Forest and resources

3. Introduction
people began life on this planet as forest dwellers . They were
food gatherers and depended on the forests for all their
needs :food ,clothing and shelter. They gradually became
food growers and continued depending on forests for their
needs .
uses of forests :
•Economical uses
•Ecological uses

4. Economical uses
Fuel wood
For the rural population, wood is an important source of energy for
cooking and heating. They prefer smaller stems as these are easier to
collect and carry. The wood that they select should be easy to split and
have low moisture content to dry faster. Some of the wood is converted
to charcoal and used for cooking.
Fodder
Fodder from the forest forms an important source for cattle and other
grazing animals in the hilly and the arid regions and during a drought.
There are many varieties of grasses, trees, and shrubs that are
nutritious for the livestock. Care is taken to see that trees poisonous to
cattle are not grown. Trees that produce a large crown above the reach
of cattle are preferred.

5. Timber
used in the manufacture of plywood , saw-milling etc
Bamboo:
Uses as fodder ,timber substitues,and raw material for
basket,paper,pulp and small scale industries.
Cane:
Used to make walking sticks , polo sticks,baskets etc
Grasses:
Lemon grass,palmrose,khus grass are used for many food purposes.
Fruit:
Fruit tresss are a source of income and food for rural household.
Medicinal uses:
Even today man is dependent on the forest for herbs and plants to fight
against disease. Of all the medicinal trees found in India, the neem is the most
important. Leaves, bark, and other parts of many other trees also have
medicinal value and are used to make various ayurvedic medicines

6. Fibr
e:Soft fibres such as jute are derived from the stems of the plant. Hard fibre
from the leaves of hemp and sisal are used to make fabrics for various
applications. Coir, another form of fibre from the fruit of the coconut, is
used to make ropes.
Floss:
The fruits of many species of Indian trees produce a silky floss. The most
common of these is simal. It is used to made cotton wool, mattresses, and
pillows.
Essential oils :Oil is distilled from the wood of various species such as sandalwood,
agar, and pine. Oil is also derived from the leaves of certain plants and
trees such as eucalyptus, camphor, wintergreen, and pine. These oils are
used for making soaps, cosmetics, incense, pharmaceuticals, and
confectionery.

7. •Global warming is when the earth heats up (the temperature rises).
•It happens when greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap
heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, which increases the temperature.
•This gas, CO2, collects light and heat (radiant energy), produced by the sun, and this makes the earth
warmer.
•The heat and light from the sun is produced in the center of the sun. (The sun has layers just like the
earth.)
•Forests play a big part in keeping our planet cool.
•Global warming is caused by green house gases ,one of them is carbon dioxide.
•Trees “clean the air” by absorbing the carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen.
•Deforestation and other ill practices increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere ,enhancing the green-house effect.
•Deforestation also increases global temperatures also leading to a change in the
hydrological cycle.

8. Other
uses
Timber
supply
Honey
production
Cattle
grazing
Recreational
activities
(camping
,fishing etc)
Education
and
scientific
study
Floriculture
Eco-
tourism
Cultural

9. Ecological uses
•Fencing
Fences created with trees and shrubs are preferred in developing countries as
they are cheap to maintain yet give protection. Species that have thorns or are
prickly and have stiff branches and leaves that are not edible are preferred.
•Wind breaks and shelter belts
Trees grown for wind breaks should be bushy and sturdy to withstand strong
winds, both hot and cold.
A species of prosopis, called P. juliflora, planted along the desert border in Haryana
and Gujarat has successfully halted the advance of the desert.
•Soil erosion check
Tree roots bind the soil and prevent erosion caused by wind or water. Leaf fall also
provides a soil cover that further protects the soil. Casuarina planted along the coastal
region has helped in binding the sand and stabilizing the sand dunes in the area.
•Soil improvement
Some species of trees have the ability to return nitrogen to the soil through root
decomposition or fallen leaves. Such trees are planted to increase the nitrogen in the
soil.

10. Hydrological cycle
It is the journey water takes as it circulates from the land to the sky
and back again with various stages like
•Evaporation
•Transpiration
•Condensation
•Precipitation

11. •The role of forests in the water cycle is to add water to the atmosphere through the
process of transpiration (where they release water from their leaves during
photosynthesis).
•This moisture contributes to the formation of rain clouds which release the water back
on the rainforest.
•In the Amazon, 50-80% of moisture remains in the ecosystem's water cycle.
•When the forests are cut down, less moisture is goes into the atmosphere and rainfall
declines and sometimes leads to drought.

13. DEFORESTATION

14. Deforestation refers to the loss or destruction of naturally
occurring forests, primarily due to human activities such
as logging, cutting trees for fuel, slash-and-burn
agriculture, clearing land for livestock grazing, mining
operations, oil extraction, dam building, and urban sprawl
or other types of development and population expansion.

