1. How are forests useful to us? Give examples.
(i) Conserve soil and water
(ii) Cause rain
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(iii)Provide natural habitat to animals.
2. How are forests important for human beings? Explain
Importance of forest to human being:
(1) Forests modify local climate.
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(2) They control soil erosion.
(3) They regulate stream blow.
(4) They support a variety of industries.
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(5) They provide livelihood for many communities.
(6) They offer scenic view for recreation. (Any three points to be stated).
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3. (A) What is shifting cultivation?
(B) What were its local names in Central America, Africa and India?
(C) Why was this practice banned by European forester?
(A) in shifting cultivation, parts of the forests is burnt in rotation. Seeds are sown in the ashes after the first monsoon rains and the crop is harvested by October-November. Such plots are cultivated for a few years and then left fallow to enable trees to grow while another area is cut for use.
(B) In Central America this practice is called milpa, it is called tavy or Chitemene in Africa and penda, bewar, podu and kumri in India.
(C) European foresters felt that, land used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railway timer. Moreover, when a forest was burnt, there was a danger of the government to calculate taxes. Therefore, they banned shifting cultivation.
4. Suggest three to conserve forests and explain them.
(A) First of all, we should stop the useless cutting of trees otherwise we shall find ourselves in a great trouble. Forests are our national wealth and we should not harm them because of our foolishness.
(B) We should follow a systematic policy of afforestation and plant as many trees as possible. The catchment area of the rivers and dams can best to use for afforestation.
(C) This is a period of scientific research. By experimentation, such varieties of trees should be developed which came easily be grown in dry and hilly areas and wastelands.
5. In India when was the Forest Act enacted? In which three categories, the forests were divided after the amendment of Forest Act in 1878?
(A) The Forest Act in India was enacted in 1865.
(B) (i) The 1878 Act divided forests into three categories : reserved, protected and village forests. The best forests were called ‘reserved forests’;
(ii) Villagers could not take anything from these forests even for their own use. For building a house or for fuel they could take wood from a protected or village forests.
6. How did commercial farming lead to decline in forest cover?
(i) large areas of natural forests were cleared to established tea, coffee and rubber plantations to meet Europe’s needs for these commodities.
(ii) With the growth of urbanisation and industrialisation in Britain there was increase in demand for commercial crops.
(iii)Large land areas were projected to bring more revenue, etc.
7. How did Forest Act affect the villagers?
The forest act created many problems for the villagers:
Their daily practices now become illegal.
People were forced to steal wood from the forest and if caught were in the mercy of forest guards.
They used to harass people etc.
8. In what ways did the development of railways and shipbuilding during colonial rule? Affect forests in India?
Forests disappeared as a result of expansion of railways. To run locomotives wood was needed as fuel and to lay railway lines wooden sleepers were essential to hold the tracks together. As the network of railway tracks expanded a larger and larger number of trees were felled. The government gave contracts to supply required quantities and contractors began cutting trees indiscriminately.
When oak forests began disappearing in England by the early 19th century it created a problem for the Royal Navy. To build and maintain English ships a regular supply of strong and durable timber was needed. Search parties were sent to explore forest of India. Within a decade trees were being felled on a massive scale and vast quantities of timber exported from India.
9. Name one great leader of a forest community who led a rebellion against the British. Give four examples to show that the people of Bastar participated wholeheartedly in the rebellion against the British policy of reservation of forests.
Siddhu and Kanhu in the Santhal paraganas, Birsa Munda, Alluri Sitarama Raju
(i) Mango boughs, a lump of earth, chilies and arrows were circulated between villages as messages inviting villagers to rebel.
(ii) Every village contributed something towards the rebellion expenses.
(iii) Bazaars were looted, houses of officials and traders associated with the state, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed and the grain was redistributed.
(iv) From all directions people came streaming into Jagdalpur wrote a missionary.
10. Write any four examples to show that villagers used forests in a variety of ways. How did the Forest Act of 1878 affect the villagers in India?
Villagers used:
(i) Fruits and tubers for nutrition
(ii) Herbs for medicine
(iii) Wood for agricultural implements like yokes and ploughs
(iv) Bamboos for fences, baskets, umbrellas
(v) Dried up scooped out gourd for portable water bottle.
(vi) Leaves stitched up to make disposable plates and cups.
(vii) Creepers to make ropes and bark of silk cotton tree to grate vegetables.
(viii) Oil for cooking and lighting lamps. The villagers lost the freedom to enter and take anything from Reserved Forests. All their every day practices of cutting wood for their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits etc. became illegal.
11. Mention three ways in which forests in India and Java were affected by the First and Second World Wars.
(i) In India the Forest Department abandoned working plans and cut trees freely to meet British War needs.
(ii) In Java, just before Japanese occupation, the Dutch followed a scorched earth policy, destroying sawmills, and burning huge piles of giant teak logs so that they would not fall into Japanese hands.
(iii) The Japanese when they occupied Java exploited the forests recklessly for their own war needs.
(iv) Villagers used this opportunity to expand cultivation in the forest,