Conservation of Forests

1. THE MISSION

The student has to play the role of a forest conservationist and is assigned the role of curbing deforestation in a particular area of a forest as wood hunters have started to cut trees in large numbers in the forest for various purposes such as paper, wood, building homes etc. The player has to draw a fence around the forest to protect them from cutting trees, assigning people to guard the forest and also plant as many trees as possible to promote reforestation. The forest area and trees to be planted can be of the player’s liking.

2. CONCEPTS

Before delving deeper into understanding the effects of deforestation and the importance as well as ways to conserve forests, lets discuss about the types of forests and the importance of forests in the preservation of habitat.

1. Types of forest

Simply defined, a forest is a large group of trees. Forests cover about 30 percent of the earth’s surface. They exist in dry, wet, freezing cold, and scorching hot climates. A forest ecosystem is a community of organisms living in a forest. There are three types of forests that are explained briefly below:

• Evergreen Forest: An evergreen forest is a forest consisting entirely or mainly of evergreen trees that retain green foliage/leaves all year round. They occupy about seven per cent of the Earth’s surface and harbour more than half of the world’s plants and animals. They are found mostly near the equator. These forests are dense and harbour many types of plants and animals. The trees in an evergreen forest have broad leaves that release excess water through transpiration. In India, evergreen forests are found in the Western Ghats in the states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka. They are also found in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Deciduous Forest: Forests where a majority of the trees lose their foliage at the end of the typical growing season are called deciduous forests. Deciduous forests are found in several parts of the world including North America, Europe, New- Zealand, Australia, and Asia. These forests go through a lot of seasonal changes and are specially adapted to withstand these environmental changes throughout the year. Trees found in a deciduous forest vary by region, but generally include species such as oak, beech, walnut, maple, chestnut and hickory. Deciduous forests grow in areas where rainfall is sufficient to support tree growth. Deciduous forests are well suited to deal with extremes in temperatures. After losing leaves in winter, the trees enter a period of dormancy until the warmer weather returns and the growing season is once again underway.
• Coniferous Forest: Coniferous forests are made up mainly of cone-bearing or coniferous trees, such as spruces, hemlocks, pines and firs. The leaves of these trees are either small and needle-like or scale-like and most stay green all year around. Coniferous forests are found mainly in the northern hemisphere, although some are found in the southern hemisphere. Coniferous trees thrive where summers are short and cool and winters long and harsh. The needle-like leaves have a waxy outer coat which prevents water loss in freezing weather and the branches are soft and flexible and usually point downwards, so that snow slides off them. The temperate coniferous rainforests sustain the highest levels of biomass in any terrestrial ecosystem and are notable for trees of massive proportions

1. Importance of forests

Forests are very important for our planet and survival. Some of the important aspects of forests are:

• The forest plays an important role in maintaining the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As we know, plants make use of process of photosynthesis for their food nutrition requirement by consume Carbon Dioxide, released by the living organism from the environment. As a result of photosynthesis, plants release oxygen which is again consumed by living beings for respiration and this cycle goes on. The forests prevent floods in many ways.
• The forest acts as a natural absorber of rainwater and allows it to seep. In deep forest, during heavy rain, the raindrops do not hit the forest floor directly. The uppermost layer of the forest canopy intercepts the flow of raindrops, making its impact slow. On the ground it is absorbed by heaps of decaying leaves etc. In the absence of trees in the forest, rain may hit the ground directly and may flood the area around it. Heavy rain may also damage the soil. Roots of trees normally bind the soil together, but in their absence the soil is washed away or eroded. The forests are perfect recycling factories of nature. Here nothing goes waste.
• Forest is a system comprising various plants, animals and microorganisms. The various components of the forest are interdependent on one another. All animals, whether herbivores or carnivores, depend ultimately on plants for food. Organisms which feed on plants often get eaten by other organisms, and so on. For example, grass is eaten by insects, which in turn, is taken by the frog. The frog is consumed by snakes. This is said to form a food chain. Many food chains can be found in the forest. All food chains are linked.

1. Deforestation and its causes

As we are aware of the fact that forest plays such important role in the ecosystem but there are threats that causes harm to the forest. We know that a great variety of plants and animals exists on earth and they are essential for the wellbeing and survival of mankind. Today, a major threat to survival of these organisms is deforestation. Deforestation means clearing of forests and using that land for other purposes. Trees in the forest are cut for some of the purposes mentioned below:

• Procuring land for cultivation
• Building houses and factories
• Making furniture or using wood as fuel
• Increase in the temperature of the earth, i.e., global warming
• Change in the physical properties of soil
• A decrease in groundwater level
• Natural causes like forest fires, droughts, etc

1. Consequences of deforestation

Deforestation increases the temperature and pollution level on the earth. It increases the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Ground water level also gets lowered. They know that deforestation disturbs the balance in nature. It is a well-known fact that if cutting of trees continues, rainfall and the fertility of the soil will decrease. Recall that plants need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Fewer trees would mean that less carbon dioxide will be used up resulting in its increased amount in the atmosphere. This will lead to global warming as carbon dioxide traps the heat rays reflected by the earth. The increase in temperature on the earth disturbs the water cycle and may reduce rainfall. This could cause droughts. Deforestation is a major cause which leads to the change in soil properties. Physical properties of the soil get affected by plantation and vegetation. Fewer trees result in more soil erosion. Removal of the top layer of the soil exposes the lower, hard and rocky layers. This soil has less humus and is less fertile. Gradually the fertile land gets converted into deserts. It is called desertification.

Deforestation also leads to a decrease in the water holding capacity of the soil. The movement of water from the soil surface into the ground (infiltration rate) is reduced. So, there are floods. The other properties of the soil like nutrient content, texture, etc., will also change because of deforestation.

1. Conservation of forests

There are various ways in which we can conserve and save our forests. Some of the ways are as follows:

• Planting more and more saplings and trees
• Don’t throw garbage on the streets and keeping our environment clean
• Forbidding others to cut trees
• Making people aware of the significance of a clean and green environment
• Watering the plants regularly and taking proper care of them

Reusing and recycling paper to save trees, energy, and water