Deforestation in India is the widespread destruction of major forests in India. It is mainly caused by environmental degradation by stakeholders such as farmers, ranches, loggers and

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

corporations. In 2009, India ranked 10th worldwide in the amount of forest loss, where world annual deforestation is estimated as a year.

History

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

started with the growth of agriculture, but was exacerbated in the nineteenth century when British commercial forestry operations destroyed forests in mountain areas of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. The

Gangetic plains The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Ba ...

have been almost completely deforested for agriculture.

Dynamics

Several causes supported deforestation, including colonization,

agricultural expansion Agricultural expansion describes the growth of agricultural land (arable land, pastures, etc.) especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. The agricultural expansion is often explained as a direct consequence of the global increase in food and en ...

, firewood collection, timber harvesting and extension of cultivation on slopes. In the Indian

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

s debris thrown down slopes due to reckless use of excavator machines for widening of roads and making of new roads has completely destroyed vast areas of Forest. Due to the colonization from all over the country trees are cut down as a primary source of fuel. These trees are used for cooking food and other daily needs which require fuel.

Results

Deforestation has affected the lives of wild animals and birds including bats. Due to deforestation India is facing water problems in urban cities and villages.

References

{{Portal bar, India, Environment, Ecology, Earth sciences, Biology

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Forestry in India Environmental issues in India

History

Dynamics

Results

See also

References