Indian Forest Wealth
Table of Contents
Page No.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER II THE FORESTS 4 CHAPTER III FOREST MANAGEMENT 10 CHAPTER IV FOREST POLICY AND LAW 15 CHAPTER V CRITICAL REVIEW 22 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION 22 Bibliography i
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW
During the First millennium, the entire Indian subcontinent had dense forests with scattered islands of cultivation. The chronicles of Greek and Chinese writers recorded the luxurious forests which were inaccessible to man in the land between Himalayas and Vindyas. The economic and cultural life of the nation centered on rivers and forests and they were held to be sacred. Animal life flourished in the dense forests without the fear from man. The impenetrable forests provided the desired habitat for the healthy growth and sustenance to wildlife. The situation, however, changed dramatically in the last century of the Second millennium. Growth of civilization, industrialization world over, population pressure associated with the demand for food and requirement of more agricultural land had its impact on the forests of the subcontinent. The land between the Himalayas to Kanyakumari with isolated and sporadic human settlements of the 1st millennium has today sprawling human settlements, ever expanding cities and towns, increasing network of transportation channels. Thus the modernization has resulted in the same land of the 1st millennium look more like full of manmade structures. The forests are now scattered and isolated and mostly restricted to the protected areas enforced by legal provisions.
Indian forest flora is very rich in composition and value. There are about 5000 species of woody trees in our forests, of which nearly 450 are commercially valuable. Indian forests have been catering to the requirement of commercial timber for the growth of the country. With the growth of industries, demand on the commercial timber also increased manifold. It has been and
Page No.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER II THE FORESTS 4 CHAPTER III FOREST MANAGEMENT 10 CHAPTER IV FOREST POLICY AND LAW 15 CHAPTER V CRITICAL REVIEW 22 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION 22 Bibliography i
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW
During the First millennium, the entire Indian subcontinent had dense forests with scattered islands of cultivation. The chronicles of Greek and Chinese writers recorded the luxurious forests which were inaccessible to man in the land between Himalayas and Vindyas. The economic and cultural life of the nation centered on rivers and forests and they were held to be sacred. Animal life flourished in the dense forests without the fear from man. The impenetrable forests provided the desired habitat for the healthy growth and sustenance to wildlife. The situation, however, changed dramatically in the last century of the Second millennium. Growth of civilization, industrialization world over, population pressure associated with the demand for food and requirement of more agricultural land had its impact on the forests of the subcontinent. The land between the Himalayas to Kanyakumari with isolated and sporadic human settlements of the 1st millennium has today sprawling human settlements, ever expanding cities and towns, increasing network of transportation channels. Thus the modernization has resulted in the same land of the 1st millennium look more like full of manmade structures. The forests are now scattered and isolated and mostly restricted to the protected areas enforced by legal provisions.
Indian forest flora is very rich in composition and value. There are about 5000 species of woody trees in our forests, of which nearly 450 are commercially valuable. Indian forests have been catering to the requirement of commercial timber for the growth of the country. With the growth of industries, demand on the commercial timber also increased manifold. It has been and
References: 2. Botanical Survey of India, 1983 at www.envfor.nic.in/bsi/books.html. 3 * Johnson, S.P., 1993. The Earth Summit: The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). Graham & Trotman/Martinus Nijhoff, London. * United Nations Environment Programme at www.unep.org/ * P.M. Hass, M.A. Levy and E.A. Parson, “Appraising the Earth Summit: How should we judge UNCED’s success”, Environment, 1992, 34(8), pp. 12-36. * R.N Gardner, “Negotiating Survival: Four Priorities after Rio * Adil Najam, “An environmental negotiation strategy for the South, International Environmental Affairs”, 1995, 7(3), pp. 249-287. * A