Forest and Wildlife Resources | CBSE Class 10 Geography Notes

This note covers biodiversity and the role of forests, India's flora and fauna and the threats they face, the reasons for conserving forests and wildlife, the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 and the projects for threatened animals, Project Tiger and six tiger reserves, the widening of conservation to insects and plants, reserved, protected and unclassed forests and their spread across the states, community conservation in Rajasthan, the Chipko movement, seed-saving groups, joint forest management, and sacred groves.

What is biodiversity, and why do forests matter?

We share this planet with millions of other living beings, from micro-organisms, bacteria and lichens to banyan trees, elephants and blue whales. The whole habitat that we live in has immense biodiversity.

Definition: Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is immensely rich in wildlife and cultivated species. It is diverse in form and function, but closely integrated in a system through a multiple network of interdependencies.

Three ideas sit inside this definition. First, biodiversity includes both wild species and cultivated species. Second, these species differ greatly in their form and in the work they do in nature. Third, they are not separate: each one depends on many others.

Humans in the web of life

Humans, along with all other living organisms, form a complex web of ecological system. We are only a part of this system, and we are very much dependent on it for our own existence.

Plants, animals and micro-organisms re-create the quality of three things we cannot live without:

• the air we breathe;
• the water we drink;
• the soil that produces our food.

Without these we cannot survive. Damage to one part of the web can therefore, in time, harm people as well.

Forests as primary producers

Forests play a key role in the ecological system because they are also the primary producers on which all other living beings depend. When forests are lost, the living beings that depend on them lose their base of support.

A Lepcha folk song expresses this closeness to nature. The singer calls Narak, the Lord, the creator of music in the world of the Lepchas. The singer offers to gather Narak's music from the springs, rivers, mountains, forests, insects and animals, and from the sweet breeze.

How rich is India's flora and fauna, and why is it under stress?

Flora means the plants of a region and fauna its animals. If you look around, you will find some animals and plants that are unique to your own area.

India is one of the world's richest countries in terms of its vast array of biological diversity. Many more species are yet to be discovered.

These diverse flora and fauna are so well integrated in our daily life that we take them for granted. Lately, however, they are under great stress, mainly because of insensitivity to our environment.

A panel of three photographs.

The top left photograph, captioned "Tribal girls using bamboo saplings in a nursery at Mukhali near Silent Valley", shows three girls bending over rows of young green saplings, with tree trunks behind them.

The bottom left photograph, "Tribal women selling minor forest produce", shows women seated on the ground beside heaps of green leaves, vegetables and bags of produce.

The right photograph, "Leaf litter collection by women folk", shows a line of women walking along a road, each carrying a large bundle of leaves on her head.

See Fig. 2.1 in your NCERT textbook

The photographs show three ways in which forests support people directly: raising saplings in a nursery, selling minor forest produce, and collecting leaf litter. When forests shrink, livelihoods like these shrink with them.

What threatens India's forests and wildlife?

Wildlife populations and forests have seen a rapid decline. The pressures come from many directions, and most of them are caused by human activities.

How poaching pushed the tiger to the brink

1. Tiger skins were traded, and tiger bones were used in traditional medicines, especially in Asian countries.
2. This demand made poaching for trade a major threat to the tiger.
3. India and Nepal provide habitat to about two-thirds of the world's surviving tigers, so these two nations became prime targets for poaching and illegal trading.
4. At the same time, shrinking habitat, a depleted prey base and a growing human population pressed on the tigers that remained.
5. Together these left the tiger population on the verge of extinction.

Two press clippings are shown together, with the large headline "Gharial on the brink" over the first.

The gharial report says the population has been at its lowest since the 1970s and asks what went wrong. Its photographs show gharials with long, narrow snouts lying on a sandy riverbank; a caption calls a captive gharial critically endangered. The text notes that a five-km stretch of the Girwa River in Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary is one of only three wild breeding sites left in the world.

The second clipping, "Bird deaths blamed on dirty Yamuna", reports that migratory birds died in the Okhla bird sanctuary because of polluted Yamuna water and contaminated fish, not bird flu. Below both clippings is the question: can you find out the reasons for these problems?

