THE FOREST

A forest is land covered with trees. Many different

kinds of trees grow in a forest. There are different
kinds of forests. Forests do not grow in deserts or
plains or in the North and South Pole regions.
 TYPES OF FOREST
Tropical rainforests 
 
Sub-tropical forests 
Mediterranean forests 
Temperate forests
Coniferous forests 
Montane forests
 Tropical rainforests 
• Year-round high temperatures and abundant
rainfall makes this a dense, lush forest.
Tropical rainforests are found near the
equator. They are vital storehouses of
biodiversity on the planet, and yet face severe
threat today, with much of their original
extent depleted.
 Sub-tropical forests 
• These are found to the sound and north of the
tropical forests. The trees here are adapted to
resist the summer drought.
 Mediterranean forests 
• These forests are found to the south of the
temperate regions around the coasts of the
Mediterranean, California, Chile and Western
Australia. The growing season is short and
almost all trees are evergreen, but mixed
hardwood and softwood.
 Temperate forests 
• Found in such places as eastern North
America, northeastern Asia, and western and
eastern Europe, temperate forests are a mix
of deciduous and coniferous evergreen trees.
Usually, the broad-leaved hardwood trees
shed leaves annually. There are well-defined
seasons with a distinct winter and sufficient
rainfall.
 Coniferous forests
• Coniferous forests inhabit the cold, windy
regions around the poles. There are both
hardwoods and conifers found in this region.
The conifers are evergreen and structurally
adapted to withstand the long drought-like
conditions of the long winters, whereas the
hardwoods are deciduous.
 Montane forests
• These are also known as cloud forests because
they receive most of their precipitation from
the mist or fog that comes up from the
lowlands. Some of these montane woodlands
and grasslands are found in high-elevation
tropical, subtropical and temperate zones.
Plants and animals in these forests are
adapted to withstanding the cold, wet
conditions and intense sunlight. Trees are
mainly conifers.
 Plants
 Plant, any member of the plant kingdom,
comprising about 260,000 known species
of mosses, liverworts, ferns, herbaceous
and woody plants, bushes, vines, trees, and
various other forms that mantle the Earth
and are also found in its waters. Plants
range in size and complexity.
 ANIMALS
Animal, multicellular organism that
obtains energy by eating food. With
over 2 million known species, and many
more awaiting identification, animals
are the most diverse forms of life on
earth. Animals are the only living things
that have evolved nervous systems and
sense organs that monitor their
surroundings. They are also the only
forms of life that show flexible patterns
of behavior that can be shaped by past
experience.
 Importance of Forests

• Forest products are used in our daily lives All

these and many more activities directly or
indirectly involve forests. Some are easy to
figure out - fruits, paper and wood from trees,
and so on; others are more difficult - by-
products that go into the manufacture of
other everyday items like medicines,
detergents, etc.
Forests, air & climate
 Forests, air & climate
• Forests as Earth's air purifiers
• Just as our lungs absorb carbon dioxide from the
blood and infuse it with oxygen, green plants
absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis
and release oxygen into the atmosphere in
return. 
This is why forests are often referred to as the
Earth's lungs. This epithet is most widely used
with regard to the Amazon rainforests, the
world's largest surviving tropical forest.
 Carbon guzzlers
We all know about photosynthesis - the production of energy in
the presence of light by chlorophyll - containing plant parts for
the subsistence of the organism. Carbon dioxide, the major
greenhouse gas, is a major requirement of photosynthesis.

This suits us just fine as it means forests form an effective sink

for the carbon dioxide produced as a result of animal
respiration, burning of fossil fuels, volcanoes and other natural
and human-induced phenomenon. 

And if that is not all, a by-product of photosynthesis is oxygen. 

Thus, the Amazon forests are the Earth's air purifiers, given the
large amounts of carbon dioxide they absorb from the
atmosphere.
 Logging and accidental fires: Not so innocent

Deforestation had been the major culprit in the disappearing forest cover. 

However, in a study published in Nature in late 2004, researchers say that the
forest is disappearing faster than we think, as logging and accidental fires -
which were assumed to have minimal impact - are not taken into account in
standard calculations.