15. • COMMERCIAL USE
• OVER-POPULLATION
• FOREST FIRE
• OVER GRAZING
• SHIFTING CULTIVATION
• GROWING FOOD NEEDS
• TIMBER EXTRACTION

16. COMMERCIAL USE:
One main reason is that the wood in those trees are needed for human
consumption. The wood is used for making papers, cartons, furniture,
construction materials etc.
OVER-POPULATION:
With the world’s population growing by leaps and bounds, there is growing
demand for land use for residential, agricultural and commercial puroses.
FOREST FIRE:
It occurs in areas where there is little rainfall. Naturally occurring phenomena like
lighting can cause forest fires. Irresponsible behavior inside the forest like not
tending a camp fire or throwing a lighted cigarette is some of the reason for forest
fires.

17. OVER GRAZING:
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for
extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can
be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural
applications, or by overpopulations of native or non-native wild
animals.
ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS:
•Overgrazing typically increases soil erosion. Reduction in soil depth, soil
organic matter and soil fertility impair the land's future natural and
agricultural productivity.
•Soil fertility can sometimes be mitigated by applying the appropriate
lime and organic fertilizers.
•Native plant grass species, both individual bunch grasses and in
grasslands, are especially vulnerable.

18. SHIFTING OF CULTIVATION
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of
land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned.
This system often involves clearing of a piece of land followed by
several years of wood harvesting or farming, until the soil loses
fertility.
Once the land becomes inadequate for crop production, it is left to
be reclaimed by natural vegetation, or sometimes converted to a
different long-term cyclical farming practice.

19. GROWING FOOD NEEDS:
•The sudden outbreak of population over the last decade has resulted
in increasing demands the people . The need for food has also
increased due to the increase in population.
•To meet the ever rising demands of the people the existing
agricultural lands are not enough .There fore a large parts of the
forests have been cleared for the purpose of cultivation.
•As a result trees have been cut down which causes ecological
imbalance.
•Trees generaaly have the tendency to absorb the carbon dioxide
present in the atmosphere and maintain the carbon-oxygen cycle but
now due to the lack of trees there is a disruption in the cycle causing
high rates of carbon dioxide which causes the greenhouse effect and
rise in the average temperature of the surface of the earth.

20. Types
Clear felling
Reduced-
impact
logging
Hand
logging
Mechanized
logging
Selectively
logging

21. CLEAR FELLING:
Clear felling generally means complete destruction of the native forest,
modifying it by harvesting commercial trees to create an even aged group
and removing non commercial trees, if needed. Now, commercial timber
logging is being done through clear felling all over the world.
SELECTIVE LOGGING:
In selective logging, only large individual trees of a few economically
marketable species are harvested, leavin the others for the next harvest
season. Even so, the damage done may be as high as 50% of the total forest
area, due to the need of creating access routes, dragging cut trees to the forest
floor and lack of planning.

22. MECHANIZED LOGGING:
In mechanized logging, heavy machinery are used to pull, lift and transport the
trees. This process can be used in clear felling or selective logging operations.
HAND LOGGING:
Local people use hand logging for non-commercial felling of timber or for clearing the
forest for agriculture. They use hand held chain saws and the trees are pulled manually. This
method is used in peat-swamped forests, which are heavily water logged, and heavy
machinery movement is not possible.
REDUCED-IMPACT LOGGING:
Reduced impact logging is now a common feature in industrialized nations where
environmental damage can be minimized through the selection of site sensitive techniques
of harvesting and logging.

23. • FLOOD AND DROUGHTS
• SOIL EROTION
• DISRUPTION OF WATER CYCLE
• LOSS OF BIO-DIVERSITY
• CLIMATE CHANGE

24. One of the vital functions of forests is to absorb and store great amounts of water
quickly when there are heavy rains. When forests are cut down, this regulation of
the flow of water is disrupted, which leads to alternating periods of flood and then
drought in the affected area
FLOOD AND DROUGHTS:
SOIL EROSION:
Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they
quickly dry out making it very dry and eventually, infertile, due to volatile nutrients
such as nitrogen being lost. In addition, when there is rainfall, it washes away the
rest of the nutrients, which flow with the rainwater into waterways. This causes soil
erosion.

25. DISRUPTION OF WATER CYCLE:
Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the
atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly
become barren deserts.
LOSS OF BIO-DIVERSITY:
Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the
sun’s rays during the day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more
extreme temperatures swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.

