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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Forests’ for class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Forests’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Forests
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Definition of Forests
- Essay on the Forests Found in India
- Essay on the Forests Found in the World
- Essay on Why are Forests the Most Economic Form of Land Use
- Essay on the Products Yielded by Forests
- Essay on the Important Uses of Forests
- Essay on the Problems Faced by Forests of the World
- Essay on the Ways to Overcome Forestry Problems
- Essay on the Importance of Forests
- Essay on the Conservation of Forests
Essay # 1. Definition of Forests:
A forest is any land managed for the diverse purpose of forestry, whether covered with trees, shrubs, climbers etc., or not. Forest has vegetation under a systematic management and is unlike a ‘jungle’ which means collection of trees, shrubs etc., that are not grown in a regular manner.
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Forest can be defined as:
(a) General definition:
An area set aside for the production of timber and other forest produce, or maintained under woody vegetation for certain indirect benefits which it provides, e.g., climatic or protective.
(b) Ecological definition:
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A plant community predominantly of trees and other woody vegetation, usually with a closed canopy.
(c) Legal definition:
An area of land proclaimed to be a forest under a forest law.
Essay # 2. Forests Found in India:
Champian and Seth (1968) classified the forests of India into 16 broad types, and Kaul (1980) reported the area under each of these types. The tropical evergreen and the tropical deciduous forest account for 8.5 and 70% respectively, of the total forest area. The sub-tropical and temperate forests in Himalayas cover 11% and the tropical thorn forest account for about 7% of the total forest area.
(i) Tropical Forests:
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a. Wet Evergreen – Dense tall forests, entirely evergreen or nearly so.
b. Semi-Evergreen – Dominants include deciduous species but evergreen predominant.
c. Most Deciduous – Dominants mainly deciduous but some dominants and lower storey largely evergreen. Top canopy rarely dense and even but over 25 m high.
d. Dry Deciduous – Entirely deciduous or nearly so. Top canopy rather light and rarely over 25m high, usually 8 – 20 m.
e. Thorn Forests – Deciduous with low thorny trees and xerophytes predominating canopy more or less broken. Height under 10m.
f. Dry Evergreen – Hard leaved evergreen trees predominate with some deciduous emergents often dense but under 20m height.
g. Ditoral and Swamp.
(ii) Mountains Sub-Tropical Forests:
a. Sub-Tropical Broad Leaved Hill Forests – Broad leaved largely evergreen high forests.
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b. Sub-Tropical Pine Forests – Pine association predominates.
c. Sub-Tropical Dry Evergreen – Low xerophytic forests and shrubs.
(iii) Mountains Temperate Forests:
a. Mountain Wet Temperature Forests – Evergreen forests without conifers.
b. Himalayan Moist Temperate Forests – Evergreen forests mainly sclerophyllous oaks and conifers.
c. Himalayan Dry Temperate Forests – Open coniferous forests with sparse xerophytic under growth.
(iv) Sub-Alpine Forests:
Stunted deciduous or evergreen forests usually in close formation with or without conifers.
(v) Alpine Shrub:
a. Moist Alpine Scrub – Low but often dense scrub.
b. Dry-Alpine Scrub – Xerophytic scrub in open formation.
Species-wise forest fall into two broad groups — the coniferous forests and the broad leaved forests. The area under each is summarized in Table 10.4. 
Essay # 3. Forests Found in the World:
In the more humid temperate and tropical areas of the world there are three main types of forests.
(i) Tropical Hardwood Forests:
These include both the evergreen rain forests of equatorial latitudes and the tropical monsoon forests. In the equatorial forests trees often shed a few leaves or shed their leaves seasonally, but most of the trees retain their leaves for most of the time so that the forest appears evergreen.
In monsoon forests the trees are deciduous, shedding their leaves in the dry season and not growing new ones until the rains come. The warm temperatures, around 27°C (80° F) and the heavy rainfall of 2,030 mm (80 inches) or more in equatorial regions and of between 1,015 and 2,030 mm (40 and 80 inches) in the monsoon regions, encourages a prolific growth.
The majority of the trees are broadleaved and yield valuable hardwoods. Some tropical trees are noted for their extreme hardness, e.g. teak, ironwood, and are so heavy and difficult to work that they have to be killed by ring-barking several years before they are felled, in order for them to dry out a little. Some are so heavy that they will not float. The main commercial species are teak, greenheart, logwood, ebony, mahogany and ironwood.
The tropical forests have several layers of vegetation. The highest layer is of the larger trees which grow to a height of over 46 metres (150 ft) and have huge buttress roots and long straight trunks, ideal for timber. Below these trees are lower layers of smaller trees about 9 to 15 metres (30 to 50 ft) high, palms, shrubs, ferns and grasses.
In addition there is a bewildering variety of climbers, creepers and parasitic and epiphytic plants. There is a wide variety of species in any given area and trees do not occur in stands or groups consisting of only one species as do the trees of the coniferous forests.
Monsoon forests are less luxuriant than equatorial forests because of the seasonal drought, but are characterized by a thick undergrowth of shrubs and small trees and by dense thickets of bamboo. Coastal areas in the tropics are often fringed with swampy mangrove forests. The wood of mangrove species has many uses but the many aerial roots of the trees make access difficult.