According to the study, logging practices and wild fires destroy as much or
perhaps more annually than deforestation in the Amazon. 

This affects more communities than earlier estimated. In fact, humans may
be eliminating the Amazon rainforests at twice the rate we earlier thought.
Forests as habitat
 Forests as habitat
• A home for countless species
• Although the ocean was the original home of all life of Earth,
forests, as they themselves evolved, quickly became home to a
vast majority of land based creatures... including early man.
• Natural home to biodiversity
Today, the vast amount of diverse life that can be found in forests is
evidenced by the startling statistics that accompany any analysis of
a rainforest.
Although only covering 6% of the planet's surface, these lush green,
often tropical masses contain around 50% of plant and animal
species on this planet. In one square kilometre of rainforest, you
can often find more types of life than can be found in an equivalent
1,000 km2 in colder, more northern climes.
 Forests support diverse life... 
A forest can provide 3 of the key ingredients to a
species' survival: water, food, and shelter.

...by gathering water...

All forests are great collectors and storerooms
of water. Their root structure holds together the
soil, and their leaf litter gets broken down and
combined with minerals to form the equivalent
of gigantic sponges - slowly releasing water into
surrounding areas at a dependable rate.
 ...originating and supporting food chains...
A forest is home to many types plants, which are the
food source for many types of animals, which are, in
their turn, also sources of food for other animals. 

And, as these animals and plants die, they in turn

become food sources for the plants that again become
food sources for the animals.

This circle of life, the linkages between all animals and

all plants, is often referred to as "the web of life" - a
reference to the common dependencies between all
life in an ecosystem.
  providing shelter 
Shelter is the last of the triumvirate. Trees take on the
worst (and the best) of the elements: wind, sun, rain,
temperature. 

By taking the brunt of these elements, under their

cover they can lessen the impacts of too strong a sun,
of destructively heavy rainfall, of lessening the vagaries
of temperature change, and taking the punch out of
strong winds. 

In providing so many benefits, a plethora of both plants

and animals alike have adapted to and taken shelter
underneath the protective canopies of trees.
 Forests as homes for life are disappearing 

Consider so much life depends on and lives in

forests, the fact that forest cover is now a
fraction of what it used to be even a few
hundred years ago, it stands to reason that
there is less space for this diversity of life to live
in, and increasingly greater contact with
encroaching humans. 
 Increasing human-wildlife conflicts 

Animals that normally live within the boundaries

of a shrinking forest are forced to come out and
look for food. 

This often brings them into conflict with human

settlements that are often situated near forests
(because forests provide food and water). 
Forests and people
 Forests and people
• Stormy relationship
• Concrete jungles, factories spewing smoke, crowded
roads crammed with traffic - certainly, humankind
has come a long way from its humble beginnings.
• Plants themselves have been around for over 450
million years, starting with simple forms of single -
layers of cells. But today they are among the most
complex of life systems. And also the oldest and most
successful. Imagine - the first plants stood upright
about 420 million years before the first animals could!
 Evolution of humans 

It is widely believed that early human species evolved in and

around the African rainforests between four and six million
years ago. 

Even today, our closest relatives, the great apes, live there - one
of the most productive, if difficult, ecosystems on the planet.

Recent fossil discoveries, however, pin the figure closer to four

billion years, when the first bipedal ancestors of Homo
sapiens made the wooded grasslands of East Africa their home.
The forest offered them food in the form of plants and animals,
and water. 

After the discovery of fire, wood was used for burning, and later
on for making tools. As life evolved, they started clearing land
for agriculture and to set up more and more advanced
settlements.
 An emotional bond?

Human beings and forests have always had a complex relationship. We have
depended on forests as long as we have inhabited the planet - getting clean
air to breathe, food and water from it, fuel, shade and shelter, and now we
need it for economic gain as well.

Early humans were known to worship trees, and even today, in some parts of
the world, forests are regarded as places of awe, with spirits attributed to be
living there. 

The worship of forests, plants and animals, and appeasing of animal and tree
spirits are still quite common in some cultures, and the forest is treated with
the kind of respect reserved for divine objects.

Yet we have been taking continuously from the forest to feed the ever -
growing need for wood, and wood and non - wood products, to provide land
for the burgeoning population for housing and cultivation.
 The forest-people equation

Today, the ecosystem that gave us life is under severe threat.

