Chapter 5 Natural vegationn and wildlife

Rubber belongs to the type of vegetation which comes under the tropical evergreen forests. Excepting rubber there are other important trees also of this forest named ebony, rosewood and cinchona. Because of the warm and wet region throughout the year, this forest has a luxuriant vegetation of all kinds.

Cinchona trees are found in the areas of rainfall more than 100 cm. The areas having rainfall more than 100 cm are also named as tropical evergreen forests. Some of the commercially important trees of this forest are ebony, mahogany, rosewood, rubber and cinchona. More than 100 cm rainfall is necessary for luxuriant vegetation of all kinds. The trees reach great heights up to 60 metres or even above.

Orissa is the state which is the Simlipal Bio-reserve located. Here, Elephant reserve is located which is an ecosystem that completes forest vegetation mainly Sal trees, also known as the preservance of Flaura and fauna. There is also a National Park which is a beautiful place, located in the Mayurbhanj district of the state of Orissa. It is part of the Similipal-Kuldiha-Hadgarh elephant reserve known as Mayurbhanj elephant reserve. The name Simlipal is derived from the abundance of Semul or red silk cotton trees that bloom in the locality.

The number of bio-reserves established by government is 18 in India. These bio-reserves are setup to protect larger areas of natural habitat. Manas is not included in the world network of Bio-reserves. Its name is derived from the Manas river which was named after the serpent Goddess Manasa. This is famous for the population of wild water buffalo.

It refers to those distinct groups of communities in areas having similar climatic conditions. The animal life in this area is determined by the nature of the plants in an area to a large extent. All the plants and animals in an area are dependent and interrelated to each other in their physical environment, thus forming an ecosystem. Human beings are an integral part of the ecosystem, because they utilise the vegetation and wild life, the greed of human beings leads to over utilisation of these resources.

Factors those are responsible for the distribution of plants and animals in India are:

(i) Climate (ii) Soil

(iii) Relief (iv) Drainage

It is because of the nature and suitable environment for a particular plant and animal, this is why it was distributed.

Our land has a great biological diversity, If there were any vast areas then those areas now have been reserved for the preservation and protection of flora and fauna of the country and to maintain it in their natural form, so these areas are called bio-reserves. In these bio-reserves plants and animals are protected for future and from any kind of harm. The very first biosphere in India was set up at Nilgiri covering an area of 5500 sq. km. And the other one was setup at Nanda Devi Uttarakhand.

Main features of the bio-reserve are:

(i) These reserves are set up by government to protect the flora and fauna in their natural form.

(ii) For other products and experiments or research in the forests the surrounding zone is utilized.

(iii) For agriculture research and development the periphery is used.

The animals having habitat in tropical and montane type of vegetation are deer and monkey. Their habitat is also known as tropical evergreen forests. There are some other animals which are found in these forests are elephants, lemur and one horned rhinoceros. The region is warm and wet throughout the year.

Different types of vegetation found in India and the area of vegetation of high altitudes in India are:

(i) Tropical evergreen forests have a luxuriant vegetation of all kinds- trees, shrubs, and creepers giving it a multilayered structure.

(ii) Tropical deciduous forests are dry deciduous forests which are found in areas having rainfall between 100 cm and 70 cm. These forests are found in the rainier parts of the peninsular plateau and the plains of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. There are open stretches in which Teak, Sal, Peepal, Neem grow. A large part of this region has been cleared for cultivation and some parts are used for grazing.

(iii) The thorn forests and shrubs are the regions in which the natural vegetation consists of thorny trees and bushes. This kind of vegetation is found in the north-western part of the country including semi-arid areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

(iv) Temperate forests with grassland are common at higher elevations, these are generally more than 3,600 meters above sea-level, temperate forests and grasslands give way to the Alpine vegetation. However they get progressively stunted as they approach the snow-line. Through shrubs and scrubs, they merge into Alpine grasslands. At higher altitudes, mosses and lichens form part of tundra vegetation.

Quite a few species of plants and animals are endangered in India because of relentless poaching and hunting of animals and cutting of trees, the other reason is pollution due to chemical and industrial waste, acid deposits, introduction of alien species and clearing forests for inhabitation and agriculture q=owing to ever increase in population. These are the reasons because people don’t think twice before cutting the trees or harming animals for their personal comfort.

