LECTURE- 2

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: - TO IMPART KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FOREST

DEFINITION, CLASSIFICATION OF FOREST, FOREST TYPES, STATUS OF INDIAN
FOREST AND THEIR ROLE IN FARMING SYSTEM

IMPORTANT FOREST DEFINITIONS:

 General definition- Forest is defined as ‘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.’

 In ecology point of view, it is defined as a plant community predominantly of trees and

other woody vegetation usually with closed canopy.

 In legal terminology forest is defined as an area of land proclaimed to be forest under a

forest law.

STAND

 Stand is defined as an aggregation of trees occupying a specific area sufficiently uniform

in composition, age, arrangement and condition to be distinguishable from the forest on
adjoining areas.

CLASSIFICATION OF FORESTS: Forests can be classified on the basis of:

 Method of regeneration

 Age

 Composition

 Object of management

 Ownership and legal status

 Growing stock.

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METHOD OF REGENERATION:

 High forest: Forest regenerated from seed

 Coppice forests: Forests regenerated by vegetative means such as coppicing shoots or

root suckers

AGE:

 Even aged or regular forests: Forest composed of even-aged woods and applied to a
stand consisting of trees of approximately the same age. Differences up to 25% of the
rotation age may be allowed.

 Uneven aged or irregular forest: Forest composed of trees of markedly different ages
and applied to a stand in which individual stem vary widely in age.

COMPOSITION:

 Pure forest is defined as a forest composed of almost entirely of one species usually to
the extent of not less than 80%.

 Mixed forest is defined as a forest composed of trees of two or more species

intermingled in the same canopy.

Plate 2.1 Pure Forest of Cedrus deodara Plate 2.2 Mixed Forest

OBJECTS OF MANAGEMENT:

 Production forest: Forest managed primarily for its produce’. It is also sometimes referred
to as national forest, i.e., a forest which is maintained and managed to meet the needs of
the defence, communication, industry, and other general purposes of public importance’.

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 Protection forest: An area wholly or partly covered with woody growth, managed
primarily to regulate stream flow, prevent erosion, hold shifting sand or to exert any other
beneficial influence’.

 Farm forest: Forest raised on farms and its adjoining area either as individual scattered
trees or a collection of trees to meet the requirement of fuel and fodder of the farmers and
to have a beneficial influence on agriculture.

 Fuel forest: Forest raised on village waste land to supply fuel, small timber, fodder, etc., to
the village communities living far away from Government forest.

 Recreational forest: Forest which is managed only to meet the recreational needs of the
urban and rural population.

OWNERSHIP AND LEGAL STATUS:

 State forest is a ‘forest owned by state’. On the basis of legal status, state forests are
further classified as:

 Reserved forest is ‘an area so constituted under the Indian forest Act 1927 or other
forest law’.

 Protected forest: An area subject to limited degree of protection under the provision of
chapter IV of the Indian Forest act 1927’.

 Village forest: State forest assigned to a village community under the provision of the
Indian Forest Act 1927’.

 Communal forest: Forest owned and generally managed by a community such as a

village, town, tribal authority or local government, the members of which share the
produce’.

 Panchayat forest: Any forest where management is vested in a village panchayat (i.e.,
a body of men elected by the villagers from among themselves for specific
administrative or other purposes pertaining to the village)’.

GROWING STOCK:
 Normal forests: Forest which for a given site and given objects of management is ideally
constituted as regard growing stock, age class distribution and increment and from which
the annual or periodic removal of produce is equal to the increment can be continued
indefinitely without endangering future yield.

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  Abnormal forest: is the one in which the quantity of material in the growing stock is in
deficit or in excess or in which the relative proportion of the age or size classes are
defectives.

PRESENT STATUS OF INDIAN FORESTS (2009)

 The forest cover of the country as per 2007 assessment is 690,899km2/69.09 mha which
is 21.02 percent of the geographical area of the country.

 Very dense forest constitutes 83,510 km2/ 8.35 million ha (2.54%),

 The moderately dense forest 319,012 km2/ 31.90 million ha (9.71%) and

 Open forest constitutes 288.377 km2/28.84 million ha (8.77%)

 The scrub accounts for 41,525 km2/4.15 million ha (1.26%).

