Forestlands can be found in every district of Chumphon, but it is denser in the western area. The total forestland is 2,082,298 Rai, equivalent to 55.046% of the provincial area. On the contrary, the agricultural area increased from 38.19% in the year 1988 to 54.04% in the year 2001. The forests in Chumphon are deciduous forest, classified into 3 types according to the different features of the forests, which are rain forest, mangrove forest, and coniferous forest.
All three types of forests in Chumphon are divided according to the governmental management as follows:
The geographic features in the upper south of Thailand include a range of variety, such as mountains, water sources, seacoast and kelp-shore. Consequently, many different kinds of soils are found. In the upper south mostly consists of sandy soil and silt soil which are relatively acid. The fertility level is moderate to quite low. The soil on the coast forms up from the decomposition of remainders from the seawave and subsoil in the flooded areas. The soil texture is like a puddle which can drain water very quickly.
When considering all soil conditions in Chumphon, in the western side of the province is the mountainous areas. The soil in the central area of the province is shallow soil and paddy field soil which are suitable for agriculture. On the eastern side of the province is sandy soil, saline coastal soil, and mountainous soil in some areas. According to the survey via satellite imagery, the total area of the province covers 3,756,778 Rai, in which 2,039,816 Rai (45.9%) is agricultural area, 658,125 Rai (20.4%) is forestland, and 1,058,837 Rai (30.6%) is not classified.