Question

Why is conservation of forests necessary?

Answer 1

Concept:

• Forests are a renewable resource, but only if they are used at a rate slower than the rate at which they can grow back.
• Conservation is needed because forests support life in ways that cannot be replaced once they are lost.

Step 1: Forests preserve the variety of life.
Forests are the home of a very large part of the plants, animals, birds and insects of the country. Conserving them preserves biodiversity, and once a species is lost it cannot be brought back.

Step 2: Forests maintain the balance of the environment.
Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, hold the soil in place against erosion, help rainfall and keep the water cycle working. This is why forests are described as part of the life support system of the country.

Step 3: Forests provide for people directly.
They supply timber, fuel wood, fodder, medicinal plants and non-timber produce such as honey, gum and resin, on which tribal and forest-dwelling communities depend for a living.

Final Answer: Conservation of forests is necessary because forests preserve biodiversity, keep the ecological balance and the water cycle working, prevent soil erosion, and provide timber, fuel, fodder and other produce to the people who depend on them.

Answer 2

Concept:

• A one-mark source based question is answered by quoting the exact phrase used in the passage.
• The passage describes both the kind of land involved and who manages it.

Step 1: Locate the sentence that names the land.
The source says that the Joint Forest Management programme depends on the formation of local village institutions that undertake protection activities mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department.

Step 2: Confirm it from the opening line.
The passage begins by calling the programme a good example of involving local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests. Both lines point to the same answer.

Step 3: State the answer clearly.
The forests protected under the programme are degraded forests, that is, forest land that has already lost much of its cover and needs to be restored.

Final Answer: Degraded forests, meaning degraded forest land managed by the forest department, are protected under the Joint Forest Management programme.

Answer 3

Concept:

• Conservation succeeds only where the people living closest to the forest have a reason to protect it.
• Local communities both guard the forest and gain from it, and that link is what makes the protection last.

Step 1: They form village institutions that guard the forest.
Under Joint Forest Management, local village institutions are formed and these undertake protection activities on degraded forest land managed by the forest department. Villagers watch over the area, stop illegal felling and grazing, and allow the cover to grow back.

Step 2: They gain a direct share in the produce.
In return for protecting the forest, members of these communities are entitled to intermediary benefits such as non-timber forest produce and a share in the timber harvested through successful protection.
Because the benefit is theirs, the community has a real interest in keeping the forest alive.

Step 3: They have protected forests on their own as well.
Villagers in Sariska Tiger Reserve fought against mining in the area, and the inhabitants of five villages in the Alwar district declared 1,200 hectares of forest as Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri, making their own rules against hunting and protecting the wildlife from outside interference.

Step 4: They have led wider conservation movements.
The Chipko movement in the Himalayas resisted deforestation and showed that community afforestation with indigenous species can succeed. Farmers and citizens through the Beej Bachao Andolan and Navdanya have shown that diversified crop production without chemicals is possible and economically viable.

Final Answer: Local communities protect forests by forming village institutions that guard degraded forest land, and they are repaid with non-timber produce and a share in the timber. Their own efforts, from Sariska and Alwar to the Chipko movement, show that conservation works best when the people living near the forest are part of it.