Tropical forests are found in three main areas:
(a) Latin America:
The largest expanse of tropical forest is found in the Amazon Basin of Brazil, extending from the Atlantic coast to the foothills of the Andes and from the Guiana Highlands in the north to the Tropic of Capricorn in the south. Tropical forest is also found on the Pacific Coast of Colombia and in Central American countries from Panama to Mexico.
(b) Africa:
Tropical forests are found on the lowlands bordering the Gulf of Guinea from Sierra Leone in the west to Cameroun and Gabon in the east, and in the Zaire Basin, especially in the lowlands of the Zaire itself and its major tributaries the Ubangi and the Kasai. They are also found in eastern Malagasy and the coastal plain of tropical East Africa.
(c) South-East Asia and the Indian Sub-Continent:
Rain forest is found in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and in the coastal lowlands of other South and South-East Asian countries. Monsoon forests are found in India, Burma, Thailand and Indo-China. There are some tropical forests, also, in northern Australia.
(ii) Temperate Hardwood Forests:
The temperate hardwood forest is found between approximately 30° and 50°N and S where temperatures and rainfall are moderate, but where the seasonality of the climate, though marked, is not as extreme as in the coniferous forest belt. The trees are mostly deciduous, shedding their leaves in autumn and remaining leafless throughout the cool winter, and they yield a wide variety of hardwoods.
Like the tropical forests the temperate deciduous forests have a variety of species scattered irregularly through the forests, including many shrubs and small plants, but neither the tall trees nor the undergrowth are as luxuriant as those in the tropics.
The hardwood, while being very durable and strong, is not usually as heavy or as difficult to work as are tropical hardwoods. On the other hand it is more difficult to extract than softwoods. The chief commercial species are oak, ash, beech and poplar.
The temperate hardwood forests have suffered greater destruction at the hands of Man than any other forests. Because of the favourable mid-latitude climate and the rapid expansion of population in these areas, the forests have been extensively cleared to make way for agriculture and industry, and the areas of forest which remain represent only a fraction of the original cover.
Temperate hardwoods have also been used for house- and ship-building for many generations as well as for fuel, and have thus been greatly depleted. They now occupy only those areas found unsuitable for agriculture or remote from centres of settlement.
The chief areas of occurrence of temperate hardwood forests are in northern China (including Manchuria) and Japan, where agricultural populations have lived for thousands of years; west, south and central Europe, where the growth of agriculture and industry has made very great inroads into the forests and eastern North America where, though more recently settled, expansion of agriculture and industry has been extremely rapid and where massive exploitation of the accessible eastern forests in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has greatly reduced their extent or reduce their value. Some temperate hardwoods are also found in southern Australia, especially in Tasmania and Swanland, Western Australia.
(iii) Coniferous Forests:
Coniferous forests cover a broad belt of land in both North America and Eurasia, to the north of the temperate hardwood belt. They also grow on uplands and mountains or in areas of sandy or porous soil in the milder temperate areas because they are better adapted to withstand cold and drought than the broadleaved trees.
Conifers are tall, straight, evergreen trees with narrow, needle-like leaves, and take their name from the cones in which they bear their seeds. Only a few conifers, such as the larch, are deciduous. The needles limit transpiration and thus enable conifers to grow in drier areas, while the fact that the trees are evergreen means that growth can begin immediately after the long winter and thus the trees can make maximum use of a relatively short growing period.
Most coniferous trees are softwoods and are light in weight, which makes them easier to cut and transport. Though they often grow to a height of 30 metres (100 ft) or more, the coniferous trees do not have the wide buttress roots which make tropical trees so difficult to fell.
Moreover, although there is a wide variety of species in the spruce, pine, fir and larch families, the trees usually occur in pure stands consisting of one particular species. The major commercial species are the pines, such as the white pine, Scots pine and lodgepole pine; the firs, such as the Douglas fir and the balsam fir; and the spruces, particularly the Norway spruce and the red spruce.
The deciduous larch is also of some commercial importance and the Parana or Auracaria pine found in South America, which yields harder wood than many conifers, is also important.
Coniferous forests are only moderately dense and they become appreciably thinner in colder or drier regions. The most dense, luxuriant coniferous forests are found in western North America. The dark shade cast by the uniform tree cover inhibits the growth of an understorey vegetation, especially in areas where there is little sunlight, though where the forest thins on the tundra margins or on mountains, tundra and alpine plants may be interspersed among the trees.
Coniferous forests are located chiefly in the northern hemisphere in a belt between 50° and 70°N though there are some conifers in the southern hemisphere.
The major regions are as follows:
(a) Western North America:
The moist, maritime climate of northern California. Washington and Oregon in the U.S.A., British Columbia in Canada and southwestern Alaska, gives rise to a very luxuriant coniferous forest cover on the coastal plains and mountain slopes, though the higher and more northerly areas have a poorer vegetation. Some of the largest conifers in the world, such as the Douglas fir, the Sitka spruce, as well as the gigantic Californian redwoods or sequoias are found in this region.
(b) Central and Eastern North America:
The drier, more continental climate and the thin soils of the Laurentian Shield support a less luxuriant and often more scattered type of coniferous forest which, however, contains many valuable species such as the red spruce, white pine, jack pine, pitch pine, hemlock and balsam fir. This type of forest extends southwards around the Great Lakes and into the Appalachian mountains.
