Birbhum Forest Division started functioning from 15th of July 1954. It covers an entire Birbhum District. Of the total geographical area of 4550 sq km forest area is a meagre 15926 ha,( only 3.5%).The district lies between 28° 32’ 30” and 24° 35’ 00” North latitude and 88° 01’ 40” and 87° 05’ 25” East longitude. Spread over an area of 4550 sq km, the district’s immediate neighbours are Murshidabad in the east and north-east, Burdwan in the south and south-east and Pakur, Dumaka of Jharkhand in the west and North-West. The main species are Shorea robusta (sal), with associates like Pterocarpus marsupium(Piasal), Terminalia tomentosa(asan), Anogeissus latifolia(dhaw),Terminalia bellerica (bahera), T.chebula, Buchnania lanzan, Dalbergia sissoo etc. The degraded forest land is mostly planted with Akashmoni and Eucalyptus along with other misc. Species.
An area of 2.021 sq km is declared as Ballavpur Wildlife Sanctuary u/s 18 (1) of Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 that also includes erstwhile declared Reserved forest, vide notification no. 4655 dated 11.07.1977 published in Calcutta Gazette on 18.08.1977 of Govt. of West Bengal, revenue & Forest department. Ballavpur Wildlife Sanctuary started on 10th Feb 1967 as a Deer Park. Gradually it increased in size and species diversity with the passage of time. On 18.8.77 vide Notification No.4655-For dated 11.07.77, the Deer Park was notified as Ballavpur Wildlife Sanctuary, with an area of 200 ha. of this 35-40 hectare comprises of wetlands in three different patches. The Deer enclosure is of 40 hectare area and within it, Sal, Akashmoni, Minjiri, Mahul etc. are the principal species
The objective of management is participatory approach towards sustainable development of forests. Nearly 90% of the total forest area is managed by 198 nos. of Forest Protection Committees and 4 nos. of Eco Development Committees.
Ongoing projects run by the forests department include Maratma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), Rastriya Krishi Vikash Yojona RKVY), National Afforestation Programme (NAP) through Forest Development Agencies(FDA) and Industrial Plantation through West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) through West Bengal Forest and Bio-diversity Conservation Project (WBFBCP) .
During 2015-16, 351 ha. of Sal and Miscellaneous plantations (QGS, JICA,WBPCB,MGNREGA) were raised in this Division. Silvicultural operation like RDF were done over 80 ha. of area (State-Plan & JICA).and 141 ha. of mature Plantations & Sal Coppice were harvested during the same period. 5 nos. of Earthen Dam, 440 m3 of RCD were constructed and 64.50 Km of digging Contour Trench as Soil and Moisture conservation measure.