Forest Resources in India relates to the distinctive topography, terrain, wild life, climate and vegetation. Forest resources in India have always been one of the richest resources. These resources are ancient in nature and composition, since the nation was once covered with dense forests. The history of forest resources in India is evident in the ancient texts all of which have some mention of these forests. The people honored the forests and a large number of religious ceremonies focused on trees and plants. The Agni Purana, written about 4000 years ago, states that man should protect forest resources in India to have material gains and religious blessings. Around 2500 years ago, Gautama Buddha preached that man should plant a tree every five years and his disciples did follow so. Sacred groves were marked around the temples where certain rules and regulations are applied.
The importance of forest resources in India was realized in around 1800`s, when a commissioner was appointed to look into the availability of teak in the Malabar forests. In 1806, the Madras government appointed Capt. Watson as the commissioner of forest resources in India for organizing the production of teak and other timber suitable for the building of ships. Forest management was primarily aimed at producing commercial products such as teak timber. Even today, vast tracts of forest resources in India are covered with teak plantations, low in biodiversity and seasonally ravaged by forest fires.
In 1855, Lord Dalhousie framed regulations for conservation of forest in the entire country. Teak plantations were raised in the Malabar hills, acacia, and eucalyptus in the Niligiri Hills. From 1865 to 1894, forest resources in India were established for securing material for imperial needs. From the 18th century, scientific forest management systems were engaged to regenerate and yield the forest resources in India to make it sustainable.
In the early 1990s about 17 percent of forest resources in India land were dense forestland. However, because more than 50 percent of this land was barren or brush land, the area under productive forest was actually less than 35 million hectares, or approximately 10 percent of the nation`s land area. The growing population`s high demand for forest resources in India continued the destruction and degradation of forests through the 1980s, taking a heavy toll on the soil. Many forest resources in India in the mid-1990s are found to experience high-rainfall, high-altitude regions, areas to which access is difficult. About 20 percent of total forestland is in Madhya Pradesh; other states with significant forests are Orissa, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The variety of forest vegetation is large: there are 600 species of hardwoods, sal (Shorea robusta) and teak being the principal economic species.
The National Forest Policy of 1988 emphasized on the role of forest resources in India as a part of the National economy and ecology. It focused on ensuring environmental stability, restoring the ecological balance, and preserving the remaining forests. Also in 1988, the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 was amended in order to facilitate stricter conservation measures. A new target was to increase the forest resources in India to 33 percent of India`s land area from the then-official estimate of 23 percent. People now realised that deforestation threatened not only the ecology but also their livelihood in a variety of ways. Thus, people have become more interested and involved in conservation of forest resources in India.