(c) Southern U.S.A:
The dry sandy soils of many parts of the American South support a coniferous rather than a deciduous tree cover despite the warm moist climate. The longleaf, shortleaf, loblolly and slash pines are found from Virginia to Texas.
(d) Northern Europe:
The Scandinavian countries—Norway, Sweden and Finland—as well as adjacent areas of northern Russia, support a valuable coniferous forest, the chief trees of which are the Scots pine, Norwegian pine, spruces and larches. Many upland areas farther south, such as northern Britain, the German and Central European uplands and even parts of Italy also support coniferous forests. Many areas in Europe which formerly bore hardwood species have been planted with conifers.
(e) Asiatic U.S.S.R:
Much of northern Siberia, extending in a broad belt from the Urals to the Pacific coast, is forested with conifers. The forests are thinner on their northern and southern margins where the climate is either too cold or too dry, and in many areas hardy birch trees thrive better than conifers. There are also breaks in the forest where huge marshy or swampy areas intervene. These vast forest reserves are remote and, until recently, remained largely unexploited.
(f) Southern Continents:
Two major areas of South America have coniferous forests: the western coastlands of southern Chile and the southern part of the Brazilian plateau. The former is remote, rugged and is thus little exploited but the latter is an important forest area and yields the valuable Parana pine.
The North Island of New Zealand is noted for its Kauri pine. South Africa and Australia have only small areas of natural coniferous forests and these are of only local importance.
Essay # 4. Why are Forests the Most Economic Form of Land Use?
The answer to this question depends to a certain extent on the uses to which forests are put. There are basically three types of forest-those which exist simply because they have not been cleared and are not yet exploited for timber; those which are periodically cleared for commercial timber extraction and are then replanted or allowed to regenerate naturally; and those which have been deliberately planted where forests did not grow before or where earlier forests had been cleared.
(i) Virgin Forests:
In some areas it is economically worthwhile to preserve forests in their original conditions without exploiting them for timber. In some cases it may be that the land covered by forest would have no value for any other land use, or it may contain few valuable trees. The clearing or exploitation of such forests would obviously be uneconomic and would serve no purpose.
On the contrary, the clearing of such forests might well have many disadvantages; it might lead to enhanced soil erosion, disadvantageous modification of the climate, or changes in hydrological conditions, resulting in floods or water shortages.
Thus even the small island-republic of Singapore, where population densities are very high and there is great pressure on space, finds it worthwhile to preserve an area of forest in the centre of the island to protect a water catchment. It also uses these forests to good recreational advantage, and thus reduces the amount of open space required in other parts of the island.
Preserved forests may have aesthetic advantages, such as the preservation of wildlife or natural vegetation including rare or exotic plants, or more direct economic advantages if the forests are used as national parks and encourage tourism.
Such a usage of forests may require only slight clearance for access routes and visitor accommodation, which does not greatly detract from the character of the forests. The national parks of many African countries, such as Kenya, are their main tourist attractions and are thus preserved for the large income which can be derived from tourism.
Virgin forests have other minor advantages, including their value for scientific research. Such research may not lead to the exploitation of the preserved forest itself, but it may enhance the output or improve the utilization techniques in other forested areas. It is now increasingly obvious that some virgin forests must be preserved as a kind of genetic bank.
Plants of all sorts and the animals which the forests harbour may have a value in the future which we cannot foresee, either for food or for other purposes, and if these are destroyed we cut ourselves off from the possible use of such resources. This forms a strong argument in favour of forest conservation in some regions.
(ii) Commercial Forests:
Forests used for timber represent the most valuable type of land use when they occupy land which, if cleared, would be of little agricultural value. The monetary returns from logging are greater than could be expected from the poor crops grown on marginal lands. Moreover, if carefully managed, forestry leads to less soil erosion on many types of marginal land than does agriculture.
Thus areas of steep slopes and thin soils, where farming would be difficult or would create erosion; infertile stony or sandy soils, where returns from crops would be poor; waterlogged land where crops could only be grown with great expense on drainage; areas of harsh climate or short growing season where crops do not mature; areas too distant from markets for economic marketing of agricultural produce; areas with a shortage of population where it may be impossible to establish agriculture; are all more economically utilized for forests than for agriculture.
Forestry is thus important in many tropical areas, e.g. the highlands of Malaysia, where agriculture would harm the soil, and in cold, remote or sparsely- settled regions such as northern Canada or Asiatic U.S.S.R.
Where silviculture is practised trees may represent one of several sources of income for mixed farmers, as is the case in some parts of Scandinavia. In such areas forests may occupy the poorest land, but they ensure that the largest possible amount of land is economically utilized.
It should also be remembered that while forests are being exploited for timber, so long as they are properly managed, they are still providing conservational advantages, so that their economic value to the country as a whole, as well as to the timber company, may be great.
(iii) Newly Planted Forests:
Deliberately planted forests have many economic advantages. They can be planted to protect soil or rehabilitate eroded areas, as in the Tennessee Valley; to halt moving dunes, as in the Landes of France; to prevent wind erosion or act as wind-breaks in coastal regions or in such areas as the U.S. Great Plains or the English Fens; to modify the climate and so on.
