NATURAL RESOURCES OF INDIA - PART 2
FOREST RESOURCES
Benefits of Forests
• Forests produce the requisite raw materials for industries, defence, communications,domestic use and other public purposes.
• They contribute to the country’s exportsand create a large volume of employment in the primary, secondary and tertiarysectors.
• They also provide materials like fuelwood, small timber, fodder, etc. fordirect use by the agriculturists.
• The benefits from forests in the matter of soilconservation, recreation, wildlife, etc. have been well-recognised.
Forests have multifarious uses, some of which can be identified as follows:
• Trees and forests have many uses, and are, therefore, considered as one ofthe important natural resources of a country. Plants through photosynthesisconvert the solar energy into various forms of energy like food, fuel, oilproducts, raw materials for industries, and other indirect sources of renewableenergy, which can be directly used by us. Forests meet nearly 40 per centof our energy needs.
• The thick foliage-mix, that both trees and shrubs attract, prevents soil erosion,and holds moisture content in both the soil and the atmosphere. These arealso described as hydrological benefits of forests.
• Forests meet the basic needs of the poor people of the country in manyways. Forests provide 30 per cent of our fodder needs. A large section ofthe country’s population – Ignancy Sachs calls them ‘eco-system people’ –depends on forests for firewood which is basic for human survival. Failure tomeet the basic needs of rural people may put millions of women – who goout to collect the firewood everyday to forests – into serious difficulties
Present Position
• Forests occupy about 783.7 lakh hectares or about 23.84 per cent of thegeographical area.
• (Of this dense forest category, i.e., 40 per cent or more of thearea covered by trees, amounts to about 58.0 per cent.)
• Of these about 433 lakhhectares or about 61.0 per cent are exploitable; another 178 lakh hectares orabout 25 per cent are potentially exploitable.
• Among the States, Madhya Pradeshhas the maximum forest area of 77,265 sq.km., followed by Arunachal Pradesh(68,045 sq.km.) and Chhattisgarh (56,448 sq. km.).
Mineral resources
Mineral resources are essential natural occurring materials or commodity found on or in the earth in such small amounts which are mined for their potential uses or their intrinsic values.
Types:
Metallic resources are things like Gold, Silver, Tin, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Iron,Nickel, Chromium, and Aluminum. Nonmetallic resources are things like sand, gravel, gypsum, halite, Uranium, dimension stone. A mineral resource is a volume of rock enriched in one or more useful materials.
Minerals:
“A mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes” (Nickel, E. H., 1995). “Minerals are naturally-occurring inorganic substances with a definite and predictable chemical composition and physical properties.”
Example Of A Mineral:
Other common elements in silicate minerals correspond to other common elements in the Earth’s crust, such aluminium, magnesium, iron, calcium, sodium, andpotassium. Some important rock-forming silicates include the feldspars, quartz,olivines, pyroxenes, amphiboles, garnets, and micas.
Mineral resources classification
• Metallic Mineral Resources
• Nonmetallic Mineral Resource
Benefits of Forests
• Forests produce the requisite raw materials for industries, defence, communications,domestic use and other public purposes.
• They contribute to the country’s exportsand create a large volume of employment in the primary, secondary and tertiarysectors.
• They also provide materials like fuelwood, small timber, fodder, etc. fordirect use by the agriculturists.
• The benefits from forests in the matter of soilconservation, recreation, wildlife, etc. have been well-recognised.
Forests have multifarious uses, some of which can be identified as follows:
• Trees and forests have many uses, and are, therefore, considered as one ofthe important natural resources of a country. Plants through photosynthesisconvert the solar energy into various forms of energy like food, fuel, oilproducts, raw materials for industries, and other indirect sources of renewableenergy, which can be directly used by us. Forests meet nearly 40 per centof our energy needs.
• The thick foliage-mix, that both trees and shrubs attract, prevents soil erosion,and holds moisture content in both the soil and the atmosphere. These arealso described as hydrological benefits of forests.
• Forests meet the basic needs of the poor people of the country in manyways. Forests provide 30 per cent of our fodder needs. A large section ofthe country’s population – Ignancy Sachs calls them ‘eco-system people’ –depends on forests for firewood which is basic for human survival. Failure tomeet the basic needs of rural people may put millions of women – who goout to collect the firewood everyday to forests – into serious difficulties
Present Position
• Forests occupy about 783.7 lakh hectares or about 23.84 per cent of thegeographical area.
• (Of this dense forest category, i.e., 40 per cent or more of thearea covered by trees, amounts to about 58.0 per cent.)
• Of these about 433 lakhhectares or about 61.0 per cent are exploitable; another 178 lakh hectares orabout 25 per cent are potentially exploitable.
• Among the States, Madhya Pradeshhas the maximum forest area of 77,265 sq.km., followed by Arunachal Pradesh(68,045 sq.km.) and Chhattisgarh (56,448 sq. km.).
Mineral resources
Mineral resources are essential natural occurring materials or commodity found on or in the earth in such small amounts which are mined for their potential uses or their intrinsic values.
Types:
Metallic resources are things like Gold, Silver, Tin, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Iron,Nickel, Chromium, and Aluminum. Nonmetallic resources are things like sand, gravel, gypsum, halite, Uranium, dimension stone. A mineral resource is a volume of rock enriched in one or more useful materials.
Minerals:
“A mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes” (Nickel, E. H., 1995). “Minerals are naturally-occurring inorganic substances with a definite and predictable chemical composition and physical properties.”
Example Of A Mineral:
Other common elements in silicate minerals correspond to other common elements in the Earth’s crust, such aluminium, magnesium, iron, calcium, sodium, andpotassium. Some important rock-forming silicates include the feldspars, quartz,olivines, pyroxenes, amphiboles, garnets, and micas.
Mineral resources classification
• Metallic Mineral Resources
• Nonmetallic Mineral Resource
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