FOREST AND WILDLIFE CLASS 10 (NCERT) NOTES

Planet Bio-Diversity:

Millions of living beings, 

• From micro-organisms and bacteria, 
• Lichens to banyan trees, 
• Elephants and blue whales. 

Ecological Web:

Humans along with all living organisms form a complex web of ecological systems 

• we are only a part and 
• very much dependent on this system for our own existence. 

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. 

Forest (Ecological System)

• Important role in the ecological system 
• Primary producers on which all other living beings depend.

Biodiversity or Biological Diversity 

• Rich in wildlife and cultivated species, 
• Diverse in form and function but closely integrated in a system through multiple network of interdependencies.

Flora and Fauna in India

• Some animals and plants which are unique in your area. 
• India is the world's richest country in terms of biological diversity. 

Note: Many more yet to be discovered

Environment understress:

Diverse flora and fauna - integrated in our daily life 

• People take them for granted. 
• Environment comes under great stress (insensitivity)

Conservation of Forest and Wildlife in India

Rapid decline in wildlife population and forestry

• Required conservation

Why Conservation: 

• Preserves ecological diversity and 
• Our life support systems – water, air and soil. 
• Preserves genetic diversity of plants and animals for better growth of species and breeding. 

For example

• In agriculture - Still dependent on traditional crop varieties. 
• Fisheries - Heavily dependent on the maintenance of aquatic biodiversity.

Conservation Efforts:

In the 1960s and 1970s 

• Conservationists demanded a national wildlife protection programme. 

Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972:

Obj: 

Provisions for protecting habitats. 

All- India list of protected species was also published. 

Protection of certain endangered species by: 

• Banning hunting, 
• Giving legal protection to their habitats, and 
• Restricting trade in wildlife. 

Efforts By Central and State Governments:

• Established national parks and wildlife sanctuaries 

Projects: The central government announced several projects for: 

Protecting specific animals, 

Gravely threatened, 

• Including the tiger, 
• The one- horned rhinoceros, 
• The Kashmir stag or hangul, 
• Three types of crocodiles – freshwater crocodile, saltwater crocodile and the Gharial, 
• The Asiatic lion, and others. 

Most recently, 

• The Indian elephant, 
• Black buck (chinkara), 
• The great Indian bustard (godawan) and 
• The snow leopard, etc. 

Note: Given full or partial legal protection against hunting and trade throughout India.

Project Tiger

Fauna Web:

Key wildlife species in the faunal web. 

Decline in Tiger Population:

In 1973, authorities realized - tiger population declined to 1,827 from an estimated 55,000 at the turn of the century. 

Threats to tiger population:

• 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 Asian countries, left the tiger population on the verge of extinction. 

India and Nepal Habitat:

About two-thirds of the surviving tiger population in the world, 

These two nations became prime targets for poaching and illegal trading.

“Project Tiger” 1973:

Well- publicised wildlife campaigns in the world, 

Tiger conservation 

• Effort to save an endangered species, 
• Equal importance as a means of preserving biotypes of sizeable magnitude. 

Tiger reserves of India:

• 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

Wildlife Act of 1980 and 1986:

• several hundred butterflies, 
• moths, beetles, and 
• one dragonfly 

Have been added to the list of protected species. 

In 1991, 

For the first time plants were also added to the list, 

• Starting with six species.

Types and Distribution of Forest and Wildlife Resources

Conservation is difficult to: 

• Manage, 
• Control and 
• Regulate them. 

In India,

Mostly forest and wildlife resources: 

• 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. 
• Most valuable for conservation of forest and wildlife resources 

(ii) Protected Forests: 

• Almost one-third of the total forest area is protected forest (declared by the Forest Department)
• This forest land are protected from any further depletion.

(iii) Unclassed Forests: 

Other forests and wastelands belong to both: 

• Government and 
• Private individuals and communities.

Reserved and protected forests 

Referred to as permanent forest estates maintained for: 

• Producing timber and 
• Other forest produce, and 
• For protective reasons. 