They may also be planted on land not previously forested, e.g. rocky uplands, heathlands, to increase the economic potential of hitherto useless areas. At the same time they have most of the conservational advantages of virgin forests, and in addition they are usually well-managed so that they can be exploited for timber or other products, e.g. naval stores, without the conservational gains being offset.
Forests are also planted in areas where agricultural changes, such as greater specialization or competition from new producing areas, make it no longer profitable to use the land for agriculture. As demand for timber grows the price will rise, so that forestry will increasingly compete with agriculture in marginal areas.
Such a situation arises in many parts of Scandinavia, where mixed farming or livestock production is theoretically possible, but it is more economic to grow timber and import food supplies. Farming in marginal areas may have provided a bare subsistence in the past, but where rural depopulation and low returns from the land make agriculture difficult, e.g. in upland Britain, the Massif Central of France, forestry is an increasingly attractive undertaking.
Forests may also be planted where natural forests are few or much of the original forest cover has been cleared, e.g. in Australia or Britain respectively, with a view to economic security. Such a policy is far-sighted since it can secure timber supplies in case of an emergency.
Finally, forests are often planted to improve the recreational amenities or the beauty of an area. For instance, old slag heaps and derelict mining land can be planted with trees to make pleasant parks and to improve the appearance of old industrial towns. Such a policy is pursued in Britain and many European countries.
This type of afforestation may at first sight seem to have only an amenity value, but in fact it also has an indirect economic value, in that it reduces the need for other land to be set aside for recreation, and it may encourage firms to set up in an area which previously looked so run-down that new economic development was discouraged.
It can be seen from the above examples, that in many cases forests have an economic value beyond what is at first apparent, and that, in many areas, forests may represent the best possible land use. Under these circumstances it seems likely that not only the rate of forest exploitation, but also the rate of replanting and of new planting, will increase in future, and that the economic potential of forests will be more fully realized.
Essay # 5. Products Yielded by Forests:
(i) Rubber and Other Gums:
Rubber, though now essentially a plantation crop, was originally a forest product, collected from the Amazon forests of Brazil. Rubber and similar gums, such as balata and gutta percha are still collected, but production of this kind is now of little importance.
Many other natural gums are still essentially forest products however, especially chicle, from the Central American forests, and jelutong from South-East Asian forests, which are used in the manufacture of chewing gum. Chicle is also grown on plantations to some extent.
(ii) Naval Stores:
These are a group of products named from their former importance to the shipbuilding industry and include resin, pitch, tar and turpentine. These products are derived from the resinous material exuded from coniferous trees, which is collected or systematically tapped, and processed in a variety of ways.
These products, once used to make the seams of wooden vessels water-tight, are no longer important in the shipbuilding industry. Today they are used in the chemicals industry. Turpentine, the distilled form of resin, is used in paint. Naval stores are produced in the southern U.S.A. and the Landes of France, as well as in many minor areas.
(iii) Cork:
Cork is the thick bark of the cork oak (Quercus suber), which is found in southern Europe and North Africa. Cork oaks are usually found wild, but many are now grown in plantations, e.g. in California. The bark can be stripped from the tree in such a way as not to harm the main trunk, and if this is done carefully, a new bark 5 to 7.5 cm (2 to 3 inches) thick will form in about ten years.
The cork can be regularly harvested at this interval, but more frequent stripping or rough usage, may kill the trees. Most of the world’s cork comes from Spain, Portugal and North Africa.
(iv) Tannin:
Tannin is a substance, found in the bark of certain trees, which is used in the conversion of raw hides into leather. It is found in a number of trees including the hemlock of North America and Europe, the oak and chestnut of the temperate hardwood forests, the quebracho of South America and the wattle of Africa.
The quebracho, or ‘axe-breaker’ tree, is found chiefly in the semi-arid Chaco region of Paraguay, southern Brazil and northern Argentina. It may be cut in the forest or grown on plantations. The wattle is now mainly a plantation crop of Kenya, Natal (South Africa), Brazil and Sri Lanka. Mangrove species from the tropical coastlands also provide tannin.
(v) Palm and Creeper Products:
Oil palm is sometimes a forest product, though it is now mainly produced on plantations and smallholdings. The leaves and fruits of a number of other palms are also harvested for various purposes, e.g. the pandanus palm, the raffia palm, which are used for weaving mats and baskets. Bamboo and vines or creepers such as rattan are much used for furniture, basketry and weaving.
(vi) Medicinal Plants:
A wide variety of medicinal plants is found in the forests and forest dwellers extract both beneficial drugs and harmful narcotics from the plants and trees around them. Some of the more important medicinal plants are chinchona, from the bark and wood of which the drug quinine is extracted, and the coca shrub, from the leaves of which the drug cocaine is extracted.
Both were originally native to the Andes, and coca is in daily use among the Andean Indians, but both are now mostly grown for world markets in plantations in Indonesia. Camphor, an oil distilled from the camphor tree, originally had mainly medicinal uses. Nowadays it is used in the manufacture of cosmetics, soaps, explosives and plastics, as well as ointments.
Many other drugs such as morphine and heroin, most famous because of their illegal use as narcotics, are also produced or collected legally from forest plants or opium poppies for medicinal purposes.
