Page 146 - SST Class 06

indirectly. They give us oxygen, medicines, food,
in the Eastern Ghats, foot-hills of the Himalayas,
Odisha, Assam and West Bengal. fuel, rubber and other things. Besides, they help to
protect our environment. They bind the soil and
Tidal Forests thus prevent soil erosion. A forest is also a natural
These are also called mangrove habitat for a wide variety of animals, birds and
forests . These can survive in insects.
saline water. We can find tidal Ideally, one-third of the total land area should be
forests near the sea coasts in the under forests. However in India, only about one-
deltas formed by rivers. The fourth of the land is under forests. Large scale
sea-tides help in the growth of deforestation causes many problems. India is
these trees. We find these making effort to plant more trees and conserve the
forests in West Bengal where A tidal forest existing trees. The government runs Van
the Ganga and the Brahmaputra have formed the Mahotsavs in order to plant more trees. Many
delta named Sundarbans . The important tree here social organisations are also helping in this cause.
is sundri, after which this delta has been named. The Chipko Movement was started by Sundarlal

Bahuguna in 1974. This movement was
Just Think! characterised by hugging of trees by the people so
as not to allow them to be cut down.
How are forests important your us?
You should plant trees on every available space.
Thorny Forests They protect the environment and make the place
healthy and pleasant. The places along roads and
Thorny forests are found in areas with scanty
rainfall. We can find these forests in Rajasthan. railways are ideal places for plantation of trees as
The important trees in these they absorb the pollution caused by vehicles. You
should also grow some plants in pots or other
forests are keekar, babool,
cactus, date-palm, prickly pear available space around your house.
besides other bushes and
shrubs. We can also find this
type of vegetation in some parts
of Punjab, Haryana, Western A throny forest
Ghats and Gujarat.

Coniferous Forests
These are also called mountain forests . These are Chipko movement People planting trees
found in the Himalayas. Their types vary
according to the height. We find deciduous forests WILDLIFE IN INDIA
in the lower altitudes of the Himalayas; but in the
higher reaches, we find India’s wildlife is equally diverse, which
coniferous forests which comprises animals, birds, insects, fishes and
comprise the trees of cedar, reptiles. Many of these species are peculiar to
chir, fir, pine and deodar. A India, such as swamp deer, four-horned antelope,
coniferous tree has conical Kashmir stag, chital, nilgai, one-horned
leaves which do not allow the rhinoceros, Indian lion, Indian bison and many
snow to settle on them. A coniferous forest more.
Activity
CONSERVATION OF FORESTS
On the map of India, mark any five national parks
Our life is dependent on trees directly or
and wildlife sanctuaries.
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