 Mangrove: 4639 km2/0.46 million ha (0.14%)

 Excluding the area (18.31 million ha) above tree line, the forest cover of the country
comes of 22.26 per cent

 Reportedly, hills and tribal districts, especially the North-Eastern (NE) states, contributed
significantly to this increase.

 Madhya Pradesh has largest area under forest cover followed by Arunachal Pradesh,
Chattisgarh, Orissa and Maharashtra

 Mizoram has maximum proportion of geographic area under forest cover followed by
Nagaland

 North-East region accounts for 25.11 per cent of forest cover

 Native forests in India are disappearing at a rate of up to 2.7 per cent per year

 Very dense forest - All lands with tree cover of canopy density of 70% and above

 Moderately dense forest - All lands with tree cover of canopy density between 40% and
70%

 Open forest - All lands with tree cover of canopy density between 10% and 40%

 Scrub - Degraded forest lands with canopy density less than 10%

 Non-forest – Any area not included in the above classes

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 Plate 2.3 Pictorial illustration of different forest cover classes

FORESTS TYPES OF INDIA

Champion and Seth (1967) classified forests of India into 5 major groups and further its
is classified into 16 type groups
MAJOR GROUPS
1. Tropical Forests
2. Montane Subtropical Forests
3. Montane Temperate Forests
4. Sub-alpine Forests
5. Alpine scrub
1. Tropical Forests: This group has seven group type such as
a) Wet Evergreen Forest e) Dry Deciduous Forest

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 b) Semi-evergreen Forest f) Thorn Forest
c) Moist Deciduous Forest g) Dry Evergreen Forest
d) Littoral and Swamp Forest
2. Montane Subtropical Forests: This group has three group type
a) Broad-leaved Hill Forest c) Dry Evergreen Forest
b) Pine Forest
3. Montane Temperate Forests: This group has three group type
a) Montane Wet Temperate Forest c) Himalayan Dry Temperate Forest
b) Himalayan Temperate Forest
4. Sub-alpine Forests:
a) Sub-alpine Forest
5. Alpine scrub: This group has two group type
a) Moist Alpine Scrub
b) Dry Alpine Scrub

ROLE OF FORESTS IN FARMING SYSTEMS

Forests are known as the world’s air-conditioner and the earth’s blanket. Without forests,
this world would be an inhospitable place to live in. Forests play an important role in
environmental stability and provide a variety of benefits to the economy. Of all the ecosystems,
forests are the largest, most complex and self-perpetuating. The maintenance of forests is vital
for all sections of society regardless of their stage of development. Forests perform various
functions. Some of these functions are:

1) Productive
2) Protective
3) Ameliorative
4) Recreational and
5) Developmental

1) Productive functions of the forest

Forests are valuable natural resources. The goods provided by forests are of immense
importance. Wood is a major forest produce and is used extensively for various purposes. In

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India, most of the wood produced is used for construction of houses, agricultural implements,
bridges, sleepers, etc.
Wood is a universal fuel. For thousands of years, until the advent of coal, oil, gas,
electricity, etc., wood constituted man’s chief source of fuel. Even today more than half of the
total world consumption of wood is for fuel. Wood remains the major source of domestic fuel in
India. Out of the total requirement of 201 million tones fuelwood, 103 million tonnes is met from
the forest areas (including plantations), which constitutes nearly 51 percent of the total
requirement, and the balance 98 million tonnes from farm forestry sector including plantation on
common land.
Forests provide raw material to a large number of industries, e.g., paper and pulp, ply
board and other boards, saw-mill, furniture, packing cases, matches, toys, etc.
Out of 64 million m3 timber demand, nearly 31 million m3 comes from farm forestry and
other woodlands and 12 million m3 from forests. The balance 21 million m3 is removed from
plantations and from natural forests, largely (70%) as small timber to meet the domestic need.
A large number of non-wood products are also obtained from forests. These are
commonly called minor forest products, not because they are of minor significance, but because
they are harvested in smaller quantities. Some of the important minor forest products are as
under:
a. Fibers and flosses
b. Grasses and bamboos
c. Essential oils
d. Oilseeds
e. Tans and dyes
f. Gums and resins
g. Drugs, spices and insecticides
h. Tendu and other leaves
i. Edible products
j. Lac and other products
k. Fodder and grazing