(vii) Fruits, Nuts and Spices:
A wide variety of fruits is collected either for use by forest dwellers or for international trade. Brazil nuts, ivory nuts and betel nuts are among the most important. Spices may also be produced from cultivated trees, or bushes.
Essay # 6. Important Uses of Forests:
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.
Essay # 7. Problems Faced by Forests of the World:
The treatment of forests as an inexhaustible resource has led to many problems. Their rapid exploitation since the nineteenth century and the discovery of many new uses for wood and wood products has made clear, what the traditional gradual extraction did not show, that forests cannot necessarily regenerate naturally.
If too many trees are cut, or if areas are clear-cut, the forest is not capable of re-establishing itself. Moreover, even if only a small proportion of the trees are selected for cutting, this may degrade the forest by preventing the regeneration of that particular valuable species.
For instance, some parts of the forests in north-western U.S.A. have been degraded in this way by the removal of a large proportion of the valuable Douglas firs, while less valuable species have been ignored. If too many trees of a species are removed, the production of seeds and of new trees is of course inhibited.
Forest degradation and removal are not the only evils which result from overcutting. In many areas, especially where trees formerly clothed mountain or hill slopes, the removal of the forests has initiated or encouraged soil erosion by gullying or sheetwash, or has prompted landslides. The soil removed from the land has helped to silt up river beds and has thus caused flooding or reduced the possibilities of navigation.
Agriculture and forest removal have had drastic effects on the U.S. South, and it was in order to overcome the problems caused by incautious farming and forestry practices that the Tennessee Valley Authority was set up.
The removal of forests has economic implications also. For instance, almost all the exploitable forest in Britain had been removed by the time of the First World War, and only during the war, when the difficulty of maintaining supplies was really felt, was it realized how important a domestic supply of timber was. After the war in 1919, the Forestry Commission was set up to plant and protect forest resources.
The realization of the importance of maintaining timber supplies did not come in most countries until the twentieth century. Much wastage could have been avoided if forests had been under state rather than private ownership or if legislation had been enacted earlier. Even today timber companies would not have taken to replanting and conservation practices but for government intervention and legislation regulating forest exploitation.
Before governmental intervention, timber companies naturally avoided the expense involved in maintaining nurseries and in replanting cleared areas, and they also exploited the most valuable species without thought for the future. The giant sequoias or redwoods of California, whose enormous height and girth made them extremely valuable, were drastically overexploited.
Temperate hardwoods were also overexploited and some tropical hardwoods, particularly teak, were overcut to such an extent that Thai and Burmese forests were impoverished. Both Thailand and Burma have greatly reduced output of teak in order to conserve this valuable timber. Economy was not the only factor which made timber companies unwilling to replant.
A major factor was the length of time taken for trees to mature. Many people were deterred by the fact that they themselves could reap no benefit from planting because it takes from 50 to 200 years for trees to mature. In temperate areas most conifers take from fifty to seventy years to reach maturity and hardwoods such as oak may take between 100 and 150 years.
The rates of growth and reproduction in the tropics are usually more rapid, but nevertheless, the time taken for large forest trees to mature is between 50 and 100 years. Thus only a few far-sighted foresters were prepared to plant young seedlings in place of felled trees.
Increased government control has greatly improved the situation in many countries, but some intractable problems remain, especially in the underdeveloped world. Here, despite nominal government control, the lack of communications, difficult terrain, and remoteness of many forest areas, make it difficult to adequately supervise forests. The forests may be depleted by shifting cultivators who burn mature forest to make way for their crops and may prevent true forest regeneration.
Many areas have been deforested or degraded as a result in Africa, South America and Asia. The use of forest timber as a source of fuel is also difficult to supervise adequately and in most tropical countries, as well as many less-developed temperate ones, almost all tree-cutting is for this purpose.
Where forestry is on a commercial scale, as in Malaysia or the Philippines (the world’s leading hardwood exporters) other problems arise, such as the difficulty of controlling erosion in a tropical environment, and the conflict between conservation and economic extraction. Ease of extraction is important because it encourages the development of industry and boosts export earnings.
Economically, the best place to build roads for the removal of timber in tropical areas is along the ridge tops because the valleys are often steep, narrow and winding, unlike the broader, straight glaciated valleys of many temperate areas. Unfortunately this positioning of the roads leads to greater erosion than any other position, as it allows gullies to start forming right at the top of the slopes. Such gullies may then extend right down the valley sides.
Much more rigorous conservation measures are needed in tropical than in temperate forests, but if these were imposed, exploitation might be inhibited, with a consequent reduction in valuable exports and local industrial development. To make matters worse, little research has yet been done on erosional problems in tropical regions and thus it is more difficult to know what conditions to impose on timber operators.
Another problem of foresters in many parts of the world, especially in dry or seasonally-dry regions, is the danger of forest fires. Fires may start spontaneously in hot dry weather or be caused by lightning, e.g. in British Columbia, but they are much more frequently started by human agencies. Fires lit by shifting cultivators may get out of control; picnickers or tourists may start fires; sparks from locomotives may ignite trees beside railways, and so on.
