The need and importance of forests:
The relationship between humans and forests is very old. From the beginning, man has used to get benefits from forests for living and food. He used leaves to cover his body and fruits for food. Then when fire was discovered, he started cutting wood from trees to escape from the cold and to cook food.
It is a turning point in history that ultimately led to
massive destruction of natural forests. Along with the spread of civilization,
the concept of personal ownership of land emerged, then man began to increase
his cultivated area by cutting down the forest. In this way, day by day, the
forest continued to decrease and today we see that the entire world is
suffering from the problems of lack of forests.
It is a universally accepted rule that at least 25% of a
country's land area should be covered by forests. But bad luck since we have
this ratio is not more than four or five percent in most of the countries.
Even a common man can understand that forests have enormous
benefits and blessings for mankind in their foothills. On the one hand, the
soothing effect of trees acts as a natural air conditioner. And on the other
hand, wood obtained from forests is used for making buildings, furniture,
decorations, sports equipment and children's toys in addition to fuel.
Most of the functional objects in our daily life are made of
wood. Not only this, but from the forests we also get various kinds of fruits
and herbs which are our most valuable treasures. Moreover, the presence of more
forests is a guarantee of pleasant climate, fertility of land, healthy environment
and prosperity of economy. But we have neglected this aspect badly. Some
countries of the world are rich in forest wealth and one of the reasons for
their prosperity is the treasure of these forests. For example, some developed
countries having a massive portion of forests as,
Finland
72%
Japan
63%
Russia 51%
Canada
45%
America
34%
India 21%
Forests and Economy:
Air, water and food are essential factors for human survival, but perhaps few people are fully aware that without forests, it is impossible to get good air, water and food. Trees and plants purify the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and act as factories to produce oxygen in the atmosphere which is necessary for breathing for living organisms. Human life cannot survive without oxygen. The main source of water is rain. But there is a possibility of rain in an area as much as there are forests. The concept of agriculture is impossible without water.
Self-sufficiency in food requires fertile land and water
from canals, rivers and rain and the forests play an important role in this
regard. In countries where forests are disappearing, deserts have started to
born.
Forests prevent soil erosion:
Forests are also important and useful in the sense that due to the absence or severe shortage of forests, precious fertile land is lost to pieces due to the effect of water and wind and fertile soil is lost by falling into the sea at the rate of millions of tons per day.
Heavy rains erode the land, drains and rivers burst their
banks and bring destruction in form of floods in the surrounding area. Floods
also cause financial and human losses in the plains. Dams are also affected by
soil erosion. Due to the sediment brought by the rivers, their depth is
decreasing day by day. The same happens due to soil erosion caused by wind. In
this case, wind-blown sand erodes fertile soils.
Forests prevent soil erosion in two ways first, they become
like an umbrella in front of the raindrops, which slows down the speed of the
raindrops and does not shake the ground due to their force, and the raindrops
fall on it slowly and are absorbed in the soil and prevent the soil from
erosion and waterlogging. Secondly the roots of trees hold the soil firmly in
place and protect it from erosion. In desert areas, trees act to reduce wind
and storm pressure and prevent sand. Trees also play an important role in
maintaining greenery.
Forests help control Water-logging and Salinity:
A major benefit of forests in the plains is that they help protect the land from waterlogging and salinity. It is now known to all that the level of underground water is rising in the plains. To handle this situation tube wells are being installed and drains are made for drainage. Forests help to remedy this situation.
The roots of trees draw water from under the ground and the
leaves disperse it into the atmosphere. Therefore, planned plantation in
infested areas can be of great help in remediation of waterlogging and salinity
at a very low cost. These same trees can provide enough income to the landowner
in a few years to install a tube well.
Importance of forests in defence:
Forests are no less important from the point of view of defence. Forests play an important role in keeping troop movements out of sight of the enemy and providing camouflage to armories, cantonments and important defense installations and protecting them from air attack. Dense forests not only provide protection from air attack but also the passage of heavy vehicles and large tanks is difficult to move through, thus forests help in effective defense against attack.
Forests improve climate:
Forests not only clean air pollution by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere, but also reduce the intensity of seasons. Factories, humans and animals release so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that if there are no trees, the lamp of life on the planet will be extinguished.
Forests reduce the intensity of heat in summer and the
intensity of cold in winter and provide rainfall. When winds carried by water vapour
pass over forests, they cool and cause rain due to the water vapour dispersed
in the atmosphere of the forests. This rain water is used for irrigation in the
form of rivers and canals.
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