is why a question may ask which national park lies inside a biosphere reserve.
The hills are the only home in the world of some of the species that the department page lists for the sanctuary: it describes the sanctuary as the abode of floral and faunal species endemic only to the Seshachalam hills. These include the Indian golden gecko, the cycad Cycas beddomei, which the department calls a living fossil, and red sanders.
Elephants. The department's elephant reserve page tells a short history. Elephants were historically found in Rayalaseema, and drought in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in 1984 pushed elephants into Andhra Pradesh. The Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary was set up for them under Project Elephant, and extra area was added as the Rayala Elephant Reserve by Government Order No. 106 dated 9 December 2003 to improve connectivity with habitats in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Koundinya is therefore described as the only home of the Asian elephant in the state, with a small population compared with neighbouring states.
11. Wetlands, mangroves and the coast
Coastal Andhra Pradesh holds the state's most distinctive wetland habitats.
Kolleru is described by the department as the largest freshwater lake in the country, between the Krishna and Godavari deltas. It is fed directly by the seasonal Budameru and Tammileru rivers and is connected to the delta systems by 67 inflowing drains and channels, and it functions as a natural flood-balancing reservoir. The department notes an average fish production of 7,000 metric tonnes a year and gives the grey pelican as the signature bird, with 63 species of fish. Kolleru is the Andhra Pradesh wetland on the Ramsar list in the sources checked for this post, designated in 2002. Encroachment by aquaculture ponds is the major threat, and the lake has been the subject of repeated clearance operations.
Mangroves. ISFR 2023 gives Andhra Pradesh a mangrove cover of 421.43 sq km, made of 213.90 sq km moderately dense and 207.53 sq km open mangrove, with no very dense mangrove. The increase of 13.01 sq km over 2021 was the largest among states in that report, which attributes it to natural regeneration, plantation and conservation, noticeable in the Krishna, Bapatla and Kakinada districts. The department describes the state as having the second largest mangrove ecosystem in the country, in the Godavari and Krishna estuaries. A separate table gives mangrove forest as a mapped type of 418.07 sq km; the two numbers differ because the report measures cover and type on different bases, so use the 421.43 sq km figure when the question says mangrove cover.
Coringa is the mangrove sanctuary of the Godavari estuary, near Kakinada, with a coast that is a nesting ground for olive ridley turtles and with the fishing cat as the signature mammal, according to the department. A reference page says it is among the larger mangrove stretches in the country, with 24 mangrove tree species; treat the exact rank as a source-dependent claim. Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary protects the mangrove of the Krishna estuary; its page highlights the presence of all three species of Avicennia as a unique feature.
Pulicat and Nelapattu. Pulicat is the second largest brackish water ecosystem in the country and the largest congregation of flamingos in the state. The department says about 15,000 flamingos visit each year, arriving from the Rann of Kutch in October and returning in April. Nelapattu is a small bird sanctuary, 4.58 sq km, and the department calls it the largest breeding ground for grey pelicans in South East Asia, with around 1,500 pelicans breeding every year.
12. Flagship species and where they live
Candidates who learn species-site pairs score faster than those who learn lists.
| Species | Site | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tiger | Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve | Largest tiger reserve in India |
| Asian elephant | Koundinya sanctuary, Rayala Elephant Reserve | Only elephant area in the state |
| Great Indian bustard | Rollapadu | Grassland sanctuary |
| Jerdon's courser | Sri Lankamalleswara | Rediscovered in 1986 |
| Grey pelican | Nelapattu, Kolleru | Nelapattu is the breeding ground |
| Flamingo | Pulicat | Winter visitor |
| Fishing cat, olive ridley | Coringa, Krishna | Mangrove coast |
| Indian golden gecko, slender loris | Sri Venkateswara | Endemic to the Eastern Ghats region |
| Cycas beddomei | Seshachalam, Penusila Narasimha | Cycad |
| Red sanders | Seshachalam and neighbouring hills | Pterocarpus santalinus |
| Gaur | Papikonda | Keystone species |
| Leopard | Kambalakonda | Sanctuary near Visakhapatnam city |
The Kambalakonda sanctuary is the one that sits next to a big city. The department says the sanctuary of 70.70 sq km lies on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, and notes an eco-park of 107.73 ha in the Kambalakonda reserve forest declared in 2003.
13. Red sanders: ecology, law and trade rules
Red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) is the tree that links forest law, crime control and international treaties in one topic, which is why it is a favourite of paper-setters.