Reference: NCERT Class 10, page 16

The clippings point to some answers. The bird deaths were linked to polluted water and contaminated fish, and the report mentions fishermen accused of adding poison to the water to kill fish. The gharial now breeds in the wild at very few sites, so any damage to its river habitat is serious.

Why do we need to conserve forests and wildlife?

Against the background of a rapid decline in wildlife populations and forests, conservation has become essential. It protects far more than the animals and plants themselves.

Genetic diversity and agriculture

Genetic diversity is the variety of inherited characteristics within plants and animals. Conserving it supports the better growth of species and their breeding.

In agriculture, we are still dependent on traditional crop varieties. Each variety carries its own set of characteristics, and once a variety is lost, those characteristics cannot be brought back.

Fisheries and aquatic life

Fisheries depend heavily on the maintenance of aquatic biodiversity. Fish need healthy rivers, lakes and seas with the many other organisms that live in them. The polluted Yamuna, where contaminated fish were linked to bird deaths, shows how damage spreads along the web.

How did India build a national wildlife protection programme?

In the 1960s and 1970s, conservationists demanded a national wildlife protection programme. The government responded with a law, protected areas and special projects for threatened animals.

The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act was implemented in 1972, with various provisions for protecting habitats.

The thrust of the programme was to protect the remaining population of certain endangered species. The programme included these measures:

1. an all-India list of protected species was published;
2. hunting of these species was banned;
3. their habitats were given legal protection;
4. trade in wildlife was restricted.

Subsequently, the central and many state governments established national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

Projects for gravely threatened animals

The central government also announced several projects for protecting specific animals that were gravely threatened. Most recently, more animals have been given full or partial legal protection against hunting and trade throughout India.

What was Project Tiger, and why was it launched?

The tiger is one of the key wildlife species in the faunal web. Its steep decline alarmed the authorities and led to a major national campaign.

Case study: Project Tiger

In 1973, the authorities realised that the tiger population had dwindled to 1,827 from an estimated 55,000 at the turn of the century. "Project Tiger", one of the well-publicised wildlife campaigns in the world, was launched the same year.

The major threats were poaching for trade, shrinking habitat, depletion of prey base species and a growing human population. The trade in skins and bones left the tiger on the verge of extinction.

Tiger conservation has been viewed not only as an effort to save an endangered species. With equal importance, it is a means of preserving biotypes of sizeable magnitude. A tiger needs a large, healthy habitat, so protecting it protects the many other plants and animals that share that habitat.

Some tiger reserves of India

On an outline map of India, mark and label Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand in the north, Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan in the north-west, Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh in central India, Sunderbans National Park in West Bengal in the east, Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam in the north-east, and Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala in the south-west. Use one symbol for all six and write the state beside each.

How has conservation widened from a few animals to biodiversity?

Conservation projects are now focusing on biodiversity rather than on a few of its components. There is a more intensive search for different conservation measures, and protection now reaches far beyond large animals.

Insects and plants join the protected list

• Increasingly, even insects are beginning to find a place in conservation planning.
• Under notifications of 1980 and 1986 under the Wildlife Act, several hundred butterflies, moths and beetles, and one dragonfly, were added to the list of protected species.
• In 1991, for the first time, plants were also added to the list, starting with six species.

This change follows from the idea of the web of life. Species are linked through a multiple network of interdependencies, so saving a single animal while its habitat and smaller neighbours decline does not secure its future.

Two photographs side by side.

The left photograph shows a single one-horned rhinoceros, with grey, deeply folded skin, standing in a muddy pool surrounded by tall green grass.

The right photograph shows a large herd of reddish-brown deer, some lying down and some standing, on open green grassland, with a belt of trees in the distance.

See Fig. 2.2 in your NCERT textbook

The two photographs show the same protected landscape sheltering more than one kind of animal. The one-horned rhinoceros is one of the animals with a special central project, yet the national park that protects it also protects the deer and the grassland they share.

How are India's forests classified?