In some years the U.S.A. alone may have 100,000 or more forest fires to deal with, 90 per cent of which are started by human agents. Such fires may destroy many millions of hectares of forest in some cases, and are a constant drain on forest resources. The worst fires completely destroy the forest cover, while minor outbreaks may destroy young seedlings and hinder forest regeneration. The danger of fires is less in humid areas such as Western Europe or the equatorial belt, but even here, in dry spells or heat waves, fires may sometimes occur.
Essay # 8. Ways to Overcome Forestry Problems:
(i) Afforestation:
Nowadays forests felled for timber are almost always replanted with seedling trees. In Germany, for instance, every tree cut must, by law, be replaced by a new tree. This has the dual advantage of ensuring timber supplies and protecting the soil. At the same time, many areas which have not been previously covered with forest, or which, though cleared for agriculture for many centuries, are only marginal crop or pasture lands, have been planted with trees.
In Britain for instance, the area under forest has doubled since 1919 due to plantings. In some countries such as Finland, the importance of forestry is such that the government actually gives incentives to farmers who turn over their arable land to forest.
Much planting has also taken place in the U.S.A., especially in formerly eroded or impoverished areas such as the Tennessee Valley. In the southern continents, especially in Australia and New Zealand, which had little natural forest in many regions, quick-growing coniferous trees have been planted to boost timber supplies.
The new trees may or may not be the same as those removed. For instance, the shorter growing period, and the greater usefulness of conifers for the pulp and paper industry, encourages the planting of such trees in areas which were previously covered with temperate or tropical hardwoods.
The non-replacement of some species is often outweighed by the economic advantages of planting a quick-growing species or one which will have a greater range of uses. Valuable trees from other parts of the world, which are not native to a particular area, can also be used advantageously. Thus a number of coniferous varieties has been established in Australia, while Australian eucalyptus trees are grown in the drier parts of the U.S.A., notably in California.
Many areas which did not previously support forest have been planted in order to halt soil erosion or for other reasons. Parts of the Prairies, formerly grasslands, have been planted under the Soil Bank policy. Trees are often planted on sand-dunes, especially near the coast, to halt dune-movement.
The Landes of south-western France is a sandy, inhospitable region, where forestry has not only stabilized the sand but greatly improved the economy of the area, which is now a major producer of ‘naval stores’ such as turpentine. Trees have also been planted in many windswept grassland areas as wind-breaks.
Many areas, long cleared for agriculture, could profitably be replanted with forest, for in such areas as moorlands, rough pastures and mountain-sides, forestry may well represent a more economical use of land than the traditional pastoral economy.
This is the case in many parts of upland Britain such as North Wales or the Scottish highlands, and in parts of France, e.g. the Massif Central. In many parts of Italy, where the hillsides have been impoverished and eroded as a result of overgrazing, afforestation would not only provide an income from timber but also help to rehabilitate the land.
(ii) Improved Cutting Practices:
Forests stand a better chance of regeneration and survival if cutting is selective, that is if only mature trees, or weak or diseased trees which are wasting space, are removed. This ensures that enough trees are left to prevent erosion, and that the species can regenerate. Selective cutting in this sense is very different from the type of selection by which all the trees of a valuable species are removed and the forest is degraded.
Unfortunately selective cutting, properly practised, has a number of disadvantages, which means it is often not economic. The larger trees may crush or uproot smaller ones when they are felled, thus preventing the young trees from reaching maturity. At the same time, the cutting of only a few trees makes extraction difficult, because logs have to be moved through a mass of younger saplings and smaller trees.
The alternative to selective cutting is clear-cutting, by which all the trees are removed of whatever age or type. This may be initially wasteful, but, if the area is then planted with seedlings, erosion can be minimized. When the new trees have matured the area can again be clear-cut because all the trees will be of the same age and roughly the same size.
Clear-cutting has great attractions from an economic point of view because it is cheaper and easier to operate. Thus in the long term clear-cutting is probably the best method for many areas. In some areas, e.g. in southern U.S.A., Sweden, Finland, where forests are scientifically managed, trees are farmed on a long-term rotation system which ensures a sustained yield of timber.
Each year a certain area can be cut and replanted, and then left for about seventy years while the new trees mature. Many large pulp-milling companies, which own their own extensive forests, practise such a system because they can ensure a steady flow of timber at a rate suited to the capacity of the mill. They can plant whatever timber is best suited to their end-products, and can be sure that the timber they use is of a uniform standard.
Clear-cutting, if not properly organized, however, may lead to soil erosion, especially on steep slopes, but this can be overcome by cutting in strips parallel with the contours, or, in areas liable to wind erosion, in strips aligned transverse to the prevailing wind.
(iii) Forest Protection:
Both natural and planted forests must be protected from natural hazards such as fires and pests. The best protection against fires is a close system of lookout towers and air patrols, such as that maintained in the U.S.A. and Canada, to give the earliest possible warning of fire outbreaks so that fires can be rapidly checked.
Research is also going on into the causes of fires and the climatic conditions in which they are most likely to occur, in order, if possible, to prevent them. Many are due to human carelessness, and as the forests are used more and more as recreation areas in Europe and North America, better systems of public education in fire prevention and control will have to be devised. When fires break out, they are fought not only from the ground by conventional means, but also by spraying from the air with selected chemicals.
