• Forests provide benefits beyond habitat and environmental regulation
• Forests are seen as resources for fuel, lumber, and recreation/commercial purposes
• This perception has spurred efforts to preserve forests
• Growing awareness of benefits of forests has led to government agencies and industry for forest resource management
• Forest resource management aims to develop, protect, and manage forest resources for public benefit and sustainability
• Forests are important renewable resources and can contribute to economic development
• Plants and trees cover large areas, produce variety of products, provide food, and are important for environmental conservation
• About 30% of world area is covered by forest, with Africa having the largest forested area (33%) followed by Latin America (25%)
• India’s forest cover accounts for 21.67% of the country’s total geographical area as of 2019.

Terminologies

• CLEAR-CUT:
  • A parcel of forest that has been denuded of trees.
  • Clear-cutting can be destructive of forests, particularly when the cycle of reforestation is slow and the processes of wind and water erosion of deforested land make it inhospitable to reforestation.
  • However, it can also be a tool for increasing the biodiversity of forests that have been protected from forest fires for many years.
• DEFORESTATION:
  • A reduction in the area of a forest resulting from human activity.
• ECOLOGICAL SERVICES:
  • The benefits to human communities that stem from healthy forest ecosystems, such as clean water, stable soil, and clean air.
• FOREST MONOCULTURE:
  • The development of a forest that is dominated by a single species of tree and which lacks the ecological diversity to withstand disease and parasites over the long term.
• SUSTAINABILITY:
  • Practices that preserve the balance between human needs and the environment, as well as between current and future human requirements.

Major forest products

• Major forest products: timber, softwood, fuelwood (including charcoal)
• Indian forests produce numerous commercially valuable wood species (90%)
• Hardwoods: teak, mahogany, logwood, iron-wood, ebony, sal, greenheart, kikar, semal, etc.
• Hardwoods used for furniture, wagons, tools, and other commercial products
• Softwoods: deodar, poplar, pine, fir, cedar, balsam, etc.
• Softwoods are light, strong, durable, and useful for construction and paper pulp production
• 70% of hardwood is burnt as fuel, 30% used in industries
• 30% of softwood is used as fuel, 70% used in industries
• J&K is the largest producer of timber, followed by Punjab and MP
• Karnataka is the largest producer of fuelwood, followed by WB and Maharashtra.

Minor forests products

• Grasses, Bamboos and Canes:
  • Grasses such as sabai, bhabar, and elephant grass are used for papermaking
  • Sabai grass is the most important raw material for the paper industry and grows in various states including Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal
  • Khus grass roots are used for making cooling screens
  • Munj tall grass is used for making chicks, stools, chairs, and the leaves are twisted into strings
  • Bamboo is a woody, perennial, and tall plant that belongs to the grass family
  • India produces bamboo in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tripura, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Punjab, Nagaland, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands
  • Bamboo is used for roofing, walling, flooring, matting, basketry, cordage, carthoods, and various other things
  • Cane grows in forests of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram
  • Cane is used for making strings, ropes, mats, bags, baskets, furniture, walking sticks, umbrella handles, sports goods, etc.
• Tans & dyes:
  • Tannins are secretion products of plant tissues and are used in the leather industry.
  • Commonly used tanning materials include mangrove, amla, oak, hemlock, anwal, wattle, myrobalans, ratanjot, flowers of dhawri, babul, avaram, etc.
  • Important dyes are obtained from red sander (bright red), Khair (chocolate), flowers of Palas, fruits of Mallotus phillipensis, bark of wattle, and roots of Morinda tinctoria.
• Oils:
  • Oils are obtained from sandalwood, lemongrass, khus, and eucalyptus globules, etc., and used for soaps, cosmetics, confectionery, pharma, etc.
• Gums and resins:
  • Gums are exuded from the stems or other parts of different trees and are used in textiles, cosmetics, confectionery, medicines, inks, etc.
  • Resins are obtained mainly from Chir Pine and are an important raw material for several industries including paper, paint, varnish, soap, rubber, waterproofing, linoleum, oils, greases, adhesive tape, phenyl, plastic, etc.
• Fiber and flosses:
  • Fibers are obtained from the tissues of some trees and are used for rope making. The fibers of Ak (Calotropis spp.) are fine, strong, and silky and used for making fishing nets.
  • Flosses are obtained from certain fruits and are used for stuffing pillows, mattresses, etc.
• Leaves:
  • Different types of leaves are obtained from the trees and are used for different purposes, the most important being the tendu leaves used as wrappers for bidis.
  • The tendu tree grows in large numbers in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh. About 6 lakh tonnes of tendu leaves are produced every year in India.
  • With 246 thousand tonnes, Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer in India. Bihar with 53.5 thousand tonnes is the second-largest producer, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (51,2 thousand tonnes), Maharashtra (33 thousand tonnes) and Gujarat (12.9 thousand tonnes) are also important producers.
  • Some quantity of leaves is also produced in Rajasthan, Karnataka, and West Bengal. Tendu leaves and bidis are exported to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and some other Asian and African countries.
• Drugs, spices and poisons:
  • Drugs are obtained from different parts of trees, with quinine being the most important.
  • Spices include cinnamon or dalchini, cardamom or elaichi, etc.
  • Some poisonous substances which taken in small, regular doses have medicinal value e.g. strychnine, aconite, datura, ganja, etc.
• Animal products:
  • Lac is the most important animal product obtained from Indian forests and is used for medicines, plastic, electrical insulation material, dyeing silk, bangles, etc.
  • Other animal products include honey, wax, silk moths, horns and hides of dead animals, ivory, antlers of deer, etc.
• About 3.5 million persons are engaged in different forest activities and about 2% of total government revenue comes from forests. Foreign exchange is also earned.

