ARTICLE ON CONSEVING FOREST
Answers
The following steps should be taken for the conservation of forests:
One of the main reasons of deforestation is commercial felling of trees. According to an estimate, about 1,600 million cubic metres of wood have been used for various purposes in the world. Although trees are considered as perennial resource, when exploited on a very large scale, their revival cannot be possible.
Therefore, cutting should be regulated by adopting methods like:
(i) Clear cutting,
(ii) Selective cutting, and
(iii) Shelter wood cutting.
The clear cutting method is useful for those areas where the same types of trees are available over a large area. In that case, trees of same age group can be cut down in a selected area and then marked for replantation.
In selective cutting only mature trees are selected for cutting. This process is to be followed in rotation. Shelter wood cutting is where first of all useless trees having been cut down followed by medium and best quality timber trees.
The time gap between these cuttings is helpful in re-growth of trees. In regulated cutting only one-tenth of the forest area is selected for use and rotational system is always followed for their protection.
The forest can be managed in such a way that a timber crop may be harvested indefinitely year after year without being depleted. This technique is called the ‘sustained yield’ method adopted by many countries of the world.