Forest is an vital natural resource and is most important natural habitat for wild life. It is utilized by farmers for commercial and recreational purposes. Many animals find shelter and prey in the forest. Apart from this, forest plays most important role from commercial point of view. Forest based cottage industries, such as bee-keeping, bamboo mat and basket making provides small-scale industry to the tribal people. Sal and teak are most important sources for timber industries. Forest also provides raw materials for pulp and plywood industry.
Green plants are primary producers of the “food chain”and foods are stored in the form of fruits, nuts,seeds, nectar and wood. So forest serves as an energy reservoir, trapping energy from sunlight and storing it in the form of a biochemical product.Forest plays a important role in keeping the atmospheric balance by consuming CO2 and releasing O2, the latter which is essential for animal life. So removal of plants and trees would disturb the composition of natural air. An acre of forest absorbs four tonnes of carbonic acid gas and recycles eight tonnes of oxygen into environment.
If a forest is cut down, energy stored in the wood is lost and also most of the nutrients of the system are lost. Such deforestation leaves a poor soil which can support agriculture for only a short time, because the harvesting of the first fewcrops removes the remaining nutrients and renders it useless. Deforestation causes
soil erosion.
The reduction of forests later affects rainfall and thereby restricts the availability of a most important natural resource, the rain water. In natural forests,the tree roots bind the soil and about 90 per cent of the water falling on the forests is retained either in humus or in the plant tissue. The forest thus acts as a soaking device and plays a vital role in the hydrological cycle. It has been estimated that in India 60,000 million tonnes of top soil is carried away annually by rain water from deforested area. Now-a-days the tendency of deforestation is increasing day by day. Man iscutting forest to get temporary benefits but there is a tremendous loss in due course of time.
9. Technique of improvement cutting and selective cutting like removal of old dying trees, non commercial trees, damage tree and diseased trees,should be done. Selective cutting involves cutting of mature trees and crowded trees.
Green plants are primary producers of the “food chain”and foods are stored in the form of fruits, nuts,seeds, nectar and wood. So forest serves as an energy reservoir, trapping energy from sunlight and storing it in the form of a biochemical product.Forest plays a important role in keeping the atmospheric balance by consuming CO2 and releasing O2, the latter which is essential for animal life. So removal of plants and trees would disturb the composition of natural air. An acre of forest absorbs four tonnes of carbonic acid gas and recycles eight tonnes of oxygen into environment.
If a forest is cut down, energy stored in the wood is lost and also most of the nutrients of the system are lost. Such deforestation leaves a poor soil which can support agriculture for only a short time, because the harvesting of the first fewcrops removes the remaining nutrients and renders it useless. Deforestation causes
soil erosion.
The reduction of forests later affects rainfall and thereby restricts the availability of a most important natural resource, the rain water. In natural forests,the tree roots bind the soil and about 90 per cent of the water falling on the forests is retained either in humus or in the plant tissue. The forest thus acts as a soaking device and plays a vital role in the hydrological cycle. It has been estimated that in India 60,000 million tonnes of top soil is carried away annually by rain water from deforested area. Now-a-days the tendency of deforestation is increasing day by day. Man iscutting forest to get temporary benefits but there is a tremendous loss in due course of time.
Social Forestry
The National Commission on Agriculture is giving serious thought to theproblem of deforestation and recommended introduction of “ Social Forestry”.Social forestry may be defined as an additional aid to wild life conservaion.According to K.M. Tewari (President, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun) “Social
forestry is a concept, a programme and a mission which aims at ensuring ecological,economic and social security to the people, particularly to the rural masses especially by involving the beneficiaries right from the planning stage to the harvesting stage".
Different components of social forestry programme are
1. Protection and afforestation of degraded forests .
2. Creation of village wood lots on community lands and government wastelands.
3. Block plantation.
4. Argo-forestry (trees along with agricultural crops) on marginal and submarginalfarm lands.
5. Tree planting around habitation area and field boundaries
6. Tree planting in urban and industrial areas for aesthetic purposes,
7. Control of erosion by planting trees or shrubs.
8. Strip plantation along road sides, canals and rail lines.
Conservation of Forests
Following methods should be adopted to conserve forests:
1. A tree felling from the forest for any purpose must be replaced by a new tree. Thus tree felling should be matched by tree planting programmes as arly as possible.
2. Afforestation should be done in along highways and river banks around play grounds and parks. A special programme of tree plantation called Van Mahotsav is held every year in our country. It should be made popular and effective.
3. Maximum economy should be observed in the use of timber and fuel wood minimising by the wastage.
4. The use of fire wood should be replacedcby alternative source of energy for cooking such as biogas, natural gas etc., should be made available.
5. Forest should be protected from forest fire. Modern fire controlling equipment should be used to extinguish accidental forest fire.
6. Pests and diseases of forest trees should be controlled by fumigation and aerial spray of fungicides and through biological method of pest control.
7. Grazing of cattles in the forests should be discouraged.
8. Modern methods of forest management should be adopted. These include, use of irrigation, fertilizers, bacterial and mycorrhizal inoculation, disease and pest management control of weeds, breeding of elite trees and tissue culture techniques.forestry is a concept, a programme and a mission which aims at ensuring ecological,economic and social security to the people, particularly to the rural masses especially by involving the beneficiaries right from the planning stage to the harvesting stage".
Different components of social forestry programme are
1. Protection and afforestation of degraded forests .
2. Creation of village wood lots on community lands and government wastelands.
3. Block plantation.
4. Argo-forestry (trees along with agricultural crops) on marginal and submarginalfarm lands.
5. Tree planting around habitation area and field boundaries
6. Tree planting in urban and industrial areas for aesthetic purposes,
7. Control of erosion by planting trees or shrubs.
8. Strip plantation along road sides, canals and rail lines.
Conservation of Forests
Following methods should be adopted to conserve forests:
1. A tree felling from the forest for any purpose must be replaced by a new tree. Thus tree felling should be matched by tree planting programmes as arly as possible.
2. Afforestation should be done in along highways and river banks around play grounds and parks. A special programme of tree plantation called Van Mahotsav is held every year in our country. It should be made popular and effective.
3. Maximum economy should be observed in the use of timber and fuel wood minimising by the wastage.
4. The use of fire wood should be replacedcby alternative source of energy for cooking such as biogas, natural gas etc., should be made available.
5. Forest should be protected from forest fire. Modern fire controlling equipment should be used to extinguish accidental forest fire.
6. Pests and diseases of forest trees should be controlled by fumigation and aerial spray of fungicides and through biological method of pest control.
7. Grazing of cattles in the forests should be discouraged.
9. Technique of improvement cutting and selective cutting like removal of old dying trees, non commercial trees, damage tree and diseased trees,should be done. Selective cutting involves cutting of mature trees and crowded trees.
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