Insects and diseases must also be fought by regular inspection of forests, spraying with insecticides and protective measures to prevent the spread of pests. Aerial spraying may be effective, but control by biological methods may be more efficient, as indeed it may be in agriculture also. This involves finding an insect or animal which preys on the unwanted insect, and introducing it into the forest to keep down the pest.
Care must be taken, however, to prevent the newly-introduced insects from themselves becoming a pest by multiplying too fast. Such animals as rabbits or goats, sheep, and other domestic animals which gnaw down seedlings and prevent regeneration of the forests, should also be kept out of forest lands. This is a major problem in India, where many forests, though now managed by the state, are still subject to the grazing rights of local villagers, who bring their cattle or goats into the forests to the detriment of the trees.
(iv) Reduction of Wastage:
Another way in which timber shortages and forest conservation can be tackled is by the reduction of wastage at industrial plants, rather than in the forests themselves. Great improvements have been made in this field, such as the use of pulp which is not suitable for paper to make fibre- and particle- board for the building industry.
Many large integrated plants make a whole range of pulp and paper products, from the various different grades of pulp, instead of demanding only the best pulp derived from the most valuable trees.
Another way in which timber consumption can be reduced is by the greater re-use of waste paper in the production of newsprint and other inferior paper products. This is already a well-established practice in some countries, notably in the U.S.A., but much paper is wasted elsewhere. The greater use of plastics, rather than paper and cardboard, for packaging purposes, would also ease the pressure on forests.
Another way in which wastage could be reduced is by using trees more intensively. For instance hemlock, now used almost exclusively as timber could also be used to extract tannin from the bark. Similarly quebracho, used to extract tannin, could be much more widely used as a source of hardwood. Another source of timber that is little used for industrial purposes is old rubber trees which have outlived their productive life.
Essay # 9. Importance of Forests:
Forests are extensive self-sustained wooded tracts of land with a biotic community predominated by woody vegetation consisting of trees and shrubs with a close canopy.
A forest is a biotic community, predominantly of trees, shrubs or any other woody vegetation usually with a closed canopy. Forests vary a great-deal in compositions and densities and are distinct from meadows and pastures.
Woodland is closer to human habitations .possesses an open canopy and is managed and maintained by human-beings. Forestry is the branch of science which is connected with establishment, protection, management and exploitation of forests.
Forests are of immense importance to the life and prosperity of human-beings and of nations. Forests and woodland provide a rich variety of goods useful to both affluent industrial societies and the rural poor.
They give the following benefits:-
(i) Timber:
Wood is the major forest produce. The timber and sawn-up wood (saw dust) obtained from forests are used as basic material for building houses particularly in rural areas. Wood, on the other hand, is used as a temporary structural support for the construction of buildings and bridges.
It is a raw material for making doors, windows, furniture, poles, posts, mine props, railway sleepers, carts, ploughs, tool handles, matches, sports goods etc. It is also a raw material for the manufacture of paper, rayon and film.
(ii) Fuel Wood/Fire Wood:
In developing countries, heaviest demand on forests is for fuel-wood. More than 1500 million people depend on wood to cook and keep warm. The world consumption of wood for fuel is estimated to be more than 1000 million m3. This is well over 80% of the total use. About 58% of the total energy used in Africa and 42% in South-East Asia comes from fuel wood. In Gambia, a family spends 360 women days/year to gather fuel wood; while in Sahel 25% of the household budget is spent on fuel.
(iii) Economical Uses:
(a) Minor/Major Forest Produce (MFP):
It includes all forest products other than wood. Its contribution to the economy is not negligible. Bamboo, paper, rayon, food, essential oil and perfumes, tannins, gums, resin, dyes, camphor, spices, ritha and shikakai, drugs, tendu leaf, cork, rudraksha, animal products (lac, honey, wax, tassar and muga silk), horns, hides, antlers, ivory are the items of economic value.
(b) Support in Economy:
Forests play a vital role in the life and economy of all the tribes living in their laps. They provide food (tubers, roots, leaves and fruits of plants and meat from animals), medicines and other products of commercial use, which forms a viable forest based subsistence pattern.
(iv) Ecological Uses:
(a) Protection of Biodiversity, Land & Environment:
i. Forests are large biotic communities:
They provide shelter and sustenance for a large number of diverse species of plants, animals and micro-organisms.
ii. They protect the environment:
They prevent erosion of the soil by wind and water. Trees provide shade which prevents the soil from becoming too dry and friable during summer.
(b) Moderating & Moistening Effects on Climate:
They also check the velocity of rain drops or wind striking the ground and reduce dislodging of soil particles. The root system of plants firmly binds the soil.
(c) Retention of Sub-Soil Water & Increase in Rainfall Frequency:
They improve the quality of the soil by increasing its porosity and fertility by contributing humus to it. The forest soil absorbs water during rains like a giant sponge and does not allow it to evaporate or run-off quickly. This ensures a perennial supply of sub-soil water in springs and wells. Thus, the hill slopes with forests cover in the catchment areas conserve water and gradually release it into streams, rivers and sub-soil springs.
Forests increase atmospheric humidity by drawing sub-soil water and sending it out in the air during transpiration. The increased humidity helps plants and animals to survive in a warm season by making it cool and pleasant.