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2) Protective and ameliorative functions of forest
i. Forests play a significant role in maintaining the CO2 balance in the atmosphere. Without
sufficient forest cover, all the CO2 released in the atmosphere will not be utilized, resulting
in a higher percent of CO2 in the atmosphere. This, according to scientists, will result in
warming of the world temperature, disturbance in the climate, melting of polar ice caps,
increase in sea levels, etc. The CO2 percent in the atmosphere has already reached 0.042%
against the normal of 0.030%. If this increases continuously, higher temperature and other
disturbances on the earth may bring unimaginable miseries to mankind.
ii. Forests increase local precipitation by about 5 to 10% due to their orographic and
microclimate effect and create conditions favourable for the condensation of clouds.
iii. Forests reduce temperature and increase humidity. The temperature in forests is 30 C - 80 C
less than in adjoining open areas. Reduced temperature makes life comfortable. It also
reduces evaporation losses. The effect of forests on temperature is not limited to forests
areas; it extends far beyond the boundaries of the forests.
iv. Forests maintain the productivity of the soil through adding a large quantity of organic
matter and recycling of nutrients. The leaves of trees are used as manure. Supply of
firewood from forests releases dung for use, as manure.
v. Tree crowns reduce the violence of rain and checks splash erosion. Forests increase the
infiltration and water-holding capacity of the soil, resulting in much lower surface run-off.
This in turn results in checking of soil erosion.
vi. Forests check floods. Forests conserve both soil and water. Forests prolong the water cycle
from its inception to the final disposal as run-off into streams and ocean. The longer the
water retained in the land, the greater is its usefulness in nurturing crops and trees, and in
maintaining a regular supply of water in streams throughout the year. Forests increase
subsurface run-off which is much slower than surface run-off and the sub-surface run-off
does not cause erosion.
vii. Forests and trees reduce wind velocity considerably. Reduction of wind velocity causes
considerable reduction in wind erosion, checks shifting of sand dunes and halts the process
of desertification.

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viii. Forests and trees provide a shelterbelt and wind breaks effect which is beneficial to
agricultural crops, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas, and increase in agricultural
production.

3) Recreational and educational function of forest

i. Forests provide recreational facilities to the people. A large variety of trees and shrubs,
animals and birds attract a large number of people towards them. National parks and
sanctuaries rich in flora and fauna are visited by a large number of people every year.
ii. Forests provide an experimental area and laboratory for college and university students.
Forests provide sites for ecological studies.
iii. Forests have a natural healing effect for a number of diseases. Most of the sanatoria are
found in a forested locality.

4) Developmental functions of forest

i. Forests provide employment to a large number of people. Almost all forestry activities
are labour intensive and provide considerable employment in primary and secondary
sectors.
ii. Forests and various forest activities help tribals to improve their socioeconomic condition
through collection, processing and marketing of various forest products and by providing
gainful employment. Forestry is an important activity in an alleviation programme.
iii. Forests provide a good sum as revenue to the government which is used for various
developmental works. During 1985, forests provide revenue worth.
iv. Forests help in biological rejuvenation of soils. Trees through their sturdy root structures
open the soil; improve it by adding organic litter or humus rendering it hospitable to
useful micro and macro flora and fauna.
v. Trees provide subsistence products, like fodder and other non-wood forest products
nearly 30% of the fodder requirement of the country comes from the forest areas. There is
removal to the extent of 145 million tonnes of dry fodder and 178 million tonnes of green
fodder annually from the forest areas.

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 vi. In semi-arid regions trees increase soil productivity and land sustainability through
nutrient recycling and by providing mulch and shade for crops, thus complement
agricultural production.
vii. The most widespread benefit from keeping trees on farms is the soil enriching effect of
trees and protection against erosion.
viii. Trees are planted on farm boundaries, or inter-cropped with field crops with a view to get
supplementary income from trees without much loss of the main crops.
ix. Homestead plantation increases overall income from land.
x. Where income from agriculture is uncertain and inadequate and there is little possibility
for farmer to seek work outside the village; in such conditions, even small farmers shift
their lands to trees, which demand less labour and concentrate on wage labour for
meeting their immediate consumption needs.
xi. Where trees substitute agricultural crops for increasing total profits from land.

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