FOREST AND WILDLIFE .
(Chapter Notes)
1. Write five major reasons for the depletion of forest cover.
• Deforestation for agricultural purposes.
• Shifting cultivation.
• Large-scale development of river valley projects.
• Mining. For example, the tiger reserve in West Bengal is seriously threatened by
the ongoing dolomite mining.
• Environmental pollution and forest fires have also led to depletion of forests.
2. Write four most important causes of environmental destruction/degradation.
• Unequal access to resources.
• Over consumption of resources.
• Over-population
3. Write five steps taken by the Government for conservation of wildlife.
Five steps that have been taken to protect the wildlife in India:
• Under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972, an All India list of
protected species was published.
o banning hunting,
o giving legal protection to their habitats and
o restricting trade in wildlife.
• Many wildlife sanctuaries and National Parks have been set up.
• Special projects like Project Tiger, One-horned Rhino have been
implemented.
4. Name three broad categories in which the forests are classified.
They are classified as:
• Reserved Forests: More than half of the total forest land has been declared
as reserved forests. They conserve forest and wildlife resources and are
regarded as the most valuable.
• Protected Forests: Almost one-third of the total forest area in India is
protected forest, as declared by the Forest Department . They are protected
from any further depletion.
• Unclassed Forest: The forests and wastelands belonging to both government
and private individuals and communities fall under the category of unclassed
forests.
5. What are permanent forests?
Reserved and protected forests are together called as permanent forests. They are
maintained for timber collection and other natural products.
6. Assess the need for the conservation of forests and wildlife in India.
There is a need to conserve the forests and wildlife in India because
• Conservation preserves the ecological biodiversity and our life support systems—
water, air and soil.
• It also preserves the genetic diversity of plants and animals for better growth of
species and breeding.
• It protects plants and animals further .
7. Describe how communities have conserved, and protected forests and wildlife in India.
Ans: Conservation of the forests as well as wildlife resources is sought to be very significant
and certain steps have been taken by common people for the same:
• Sariska Tiger Reserve which was situated in Rajasthan, villagers came to fight against
the mining with the citation of the Wildlife Protection Act.
• The habitats of about five villages in the Alwar district of Rajasthan had declared
around 1,200 hectares of forest lands as Bhairodev Dakav “Sonchuri”. The villages had
come up with their own sets of rules as well as regulations to not allow hunting.
Protection of wildlife against outside encroachment also came to be sought.
• One of the most famous, the Chipko Movement in the Himalayas, had been a successful
attempt to resistance against forest deforestation in many areas, and the movement also
resulted in community afforestation.
• Farmers as well as citizen groups like the Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehru and Navdanya
came to show adequate levels of diversification in terms of crop production without any
use of synthetic chemicals as they are economically more viable.
• India’s Joint Forest Management (JFM) program furnished an example of the
involvement of local communities in the management as well as restoration of
degraded forests.