Even if we want to conserve our vast forest and wildlife resources, they are rather difficult to manage, control and regulate. In India, much of the forest and wildlife resources are either owned or managed by the government through the Forest Department or other government departments.

These forests are classified into three categories.

Permanent forest estates

Reserved and protected forests together are also called permanent forest estates. They are maintained for producing timber and other forest produce, and for protective reasons.

Draw a box at the top labelled "Forests of India" with three branches below it: "Reserved forests: more than half; most valuable for conservation", "Protected forests: almost one-third; protected from further depletion" and "Unclassed forests: other forests and wastelands of government, private individuals and communities". Draw a bracket joining the first two boxes and label it "Permanent forest estates: timber, other forest produce, protective reasons".

Note: Unclassed forests are not only government land. They also belong to private individuals and communities, which is why community management matters so much where they are common.

How are the forest categories distributed among the states?

The share of each forest category differs widely from state to state. Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under permanent forests, constituting 75 per cent of its total forest area.

Read the 75 per cent figure carefully. It is a share of Madhya Pradesh's own forest area, not a share of all of India's permanent forests.

On an outline map of India, shade Madhya Pradesh in the darkest colour and label it "largest area under permanent forests, 75 per cent". In a second colour shade Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra (large share of reserved forests). In a third colour shade Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan (bulk under protected forests). Hatch the north-eastern states and part of Gujarat for unclassed forests managed by local communities, and add a key.

The pattern has a practical meaning. Where reserved and protected forests dominate, the Forest Department plays the main role. In the north-eastern states and parts of Gujarat, where most forests are unclassed, local communities manage them, so their cooperation is central to conservation.

How have local communities conserved forests and wildlife?

Conservation strategies are not new in India. We often ignore that India's forests are also home to traditional communities.

In some areas, local communities are struggling to conserve these habitats along with government officials. They recognise that only this will secure their own long-term livelihood. In many other areas, villagers themselves are protecting habitats and explicitly rejecting government involvement.

Case study: villagers against mining in Sariska

In Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, villagers have fought against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act. A law made by the government became a tool in the hands of local people to defend the forest they depend on.

Case study: the Bhairodev Dakav 'Sonchuri'

The inhabitants of five villages in the Alwar district of Rajasthan have declared 1,200 hectares of forest as the Bhairodev Dakav 'Sonchuri'. That is an area of 12 square kilometres.

• They have declared their own set of rules and regulations.
• These rules do not allow hunting.
• The villagers protect the wildlife against any outside encroachments.

Both cases show communities acting to protect the forest they depend on: in Sariska by using a law, and in the Sonchuri through rules they made themselves.

What did the Chipko movement and seed-saving groups show?

Communities have protected not only forests but also farming traditions. Attempts to revive traditional conservation methods, or to develop new methods of ecological farming, are now widespread.

Case study: the Chipko movement

The famous Chipko movement in the Himalayas achieved two things:

• it successfully resisted deforestation in several areas;
• it showed that community afforestation with indigenous species can be enormously successful.

The word chipko means "to cling" or "to hug", after the villagers who hugged trees to stop them being felled. Afforestation is the planting of trees to create forest, and indigenous species are those native to the area.

Saving seeds and farming without chemicals

Farmers and citizens' groups such as 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.

These groups link back to the reasons for conservation. Agriculture still depends on traditional crop varieties, and growing many different crops keeps that genetic diversity alive in farmers' fields.

What is joint forest management, and how does it work?

In India, the joint forest management (JFM) programme is a good example of involving local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests. It has been in formal existence since 1988, when the state of Odisha passed the first resolution for joint forest management.

How JFM works

1. A state passes a resolution for joint forest management; Odisha was the first, in 1988.
2. Local village institutions are formed.
3. These institutions undertake protection activities, mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department.
4. In return, members of the community are entitled to intermediary benefits such as non-timber forest produce.
5. They also receive a share in the timber harvested by 'successful protection'.

The lesson from JFM

The clear lesson from both environmental destruction and reconstruction in India is that local communities everywhere have to be involved in some kind of natural resource management.