26. CLIMATE CHANGE:
It is well known that global warming is being caused largely due to emissions of
greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, what is not
known quite as well is that deforestation has a direction association with carbon
dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Trees act as a major storage depot for carbon,
since they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is then used to
produce carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that make up trees. When deforestation
occurs, many of the trees are burnt or they are allowed to rot, which results in
releasing the carbon that is stored in them as carbon dioxide. This, in turn, leads to
greater concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

28. MINING?
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or
other geological materials from the earth, usually from
an ore body, vein or (coal) seam. Materials recovered by
mining include base metals , precious metals
, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock
salt and potash. Any material that cannot be grown
through agricultural processes, or created artificially in
a laboratory or factory, is usually mined. Mining in a wider
sense comprises extraction of any non- renewablE
resource (e.g., petroleum, natural gas, or even water).

29. PLACER HYDRAULIC
OPEN PIT HARD ROCK

30. Placer mining involves any type of
mining where raw minerals are
deposited in sand or gravel or on
the surface and are picked up
without having to drive, use
dynamite or any other significant
means. The word placer means
"sand bank" in Spanish.
PLACER MINING

31. HYDRAULIC MINING:
Hydraulic mining involves high
pressure water. The water is
sprayed at an area of rock
and/or gravel and the water
breaks the rock up, dislodging
ore and placer deposits. The
water/ore
mixture is then milled. This is a
very destructive way to mine
and has been outlawed in most
areas.

32. HARD ROCK
Hard rock mining entails digging
into solid rock to fine minerals
usually in their ore form (the metal
plus oxygen). To do this, miners
used picks and shovels, rock drills,
dynamite and more
Miners dug either shafts that went
straight down to follow ore bodies and
veins, or tunnels which went somewhat
horizontal into rock faces. Most shaft or
tunnel mines would eventually flood as
they hit the water table and water would
have to be continually pumped out.
Sometimes there was so much water
they had to abandon the mines.

33. OPEN PIT
Open pit mines involve digging large
open holes in the ground as opposed to
a small shaft in hard rock mining.
Open pit mines are very large
and devastate the surrounding
landscape as can be seen in
this picture of the Bingham
Canyon Mine near Tooele, Utah.
Mining operations of this scale
were not done too often in the
19th century.

36. Effecton environment:
Mining requireslarge areas of land to be clearedso that theearthcouldbe duginto by the miners.Forthisreason,large
scale deforestationis required to be carriedoutin the areaswheremining has to be done.Besidesclearing themining area,
vegetation in the adjoiningareas alsoneedsto be cut in orderto constructroadsand residential facilitiesfor themine
workers.The humanpopulationbringsalong with it otheractivitiesthat harmthe environment.
LossofBiodiversity: The foreststhat are clearedfor mining purposesare home to a large numberof organisms.
Indiscriminateclearing of the forestsleadto lossof habitat of a largenumberof animals.The cutting down of treesin itself
is a big threat to a number of plantsand treesgrowing in the forests.
Pollution: Despite measures beingtaken to release the chemicalwaste intothe nearbyriversthrough pipes,a large amount
of chemicalsstill leakoutontothe land.This changesthe chemicalcompositionof the land.Besidesthis,since the chemicals
are poisonous,they makethesoilunsuitable for plantsto grow.

37. EFFECT ON WATER:
Pollution: Chemicals like mercury,cyanide,sulphuricacid,arsenicand methylmercuryare usedin various
stagesof mining.Most of the chemicals are releasedintonearbywaterbodiesthat leadsto waterpollution.In
spite of tailings(pipes) being usedto dispose these chemicalsinto thewaterbodies,possibilitiesof leakage are
alwaysthere.Whenthe leakedchemicalsslowlypercolatethrough thelayersof the earth,theyreachthe
groundwater and pollute it.
LossofAquaticLife: Release of toxicchemicalsintothe wateris obviouslyharmfulfor thefloraand fauna of the
waterbodies.Besidesthe pollution,miningprocessesuse water fromnearbywatersources.The resultis that the
watercontent of the riveror lake fromwhichwateris beingusedgetsreduced.Organismsin these waterbodies
do not have enough water for their survival.

38. SPREAD OF DISEASES:
Sometimestheliquidwastethatis generatedafterthemetalsor mineralshavebeen
extractedisdisposedina miningpit.As the pitgetsfilledup by theminetailings,
theybecomea stagnantpoolof water.Thisbecomesthebreedinggroundforwater-
bornediseasescausinginsectsandorganismslikemosquitoesto flourish.
The effectsinsuchcasescanbe devastatingforthe environment.Be it dueto
ignoranceof theregulationsor justa freakaccident, incidentsliketheGuyanaspillof
1995highlightsthefactthatissueslikehowdoesminingaffecttheenvironmentare
worthsomeseriousdeliberation.