Total forest area: 

Madhya Pradesh - largest area under permanent forests, 

• constituting 75 per cent of its total forest area. 

Large percentage of reserved forests (total forest area):

• Jammu and Kashmir, 
• Andhra Pradesh, 
• Uttarakhand, 
• Kerala, 
• Tamil Nadu, 
• West Bengal, and Maharashtra 

Bulk area under protected forests:

• Bihar, 
• Haryana, 
• Punjab, 
• Himachal Pradesh, 
• Odisha and 
• Rajasthan 

Bulk area under unclassed forests (managed by local communities)

• All North- eastern states and 
• Parts of Gujarat 

Community and Conservation

Traditional communities home:

Forests are also home to some of the traditional communities. 

Conservation by Local communities:

In some areas 

• local communities are struggling to conserve these habitats along with government officials. 
• To secure their own long-term livelihood. 

Example:

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 
• Rejecting government involvement. 

Example:

Bhairodev Dakav ‘Sonchuri’

The inhabitants of five villages in the Alwar district of Rajasthan declared: 

1,200 hectares of forest as the Bhairodev Dakav ‘Sonchuri’, 

Their own set of rules and regulations 

• Banned hunting, and 
• Protecting the wildlife against any outside encroachments.

Example:

Chipko movement

In the Himalayas this movement successfully resisted:

• Protect deforestation 
• Community afforestation with indigenous species

Other attempts for conservation:

Attempts to revive: 

• Traditional conservation methods or 
• Developing new methods of ecological farming are now widespread.

Example:

Beej Bachao Andolan:

Farmers and citizen’s groups like: 

The Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehri and Navdanya 

shown adequate levels of diversified crop production without: 

• the use of synthetic chemicals are possible and 
• economically viable.

India joint forest management (JFM)

Programme furnishes a good example for 

• Involving local communities in the management and 
• Restoration of degraded forests. 

Formal existence since 1988: 

• when Odisha passed the first resolution for joint forest management. 

Mutual benefit:

Forest:

Depends on the formation of local (village) institutions: 

• Undertake protection on degraded forest land managed by the forest department. 

Members:

Entitled to intermediary benefits like: 

• Non-timber forest produces and 
• share in the timber harvested by ‘successful protection’.

Natural resource management

The clear lesson from the dynamics of both 

• Environmental destruction and 
• Reconstruction in India 

local communities everywhere have to be involved in some kind of natural resource management. 

Limitations:

Still a long way to go: 

• Before local communities are at the centre-stage in decision-making. 

Accept only those economic or developmental activities, that are: 

• People centric, 
• Environment-friendly and 
• Economically rewarding.

Sacred groves

Ecological Wealth:

A wealth of diverse and rare species

Nature worship: 

An age old tribal belief that all creations of nature have to be protected. 

Preserve Forests:

Several virgin forests in pristine form called Sacred Groves (the forests of God and Goddesses). 

• These patches of forest or parts of large forests left untouched by the local people and 
• Any interference is banned.

Revere a Particular Tree:

Societies revere a particular tree from time immemorial. 

Examples:

The Mundas and the Santhal of Chota Nagpur region worship: 

• mahua (Bassia latifolia) and 
• kadamba (Anthocaphalus cadamba) trees, 

The tribals of Odisha and Bihar worship 

• Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) and 
• Mango (Mangifera indica) trees during weddings. 

Others:

To many of us, 

• Peepal and banyan trees are considered sacred.

Cultural and Conservation:

• Indian society comprises several cultures, 
• Each with its own set of traditional methods of conserving nature and its creations. 

Sacred qualities ascribed to: 

• Springs, 
• Mountain peaks, 
• Plants and animals 

Are closely protected. 

Conservation about Temples:

Troops of macaques and langurs around temples. 

They were fed daily and 

Treated as a part of temple devotees. 

Example:

In and around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of:

• blackbuck, (chinkara), 
• nilgai and 
• peacocks 

Seen as an integral part of the community and nobody harms them.