There is still a long way to go before local communities are at the centre-stage in decision-making. The guiding rule is to accept only those economic or developmental activities that are people centric, environment-friendly and economically rewarding.

How do sacred groves and traditional beliefs protect nature?

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.

Definition: Sacred groves (the forests of God and Goddesses) are patches of forest, or parts of large forests, left untouched by local people because of nature worship; any interference with them is banned.

Because no one cuts or disturbs them, sacred groves hold a wealth of diverse and rare species.

Sacred trees

Certain societies revere a particular tree, which they have preserved from time immemorial.

Sacred animals and places

Indian society comprises several cultures, each with its own traditional methods of conserving nature. Sacred qualities are often ascribed to springs, mountain peaks, plants and animals, which are then closely protected.

• Troops of macaques and langurs live around many temples. They are fed daily and treated as a part of the temple devotees.
• In and around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of blackbuck (chinkara), nilgai and peacocks are an integral part of the community, and nobody harms them.

Gautama Buddha (487 B.C.) described the tree as an organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that asks nothing for its sustenance. It protects all beings, "offering shade even to the axemen who destroy it".

What good practices help conserve forests and wildlife?

Good conservation in India combines government action with community action. The two approaches work best when they meet, as they do in joint forest management.

A checklist of good practices

• Legal protection: ban hunting, protect habitats and restrict trade in wildlife.
• Protected areas: national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves.
• Whole biodiversity: protect insects and plants as well as large animals.
• Community participation: involve local people, as in JFM, Chipko and the Sonchuri.
• Afforestation with indigenous species, and ecological farming without synthetic chemicals.
• Respect for tradition: sacred groves and sacred trees and animals.
• Sound development: accept only activities that are people centric, environment-friendly and economically rewarding.

Glossary

• Biodiversity — The rich variety of wildlife and cultivated species, diverse in form and function but closely integrated through a multiple network of interdependencies.
• Flora — The plants of a particular region, such as the trees, shrubs and other plants found in India.
• Fauna — The animals of a particular region, such as India's tigers, rhinoceroses, crocodiles, deer and birds.
• Primary producers — Living things such as the plants of forests, which produce the food on which all other living beings depend.
• Conservation — The protection and careful management of forests and wildlife so that ecological diversity, genetic diversity and life support systems are preserved.
• Genetic diversity — The variety of inherited characteristics within plants and animals, which supports the better growth of species and breeding.
• Endangered species — A species whose numbers have fallen so low that it is in danger of dying out, such as the tiger in 1973.
• Poaching — The illegal hunting or killing of wild animals, often to sell their skins, bones or other body parts.
• Reserved forests — Forests covering more than half of India's forest land, regarded as the most valuable for conserving forest and wildlife resources.
• Protected forests — Forests covering almost one-third of the forest area, declared by the Forest Department and protected from any further depletion.
• Unclassed forests — Other forests and wastelands that belong to both the government and private individuals and communities.
• Permanent forest estates — Reserved and protected forests together, maintained for producing timber and other forest produce, and for protective reasons.
• Joint forest management (JFM) — A programme, formal since 1988, in which village institutions protect degraded forest land in return for forest produce and a timber share.
• Sacred groves — Patches of virgin forest left untouched by local people because of nature worship; any interference with them is banned.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Conservation means protecting only a few large, famous animals such as the tiger. Correct: Conservation now focuses on biodiversity as a whole; butterflies, moths, beetles and a dragonfly were added to the protected list, and plants from 1991.
• Misconception: Reserved forests and protected forests are the same thing. Correct: Reserved forests, over half of the forest land, are the most valuable for conservation; protected forests, almost one-third, are protected from further depletion. Together they form the permanent forest estates.
• Misconception: Unclassed forests belong only to the government. Correct: They are other forests and wastelands belonging to both government and private individuals and communities; in the north-eastern states local communities manage them.
• Misconception: Madhya Pradesh holds 75 per cent of India's permanent forests. Correct: Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under permanent forests, and these make up 75 per cent of its own total forest area.
• Misconception: Project Tiger aimed only to save a single animal. Correct: With equal importance, it was a means of preserving biotypes of sizeable magnitude, which protects the whole habitat and the other species in it.
• Misconception: Conservation in India began with government laws. Correct: Conservation strategies are not new; communities have long protected nature through sacred groves, sacred trees and practices such as those of the Bishnoi villages.
• Misconception: Farming without synthetic chemicals cannot produce enough food. Correct: The Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehri and Navdanya have shown that adequate, diversified crop production without synthetic chemicals is possible and economically viable.
• Misconception: Under JFM, villagers become owners of the forest land. Correct: They protect degraded forest land managed by the forest department, and in return receive non-timber forest produce and a share in timber harvested by successful protection.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Which of the following conservation strategies does not directly involve community participation? (a) Joint forest management (b) Beej Bachao Andolan (c) Chipko Movement (d) Demarcation of wildlife sanctuaries [1 mark]

