Forest and Forestry–Definition-Scope of
Forestry
The word “Forest” is derived from
Latin word
‘foris’
meaning outside
the village boundary or
away
from inhabited land. Generally, forest is referred
to an
area occupied
by different kinds of trees,
shrubs, herbs and grasses and maintained
as such. Technically, forest is an area set aside for the production of timber and other forest
produce, or maintained under woody vegetation for certain
indirect
benefits which it provides,
e.g.
climatic or protective
(Anon., 1966). Ecologically, it is defined
as a
plant community, predominantly of trees and other woody vegetation, usually with a closed canopy. Legally,
forest is an area of land
proclaimed
to be a forest
under a forest
law. FAO classifies all such
lands
into forests
which bear vegetative
associations
dominated by trees of any size, exploited
or not, capable of
producing wood or other forest products,
or exerting an
influence
on the climate
or water regime or providing shelter
for livestock and
wildlife.
The forests made
/
composed
/ constituted / dominated
from almost
entirely one single species,
to the minimum extent of 50 per cent
are called pure forest
constitute.
From the above definition, it is clear that the forest
has five
components, namely; (i) it is an uncultivated land area, (ii) the land
area should
be occupied
by different kinds of natural vegetation essentially by trees or it is proposed
to establish
trees and other
forms of vegetation,
(iii) the trees should form a
closed
or a
partially closed canopy,
(iv) the
trees and other forms of
vegetation
should be managed for obtaining
forest produce and / or benefits and
(v) it should
provide shelter
to wildlife, birds and
other
fauna.
Forestry
Forestry is defined as the
theory and practice of all that
constitutes the
creation,
conservation and scientific management of
forests and the utilization of
their
resources
(Anon.,
1966).
It includes all thinking and
all
actions pertaining to creation, conservation,
protection and
management of forests,
including harvesting, marketing and
utilization of all forest
products
and
services. It includes not only management of existing
forests but
also
the creation of new forests.
Forestry
practices are formulated on the
basis
of forest policy
and
thinking
at national level.
Forestry is the business
of managing forest lands and the resources to produce economically useful goods and
services. The
trees and
other vegetation as well as
the
soil
which
supports them are important bases for
forest
management.
The nature
of the forest is diverse
depending on the
soil
and climatic conditions
prevailing over a
specific region of the world. Many
forest
types can be distinguished indicating
the
type
of tree vegetation
or ecosystem prevailing
in a given
area.
Forestry involves several disciplines in the biological
and
social
sciences such
as chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, economics,
sociology, political science and law. The physical
Scope of
forestry
Forestry embraces the production,
distribution
and consumption of forest
products and services.
Forestry production includes
the raising of forest crops such as
timber in artificial plantations,
or the maintenance of naturally occurring resources to upgrade their productive potential. Forestry practiced
for timber production is known as silviculture.
Production
decisions
are
based on information about the soil and
ecology
of the forest; the pests
and
diseases (pathology) and growth
and yield (men-suration) of
the
trees, and the general climatic situation.
The intangible output of forestry production includes
protection
of soils against
erosion
and flooding
the use of tree vegetation
(shelter
belts)
to protect against
harsh local climates
and
in the improvement
of precipitation.
Others are the identification, preservation
and
maintenance
of recreational sites (including
parks
and
gardens),
landscaping
and
tree
planting
in urban centres (urban forestry), and the prevention of wild
bush fires.
The distribution of forest products
is a crucial aspect of forestry in providing
the link
between
the resource and
the user (consumer).
Distribution includes harvesting,
processing and marketing of forest products.
This
is the
primary
function
of forest
industries. In a broad
sense, distribution includes harvesting and extraction of the material
from production sites,
processing (as may be
necessary) and
transportation of the
product to the point
of use. For some forestry output, such as recreation,
distribution is reversed: consumers re moved to points of
production
where
consumption takes place. Some physical outputs are consumed without
processing,
e.g. fruit
or wood for fuel.
Information on
consumption
is crucial to determination of scale, form and
timing
of production in forestry. In
the case
of wood products,
production of the raw material (timber) takes many years (10-100 years) to complete, and
accurate
estimation of consumption is essential.
The trends
of consumption of forest products and services should be
carefully
studied
to take
into account the
effects of
substitute
and
complementary
products. In order to
meet the needs of society,
forestry
cannot ignore the
systematic analysis of consumption requirements
and the
creation of wider opportunities
for the utilization of forest products
posted by Dr.C.Prabakaran @ October 29, 2022
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