Where it grows. The Forest Department says it is endemic to the forests of the Seshachalam, Veligonda, Lankamala and Palakonda hills of Andhra Pradesh and is distributed over an area of 5,300.97 sq km in the districts then called Kadapa, Chittoor, Nellore, Prakasam and Kurnool. Its division-wise table shows the largest red sanders-bearing area in the Kadapa division (1,286.64 sq km) followed by Proddatur (929.10), Rajampet (848.03), Nellore (671.17), Tirupati wildlife management (682.57), Chittoor East (407.55), Giddalur and Markapur (263.91) and Nandyal (212.00). ISFR 2023 also maps the dry red sanders-bearing forest type at 1,115.87 sq km and lists Pterocarpus santalinus among the top five species by number of trees in the recorded forest area, with 32,804 thousand trees.
The state law. The Andhra Pradesh Forest Act was amended by a notification dated 19 May 2016, which came into force on 25 May 2016 through G.O.Ms.No.49 of the Environment, Forests, Science and Technology Department. According to the department page, the amendment made all red sanders forest offences cognizable and non-bailable, gave special protection status to red sanders, sandalwood and scheduled trees, set punishment of three to ten years with a penalty up to Rs 10 lakh, and allowed forfeiture of property illegally acquired from these trees.
The task force. The Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force was formed by G.O.Ms.No.217 of the Finance Department dated 25 November 2014, which sanctioned 463 posts in the police and forest departments. It is operational at Tirupati. The department also reports protection measures such as base camps, striking force parties, check posts, e-surveillance, use of the PD Act against smugglers and two special courts for speedy trial.
The international rule. The tree is listed in Appendix II of CITES, in force from 16 February 1995 on a proposal by India, according to the trade-regulation records that were consulted. Appendix II means trade is allowed but must be regulated by export permits that certify the trade is not harmful to the survival of the species. It does not mean a ban on all trade. The listing carries an annotation that limits which products it covers (reported as annotation 7 covering logs, woodchips, powder and extracts); check the current CITES listing for the exact wording. Domestic cultivation and sale are regulated by the state, and export of wood has been tightly controlled, so the practical effect is that legally traded stock is rare.
The IUCN status. Red sanders was assessed as Endangered in earlier years and the Red List assessment was revised to Near Threatened in 2018 according to one reference page; as with every Red List status, this changes with reassessment, so a question that asks for the current status needs the current list.
A frequent trap is to say that red sanders is in Appendix I. It is not. Another is to think the 2016 amendment created a new Act. It amended the existing state Forest Act. A third is to assume the species grows in the Nallamala hills in general; the department names Seshachalam, Veligonda, Lankamala and Palakonda ranges.
14. The forest department: structure and units
The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department is headed by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force, with the headquarters at Mangalagiri. The department's administrative chart shows the structure used for field work: seven territorial circles plus one research and development circle, a forest academy at Rajahmundry, 33 territorial and project tiger divisions, 11 social forestry divisions, two zoological parks, two wildlife management divisions, two research divisions, eight flying squad divisions, 31 sub-divisions, 220 ranges, 594 sections and 1,418 beats. These are the figures shown on the department's website in October 2026. Another reference page describes the department with different numbers of circles and divisions, so give the department chart if a question asks for it and name the source.
The ladder of posts from the field upwards is easy to remember: beat, section, range, sub-division, division, circle, then the head of the force. The staff names follow: Forest Beat Officer at the beat, Forest Section Officer at the section, Forest Range Officer at the range, Assistant Conservator of Forests at the sub-division, District or Divisional Forest Officer at the division, Conservator at the circle, and Chief Conservator and Principal Chief Conservator above them. If you plan to enter at the first rung, see the Forest Beat Officer guide.
15. The laws behind the forests
The list of Acts on the department's own e-publications page includes the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and the Environment Protection Act, 1986, alongside the state forest law. A short statement for each is enough for the exam.
- Indian Forest Act, 1927: classifies forests as reserved, protected and village forests and lays down offences. It is a central Act and the base for state forest acts.
- Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: creates national parks, sanctuaries, conservation reserves and community reserves, and lists species in schedules with different levels of protection. The Act was enacted on 9 September 1972.
- Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980: requires central approval before forest land is diverted. The 2023 amendment renamed it as the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980; the Amendment Act received assent on 4 August 2023.
- Biological Diversity Act, 2002: deals with access to biological resources and benefit sharing.
- Andhra Pradesh Forest Act, 1967: the state law, amended in 2016 for red sanders offences.
Questions often ask which authority declares a national park or a sanctuary. A sanctuary or park is declared by the state government by notification under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, while the central government is involved for tiger reserves through the National Tiger Conservation Authority and for forest diversion through the Forest Conservation Act.
