TARGET GROUP Classes: IX - XII

Ages: 13 -18

The GENERAL OBJECTIVE of this

presentation is to provide an overview of the

problem of LAND DEGRADATION with particular

emphasis on the problem of DEFORESTATION

DEFINE

•Land degradation and deforestation

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After interacting with this software the learner will be able to:

IDENTIFY •Factors responsible for land degradation and deforestation

STATE

•Effects of deforestation on the environment

•Strategies to combat effects of deforestation

EVOLVE

ASSESS•Consequences of deforestation on human population

Land degradation is the over exploitation and depletion of land resources, such as, soil, forests, and pasture land.

It happens as a result of deforestation and desertification.

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR LAND DEGRADATION

•Deforestation

•Soil Erosion

•Mining activities

•Solid waste disposal

•Agricultural practices

WHAT IS A FOREST?

It is a plant community consisting of trees and woody vegetation with a more or less closed canopy.

It is a renewable resource with rich flora and fauna•It provides fuel wood, timber and other forest produce.

•Cleans the air•Protects the soil•Influences the environment to make it habitable

Deforestation is the permanent conversion of forests to other uses such as;

What is Deforestation?

•pastures,• shifting cultivation,

•agricultural land ...

Shifting Cultivation is preceded by slash and burn of forests leading to massive deforestation

or for other activities, like

Setting up industries

Constructing dams

Building roads and railway tracks

Road building in the Amazon forest

Effects of deforestation on the general environment:

•loss of genetic material,

•decline in agricultural productivity due to massive soil erosion and landscape degradation

•Loss of flora and fauna

•Increase in levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide leading to the melting of polar ice caps and thus causing the sea level to rise.

IMPACT OF DEFORESTATION ON HUMAN POPULATIONS

•Under development

•Low ‘Quality of Life’

•Poverty

MEASURES TO CHECK DESTRUCTION OF FORESTS --

•Proper management of forests

•Extensive afforestation in degraded areas

•A ‘forest sensitive’ development policy

Agricultural practices: by these we mean practices which have an adverse impact on soil fertility and productivity, e.g. unskilled irrigation-leading to salinity and water logging, use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and the practice of shifting cultivation.

Desertification: A process by which land becomes increasingly infertile and unproductive until almost no vegetation grows on it, making it a desert.This could happen due to soil erosion, increasing salinity or

water logging.

Mining Activities :the two types of mining activities; open cast and underground mining, lead to the deposition of ore on adjacent sites.This not only causes unwanted occupation of land, but when this ore is washed out to agricultural fields the debris blocks drainage channels and results in water logging. The other environmental problem is run off of acids and toxic substances into nearby surface water and soil erosion.

Overgrazing :it results in the absence of ground vegetation, which causes soil erosion, gradual depletion of soil organisms, ultimately leading to the transformation of land into wasteland.

Soil erosion :It is a natural and normal process, by which the earth’s crust is constantly eroded under the forces of

weathering

Solid waste disposal :any unwanted or discharged non-liquid waste material generated from domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural activities

WHAT IS AFFORESTATION?

Afforestation involves plantation in wastelands, degraded government lands, private and village panchayat land, road sides, canal banks, along railway lines etc. the purpose is to grow trees and other vegetation to provide green cover which may be of commercial importance.

see an example of successful afforestation at Kudremukh, Karnataka where iron ore mines had ravaged the landscape

At kudremukh a massive yet brisk afforestation programme unfolds a serene spectacle of over 7.5 million trees to restore the the mined mountain scape to its original splendour. The green silence of the hills, comes alive with life, bird sanctuary, wildlife sanctuary and picnic spots supported by KIOCL adorn the region enhancing scenic beauty.

Kudremukh

ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS

In the past economists dealing with the issue of growth and development havenot paid adequate attention to the economic implications of environmentalpollution and the depletion and degradation of natural resources.

However, with increasing exploitation and degradation of natural resourcesand neglect of the environment having direct and indirect, impact on humanlives it has now become necessary to compute the economic effect ofenvironmental degradation.

Deteriorating air quality, difficulties faced in disposal of solid waste,increasing pollution of land, water and soil and depletion of forest cover aresteadily impacting the productivity of human populations in the negativerealm.

Environmental Economics is a relatively new subject helping to developapproaches and methodologies for costing of the environment and placingan economic value on environmental degradation and damage.

GOVERNMENT’S ROLE IN PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT -

The government has enacted several laws such as

The Environmental (Protection) Act, (1986)

Forest Conservation Act, 1980

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

STUDENT QUIZ

ARE YOU ABLE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?

•What is land degradation?

•What is deforestation?

•What are the underlying causes of deforestation?

•Describe the effect of deforestation on the environment and on people?

STUDENT PROJECT

Research and document information on at least two ongoing people’s movements to conserve or stop the destruction of forests in the country.

Present your findings in the form of a multimedia presentation.

CREDITS:

Presentation developed by:

Reeta Kapur

Snehlata Gupta

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

•Looking Back to Think Ahead - GREEN India 2047 by TERI, New Delhi.

•Man and Environment - M.C. Dash and P.C. Mishra (Macmillan India Ltd.)

•Indian Economy - a textbook for class XI, N.C.E.R.T.

•Encarta Encyclopaedia

www.terin.org