GEOGRAPHY LESSON -2 CLASS X

Forest and Wildlife Resources

Q1. What is biodiversity? Why is biodiversity important for human lives?
ANS: Biological Diversity is immensely rich in wildlife and cultivated species, diverse in form and
function but closely integrated in a system through multiple networks of interdependencies.
1. We share this planet with millions of other living beings, starting from micro- organisms and
bacteria, lichens to banyan trees, elephants and blue whales.
2. This entire habitat that we live in has immense biodiversity.
3. We humans along with all living organisms form a complex web of ecological system in which we
are only a part and very much dependent on this system for our own existence.
4. For example, 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.
Q2. How have human activities affected the depletion of flora and fauna? Explain.
ANS: Human activities have significantly contributed to the depletion of flora and fauna
through various means, including deforestation, pollution, urbanization, and
overexploitation of resources. These actions lead to habitat destruction, loss of
biodiversity, and ultimately, the extinction of species.
i. Deforestation: Clearing forests for agriculture, logging, and development removes
natural habitats essential for countless species, leading to population
declines and even extinctions.
ii. Urbanization and infrastructure development: As cities expand and infrastructure like
roads, railways, and dams are built, natural habitats are destroyed or fragmented.
iii. Agriculture: Expansion of agricultural lands, including large-scale commercial farming
and small-scale farms, often leads to the conversion of forests and
grasslands into farmlands, reducing the available habitat for wildlife.
iv. Over-hunting and poaching: Hunting for trade, sport, or perceived medicinal
properties can decimate populations of vulnerable species.
Q3. Describe how communities have conserved and protected forests and wildlife in India?

ANS: 1. In Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, villagers have fought against mining by citing the Wildlife
Protection Act.
In many areas, villagers themselves are protecting habitats and explicitly rejecting government
involvement.
2.The inhabitants of five villages in the Alwar district of Rajasthan have declared 1,200 hectares of forest
as the Bhairodev Dakav ‘Sonchuri’, declaring their own set of rules and regulations which do not allow
hunting, and are protecting the wildlife against any outside encroachments.
3.The famous Chipko movement in the Himalayas has not only successfully resisted deforestation in
several areas but has also shown that community afforestation with indigenous species can be enormously
successful.
Attempts to revive the traditional conservation methods or developing new methods of ecological farming
are now widespread.
4.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 chemicals are possible and
economically viable.

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 5.In India joint forest management (JFM) programme furnishes a good example for involving local
communities in the management and restoration of degraded
forests.
-The programme has been in formal existence since 1988 when the state of Odisha passed the first
resolution for joint forest management.
- JFM depends on the formation of local (village) institutions that undertake protection activities mostly on
degraded forest land managed by the forest department.
-In return, the members of these communities are entitled to intermediary benefits like non-timber forest
produces and share in the timber harvested by ‘successful protection’.
Q4. What are the steps taken by Government to conserve flora and fauna of the country?
• To protect flora and fauna, the Indian wildlife protection Act was implemented in 1972, with various
provisions for protecting habitats.
• An all–India list of protected species was also published. The main aim of the program was towards
protecting the remaining population of certain endangered species by banning hunting, giving legal
protection to their habitats and restricting trade in wildlife.
• Central and many stage governments established national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
• The central government announced several projects for protecting specific animals, which were gravely
threatened, including the tiger, the one horned rhinoceros, the Kashmir stag etc.
• Most recently, the Indian elephant, black buck, the great Indian bustard and the snow leopard, etc. have
been full or partial legal protection against hunting and trade throughout India.

Q5. “Forests play a key role in the ecological system.” Highlight the value of forests in our life.
Ans. Importance of Forests:
 Forests play a key role in the ecological system as these are the primary producers on which all other
living beings depend.
 It supports diverse flora and fauna which are part of our life.
 It provides us with fruits, flowers, medicine, wood, etc.
Q6. Why do we need to conserve our biodiversity?
Answer: Conservation of biodiversity is necessary because it:
1. Preserves the ecological diversity.
2. Preserves our life support systems, i.e., water, air and soil.
3. Preserves the genetic diversity of plants and animals for better growth and breeding of species.
4. Fisheries too are heavily dependent on the maintenance of aquatic biodiversity.
Q7. Which agency manages forests in India? Name three broad categories in which the forests are classified.
Explain.

ANS: In India, much of its forest and wildlife resources are either owned or managed by the government
through the Forest Department or other government departments.
These are classified under the following categories.
(i) 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 are 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.

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(ii) Protected Forests: Almost one-third of the total forest area is protected forest, as declared by the
Forest Department. This forest land are protected from any further depletion.
- Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan have a bulk of it
under protected forests
iii) Unclassed Forests: These are other forests and wastelands belonging to both
government and private individuals and communities.
-All North eastern states and parts of Gujarat have a very high percentage of
their forests as unclassed forests managed by local communities.
(iii) permanent forest: Reserved and protected forests are also referred to as permanent forest estates
maintained for the purpose of producing timber and other forest produce, and for protective reasons.

-Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under permanent forests, constituting 75 per
cent of its total forest area.

MUST READ
Project Tiger
Tiger is one of the key wildlife species in the faunal web. In 1973, the authorities realised that the
tiger population had dwindled to 1,827 from an estimated 55,000 at the turn of the century. The
major threats to tiger population are numerous, such as poaching for trade, shrinking habitat,
depletion of prey base species, growing human population, etc.
The trade of tiger skins and the use of their bones in traditional medicines, especially in the Asian
countries left the tiger population on the verge of extinction.
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 well-publicised 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 and Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala are some of the tiger reserves of India.

Sacred groves - a wealth of diverse and rare species

Nature worship is an age-old tribal belief based on the premise that all creations of nature have to
be protected. Such beliefs have preserved several virgin forests in pristine form called Sacred
Groves (the forests of God and Goddesses).
These patches of forest or parts of large forests have been left untouched by the local people and
any interference with them is banned.
Certain societies revere a particular tree which they have preserved from time immemorial.
The Mundas and the Santhal of Chota Nagpur region worship mahua (Bassia latifolia) and
kadamba (Anthocaphalus cadamba) trees, and the tribals of Odisha and Bihar worship the tamarind
(Tamarindus indica) and mango (Mangifera indica) trees during weddings.
To many of us, peepal and banyan trees are considered sacred.

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Indian society comprises several cultures, each with its own set of traditional methods of conserving
nature and its creations.
Sacred qualities are often ascribed to springs, mountain peaks, plants and animals which are closely
protected.
You will find troops of macaques and langurs around many temples.
They are fed daily and treated as a part of temple devotees.
In and around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of blackbuck, (chinkara), nilgai and peacocks can
be seen as an integral part of the community and nobody harms them.

“The tree is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence and makes no demand for its
sustenance, and extends generously the products of its life activity. It affords protection to all beings,
offering shade even to the axemen who destroy it”.
Gautama Buddha (487 B.C.)
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