CBSE Class 10 Social Science Forest and Wildlife Resources Notes Set 05

These CBSE Class 10 Geography supplementary notes for Chapter 2 Forest and Wildlife Resources cover India's natural vegetation types in detail — their climatic conditions, distribution, and important tree species and uses — along with how forests affect the environment, causes of deforestation, forest conservation methods, the National Forest Policy, and social and agro forestry.

Natural Vegetation

Natural vegetation is vegetation that grows in a region by itself, without human interference. There is a thin line of difference between flora and forest: flora refers to the listed species of plants, while forest refers to a large tract of land covered with trees and shrubs. Natural vegetation of a region is influenced by several factors such as temperature, rainfall and altitude, which is why India's forests and natural vegetation differ from region to region.

Tropical Evergreen Forests

Climatic conditions: grow in regions receiving more than 250 cm of annual rainfall, with average annual temperature between 25°C and 27°C.
Distribution: found in areas of heavy rainfall in the Western Ghats, the Lakshadweep, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, upper parts of Assam and the coast of Tamil Nadu.
Characteristic features: trees may reach 60 metres or more in height, with rich plant growth due to over 200 cm of rainfall; there is no definite season for shedding leaves, as not all trees shed at the same time, so these forests always appear green.

Important species and uses:
Rosewood: furniture, decorative carving, ornamental ply boards.
Ebony: ornamental carving, musical instruments, sports goods, piano keys, caskets.
Chaplas: ship building, furniture, packing boxes.
Gurjan: construction, packing/tea boxes, panelling, flooring, carriage and wagon construction.
Telsur: bridges, boats, carts.
Sissoo: hard, heavy wood used in construction, furniture, bullock carts, agricultural implements and musical instruments.
Toon: tea boxes, toys, furniture.

Tropical Deciduous Forests

Climatic conditions: grow in regions receiving 100-200 cm of rainfall, with annual temperature between 24°C and 27°C.
Distribution: found in West Odisha, the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and the north-eastern states.
Characteristic features: also known as monsoon forests, and the most widespread forest type in India; classified by water availability into moist and dry deciduous forests; trees shed their leaves over six to eight weeks to conserve water; commercially exploited for valuable timber.

Important species and uses:
Sal: beams, doors, window posts.
Teak: hard and durable; construction, shipbuilding, furniture, railway carriages and bridges.
Shisham: hard, durable wood for construction, furniture, bullock carts, agricultural implements, musical instruments and decorative carving.
Mahua: oil extracted from its fruit; wine made from its flowers.
Palas: leaves used for rearing shellac worms.
Semul: soft, white timber for toys, packing cases, match boxes, plywood; soft fibre from its fruit used in pillows.
Sandalwood: statues, ornamental objects, aromatic substances, sandalwood oil; in high demand in India and abroad.
Khair: hard wood for ploughs, knife/dagger handles and sword handles.
Axlewood: furniture, kitchen cabinets, radio/TV cabinets, wardrobes.

Tropical Evergreen vs Deciduous Forests

Tropical Desert (Thorn) Forests

Climatic conditions: occur in regions receiving less than 70 cm of rainfall, with temperature between 25°C and 27°C.
Distribution: found in the semi-arid regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan, south-western Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Characteristic features: stunted trees with large patches of coarse grasses; plants have long roots reaching deep for water, and waxy, small, thick leaves to reduce transpiration. Main species: acacias, palms, euphorbia and cacti.

Important species and uses:
Ber: fruit used for beverages and pickles; wood for boat ribs, agricultural implements and charcoal.
Babool: bark and gum have medicinal value.
Date palm: used as an astringent; syrup treats sore throat, cold and fever.
Neem: medicinal properties; effective against diabetes, allergies, ulcers and other diseases.

Littoral (Mangrove) Forests

Climatic conditions: found in wet, marshy areas, river deltas and swampy coastal areas.
Distribution: mainly in the deltas of large rivers on the eastern coast, the saline swamps of the Sundarbans (West Bengal), and the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Characteristic features: evergreen species of varying height; trunks supported by several stilt roots submerged under water; rich growth of climbers.
Important species: keora, amur, sundari, bhara and canes. Mangrove trees are used for fuel; sundari trees for construction and boat making.

Montane Forests

Montane forests grow in mountainous regions; as temperature decreases with altitude, the vegetation cover changes accordingly. They are divided into Northern and Southern Montane forests.

Northern Montane Forests

Himalayan Moist Temperate Forests: found in regions receiving 100-300 cm rainfall, temperature 12°C-13°C, from Kashmir to Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh; mixed broad-leafed evergreen trees and conifers, with scrubs, creepers and ferns; species include oak, fir, spruce, deodar, cedar, maple, yew and birch, with timber used commercially.
Himalayan Dry Temperate Forests: found in areas receiving less than 100 cm rainfall, above 1,500 m, mainly in Ladakh, Chamba, Sikkim and inner Garhwal; species include ash, junipers, maple and oak, with timber used for construction and light furniture.

