Free Sample Essay on Natural Vegetation

Natural Vegetation is one of the important manifestations of the climate of an area. Natural Vegetation consists of trees, scrubs and grasses. Out of these, trees dominate. Forests play a vital role in the economic development of a country.

Forests are a storehouse of timber, firewood, fodder, nuts etc. They save hillside from erosion, regulate weather, ensure rainfall and provide employment and scenic beauty.

They also serve raw material to a number of industries like sports, paper, matchbox, plywood, medicines, rubber resin etc. There lays wealth hidden in the forests and the industries work as keys thereof.

Allen and Sharp define forests, “A community of trees and associated organisms covering a considerable area; utilizing air, water and minerals to attain maturity and to reproduce itself; and capable of furnishing mankind with indispensable products and services.” The forests are close formation of trees growing together at one place.

The FAO organization of the UNO gives the following definition:

“All land bearing vegetative association dominated by trees of any size, exploited or not capable of producing wood or of exerting influences on climate or on water regime.”

Forests are of immense use to man. They are a free gift of nature. They are a national asset. They constitute a vital natural resource of a country. They help man in various ways.

Forests are a renewable resource and contribute substantially to economic development. They play a vital role in enhancing quality of environment.

Per capita forest area of selected countries is as under:

(1) Food.

Tribals have berries, nuts, fruits etc. as their food. Forests serve as hunting grounds.

(2) Shelter.

Man uses wood for his shelter. There is hardly any building in construction of which wood is not used.

(3) Clothing.

In cold regions, Fur bearing animals abound and they provide clothing to man. Fur industry is a speciality of CIS, USA, Canada etc. Rayon, a forest based material is used for making cloth.

(4) Fuel.

Forests are major sources of fuel.

(5) Raw Material.

Forests provide raw material to a large number of industries like paper, plywood, sports, matchbox etc.

(6) Forests regulate weather by arresting moisture laden clouds and help in causing rainfall.

(7)Forests (tree roots & leaves) help in reducing fury of the floods. Tree roots conserve soils. Growth of forests depends upon a number of geographical and human factors such as, temperature, rainfall, soil, and altitude, effect of slope, sunlight and afforestation.

India’s vegetation is mainly arboreal (mainly trees) but on account of destruction of trees this statement seems hollow. Presently in India, forests cover an area of 63-7 million hectares, which comes to 19-39% of the land surface.

India’s forest area has dwindled in the country on account of pressure of population. The minimum forest area necessary to maintain ecological balance is 33%. It means we must reafforest in order to bring more area under forest cover.

Uneven Distribution of Forests.

The distribution of forests in India is very uneven. Most of the forests are located in hilly and inaccessible mountainous areas. The other areas under forests lie in the interior and remote parts of the country.

Forests contribute 1.7% income to the national exchequer as against 29% by agriculture.

The Indian forests have nearly 5000 species of tree plants. They are both hard wood and soft wood trees.

(i) Tropical hard wood trees consist of mahogany, rose wood, teak, iron wood, log wood, ebony, sandal, bamboo, sheesham, semul, mahua, sal etc.

(ii)Soft wood trees include pines, spruce, fir, birch, cypress, cedar, deodar, kel, etc. They are of great economic use.

(iii) Sundri trees are also of hardwood. They grow in the Ganga delta (Sunderbans). It is used for construction of boats.

Since 1894, there exists a national forest policy in the country. This policy was revised in 1952 and later in 1988.

The policy lays stress on protection, conservation and development of forests in the country.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands have about 92-3% of their land under forests. The other areas in descending order are Manipur, Sikkim, Arunachal and Tripura. The lowest areal forest percentage is in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab.

Geographically more than 50% of India’s forests are in the plateaus and hills of Peninsula. The second place is occupied by Eastern and Western Ghats and the coastal plains, where 20% of the total forests are located, almost divided equally (10% each) between the Eastern and Western Ghats.

The Himalayan region with 18% ranks third. The northern plain has only 5% of the forest wealth of India.