Natural Resources – Forests
Tags: forests, deforestation, afforestation, soil
erosion, global warming
Nature has provided us many
natural resources such as forest, land, water, energy, mineral etc. A resource
is a source of supply held in reserve. Among them forest is one of the
important resource. In the early periods,
man cut trees for getting timber for constructing his house, for
obtaining fire wood and also for clearing forest for agriculture. But in course
of time as population increased, his needs also increased and he started
inflicting too much pain on the forest by clearing the forest area for
constructing dams, industries, agriculture, air ports, high ways – like that
for many infrastructure works. Trees improve our aesthetic environment ,absorb
noise and create calm and peaceful atmosphere.
Forest can be defined as a community composed of trees,
plants, shrubs etc serving as an abode for animals and birds. Approximately one
third of the earth’s land area is covered by forests. The services rendered by
forests can be grouped under three categories – productive, protective and
regulative. People collect from forests fruits ,roots, herbs, fire wood ,
fodder for animals and timber for house construction. The main protective
functions of forests are conservation of soil and water. The regulative
functions are absorption, storage and release of gases like carbon dioxide and
oxygen. Forests help in regulating atmospheric temperature.
Forest
It has been reported that
during king Ashoka’s rule emphasis was given to tree planting and its upkeep.
Also in several parts of kerala people used to worship trees and did ‘ poojas’
in what is called as snake gardens. The per capita forest area available in India is only
0.06 hectares as against 0 .64 hectares of world average. Destruction of
forests is going on at an alarming rate – approximately 10 million hectares per
year.
The main causes of deforestation
as mentioned earlier are clearing the areas for construction of dams, air
ports, industries, high ways, agriculture and mining. Extreme weather
conditions, over grazing by cattle and forest fires also contribute for
deforestation. The deforestation causes many hardships such as reduced rain
fall, increased soil erosion, decreased soil fertility, climate change and
frequent floods. Deforestation causes loss of biodiversity, leading to
disturbances in ecological balance.
As such, it is very
essential for forest conservation as well as proper management of the
resources. Tree felling should be matched by an equal number of trees
planting. Afforestation should be done
in areas not fit for agriculture. In building construction, alternate materials
should be used in place of timber as far as possible. Previously for railway
sleepers, teak wood was used. But now it has been dispensed with and pre cast
concrete sleepers are being used.
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