1. (d) Demarcation of wildlife sanctuaries. Sanctuaries were established by the central and state governments, whereas joint forest management, the Beej Bachao Andolan and the Chipko movement all depend on local communities taking part.

Q2. What are sacred groves? [2 marks]

1. Sacred groves are virgin forests preserved in pristine form because of nature worship, an age-old tribal belief that all creations of nature have to be protected.
2. Known as the forests of God and Goddesses, these patches of forest are left untouched by local people, and any interference with them is banned.

Q3. Match the forest types with their descriptions: reserved forests, protected forests, unclassed forests. [3 marks]

1. Reserved forests: regarded as the most valuable as far as the conservation of forest and wildlife resources is concerned. More than half of the total forest land has been declared reserved.
2. Protected forests: forest lands protected from any further depletion. Almost one-third of the total forest area is protected forest, as declared by the Forest Department.
3. Unclassed forests: other forests and wastelands belonging to both government and private individuals and communities.

Q4. What is biodiversity? Why is biodiversity important for human lives? [3 marks]

1. Biodiversity is the rich variety of wildlife and cultivated species, diverse in form and function but closely integrated in a system through a multiple network of interdependencies.
2. Humans are only a part of this web and depend on it: 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.
3. It also supports agriculture, which still depends on traditional crop varieties, and fisheries, which depend on the maintenance of aquatic biodiversity.

Q5. How have human activities affected the depletion of flora and fauna? Explain. [3 marks]

1. Poaching for trade, including the trade in tiger skins and the use of tiger bones in traditional medicines, pushed the tiger to the verge of extinction; numbers fell to 1,827 by 1973.
2. Shrinking habitat, depletion of prey base species and a growing human population put further pressure on wildlife.
3. Mining, as in Sariska, and deforestation, as resisted by the Chipko movement, destroy forests, while water pollution, as in the Yamuna, kills birds. Behind all of this lies insensitivity to our environment.

Q6. What is joint forest management? How does it benefit local communities? [3 marks]

1. Joint forest management (JFM) involves local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests. It has been in formal existence since 1988, when Odisha passed the first resolution for it.
2. It depends on local village institutions that undertake protection activities, mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department.
3. In return, community members are entitled to intermediary benefits such as non-timber forest produce, and a share in the timber harvested by successful protection.

Q7. Why was Project Tiger launched in 1973? Explain its wider importance and name four tiger reserves with their states. [5 marks]

1. The tiger is one of the key wildlife species in the faunal web. In 1973 the authorities realised that its population had dwindled to 1,827 from an estimated 55,000 at the turn of the century.
2. The major threats were poaching for trade, shrinking habitat, depletion of prey base species and a growing human population.
3. The trade in tiger skins and the use of tiger bones in traditional medicines, especially in Asian countries, left the tiger on the verge of extinction. Because India and Nepal hold about two-thirds of the surviving tigers, they became prime targets for poaching.
4. Project Tiger was seen not only as an effort to save an endangered species but, with equal importance, as a means of preserving biotypes of sizeable magnitude.
5. Tiger reserves: Corbett National Park (Uttarakhand), Sunderbans National Park (West Bengal), Bandhavgarh National Park (Madhya Pradesh) and Periyar Tiger Reserve (Kerala).

