Wild life :

Introduction :

Indian is unique in having immense natural beauty is its different lions and in possessing a rich and diverse wild life fauna Indian wild life is incomparable in its variety for example, the tiger, the lion and the leopard room about in the same country elephants and the one horned rhinoceros are found here in abundance. India has more types of the graceful deer and cats than any other country in the world. In facts, India includes more than 120 families of terrestrial vertebrates. It has been estimated that there are more than 400 species of mammals, 1200 species of Birds, more than 350 Species of Reptiles and more that 29,70,000 species of insects in India. The animals like black buck, Nilgiris Tahr, Pigmy Hog, Golden Langur, Lion, Tailed Macaque etc., are unique wild animals of India . India is gifted with a wide verity of Deer's such as Musk Deer (Kastura), Braking Deer, Spotted Deer (Cheetal), Hog Deer, Mouse Deer, Swamp Deer (Barasigha) and Dancing Deer (Sambhar). The typical wild Indian birds include peafowl, jungle fowl, quail, great Indian bustard, duck pigeon, sand grouse, eagle, pelican Horndrill etc. Indian reptiles include Crocodiles, lizards, gharials and more than 125 varieties of Snakes.

Reasons for wild life conservation.

Wild life is a renewable resource like soil, water and forest, because it can be used time and again without being destroyed and there is a great need of these renewable resources.

•  The wild life has also been used commercially to earn a lot of money in on way or the other.

•  The wild life is the cultural asset of a country like India . It has deep rooted effect on art sculpture, literature and religion of the country.

Wild life Management

Wild life management, which is an important branch of conservation, is concerned with assuring the maximum possible population of game animal's consistent with other land uses in the same area and with the number that the given habitat will support.

Conservation Measures:

• For the preservation of species wild life management staff should have a correct idea about the exact habitat which the species under consideration needs.

•  Natural habitat of wild animals should be carefully protected.

•  Habitats of wild life should be improved by constructing water holes, saltlicks and by raising plantation of better and nourishing fodder grasses and trees.

•  The enforcement of wild life protection acts should be observed strictly.

•  Shooting and hunting of endangered species should be totally banned.

•  To take care of wild life case of epidermis, veterinary efforts should be made.

•  Public should be educated about the advantages and disadvantages of wild life.

Necessity for wild life conservation:

The conservation of wild life is required for the following benefits. The wild life helps us in maintaining the balance of Nature. The destruction of carnivores or insectivores often leads to the increase in herbivorous, which in turn affects the forest vegetation or crops. The wild life 1 of India is our cultural assets and has deep-rooted effect of Indian art, sculpture, literature and religion.

Modes of wild life conservation:

The wild birds and animals protection acts was passed in 1887 and repealed in 1912. In 1972, new wild life protection act was passed.

Protect species of India wild life are here they are white eyed buck, black buck. Four horen antelope, golden cat, snow leopard, great Indian bustard, Monitor lizard, winter lizard, leathery turtle, marsh crocodile etc.

There are 66 national parks in the country, which are spread over an area of 33,988.14 Sq. Km nearly 1% of countries geographical areas. There are 368 Sanctuaries in India covering 1,07,310,13 Sq. Km. Amounting 3.2% of India 's total geographical area.

Reasons for depletion of wild life.

•  Absence of covers or shelter to wild animals.

•  Destruction of wild plants of forests for timber, charcoal and firewood often deprives wild animals their most palatable food and affects their survival.

•  Noise pollution by different transport media and polluting river water have adversely affected wild animals

•  Hunting methods of all kinds and for any purpose (that is, food, recreation, fur, plumage, tusk, horn etc.) have caused destruction of wild life.

Some Indian Sanctuaries and National Parks.

•  Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary.

•  Manas Wild life Sanctuary.

•  Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary.

•  Mundanthurai Sanctuary.

•  Ranganthittoo Bird Sanctuary.

•  Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary.

•  Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary.

•  Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary.

•  Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

•  Kolameru Bird Sanctuary.

•  Guindy Deer Park .

•  Sesan Gir

•  Sariska

•  Chilka Lake

•  Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary.

•  Daachigam Wildlife Sanctuary.

•  Bhagwan Mahadeva Wildlife Sanctuary.

•  Sultanpur Lake Bird Sanctuary.

•  Bir Motibagh Sanctuary.

•  Shivpuri Sanctuary.

Important steps should be taken to preserve wild life.

•  Wild life management staff should be capable of having correct and accurate idea about the wild animals which are to be protected.

•  Natural habital wild animals should be carefully protected.

•  Habitals of wild life should be improved by constructing water holes, salt licks, and by plantation of better and nourishing fodder grasses and trees.

Wild Life Research in India .

Research on various aspects of biology, ecology and management of problems is basically conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehardun, Boimbay Natural History Society, Bombay and Salim Ali Center For Ornithology and Natural History, Bombay .

Wildlife Institute of India (WII) covers various aspects of applied research on wild life for different ecological and geographical regions of the country. Show leopard (Ladakh), Nilgiri Langur (Tamil Nadu), Grizzled gaint squirrel (Tamil Nadu), monitoring of reintroduced Mugger crocodiles (Andhra Pradesh) and monitoring of reintroduced Rhinoceros (Dudhwa, U.P) are the main studies completed by the institute.

Under the Indo US Rupees Fund Programme, the Ministry of Forest has been sponsoring a number of research programms implemented by Bombay Natural history Society.

The objective of the Salim Ali Centre For Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) is to develop and conduct research as well as courses in all aspects of ornithology and natural history of other life forms.

Wild life education and training.