16. Threats that the reports name
Forest fire is the most quantifiable threat. ISFR 2023 counts fire detections by satellite sensors for each fire season, and Andhra Pradesh recorded 19,367 detections in 2022-23 and 18,174 in 2023-24, among the highest of any state in the report. By district, Alluri Sitharama Raju recorded 6,399 detections in 2023-24, Prakasam 2,226 and Nandyal 1,934. The report classifies 2.75% of the state's forest cover (including scrub) as extremely fire prone, 15.44% as very highly fire prone and 19.15% as highly fire prone. The Forest Department says the dry deciduous type is prone to fire in summer, with Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Rajahmundry circles the worst affected.
Invasive plants are the second named threat. ISFR 2023 estimates that Lantana camara covers 1,055.77 sq km of the recorded forest area, Chromolaena odorata 866.67 sq km and Ageratum conyzoides 261.17 sq km. The same report also shows an example of forest cover lost to aquaculture in the Krishna district, which links back to the mangrove and wetland pressure on the coast.
Smuggling of red sanders, discussed above, is the threat unique to the state. For wetlands, the main pressure is the conversion of water spread into aquaculture ponds, the reason Kolleru features repeatedly in environment news.
17. How to answer questions in twenty seconds
Take the question and decide first what kind it is.
- Number from the report. Name the report and year. If the option gives 30,084.96 sq km or 18.46%, it is ISFR 2023.
- Species-site match. Use the table in section 12. The most distinctive pairs are bustard with Rollapadu, courser with Sri Lankamalleswara, elephant with Koundinya and pelican breeding with Nelapattu.
- Category question. Tiger reserve is Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam; biosphere reserve is Seshachalam; Ramsar wetland is Kolleru.
- District question. Check whether it asks for the current name, the pre-2022 name or the 2025 split. Give the date in your reasoning.
- Law question. Offences for red sanders are in the state Forest Act amendment of 2016; the international listing is CITES Appendix II.
Key facts for exams
- ISFR 2023 (18th report, released December 2024): forest cover 30,084.96 sq km, 18.46% of the area; VDF 1,995.71, MDF 13,725.75, OF 14,363.50; scrub 8,351.62; tree cover 5,340.02 sq km.
- Recorded forest area 37,258 sq km (22.87%): reserved 31,959, protected 5,069, unclassed 230.
- Change since 2021: forest cover minus 138.66 sq km; mangrove cover plus 13.01 sq km to 421.43 sq km.
- Highest forest cover: Alluri Sitharama Raju, 6,917.32 sq km (55.58%) in the ISFR 2023 district table.
- Department protected area count: 3 national parks, 13 sanctuaries, 1 tiger reserve, 1 elephant reserve, 1 biosphere reserve.
- National parks: Sri Venkateswara (353.62 sq km, 16 October 1989), Rajiv Gandhi (Rameswaram) (2.3 sq km), Papikonda (1,012.858 sq km).
- Tiger reserve: Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam, 3,727.50 sq km on the department page, in the Nallamala hills.
- Biosphere reserve: Seshachalam, reported as notified in 2010.
- Kolleru: Ramsar site designated 19 August 2002; freshwater lake between the Godavari and Krishna deltas.
- Red sanders: endemic to the southern Eastern Ghats hills; CITES Appendix II since 1995; state Forest Act amended in 2016; task force formed by G.O.Ms.No.217 of 25 November 2014.
Common exam traps
- Treating recorded forest area and forest cover as the same number.
- Using the 26-district ISFR table for a 28-district question without comment.
- Saying forest cover rose between 2021 and 2023 because mangroves rose.
- Naming Sri Venkateswara National Park as a tiger reserve.
- Putting Rollapadu in the Nallamala hills or assigning the bustard to Coringa.
- Placing red sanders in CITES Appendix I.
- Calling Kolleru a brackish lagoon and Pulicat a freshwater lake.
- Mixing up the sanctuary date and the national park date for Sri Venkateswara.
- Quoting an area for a sanctuary from one source and a date from another without noting both.
- Using a district name from the department page as the present district without checking the 2022 and 2025 changes.
Ten practice questions
1. Which is the largest tiger reserve in India according to the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department? a) Rajiv Gandhi Rameswaram b) Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam c) Papikonda d) Koundinya Answer: b) Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam, in the Nallamala hills.
2. In ISFR 2023, the forest cover of Andhra Pradesh is about: a) 18.46% of the calculated area b) 22.87% of the area c) 36% of the area d) 8.42% of the area Answer: a) 18.46%. The figure 22.87% belongs to the recorded forest area.
3. Which sanctuary is the only great Indian bustard sanctuary in the state? a) Kambalakonda b) Rollapadu c) Nelapattu d) Krishna Answer: b) Rollapadu.
4. Jerdon's courser is the signature bird of which sanctuary? a) Sri Lankamalleswara b) Coringa c) Pulicat d) Gundla Brahmeswaram Answer: a) Sri Lankamalleswara.
