This article deals with the Forest and Wildlife Resources Class 10 Geography Notes which is a part of latest syllabus of class 10 geography for the board exam 2025.It is quite knowledgeable content that has covered each topic of chapter 2 geography forest and Wildlife Resources of Class 10 SST.It would help students to cover this forest and Wildlife Resources chapter 2 geography in an comprehensive manner.
CLASS 10 Geography Forest and Wildlife Resources Notes
Chapter 2 Forest and Wildlife Resources Class 10 Geography has touched every topic of latest syllabus of CBSE class 10 SST for 2024-25 session.This post discusses ecosystem, biological diversity, conservation of forest and wildlife, project tiger, wildlife protection Act,Govt initiatives for conservation, community and conservation,sacred and Joint Forest Management Programme in a descriptive manner that would enrich student’s knowledge about this chapter .It would help students to achieve good score in cbse board exam of class 10 SST.
Introduction
This entire earth that we live in has immense biodiversity from small micro organisms to large blue whales. We humans along with all living organisms form a complex web of ecological system in which we are only a part and very much dependent on this system for our own existence.
Importance of Forest
The plants, animals and micro-organisms re-create the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil that produces our food without which we cannot survive. Forests play a key role in the ecological system as these are also the primary producers on which all other living beings depend.
Biological Diversity
Biodiversity or Biological Diversity is richness in living beings including wildlife and cultivated species, diverse in form and function but closely integrated in a system through multiple network of interdependencies.
Flora and Fauna
There are some animals and plants which are unique in your area. India is one of the world’s richest countries in terms of its vast array of biological diversity. These diverse flora and fauna are so well integrated in our daily life but they are under great stress due to insensitivity to the environment.
Flora
The vegetation which is unique and specific to a particular region is flora for that region.
Fauna
The wildlife that are found in a specific region and unique for that region
Conservation of Forest and Wildlife in India
Conservation in the background of rapid decline in wildlife population and forestry has become essential.
Need to conserve forests and wildlife
- Conservation preserves the ecological diversity and our life support systems – water, air and soil.
- It also preserves the genetic diversity of plants and animals for better growth of species and breeding.
- Fisheries too are heavily dependent on the maintenance of aquatic biodiversity.
Methods of Conservation of Forest and Wildlife
Inthe1960sand1970s,conservationists demanded a national wildlife protection programme.
- The Indian Wildlife (Protection)Act was implemented in 1972, with various provisions for protecting habitats.
- An all-India list of protected species was also published
- Central and many state governments established national parks and wildlife sanctuaries
- The central government also announced several projects for protecting specific animals, which were gravely threatened, including the tiger, the one-horned rhinoceros, the Kashmir stag or hangul, three types of crocodiles – fresh water crocodile, saltwater crocodile and the Gharial, the Asiatic lion, and others.
- Even insects are beginning to find a place in conservation planning. In the notification under Wildlife Act of 1980 and 1986, several hundred butterflies, moths beetles and one dragon fly have been added to the list of protected species.
Inthe1960s and1970s,conservationists demanded a national wildlife protection programme.
Need of Wildlife Protection Act Programme
- Protecting the remaining population of certain endangered species by banning hunting, giving legal protection to their habitats, and restricting trade in wildlife.
- Most recently, the Indian elephant, black buck (chinkara), the great Indian bustard (godawan) and the snow leopard, etc. have been given full or partial legal protection against hunting and trade throughout India.
- The conservation projects are now focusing on biodiversity rather than on a few of its components.
- In 1991, for the first time plants were also added to the list,starting with six species.
Project Tiger
Tiger is one of the key wildlife species in the faunal web. .“Project Tiger”, one of the well-publicised wildlife campaigns in the world ,was launched in 1973.
Purpose of Project Tiger
Tiger conservation has been viewed not only as an effort to save an endangered species, but with equal importance as a means of preserving biotypes of sizeable magnitude.