India has a rich heritage of flora and fauna because of the few factors like temperature, sunlight, precipitation, soil and relief which are suitable for the growth and development of plant and animal kingdom in India. These are the factors which are essential for the growth of bio-diversity which will be useful to preserve and protect the flora and fauna of the country. In India there are 47,000 plant species and 89,000 animal species, besides these species 15,000 flowering plants in India are there., all this has have been possible because of these five factors.

(i) Evergreen Forests are Western Ghats, Assam, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and foothills of the Himalayas.

(ii) Dry Deciduous Forests are in Orissa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, U.P. Chhattisgarh.

(iii) National Parks which are in North are Dudhwa and Corbett. In East there are Rajdewra and Simlipal. In West there are national parks named Gir and Kanheri and in South there are Guindy and Nagarhole.

In our neighborhood there are different trees having medicinal values and those are Jamun, Neem, Tulsi etc. Jamun is a fruit which is helpful in curing sugar, this fruit as it tastes very sour and soft, it can be drink in the form of blackberry juice also. It is helpful after eating this fruit the seed which is found inside can be dried and then after grinding it making a paste of that powder, we can use it in curing diabetes. Neem leaves are very useful for a person suffering of itching and rashes, it can be used in the form of medicine, its leaves are boiled in water and after boiling we should take bath by rubbing it on affected areas, it reduces itching and if we eat the leaves of Neem then it can cure the impurities in our blood, which will be helpful for our glowing skin. Tulsi is used for the person who is suffering from cold and cough, it is known that it is a plant that provides warmth and heat our body so it cures fever as well.

Ten occupations which are known as getting raw material from forests and wildlife:

Furniture works, as we cut the trees from the forests and use them in making furniture for our domestic use. Pharmaceuticals is the term used for medicines and many plants and trees are used for making different kind of medicines and herbs that cure our body. Architecture is where bamboo and wood are used for making buildings and houses, even for making a cottage wood is used. Animal husbandry where animal are taken care very properly for future use, to eat in the form of meat and chicken. Dairy Industry where milk is brought from cows and buffaloes then toned and sold out. Besides these, other occupations which are lumbering, alchemy, hunting and civil works.

If we talk about wildlife and its importance and then it would be impossible for us to know each and every single detail how it is important for us. In short if we want to know then we must keep in mind the very first thing which is if we are here then it’s all because of this wildlife because without them even plants and trees and forests have no any existence. It serves i[us in many ways, it helps us if we are hungry usually the people who live in forests their survival is totally depends upon wildlife. They hunt and eat them. Mostly people are non-vegetarian and they totally depend on chicken as it is very good for our health not at extreme level but it is. Food chain as well has its contribution in this wildlife. There is a chain where it’s mentioned that who will eat whom. So this way wildlife has much importance not only in our society, but in whole world.

In our area named Mahindra Park there is a garden and in that garden few children of our locality dramatize a play as there are many trees and plants in that garden which are good for any locality/area. So those children are standing by surrounding the tree and protesting not to cut the tree as it provides us too many things like in summers it provides us cool and natural air, and also if anyone is coming facing the sunrays from anywhere then he/she can sit under the tree to relax. Children come and they play under the tree and being the tree of blackberry in rainy season it is a good source for residents to eat a kind of fruit which tastes good. So they are shouting out loud to protect the environment in every way, they don’t ant it to get cut down or destroyed by anybody as they also understand the importance of greenery and vegetation in today’s era where everything is being destroyed because of selfish nature of hum beings. The moral of the play was that we must not harm anything for our own comfort. And the scenario is like Chipko Andolan.

I planted a tree on my birthday and I noticed the growth accordingly which are:

(i) Trees grow faster in the season of rain when it rains heavily then it increases the growth of a plant.

(ii) To grow a healthy and green plant quality of soil, climate, temperature, precipitation and the type of manure and fertilizers are kept in mind, so I have used the good quality of all these things.

I have prepared a report on it:

I planted the tree of mango, which started increasing day by day as I used to water it on time, I noticed that it grew around 2 to 3 cm in each month, nature of tree was quite good and I planted it in the month of July last year and this year I saw the difference as I notice it on daily basis, this tree can be used after growth by society in many forms, like people can sit under its shade and they can eat mangoes as well, if they want to eat pickle and they can take raw mangoes and eat as they want to. Children can swing on the tree and it will also show greenery in our society, in the summer season it will blow the soft and cold wind which sooth our body as natural air is useful for our health.