5. Which biosphere reserve in Andhra Pradesh contains the Sri Venkateswara National Park? a) Nallamala b) Seshachalam c) Papikonda d) Pulicat Answer: b) Seshachalam.
6. Which Andhra Pradesh wetland is a Ramsar site in the sources checked for this post? a) Pulicat b) Nelapattu c) Kolleru d) Coringa Answer: c) Kolleru, designated on 19 August 2002.
7. In which CITES Appendix is red sanders listed? a) Appendix I b) Appendix II c) Appendix III d) It is not listed Answer: b) Appendix II, in force from 1995.
8. The 2016 amendment to the Andhra Pradesh Forest Act made red sanders offences: a) Compoundable and bailable b) Cognizable and non-bailable c) Civil only d) Punishable by fine only Answer: b) Cognizable and non-bailable, with imprisonment of three to ten years.
9. Which national park is only about 2.3 sq km and protects a sand dune ecosystem? a) Papikonda b) Sri Venkateswara c) Rajiv Gandhi (Rameswaram) d) Gundla Brahmeswaram Answer: c) Rajiv Gandhi (Rameswaram), near Proddatur on the Penna.
10. According to the Forest Department, Nelapattu is best known as: a) The largest tiger habitat b) The largest breeding ground of grey pelicans in South East Asia c) A mangrove sanctuary d) A sand dune park Answer: b) The largest breeding ground of grey pelicans in South East Asia.
Frequently asked questions
How many national parks does Andhra Pradesh have? Three: Sri Venkateswara, Rajiv Gandhi (Rameswaram) and Papikonda, according to the Forest Department website and the national forest report.
How many wildlife sanctuaries are there? The department lists thirteen. The tiger reserve's sanctuary area is counted among them in the department's menu, so read whether a question includes it.
What is the latest forest cover figure? ISFR 2023 gives 30,084.96 sq km, which is 18.46% of the calculated area. As on October 2026 no newer report could be verified. Check the Forest Survey of India for the next edition.
Which district has the most forest? In the ISFR 2023 district table, Alluri Sitharama Raju has the largest forest cover in area and percentage among the larger districts. Polavaram district was carved partly out of it in December 2025.
Is red sanders banned from trade? No. It is listed in CITES Appendix II, which regulates trade through permits. Its felling, possession and transport in Andhra Pradesh are controlled by the Forest Act as amended in 2016.
Where is the Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve? In the Seshachalam hills of the Tirumala region. It was in the districts then called Chittoor and Kadapa and now falls mainly in Tirupati and Annamayya districts. Check district boundaries in the current map.
Is Kolleru a sanctuary or a Ramsar site? Both. It is a wildlife sanctuary under the state and a Ramsar wetland designated in 2002.
Related reading
- AP geography notes: rivers, districts and ports
- AP rivers, dams and irrigation projects notes
- AP minerals, industries, SEZs and ports notes
- AP environment, cyclones and disaster management
- AP district-wise fact sheet: 28 districts
- Forest Beat Officer guide
- Telugu version of this post
Practise on Pareeksha
When you can place each sanctuary, species and law without looking, test yourself under time pressure on pareeksha.in, which offers 10 Lakh+ MCQs, 100+ Exams and 5,000+ Full-Length Mocks. Facts that change, such as district names, forest cover and protected area lists, should always be confirmed against the latest report or notification.
Sources and verification
Pages opened for this post (official first):
- Forest Survey of India, India State of Forest Report 2023, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (fsi.nic.in): Andhra Pradesh state chapter, forest cover, recorded forest area, forest types, district table, mangrove cover, fire detections, invasive species.
- Andhra Pradesh Forest Department website (forests.ap.gov.in), its published page content for protected areas, national parks, sanctuaries, tiger reserve, elephant reserve, red sanders protection, administrative units and the e-publications list.
- Wikipedia pages (Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, Papikonda National Park, Sri Venkateswara National Park, Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, Kolleru Lake, Pterocarpus santalinus, Natural vegetation and wildlife of Andhra Pradesh), used only as cross-checks.
Search summaries (not opened as full pages) were used to cross-check the Ramsar date for Kolleru, the CITES listing date for red sanders, and the dates of the national laws.
Not verified: the Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve notification date and area (reported figures only); the CITES annotation wording; the IUCN Red List category; the exact Kolleru sanctuary declaration year (1995 on the department page, 1999 in some sources); present district allocation of several sanctuaries after the 2022 and 2025 changes (department pages still use older names); the latest tiger estimation numbers, which are left out. Check the latest notification before quoting any of these where a legal or exact figure is required.
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