(d) Pollution Control:
They play an important role in reducing atmospheric pollution by collecting the suspended particulate matter and by absorbing carbon dioxide etc.
(e) Aesthetic Value:
They have great aesthetic value. There is hardly any part of the earth where people do not appreciate the beauty and tranquility of forests. Having been forest-dwellers in their remote past, people have a deep evolutionary attachment to their abode. This fond has passed into gratitude and worship, which is reflected not only in social customs and rituals but also in art, literature and music.
(f) Laboratory for Education and Research:
They are also of great educative value. They are nature’s laboratories which have immensely contributed to the study of and research in various branches of fundamental and applied sciences.
(g) Shelter of Wildlife:
People have realised their past follies of hunting wild animals for sport. There is a global effort to abstain from indiscriminate killing and preserve wildlife. Reserve forests are now centres of enlightenment and recreation.
Essay # 10. Conservation of Forests:
The maintenance and upkeep of forests is called forest conservation. Conservation of forests aims at management of forest in such a way as to maintain them at the optimum level and derive optimum sustainable benefit for the present as well as future generation.
The Indian Forest Policy aims at 60% forest covers in hills and 20% in the plains. For this sustained efforts are made for afforestation and reforestation. The plantation movement or Van Mahotsava has been carried out in India since 1950 whereby both the government and private agencies perform tree plantation during July and February every year.
Other measures for the preservation of forests are as follows:-
(i) Weeds, damaged tree, crowded trees, diseased trees etc. should be removed.
(ii) Extraction of timber should not interfere with watershed protection. Tree-felling should be matched by tree-planting programmes. Sustained Yield Block cutting should be followed. Cutting is allowed only in invulnerable forests at a rate which is equal to their regeneration capacity.
(iii) Forest fire must be prevented.
(iv) The use of firewood should be discouraged to reduce pressure on more valuable natural forests. Other sources of energy, such as bio-gas, should supplement firewood.
(v) Modern and scientific management practices such as optimization of silvicultural and nutritional requirements, including use of irrigation, fertilizers, bacterial and micorrhizal inoculations, disease and pest management, control of weeds, breeding of elite trees and use of tissue-culture techniques should be adopted.
(vi) Massive afforestation should be undertaken to cover large areas of land with appropriate types of trees.
(vii) Prevention of scraping and litter removal.
(viii) Control of weeds.
(ix) Pesticides.
(x) Fire-fighting equipment.
(xi) Census.
(xii) Supervision and surveying.
(xiii) Economy in extraction and use of timber.
(xiv) Watershed protection.
(xv) Alternate source of fuel for villagers.
(xvi) Every piece of barren land should be planted with trees.
(xvii) Control-grazing.
(xviii) Other forms of forestry such as:
(a) Social Forestry:
It means raising quick growing multipurpose plants in common village land to meet the requirements of fodder, firewood and small timber.
(b) Urban Forestry:
It is plantation of fruit, flower and shade bearing plants in urban areas to reduce pollution and the ultimate yield of wood.
(c) Agro-Forestry:
It aims plantation of multipurpose trees/ shrubs/horticultural plants/grasses along with crops to stabilise the soil and meet the needs of the fodder, fruits and timber of the community.
The Union and State Governments have launched several afforestation programmes as part of the forest conservation action. The Social Forestry Programme was started in 1976. It seeks the use of public and common land to produce firewood, fodder and small timber for the use of the rural community to relieve pressure on existing forests needed for soil and water conservation. The programme includes raising, planting and protecting trees with multiple uses (firewood, fodder, agricultural implements, fruits etc.) for the rural community.
The Agro-forestry Programme consists of reviving an ancient land use practice where the same land is used for farming, forestry and animal husbandry.
The Urban Forestry Programme aims at planting trees for aesthetic purposes in urban settlements. Flower and fruit trees are planted along the roadside, private compounds and vacant land to add colour and mitigate the harshness of the urban environment.
Experts believe that in order to sustain agriculture and maintain the quality of the environment; at least one-third of a country’s land should be under forest. This requires action at all levels – individuals, the community and the government.
There has been several people’s movement in recent times in India such as the Chipko Movement (Tehri-Garhwal area, Uttaranchal) and the public agitation to prevent the construction of a hydroelectric project in the Silent Valley region. Protection of precious forests, especially in the ecologically fragile areas, should be supplemented by efforts to plant and regenerate forests.
(xix) Over-grazing by cattle, horses, sheep, goats etc. should be prevented. When grazing is a must, it should be moderate. Only those plants should be introduced in grasslands which can regenerate in shorter time.
(xx) Forests should be protected against insects, pests and diseases.
(xxi) Cutting and uprooting of forests should be made a punishable crime.
(xxii) Forest nurseries should be established on large scale basis.
(xxiii) People should be made aware of the impact of forests on their life through advertisements, lectures, speeches, radios and televisions etc.
Forest-conservation and wildlife-conservation are closely interwoven. A forest is a biotic community made-up of the total population of its living things, both plant and animal. Any management practice affecting any part of such a community may well affect other elements either for good or for evil.
Many of these interrelationships are still not clearly understood; enough is known, though to indicate the close tie-up between forestry and the preservation and management of wildlife. Management plans must take cognizance of both. The two cannot be separated.