India has significant forest cover and is one of the most forest-rich countries in the world. Forest cover has been increasing in recent decades after prior degradation. Indian forests include diverse ecosystems and species. The five states with the largest forest cover are Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Maharashtra. A major threat to forests in northeastern states is "jhum" cultivation, which causes damage, but government is working to reduce this practice and encourage alternative industries.

1. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
PROJECT

3.  Forestry in India is a significant rural
industry and a major environmental resource.
India is one of the ten most forest-rich
countries of the world along with the Russian
Federation, Brazil, Canada, United States of
America, China, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Australia, Indonesia and Sudan.
Together, India and these countries account for
67 percent of total forest area of the
world. India's forest cover grew at 0.22%
annually over 1990-2000, and has grown at the
rate of 0.46% per year over 2000-2010,after
decades where rest degradation was a matter of
serious concern.

4.  India is a large and diverse country. Its land
area includes regions with some of the world's
highest rainfall to very dry deserts, coast line
to alpine regions, river deltas to tropical
islands. The variety and distribution of forest
vegetation is large: there are 600 species
of hardwoods, including sal (Shorea robusta).
India is one of the 17 mega biodiverse regions
of the world.
 Indian forests types include tropical
evergreens, tropical deciduous, swamps,
mangroves, sub-tropical, montane, scrub, sub-
alpine and alpine forests. These forests support
a variety of ecosystems with diverse flora and
fauna.

5.  The 2007 forest census data thus
obtained and published by the
Government of India suggests the five
states with largest area under forest
cover as the following:
 (1)Madhya Pradesh: 7.64 million
hectares
 (2)Arunachal Pradesh: 6.8 million
hectares
 (3)Chhattisgarh: 5.6 million hectares
 (4)Odisha: 4.83 million hectares
 (5)Maharashtra: 4.68 million hectares

6.  According to India's 2013 forest survey
report, the forest cover in top five
states has increased, with the
exception of Arunachal Pradesh:
 (1)Madhya Pradesh: 7.75 million
hectares
 (2)Arunachal Pradesh: 6.73 million
hectares
 (3)Chhattisgarh: 5.6 million hectares
 (4)Maharashtra: 5.06 million hectares
 (5)Odisha: 5.03 million hectares

7. (1)Tropical evergreen forests
(2)Montane forests
(3)Mangrove forests
(4)Tropical deciduous forests
------(a)dry deciduous
------(b)moist deciduous

8.  Chipko movement in India started in the
1970s around a dispute on how and who
should have a right to harvest forest
resources. Although the Chipko movement
is now practically non-existent
in Uttarakhand, the Indian state of its
origin, it remains one of the most frequently
deployed examples of an environmental and
a people's movement in developing
countries such as India. What caused
Chipko is now a subject of debate; some
neopopulists theories Chipko as an
environmental movement and an attempt to
save forests, while others suggest that
Chipko movement had nothing to do with
eco-conservation, but was driven primarily
to demand equal rights to harvest forests by
local communities.

9.  A major threat to forests of India are in its northeastern states.
From ancient times, the locals have practiced slash-and-
burn shifting cultivation to grow food. Locally called Jhum, it
supports about 450,000 families in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland,
Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam and
Meghalaya. Approximately 15,000 square kilometers of forest land
is under jhum cultivation, and just a sixth of this land is actually
producing any crop at any given year. The tribal people consider it
a tradition, and economic ecosystem. However, the slash and burn
causes damage to a dense forest, to soil, to flora and fauna, as well
as pollution. The crop yields are very poor with jhum cultivation.
Between 2010 and 2012, satellite studies confirmed a net loss of
forest cover over these northeastern states The lost forest includes
primary dense forests. There is a concerted effort by the state
government officials to educate, incentivize and
train jhum dependent families to horticulture and other high value
crops, along with an offer of food supply security. Bamboo-based
textiles and value added forest products industries are also being
encouraged by the local officials. States such as Arunachal
Pradesh reported reduction in Jhum cultivation practice in 2013.


10.  Between 2010 and 2012, satellite studies confirmed a net
loss of forest cover over these northeastern states. The
lost forest includes primary dense forests. There is a
concerted effort by the state government officials to
educate, incentivize and train jhum dependent families to
horticulture and other high value crops, along with an
offer of food supply security. Bamboo-based textiles and
value added forest products industries are also being
encouraged by the local officials. States such as
Arunachal Pradesh reported reduction in Jhum
cultivation practice in 2013.

11.  Reforestation is the natural or intentional
restocking of existing forests and woodlands that
have been depleted, usually
through deforestation.[1] Reforestation can be used
to improve the quality of human life by soaking
up pollution and dust from the air, rebuild
natural habitats and ecosystems, mitigate global
warming since forests facilitate biosequestration of
atmospheric carbon dioxide, and harvest for
resources, particularly timber.
 The term reforestation is similar to afforestation, the
process of restoring and recreating areas of
woodlands or forests that may have existed long ago
but were deforested or otherwise removed at some
point in the past. Sometimes the term re-
afforestation is used to distinguish between the
original forest cover and the later re-growth of forest
to an area. Special tools, e.g. tree planting bar, are
used to make planting of trees easier and faster

12.  Deforestation, clearance or clearing is the
removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land
is thereafter converted to a non-forest use.
Examples of deforestation include conversion of
forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use.
 The term deforestation can be misused when
applied to describe a tree harvesting method in
which all trees in an area are removed . However
intemperate climates, this method is in
conformance with sustainable forestry practices,
and correctly described as regeneration harvest.
Intemperate mesic climates, natural regeneration of
forest stands often will not occur in the absence of
disturbance, whether natural or anthropogenic.
Furthermore, biodiversity after regeneration harvest
often mimics that found after natural disturbance,
including biodiversity loss after naturally occurring
rainforest destruction.

13.  Rates and causes of deforestation vary
from region to region around the world.
In 2009, 2/3 of the world forests were in
10 top countries: 1) Russia, 2) Brazil,
3) Canada, 4) United States, 5) China,
6) Australia, 7) Congo, 8) Indonesia,
9) Peru and 10)India.
 World annual deforestation is
estimated as 13.7 million hectares a
year, equal to the area of Greece. Only
half of this area is compensated by new
forests or forest growth. In addition to
directly human-induced deforestation,
the growing forests have also been
affected by climate change, increasing
risks of storms, and diseases. Kyoto
protocol includes the agreement to
prevent deforestation but not the
actions to fulfill it.

14. (1) Agriculture
(2) Commercial logging
(3) Mining
(4) Contamination resulting from
leakage of chemicals
(5) Increase in population
(6) Urbanization and
industrialization
(7) Construction of dam reservoirs
(8) Forest fires
(9) Overgrazing

15. (1) Food problems
(2) Exposing soil to heat
and rain
(3) Flooding
(4) Cuss of biodiversity
(5) Displacement of
indigenous communities
(6) Climate change
(7) Economic loss
(8) Health issues