Early humans were hunter - gatherers, and later farmers, and
because the population was small, the impact on the
environment was minimal. 

But in the past couple of thousand years, the growing demands

of an ever - increasing human population has halved the Earth's
original forest cover. Great Britain was almost completely
covered in forest at one time - today, it has a forest cover of
around 10%!

Forests are the Earth's largest and most productive ecosystem,

and trees their most visible and important constituent.
Humankind's past is linked to the forest, and it is easy to see
how its survival will map our future as well.
Economic uses of forests
 Economic uses of forests

• Finite benefits
• It is estimated that forest products contribute about 1% of world
gross domestic product (GDP).
• The annual turnover of timber and other wood products from
forests is valued at more than US$200 billion¹. Apart from that,
non-timber products like rubber, cotton, medicinal products, food
and so on represent significant economic value. 
Even more important is fuel wood and fodder, especially in
developing nations, where people depend on wood almost entirely
for their household energy.
• Given the immense economic benefit of forests, the demand for
commercial timber and other products is ever increasing, and
expected to rise by 50% by 2010. Already, there are signs growing
shortage of tropical hardwoods.
 A dwindling resource

While over-harvesting of timber is usually identified as the main

cause of deforestation, it is just one of the many reasons. Others
include:increasing human population and the need to feed and
sustain them;
agriculture, including the demand for cultivation of cash crops;
mining;
water storage;
and urbanisation and related activities shoulder much of the
blame.
As for fuel wood, it is estimated that by 2010, most of the 3
billion people who depend on it for their daily living will find it
hard to obtain. 

Already, rural families spend precious hours in collecting

firewood instead of other productive work, something that
causes losses to the tune of US$ 50 billion to the world
economy.
Economic uses of Forests
 Timber: Types of wood

The terms hardwood and softwood are often

used in relation to timber. These refer not to
how soft or hard the wood is, but to the
structure of the trees. In fact, certain
hardwoods, for instance, poplar, are 'softer'
than softwoods like pine!
 Hardwoods
The scientific term for a hardwood tree is angiospermae. This means the plant encases
its seeds in seed cases. They are of two types,monocotyledoneae (whose seed cases
have a single lobe) anddicotyledoneae (two lobes). Hardwoods are generally broad -
leaved trees, and are deciduous. 

Some hardwoods and their uses:

Mahogany Quality furniture such as cabinets; boat construction; wood facings and
veneers. 
Walnut Gunstocks, solid and veneered furniture, novelties, cabinetry and wall
panelling. 

Oak Furniture, trimming, boat framing, desks and flooring. 

Maple Flooring, fine furniture and wood - ware such as bowling alleys.

Cherry Cabinet making, boat trim, novelties. 

Rosewood Musical instruments, piano cases, tool handles, art projects, veneers and
furniture. 

Teak Fine furniture, panelling, shipbuilding, doors, window frames, flooring and

general construction.
 Softwoods
Softwoods are generally coniferous, evergreen trees, found in colder, northern climes.
They are known as gymnospermae, which means their seeds are 'naked', and not
covered by a seed case or pod. Coniferous softwoods form the major part of the
world's commercial timber. 

Some important softwoods and their uses:

Pine House construction, panelling, trim, furniture, moulding and boxes. 

Hemlock Construction lumber, planks, doors, boards, panelling, sub - flooring and

crates. 

Fir Furniture, doors, frames, windows, plywood, veneer, general mill - work and
interior trim. 

Redwood Outdoor furniture, fencing, house siding, interior finishing, veneers and

panelling. 

Spruce Masts and spars for ships, aircraft, crates, boxes, general mill - work and
ladders. 

Cedar Chest making, closet lining, shingles, posts, dock planks, novelties and Venetian
blinds.
 LIST OF ORGANISATIONS IN INDIA
• CSE - Centre for Science and Environment, New
Delhi, India.
• Environmental Organizations and Resource Perso
ns in Tamil Nadu
• Gujarat Pollution Control Board
• Ministry of Environment and Forests
• The Energy and Resources Institute
• Central Pollution Control Board
• National Productivity Council
THANK YOU