Forest Resources in India | Agriculture Optional Notes for UPSC PDF Download

Forest Resources

• Forests offer a wide range of benefits to human societies beyond their essential roles as natural habitat and environmental regulators. These benefits are often referred to as resources that can be harnessed for fuel, timber, recreation, and commercial purposes. The recognition that forests provide valuable resources has played a significant role in motivating conservation efforts.
• The increasing awareness among governments and the general public, both in India and globally, about the advantages of forests to humanity has led to the establishment of government agencies and a thriving industry focused on forest resource management.
• The primary goal of forest resource management is to professionally nurture, safeguard, and oversee the various resources found in forests. This process aims to improve the quality of life for the public while ensuring the sustainable conservation of these resources.
• Forests are essential renewable assets that exhibit variation in composition and diversity. They can make substantial contributions to a country's economic development. Trees and other plant life cover extensive areas, yield diverse products, offer sustenance to various living organisms, and play a crucial role in environmental preservation.
• Approximately 30% of the world's land area is covered by forests, while pastures account for about 26% of the global land area. Africa boasts the largest forested area among all continents, covering 33% of its land, followed by Latin America at 25%. In contrast, North America's forest cover is relatively low at 11%. Asia and the former USSR collectively have 14% of their land covered by forests, and European countries have a meager 3% forest cover. In India, the forest cover constitutes 21.67% of the country's total geographical area as of 2019.

Terminologies

• CLEAR-CUT:
  • Clear-cutting refers to the complete removal of trees from a specific forested area.
  • This practice can be detrimental to forests, especially when the process of reforestation is slow, and deforested land is vulnerable to wind and water erosion, making it unsuitable for replanting.
  • On the other hand, clear-cutting can also serve as a method to enhance the biodiversity of forests that have been shielded from wildfires for an extended period.
• DEFORESTATION:
  • Deforestation involves the reduction of forested areas due to human activities.
  • It leads to the depletion of forest cover, often with adverse environmental consequences.
• ECOLOGICAL SERVICES: Ecological services represent the advantages provided to human communities by healthy forest ecosystems, including clean water, stable soil, and unpolluted air.
• FOREST MONOCULTURE: Forest monoculture denotes the development of a forest primarily dominated by a single tree species, lacking the ecological diversity needed to withstand diseases and parasites in the long term.
• SUSTAINABILITY: Sustainability pertains to practices that maintain a balance between human requirements and environmental preservation, as well as the equilibrium between present and future human needs.

Major forest products

• The primary forest products encompass timber, softwood, and fuelwood, which also includes charcoal. India's forests yield a wide variety of wood species, with 90% of them having commercial value.
• Hardwoods such as teak, mahogany, logwood, iron-wood, ebony, sal, greenheart, kikar, semal, and more are utilized in the production of furniture, wagons, tools, and various commercial items.
• Softwoods like deodar, poplar, pine, fir, cedar, balsam, and others are characterized by their lightness, strength, durability, and ease of workability. They find applications in construction and paper pulp production.
• Approximately 70% of hardwood is utilized as fuel, with only 30% being employed in industrial processes. Conversely, about 30% of softwood serves as fuel, while the remaining 70% is used in various industries.
• Jammu and Kashmir stands as the largest producer of timber, closely followed by Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. Karnataka takes the lead in fuelwood production, with West Bengal and Maharashtra following suit.

Minor forests products

Grasses, Bamboos, and Canes

• Grass varieties like sabai, bhabar, and elephant grass find use in paper production, with sabai grass being a vital raw material for the paper industry.
  • Sabai grass is a perennial type that grows on the bare slopes of the sub-Himalayan region, as well as in Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and the western part of Himachal Pradesh.
• Khus grass roots are employed in making cooling screens, while tall munj grass is used for crafting items like chicks, stools, chairs, and its leaves are twisted into strings.
• Bamboo, although part of the grass family, resembles a tree with its woody and tall nature. It includes over 100 different species.
  • The main bamboo production areas are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tripura, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Punjab, Nagaland, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
  • Bamboo is often referred to as the "poor man's timber" due to its affordability and diverse applications, including roofing, walling, flooring, matting, basketry, cordage, carthoods, and various other items.
• Cane grows abundantly in the moist forests of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram, serving as major cane-producing regions in India.
  • Parts of Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha are also conducive for cane growth.
  • Cane is primarily used in crafting items such as strings, ropes, mats, bags, baskets, furniture, walking sticks, umbrella handles, and sports goods.

