Johann Heinrich Cotta (October 30, 1763 – October 25, 1844) was a German silviculturist who was a native of Kleine Zillbach, near Wasungen, Thuringia. He was the father of geologist Bernhard von Cotta (1808–1879).
Cotta initially learned forestry from his father, and in 1784-85 studied mathematics, natural sciences and cameralism at the University of Jena. Later he returned to Zillbach, where he taught forestry with his father. In 1801 he became a member of the forestry college in Eisenach, while continuing his work at Zillbach. During this time his reputation grew, and in 1810 was appointed director of Forstvermessung und Taxation (Forest Measurement and Rating) by Frederick Augustus I of Saxony.
In 1811 he established a forestry school at Tharandt, near Dresden, together with its historic arboretum which still exists (the Forstbotanischer Garten Tharandt). It would later be known as the Royal Saxon Forestry Academy. The school attracted students throughout Europe, and in 1813 he was visited at Tharandt by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In 1841 Cotta was given an award by Tsar Nicholas I in recognition of his efforts at Tharandt.
Cotta was a pioneer of modern forestry, and was a catalyst concerning the transition from "timber production" to forestry as a scientific discipline. He was interested in all aspects of forestry, including studies involving long-term seeding, establishment of forested areas, and tree-cutting based on mathematic practices. Cotta's methodology was based on a geometric survey of the forest, where calculations of the wood mass of individual trees as well as the yield of the entire forested region were made. By way of these calculations an estimate for the monetary worth of a forest could be assessed. In 1804 Cotta was the first to suggest the concept of a "volume table", which was a chart that was introduced decades later to aid in the estimation of standing timber volume.
Cotta also had a keen interest in geology and fossils, and during his career amassed an impressive collection of zoological and botanical fossils. Today pieces of this collection are kept at Humboldt University of Berlin (Institute for Paleontology), in the museum for natural history in Chemnitz, at the Academy of Mining in Freiberg, in the State Natural History Collections in Dresden and in the British Museum of Natural History in London.