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Essay Composition On – Forests Of India – For W.B.C.S. Examination.
The trees which remain in leaf throughout the year are called evergreen trees. These trees do not shed leaves in a particular season. The areas which have heavy rainfall and hot climate are called tropical. Evergreen tropical forests are found in the Western Ghats in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.Continue Reading Essay Composition On – Forests Of India – For W.B.C.S. Examination.
The hilly areas of Assam and West Bengal also have Evergreen Tropical Forests. Trees like ebony, rose-wood, sandal wood, bamboo and khair grow in these forests. Wild animals such as tigers, elephants, rhinoceros, leopards, panthers and deer are found in these forests.
Deciduous Forests:
The trees in these forests have broad leaves, which they drop on the onset of winter. These trees put on new leaves in spring. These forests are called Deciduous Forests or Tropical Monsoon Forests. Such forests are found in the Eastern Ghats, Eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, Deccan Plateau, the Vindhyas, the Satpuras, foot-hills of the Himalayas and the Shivaliks. Trees like sal, teak, sheesham and peepal grow in these forests. The wood of these trees is hard and is used for making furniture. The States of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have such forests.
Thorny Forests:
Such forests grow in the areas which have scanty rainfall. These trees and bushes have thick bark, long roots and few leaves. These plants can withstand long dry spell. Such forests are found in Western parts of Rajasthan, Southern parts of Punjab and Haryana and some parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. These forests are also called Desert Forests. Trees like kikar, babul and cactus grow in these forests. Wild berries and thorny bushes also grow here.
Coniferous Forests:
The coniferous trees grow in cold climate. The trees have needle like leaves and can bear cold weather. These trees bear cones in place of flowers and fruits. So they are called conifer trees. Trees like pine, deodar, birch, fir and spruce grow in these forests. These forests are also known as the Mountain Forests or the Himalayan Forests. Conifer trees grow at a height of1600 meters or above in the Himalayas and in the Nilgiri Hills in the South.
The Himalayan Region has different kinds of forests depending on the height and rainfall of the area. The foot-hills of the Himalayas have thick deciduous forests. The middle ranges have mixed forests of deciduous and coniferous trees. Still higher ranges have no forests. Only some shrubs, bushes and grass are found there in summer.
Mangrove Forests:
On the delta of the big rivers silt is deposited by the rivers or the tidal waves of the ocean. Such places become marshy. This encourages growth of dense forests. These forests are also called Tidal Forests. Mangrove and sundri trees grow in these forests. Such forests are found in the deltas of Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna. The delta of Ganga is known as Sunderbans due to the growth of sundri trees. The famous Bengal tiger is found in Sunderbans.
The main use of forests is for the extraction of timber, and this is always likely to remain the most important use of forests. However, forests have other values which have been increasingly realized in recent years. Among the most important of these is the protection of water resources. Rainfall runs off forested land much more slowly than off cleared land.
The trees intercept and retain the moisture on their leaves, or absorb it into their roots and stems, and this ensures a more gradual transfer of water. Soil erosion, caused by rapid runoff, and flooding, caused by too much water entering the rivers at one time, are prevented or considerably reduced. Water-catchment areas are thus usually protected by a forest cover to prevent excessive run-off.
Afforestation may even, in some areas, help to improve the climate. If trees can be planted in dry areas, they can protect the soil from wind erosion, prevent excessive evaporation from bare ground, and add moisture to the atmosphere by transpiration, thus slightly modifying humidity conditions. The relationship of climate to land use has not yet been fully established, but it seems likely that the presence of forests in many areas does slightly modify the climate.
Forests also have great value for recreation. They may be beautiful in themselves or may beautify the landscape by adding variety to agricultural districts. They are pleasant for picnics, walks and other outdoor activities, and if they are associated with lakes, as is often the case in catchment areas, they make excellent parks.
Forests are also the homes of many wild animals and birds and these may be watched, as in national parks, or hunted for sport. Forestry and wildlife conservation may go hand in hand in some areas and if properly managed, forests may create a new form of income from tourism.
Because of these uses, as well as their value for timber production, forests are often a very valuable land-use type. This was not always realized in the past, and agriculture has traditionally been considered a more valuable form of land use, so that forests have only remained in areas not suitable for agriculture. But because of the current world growth in demand for timber, and because the other conservational values of forests have been realized, the attitude to forests is changing.
Nowadays, existing forests are carefully preserved in many countries; where they are exploited for timber they are governed by replanting regulations, and new forests are being established in many regions.
There are many regions today, where forestry has a greater economic value than agriculture, and other regions where the preservation of virgin forest has an economic value far greater than would accrue if it were exploited for timber or cleared for agriculture.
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