Forest cover of Kerala is largely spread over the Western Ghats which border the state. The Western Ghats represent one of the World's 18 hot spots of bio-diversity and is considered to be a repository of endemic, rare and endangered flora and

fauna.The recorded forest area is 11,125.59 sq.kms. The percentage of forest cover in Kerala is 28.90 which is higher than the national coverage of 19.50. This includes 9157.10 sq. kms reserve forests, 214.31 sq.km proposed reserve and 1754.18 sq. km vested forest. Out of the total of 11,125 sq.km. of recorded forest area, the effective (actual) forest area in Kerala is only 9400 sq.km.