Tans & dyes

• Tannins are natural substances produced by plant tissues, and these tanning materials find application in the leather industry.
  • Commonly used tanning materials include mangrove, amla, oak, hemlock, anwal, wattle, myrobalans, ratanjot, as well as the flowers of dhawri, babul, and avaram.
• Important dyes are derived from sources like red sander (resulting in a bright red color), Khair (yielding a chocolate hue), Palas flowers, Mallotus phillipensis fruit, wattle bark, and Morinda tinctoria roots.
• India produces around two lakh tons of tans and dyes annually.

Oils

• Oils are extracted from sources such as sandalwood, lemongrass, khus, and eucalyptus globules, among others. These oils have various applications in products like soaps, cosmetics, confectionery, pharmaceuticals, and more.

Gums and resins

• Gum is naturally exuded from the stems or other parts of various trees, sometimes due to natural processes and at other times as a response to bark or wood damage caused by tree blazing.
• These gums find applications in textiles, cosmetics, confectionery, medicines, inks, and various other products. The highest gum production occurs in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Additionally, these gums are exported to the United States, United Kingdom, and France.
• Resins are primarily obtained from the Chir Pine tree, which thrives in the Himalayan region, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
• Crude resin comprises two main components: a liquid known as oil of turpentine (25%) and a solid substance called resin (75%). Turpentine serves as a solvent for paints and varnishes, synthetic camphor, pine oil, disinfectants, pharmaceutical preparations, wax, boot polish, and industrial perfumes.
• Resin plays a crucial role as a raw material in various industries, including paper, paint, varnish, soap, rubber, waterproofing, linoleum, oils, greases, adhesive tape, phenyl, plastics, and more.

Fiber and flosses

• Fibers are derived from the tissues of certain trees, with the majority of these fibers being rough and employed in the production of ropes. However, the fibers from Ak trees (Calotropis spp.) are thin, robust, and silky, making them suitable for crafting fishing nets.
• Flosses are sourced from specific fruits and find application in filling pillows, mattresses, and similar items.

Leaves

• Various types of leaves are harvested from trees, each serving distinct purposes. One of the most significant leaf types is the tendu leaves, which are commonly used as wrappers for bidis.
• The tendu tree is abundantly found in several Indian states, including Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh. India produces approximately 6 lakh tonnes of tendu leaves annually.
• Madhya Pradesh leads the country in tendu leaf production, contributing 246 thousand tonnes, while Bihar is the second-largest producer with 53.5 thousand tonnes. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana (51.2 thousand tonnes), Maharashtra (33 thousand tonnes), and Gujarat (12.9 thousand tonnes) are also significant producers.
• Additional quantities of tendu leaves are produced in Rajasthan, Karnataka, and West Bengal. These tendu leaves, along with bidis, are exported to countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and various other Asian and African nations.

Drugs, spices and poisons

• Medicinal drugs are sourced from various parts of trees, with quinine being the most significant among them.
• Spices encompass items like cinnamon (dalchini) and cardamom (elaichi), which are used to enhance the flavor of dishes.
• Certain toxic substances, when consumed in small, regular quantities, possess medicinal properties. Examples of such substances include strychnine, aconite, datura, and ganja.

Edible products

• Fruits, flowers, leaves or roots of various species provide edible products.

Animal products

• Lac stands out as the primary animal product derived from Indian forests, originating from the secretions of tiny insects that feed on the saps of various trees, including Palash, peepal, and Kusum.
• This lac has versatile applications, being used in medicines, plastic production, electrical insulation materials, silk dyeing, and the crafting of items like bangles.
• India holds the distinction of contributing 85% of the world's total lac production. The primary lac-producing states include Jharkhand (40%), Chhattisgarh (30%), West Bengal (15%), Maharashtra (5%), as well as Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Assam.
• A significant portion of the total lac production, around 95%, is exported to countries such as the United States, Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
• Other animal products sourced from forests comprise honey, wax, silk moths, horns and hides of deceased animals, ivory, deer antlers, and more.

Around 3.5 million individuals are engaged in diverse forest-related activities, and approximately 2% of the government's total revenue is generated from forest resources, including foreign exchange earnings.