Q8. Describe how communities have conserved and protected forests and wildlife in India. [5 marks]

1. In Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, villagers have fought against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act.
2. The inhabitants of five villages in the Alwar district of Rajasthan declared 1,200 hectares of forest as the Bhairodev Dakav 'Sonchuri', with their own rules that ban hunting and protect wildlife against outside encroachments.
3. The Chipko movement in the Himalayas resisted deforestation in several areas and showed that community afforestation with indigenous species can be enormously successful.
4. The Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehri and Navdanya showed that diversified crop production without synthetic chemicals is possible and economically viable.
5. Under joint forest management, formal since 1988 when Odisha passed the first resolution, village institutions protect degraded forest land in return for non-timber forest produce and a share in timber.
6. Through nature worship, communities preserve sacred groves; the Mundas and Santhal worship mahua and kadamba trees, and Bishnoi villages protect blackbuck, nilgai and peacocks.

Q9. Write a note on good practices towards conserving forest and wildlife. [5 marks]

1. Legal protection: the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 and an all-India list of protected species, with hunting banned, habitats legally protected and trade in wildlife restricted.
2. Protected areas and species projects: national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves, and projects such as Project Tiger (1973) and those for the one-horned rhinoceros, the hangul, three types of crocodiles and the Asiatic lion.
3. Protecting biodiversity as a whole: insects were added to the protected list under the 1980 and 1986 notifications, and plants from 1991, starting with six species.
4. Community participation, as in joint forest management, the Chipko movement and the Bhairodev Dakav 'Sonchuri'.
5. Community afforestation with indigenous species and ecological farming without synthetic chemicals, as shown by the Beej Bachao Andolan and Navdanya.
6. Respecting traditions such as sacred groves, and accepting only development that is people centric, environment-friendly and economically rewarding.

Key takeaways

• Biodiversity is a rich variety of wild and cultivated species linked by a network of interdependencies; humans are only one part of this web.
• Forests are primary producers, and plants, animals and micro-organisms re-create the quality of the air, water and soil on which we depend.
• Conservation preserves ecological diversity, life support systems and genetic diversity, and supports agriculture and fisheries.
• The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 banned hunting, gave legal protection to habitats and restricted trade in wildlife.
• Project Tiger began in 1973, when tiger numbers had fallen to 1,827 from an estimated 55,000; it also protects large biotypes.
• Conservation widened to insects under the 1980 and 1986 notifications and to plants in 1991, starting with six species.
• Reserved forests cover more than half of the forest land and protected forests almost one-third; together they are permanent forest estates.
• Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under permanent forests, 75 per cent of its forest area; north-eastern states have mostly unclassed, community-managed forests.
• Communities conserve through Sariska's fight against mining, the Bhairodev Dakav 'Sonchuri', Chipko, seed saving, JFM since 1988 and sacred groves.

Test yourself

What key role do forests play in the ecological system?

Forests are the primary producers on which all other living beings depend.

When was the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act implemented, and what was its thrust?

It was implemented in 1972. Its thrust was to protect the remaining population of certain endangered species by banning hunting, giving legal protection to their habitats and restricting trade in wildlife.

Name the three types of crocodiles covered by central government projects.

The freshwater crocodile, the saltwater crocodile and the gharial.

By how much had the tiger population fallen by 1973?

It had dwindled to 1,827 from an estimated 55,000 at the turn of the century, a fall of 53,173, or about 97 per cent.

What was added to the list of protected species in 1991?

For the first time, plants were added to the list of protected species, starting with six species.

What are permanent forest estates, and what are they maintained for?

Reserved and protected forests together are called permanent forest estates. They are maintained for producing timber and other forest produce, and for protective reasons.

What is the Bhairodev Dakav 'Sonchuri'?

It is 1,200 hectares of forest declared by the inhabitants of five villages in Alwar district, Rajasthan, with their own rules that ban hunting and protect wildlife from outside encroachments.

Which trees do the Mundas and the Santhal of the Chota Nagpur region worship?

They worship the mahua (Bassia latifolia) and the kadamba (Anthocaphalus cadamba) trees.