Conservation of Plants and Animals

Introduction

India is a large developing country known for its diverse ecosystems. The protection of forest ecosystems is critical as forests are a home to a large number of plants and animals, either of which are being used by humans at an alarming rate. The conservation of plants and animals is important for the preservation of the environment. Plants and animals are essential for the maintenance of the environment. They help to purify the air and water, and they provide food and shelter for other organisms.

Many plants and animals are becoming endangered due to the destruction of their habitats. The rainforest is being destroyed at an alarming rate, as a result of which many species of plants and animals are becoming extinct. It is important to protect the environment and to conserve the plants and animals that live in it, because if not done, may lead to disturbances in the ecosystem and other aspects of our planet Earth.

Why is there a need to conserve forests & wildlife?

The main reason why forests and wildlife need to be conserved is due to it's such great usefulness, where human beings are putting it to use, whether good or bad. However, it's use to such a point when it's population suffers, is when these species are on the verge of extinction. Hence, a balance must be created between human consumption and the amount of usage, that is, to a level till which a particular resource gets reasonable time to replenish itself.

Forests, are useful to us in many ways. For instance, they are useful in construction purposes, as a fuel, for making furniture, manufacturing paper, ship building, and so on.

Besides commercial uses, forests help in maintaining an ecological balance, in the following ways:

Forests help in binding the roots of the soil and preventing soil erosion, they control climatic condition, prevent floods, etc. They also maintain a balance between the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and hence prevent global warming. Also, they provide a habitat to various animal species. In India, forests cover one-fifth of the total area of our country, and also provide diverse varieties of wood.

Wildlife, on the other hand, provides us with a variety of food (milk, meat), leather (from dead animals) and milk from animals.

From each of these uses, it is noticeable that all of them are used everyday for domestic purposes, which is why to make them, them amount of forests and wildlife is depleting, the major reason why it's important to conserve them.

Conservation of Forests & Wildlife

We should conserve forests and wildlife to preserve biodiversity, to prevent the endangered species from becoming extinct and to maintain ecological balance in nature. Some measures to conserve forests and wildlife are given below:

1. Afforestation: Afforestation means planting of trees. Planting of trees in a forest is a very important part of conservation as products from trees are continuously in use by human beings. We should cut as many trees as we cut. Also, one must participate in campaigns such as Van Mahotsav to grow trees.

2. Preventing Forest Fires: The majority of wildfires are caused by humans, so we play a crucial role in preventing forest fires from the starting. Avoid burning wastes from the start, and obey local laws relating to fires. Forest fires must be checked by various advanced techniques like spraying fire extinguishing solution from aircrafts or by changing the direction of wind by using strong blowers.

3. Preventing Overgrazing: Overgrazing must be controlled to save forests. Grazing animals eat young trees, destroy leaves on lower branches and injure roots and trunks. To prevent overgrazing, taking plant growth rate, natural processes of grazing lands and animal grazing behaviors into consideration is essential. It's important to have a grazing plan. Recovery periods, known as resting periods should be adjusted with changes in plant growth rates throughout the year.

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 "Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help.

Only if we will help, shall they be saved."

Blog by: Tanisha Vig