Tiger Reserves in India
- Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand
- Sunderbans National Park in West Bengal
- Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh
- Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan
- Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam
- Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala
The major threats to tiger population
- poaching for trade,
- shrinking habitat,
- depletion of prey base species growing human population, etc.
- The trade of tiger skins and the use of their bones in traditional medicines, especially in the Asian countries left the tiger population on the verge of extinction.
Since India and Nepal provide habitat to about two-thirds of the surviving tiger population in the world, these two nations became prime targets for poaching and illegal trading.
Types of Forest
In India, much of its forest and wildlife resources are either owned or managed by the government through the Forest Department or other government departments. These are classified under the following categories.
Reserved Forests
More than half of the Total forest land has been declared reserved forests. Reserved forests are regarded as the most valuable as far as the conservation of forest and wildlife resources are concerned.
- Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Maharashtra have large percentages of reserved forests of its total forest area
Protected Forest
Almost one third of the total forest area is protected forest, as declared by the Forest Department. This forest land are protected from any further depletion.
- Bihar, Haryana, Punjab,HimachalPradesh,Odisha and Rajasthan have a bulk of it under protected forests.
Unclassed Forest – These are the other Forests and wastelands belonging to Both government and private individuals And communities.
- All North eastern states and parts of Gujarat have a very high percentage of their forests as unclassed forests managed by local communities.
Reserved and protected forests are also referred to as permanent forest estates maintained for the purpose of producing timber and other forest produce, and for protective reasons.
Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under permanent forests, constituting 75 percent of its total forest area.
Community and Conservation.
In India, forests are also home to some of the traditional communities, local communities are struggling to conserve these habitats along with government officials, recognising that only this will secure their own long-term livelihood.
Role of Community in Conservation
- In Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, villagers have fought against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act.
- In many areas, villagers themselves are protecting habitats and explicitly rejecting government involvement.
- The inhabitants of five villages in the Alwar district of Rajasthan have declared 1,200 hectares of forest as the Bhairodev Dakav ‘Sonchuri’, declaring their own set of rules and regulations which do not allow hunting, and are protecting the wildlife against any outside encroachments.
- The famous Chipko movement in the Himalayas has not only successfully resisted deforestation in several areas but has also shown that community afforestation with indigenous species can be enormously successful.
- Attempts to revive the traditional conservation methods or developing new methods of ecological farming are now widespread.
- Farmers and citizen’s groups like the Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehri and Navdanya have shown that adequate levels of diversified crop production without the use of synthetic chemicals are possible and economically viable.
- In India joint forest management (JFM)programme furnishes a good example for involving local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests.
Joint Forest Management Programme
The programme has been informal existence since 1988 when the state of Odisha passed the first resolution for joint forest management. JFM depends on the formation of local(village) institutions that undertake protection activities mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department. In return, the members of these communities are entitled to intermediary benefits like non-timber forest produces and share in the timber harvested by‘ successful protection’.
local communities everywhere have to be involved in some kind of natural resource management. Local communities are at the centre-stage in decision-making. Accept only those economic or developmental activities, that are people centric,environment-friendly and economically rewarding.
Sacred Grooves
Nature worship is an age old tribal belief based on the premise that all creations of nature have to be protected.Such beliefs have preserved several virgin forests in pristine form called Sacred Groves (the forests of God and Goddesses). These patches of forest or parts of large forests have been left untouched by the local people and any interference with them is banned.
- Mundas and the Santhal of Chota Nagpur region worship mahua (Bassia latifolia) and kadamba (Anthocaphaluscadamba)trees
- tribal of Odisha and Bihar worship the tamarind(Tamarindus indica)and mango(Mangiferaindica)trees during weddings.
- To many of us, peepal and banyan trees are considered sacred.
Sacred qualities are often ascribed to springs, mountain peaks, plants and animals which are closely protected. In and around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of blackbuck,(chinkara),nilgai and peacocks can be seen as an integral part of the community and nobody harms them.
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