Alpine Forests: found at 2,800-4,000 m altitude across the Himalayas from north-west to north-east. Vegetation changes with altitude: deciduous forests at the foothills; wet temperate forests (oak, chestnut) between 1,000-2,000 m; temperate coniferous forests (pine, cedar, fir, deodar, spruce) at 1,500-3,000 m on the Himalayas' southern slopes; temperate grasslands at higher altitudes; alpine vegetation (silver fir, pines, junipers, birches, with stunted growth at the highest altitudes) above 3,600 m; and mosses and lichens (part of Tundra vegetation) at the highest altitudes. Timber from these forests is used for furniture, wood pulp and plywood.

Southern Montane Forests

Climatic conditions: found in regions receiving more than 150 cm annual rainfall, temperature 18°C-24°C.
Distribution: the Vindhyas, Nilgiris and Western Ghats.
Characteristic features: both tropical and temperate vegetation, since hilly regions closer to the tropics have temperate vegetation while lower Western Ghats regions have sub-tropical forests. Important species: laurel, wattle, plum and magnolia.

Uses of mountain tree species:
Deodar: construction.
Chir: reddish-brown wood for tea chests, furniture, match boxes.
Blue Pine: doors, windows, furniture.
Spruce: soft wood for construction, cabinets, match boxes, furniture.
Walnut: musical instruments, cabinets, carving (Kashmir and North India), gun stocks.
Birch: furniture, plywood, radio cabinets.
Cypress: durable wood for furniture.
Jamun: furniture, cabinets, construction.

Forests and the Environment

Forests affect the environment by: controlling humidity, temperature and precipitation; maintaining air purity by absorbing carbon dioxide; controlling soil erosion and degradation while preventing droughts and floods; aiding water percolation; providing humus (from decayed leaves) that increases soil fertility; and providing habitat to plants and animals.

Causes of deforestation: rapid population growth leading to land clearance for cultivation; clearing forests to convert them into pasture land; overgrazing; rising timber demand for industrial expansion and urbanisation; and the construction of multipurpose river valley projects, which submerges land and destroys forests.

Conservation of Forests

Methods of forest conservation include: launching afforestation programmes like 'Van Mahotsav' to build public awareness, including starting festivals with tree plantation; cautious government permits for timber-cutting contractors; tribal communities declaring 'sacred groves' where trees are considered sacred and cannot be cut; Joint Forest Management (JFM), in force since 1998, under which local communities manage degrading forests and in return gain rights to non-timber produce and a share of successful timber harvests (practised in states like Odisha and Gujarat); environment-friendly development, replacing felled trees with the same or more new plantings; building small check dams and reservoirs instead of large dams (which submerge land and forest) to supply irrigation water and recharge groundwater without depleting forest cover; and using alternative energy sources (solar, wind, tidal) to save the wood commonly burned as fuel in rural areas.

National Forest Policy

The National Forest Policy was adopted in 1952 by the Government of India, emphasising sustainable forest management for conservation. Its key objectives are: maintaining environmental stability through preserving and restoring ecological balance; checking soil erosion and denudation in the catchment areas of rivers, lakes and reservoirs; increasing forest productivity to meet essential national needs; creating a large-scale people's movement, involving women, for forest preservation; and conserving the country's natural heritage by preserving natural forests, flora and fauna.

Social Forestry

Social forestry refers to the management and protection of forests with the help of local communities. Its three components are: recognising, restoring and reallocating forest lands to inhabitants for management and protection; the forest department working in close cooperation with local communities; and developing the social and economic systems needed to achieve these aims.

Objectives: providing wood, fodder, timber and other minor forest produce to rural people; developing local cottage industries through raw material supply; conserving soil and water; and increasing agricultural production by using cow dung as manure.
Features: planting trees with local community support; using fallow lands to relieve pressure on forest lands; practising sustainable forestry with short crop rotation; and distributing forestry project benefits among local communities.

Agro Forestry

Agro forestry is an agricultural practice involving the cultivation of trees — a land management system where trees or shrubs are grown among crops or in pasturelands.

Objectives: making the best use of available resources such as soil; obtaining both forest products and agricultural crops from the same land; checking soil erosion and floods by planting trees in crop lands; and maintaining ecological balance alongside proper use of farm resources.

Unlike traditional forestry, where only trees are grown, agro forestry grows trees alongside crops; it can also withstand the pressure of a growing population, and is a scientific land-management system involving local communities, which traditional forestry lacks.