Forests and Resources

Biodiversity

Rich flora and wildlife, cultivated species, diverse in form and function but closely integrated in a system through
multiple network of interdependencies.

Importance of Biodiversity

The plants, animals, and micro-organisms re-create the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil
that produces our food without which we cannot survive.

Forests play a key role in the ecological system as these are also the primary producers on which all other living
beings depend.

Conservation of forest and wildlife in India

Humans have realized the importance of forest and wildlife for their existence. Therefore, various steps are being
taken to conserve the forest and wildlife:

 The government has adopted policies to protect wildlife, land, fresh water, and air.
 Implementation of, the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act which has enlisted wildlife species that need special
attention,
 Setting up of National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries to protect endangered species. Under the Wildlife Act
of 1980 and 1986, several insects have also been included in the list of protected species.
 Organizing community awareness programmes such as vanmahotsav, etc.

Project Tiger

 The major threats to the tiger population are numerous, such as poaching for trade, shrinking habitat,
depletion of prey base species, growing human population, etc.
 Since India and Nepal provide habitat to about two-thirds of the surviving tiger population in the world,
these two nations became prime targets for poaching and illegal trading.
 “Project Tiger”, one of the most well-publicized wildlife campaigns in the world, was launched in 1973.
 Tiger conservation has been viewed not only as an effort to save an endangered species but with equal
importance as a means of preserving biotypes of sizeable magnitude.
 Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand,
 Sunderbans National Park in West Bengal,
 Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh,
 Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan,
 Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam
 Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala are some of the tiger reserves of India.

Distribution of forest and wildlife resources (types of forests found in India)

Reserved forests

 More than half of the total forest land has been declared reserved forests. Reserved forests are regarded as
the most valuable as far as the conservation of forest and wildlife resources is concerned.
 Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Maharashtra have
large percentages of reserved forests of its total forest area.
Protected forests

 Almost 1/3rd of the total forest area is protected forest, as declared by the Forest Department. This forest
land is protected from any further depletion.
 Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan have a bulk of it under protected forests.

Unclassed forests

 These are other forests and wastelands belonging to both government and private individuals and
communities.
 All Northeastern states and parts of Gujarat have a very high percentage of their forests as unclassed forests
managed by local communities.

Reserved and protected forests are also referred to as permanent forests.

Name some conservation movements which have contributed towards the conservation of flora and fauna.

Famous Conservation Movements are:

 Chipko Movement
 Beej Bachao Andolan
 Navdanya

In India Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme furnishes a good example for involving Local communities in the
management and restoration of degraded forests.

Chipko movement

• 1. Started in the 1970s in Garhwal in Uttarakhand.

• 2. Trees were prevented from being cut by forming a human circle around them.

• 3. It spread across the country.

Beej Bachao Andolan

• 1. Started in the 1980s in Tehri region of Uttarakhand.

• 2. Led by the farmer and social activist Vijay Jardhari.

• 3. Started in 1988 by the Government of India.

• 4. First launched in Odisha.

• 5. Involves local communities for conserving wildlife and restoring degraded forests.

Joint Forest Management (JMF)

• 1. It is launched by various states government.

• 2. In this programme, village communities are entrusted with the protection and management of the nearby forest.

• 3. Areas concerned are usually degraded or even deforested areas.

• 4. The first state to start this programme was Odisha in 1988.

• 5. The communities are required to organize forest protection committees, development societies etc.

• 6. Each body has an executive committee that manages the day-to-day affairs.
Famous Conservation Movements are:

Wildlife protection act 1972, Project Tiger 1972-73, Forest Protection Act 1980-88, Anti Poaching Agencies

✓ State wildlife dept.✓ State forest dept.✓ Ministry of Environment and Forest✓ Army ( if applicable)✓ Police

✓ Border security Force and Coast guards, Wildlife Conservation Society.

Explain any three measures taken by the Indian Government to protect wildlife.

 National parks, biosphere, and wildlife sanctuaries:

 To protect the biodiversity, the Indian government has established 100 national parks, 515 sanctuaries and
17 biosphere reserves

 The Indian Wildlife Protection Act:

 The Indian Wildlife Protection Act was implemented in 1972, with various provisions for protecting habitats.
all-India list of protected species was also published. The thrust of the program was to protect the remaining
population of certain endangered species by banning hunting, giving legal protection to their habitats and
restricting trade in wildlife.

 Project for protecting specific animals:

 The central government has also announced several projects for protecting specific animals which were
greatly threatened, including the tiger, the one-horned rhinoceros, the Kashmir stag or hangul, the three
types of crocodiles-the freshwater crocodile, the saltwater crocodile and the Gharial, the Asiatic lion, and
others.

 Forest Policy:
 India is one of the few countries which has a forest policy since 1894. It was revised in 1952 and again in
1988. The main plank of the forest policy is protection, conservation, and development of forest

 Forest Research Institutes:

 Indian government has created many forests Research Institutes for the research, protection, and
development of the forests. IFS Dehradun is the oldest research institution in the country.

Community and conservation

 We often ignore that in India forests are also home to the traditional communities.
 In some areas of India local communities are struggling to conserve these habitats along with government
officials recognizing that only this will secure their own long – term livelihood.
 The Alwar district of Rajasthan has declared 1,200 hectares.
 The famous Chipko movement in the Himalayas has not only successfully resisted deforestation in several
areas.
 Farmers and citizen's groups like the Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehri and Navdanya have shown that adequate
levels of diversified crop production without the use of synthetic.
 The programme has been in formal existence since 1988 when the state of Odisha passed the first resolution
for joint forest management