The sal forest is a complex ecosystem that has evolved over millennia. A favorite of woodpeckers and other creatures, the sal tree is the dominant species in a sal forest. These tall trees are very difficult to regenerate artificially, so their destruction has everlasting repercussions.
About the contributors

Mandakini Malla
Mandakini Malla is a director, producer, and cinematographer with over 20 years of industry experience. She has traveled the world, creating travel and wildlife content for television and digital platforms. She returned to her hometown of Dehradun to find a better synergy between her deep concern for the environment and wildlife in her work. When not filming, she's stomping through sal forests observing birds and wildflowers.
View Profile

Sustain Team
We are a driven group of people from diverse backgrounds, bound by an abiding love for India’s natural world.
Related Content

Wild Vault
Enchanted Forest: Ode to the Old Sal Community
Radhika Raj
Dhritiman Mukherjee
A sal tree never lives alone. It grows with many of its kind to create contiguous forests across hundreds of kilometres, nurturing everything that falls within its care

Wild Vault
Why Woodpeckers Peck the Largest Trees
Neha Jain
According to a study conducted in Uttarakhand, woodpeckers prefer to forage on large trees which offer more food. Removal of large trees could affect their numbers

Urban Jungle
Aarey: The Wild Heart of Mumbai
Kamakshi Ayyar
Few cities in the world have large swathes of jungles within their borders, even fewer have leopards living within. Unfortunately, the green cover of India’s maximum city is under grave threat