Indirect uses of forests

• Destruction of forests in certain areas has led to soil erosion
• Forests prevent and control soil erosion caused by water and wind
• Roots of trees absorb rainwater, regulate flow, and help control floods
• Trees act like tiny dams, checking the flow of water like a barrage
• Roots of trees and plants bind sand particles, preventing desert spread
• Fallen leaves of trees add humus to the soil, increasing soil fertility
• Forests reduce extremes of climate by reducing heat in summer and cold in winter
• Forests influence rainfall by lowering temperature of moisture-laden winds and increasing RH by transpiration
• Forests reduce surface velocity of winds and retard process of evaporation

Problems of Indian forestry

• Inadequate and dwindling forest cover: only 20.6% coverage against required 33%
• Low productivity: only 0.5 cubic meters per hectare annually compared to 1.25 cubic meters in the USA
• Uneconomical utilization due to thick, inaccessible, slow-growing, and gregarious-stand-lacking forests
• Lack of proper transport facilities, about 16% of forest land is inaccessible
• Plant diseases, insects, and pests leading to considerable loss of forest wealth
• Obsolete methods of lumbering and sawing leading to wastage and low productivity
• Lack of commercial forests, most forests are meant for protective purposes
• Lack of scientific techniques for growing forests, most natural growth
• Concessions to tribal and local people leading to reduction in forest yield and encroachment
• Dams and mining leading to destruction of forests, loss of flora and fauna, and disturbance of forest ecosystems

Forest conservation

• Forests are a sign of a prosperous nation
• Deforestation causes soil erosion, erratic rainfall, and devastating floods
• India is losing 1.3 million ha of forest cover annually
• Man finds forests but leaves deserts in India
• Forest conservation is necessary for sustainable use without harming the economy or environment

Various measures of forest conservation

• Launch intensive afforestation programs with an emphasis on fuelwood, timber, grasses, etc.
• Plant trees along roads, railways, rivers, banks, lakes, and ponds.
• Develop green-belts in urban areas and plant trees on community lands.
• Replace shifting cultivation with terraced farming, orchards development, and silviculture.
• Provide alternate sources of fuel to rural populations.
• Punish encroachment of agriculture in forests.
• Plan developmental projects with minimal damage to forests and the environment.
• Have a mandatory clause of reforestation for mining constructs.
• Encourage industries to adopt anti-pollution devices and compensate for forest loss with new plantations.
• Involve tribal and local people in the protection, regeneration, and management of forests.
• Encourage people to participate in van Mahotsava and be aware of the Chipko movement.
• Provide loan assistance to villagers who want to revive degraded lands.
• Adopt scientific methods to check and contain forest fire diseases and pests.
• Encourage research on forestry in universities and provide appropriate funding for this purpose.
• Change the mental outlook of people and spread awareness about conservation through special programs, demonstrations, seminars, and workshops.

Case studies

• Jhum cultivation:
  • Jhum agriculture is also known as shifting agriculture.
  • It involves clearing a tract of forest land for cultivation.
  • After a few years, when the productivity of the land decreases, cultivators abandon the land and clear the next tract.
  • This practice leads to rapid deforestation, as more and more cultivators clear forest to cultivate the land.
  • Increasing population forces cultivators to return to previous tracts of land in relatively shorter durations, not allowing the land to regain its productivity.
• Chipko movement:
  • The Chipko movement is a social-ecological movement that used satyagraha and non-violent resistance.
  • The movement started in the early 1970s in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand.
  • It was a response to rapid deforestation in the region.
  • The landmark event took place on March 26, 1974, when peasant women in Reni village hugged trees to prevent their cutting and reclaim their traditional forest rights.
  • The movement inspired similar actions throughout the region and eventually spread throughout India.
  • It led to the formulation of people-sensitive forest policies and put a stop to open felling of trees in many regions.
• Western Himalayan region:
  • Over the last decade, there has been widespread destruction and degradation of forest resources in the Himalayas, especially the western Himalayas.
  • This has resulted in various problems such as erosion of topsoil, irregular rainfall, changing weather patterns, and floods.
  • Construction of roads on hilly slopes has not only undermined their stability but also damaged protective vegetation and forest cover.
  • Tribes in these areas are increasingly facing a shortage of firewood and timber, due to large-scale tree cutting.
  • Increased traffic volumes on these roads lead to increased pollution in the area.