Wildlife Institute of India , Dehradun organized 9 month PG Diploma and three months Certificate courses on wild life for protected area managers at the professional and Field technician level during 1991-92. The Institute also organized a Zoo Management course for Middle Level Managers and Technicians and 4 week course for 16 trainees from Zoos and wild life organizations from different states.

IUCN has recognized wild life institute of India as a regional centre for wild life training. WII has also been conducting short courses for Indian Forest Service officers in order to provide a bsic undr standing of wild life and bio diversity conservation.

Forests

Introduction

A plant community predominantly of trees and other vegetation usually with a closed canopy is called forest. Today forest may be regarded as any land managed for the diverse purpose of forestry, whether covered with trees shrubs, climbers, lions etc or not the word jungle is used to describe a collection of trees, shrubs etc that are not grown in a regular manner.

Importance of forest :

Forest are the only source of timbers, wood fuel, bamboos and a rich source of a variety of valuable products. They guard against erosion of land, damage of water sheds, floods and segmentation. The provide shelter to the wildlife. Above all, forest also provide facility fo the grazing of live stocks and product a large number of products of commercial as well as industrial importance. Some of the such valued products are structural timbers, gums, essential oils and a number of manufacture of medicinal drugs. The forest covers the maximum temperature and rises the minimum temperature.

Types of forests

The distribution of natural forests in India is mainly governed by rain fall which varies from about 12 Cms to 125 Cms per year in different parts of the country. As a result, a wide variety of vegetation ranging from xerophytic scrub forest (found in arid zones of Rajasthan) to evergreen forest in the tropics (Found in Assam, W. Bengal, Andamans and Western Ghats etc.) between these two extremes there are many intermediate sub-type forests, the most important among these are :

•  Moist tropical forests : which consist of many evergreen species, such as toon, irul, dipterocarps etc and found mainly in western Ghats, Andamans and Assam .

•  Dry tropical forests containing thorn forest found in the desert and aird zones of Rajasthan, Punjab , Gujarat , UP and MP occur in areas with rainfall 75-125 Cm.

•  Montane sutropical forests occur at elevations of 750-1800 meter in the Himalayas and Nilgiris in South India .

•  Montane temperate forests occur at elevation of 1800-2700 meter in areas with rainfall of about 125-200 Cm.

•  Subalpine forests occur between 2900-3500 meters. The vegetation consists of a dense growth of small crooked trees or large shrubs with patches.

•  Alpine scrub forests occur above 3500 meters along the entire length of Himalayas . These are evergreen forests with trees forming a dense growth with short branchy stems.

Deforestation

Forest in developing countries are going to be reduced at an alarming rate. This process of deforestation is a serious threat to economy, quality of life and future of the environment in our country. The important causes of deforestation in India are,

•  Rapid explosion of human and livestock population

•  Increased requirement of timber and fuel wood because of increase in population

•  Expansion of agricultural croplands for farming and enhanced grazing by cattle.

•  Development of industries, quarrying, irrigation and agriculture.

•  Increased demand for fuel wood, timber, wooden crates, paper, newsprint's, patter boards, medicines etc.

Afforestaton :

The development of forests on wastelands is usually known as afforestation, which is necessary because there is a general shortage of forests and it is difficult to transport wood from one place to another due to its bulky weight. Afforestation is also needed for minimizing soil run off and for aesthetic and hygienic reasons. The process depends upon the local conditions. For example, on grass land fast growing species are grown, because they rapidly form a canopy and kill the grass of that area. In dry lands of Rajasthan and Punjab , with irrigation facilities, the land is afforested with Jamun, Shahtoot, Khair Shisham etc.

In India , Wasteland Development Programme is being and overseen by National Wastelands development Board (NWDB) which has adopted a mission approach for enlisting people's participation, harnessing inputs of science and technology and achieving inter disciplinary co-ordination in the programme, planning and implementation. The overall goals of the programme are :

•  To check land degradation

•  To put wastelands to sustainable use.

•  To increase the availability of biomass, especially the fuel and fodder.

•  To restore the ecological balance.

Forest Research in India .

In India , India Council of Forest Research and Education (ICFRE) is an autonomous body with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which holds the mandate to organize, direct and manage research and education in the fields of forestry. The major objectives of the council are

•  To undertake, aid, promote and co-orinate forestry education, research and applications,

•  To develop and maintain a National Information Centre for forestry and allied sciences.

•  To act as a clearing house for research and general information relating forests and wildlife.

•  To develop forest extension programmes and propagate the same through mass media. Audio visual aids and extension machinery.

There are five important research institutes, they are

•  Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun.

•  Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore .

•  Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore .

•  Institute of Deciduous Forests, Jabalpur .

•  Institute of Arid Zone Forestry Research, Jodhpur .

Forest Education and Training.

•  Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE)

•  Indian Institute of Forest managent (IIFM), Bhopal

•  Indian Plywood Industries Research Institute (IPIRI), Banglore.

•  Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun.

•  State Forest Service Colleges

•  Eastern Forest Ranger's College (EFRC) Kurseong.

•  Training under Colombo Plan

•  Inservice Training of Forest Officers.

Conservation

Conservation is the most efficient and most beneficial utilization of natural resources and Is one of the most significant applications of ecology. Conservation is mainly concerned with the management of the natural resources of the earth, taking into consideration their proper use, preservation and protection from destructive influences and misuse etc. Hence conservation may also be defined as the nationalize of the environment to provide a high quality of living for the mankind.

Skanda. S. Shenoy, 10^th, Vikasa High School, Alkola, Shimoga – 577 204.