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  Fig.: Appiko Movement T he Appiko movement was a forest conservation movement in India that started in the 1980s. The movement was similar to the Chipko movement, which also involved people hugging trees to prevent them from being cut down by loggers. The Appiko movement was mainly active in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, where the natural forests were threatened by monoculture plantations of teak and eucalyptus. The movement was founded and led by environmental activist Panduranga Hegde, who was inspired by Sundarlal Bahuguna, a leader of the Chipko movement.  The aim of the movement was to protect the biodiversity and livelihoods of the local communities that depended on the forests.  The Appiko movement succeeded in achieving some of its objectives, such as:  Stopping the felling of green trees in some areas and forcing the government to withdraw the logging contracts.  Promoting afforestation and reforestation activities on degraded la...

Fig.: Chipko Movement   T he Chipko Movement The Chipko movement was a forest conservation movement in India that started in the 1970s. The name of the movement means “to hug” or “to cling to” in Hindi, because the protesters used to embrace the trees to prevent them from being cut down by loggers. The movement was mainly led by women, who depended on the forests for their livelihood and well-being. The movement also inspired many environmental activists and organizations to fight for the protection of nature and the rights of local communities. Some of the leaders of the Chipko movement were Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Sundarlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi, and Medha Patkar. The Chipko movement began in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, where the forests were threatened by commercial logging and development projects. The villagers, especially the women, realized that the deforestation was causing soil erosion, water scarcity, floods, landslides, and loss of biodiversity. They also ...

  CONSEQUENCES & OUTCOMES OF DEFORESTATION IN INDIA Deforestation is the widespread destruction of major forests in India, which causes environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, climate change impacts, and livelihood threats for many people. CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION  IN INDIA: Conversion of forest land for agriculture, urbanization, industrialization, infrastructure development, etc.  Pollution of forest water and soil due to domestic sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff, solid waste dumping, etc.   Overexploitation of forest resources such as timber, firewood, fodder, non-timber forest products, etc.  Invasion of exotic species that compete with native species and alter the forest ecology.  Forest fires that destroy large areas of vegetation and wildlife. SOME OF THE EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION IN INDIA: Soil erosion and land degradation that reduce the fertility and productivity of land.  Loss of habitat and species divers...

fig.: Various ways of deforestation   I n simple words we all know the meaning of "Deforestation" which is cutting of a large group of trees at a specific area. But the point of deforestation is to development of an area by cutting the tree which is quite bad from environmentalist's perspective. As plants are the largest ecosystem that sinks carbon and removes it from the environment after cutting plants the concentration of carbon di-oxide increases in the environment, and it gives the reason for "air pollution". In India if you see a waste land or any dumping area these are the perfect example of deforestation. Sometimes forests are cut down by the name of roads, to join the villages with the cities and for the development purposes. But we forget about the ecosystem. One day nature will make us to pay for it. It is important that if we cut a tree we have to plant another tree for a balanced ecosystem. Deforestation is also a natural disaster a simple example o...

  W e can say by the degree of dependency on environment that conservation of biodiversity is necessary.  As an area with higher species abundance has a more stable environment compared to an area with lower species abundance. As a human, we depend directly on various species of plants for our various needs. As well as, we also depend on various species of animals and microbes for different reasons. Biodiversity is being lost due to various reasons like Pollution, Over-grazing, Deforestation, Over-population, Hunting and poaching, climate change, etc. So, as we are more depended on this environment it's our duty to conserve our biodiversity. Laws Governing Biodiversity Conservation in India  (i) The Madras Wild Elephant Preservation Act, 1873.  (ii) All India Elephant Preservation Act, 1879.  (iii) The Indian Fisheries Act, 1897.  (iv) Wild Birds and Wild Animals Protection Act, 1912.  (v) The Indian Forest Act, 1927.  (vi) Bengal Rhinoceros Act, ...

  T he Forest administration in India is more than 100 years old. Efforts to identify plant species as a part of wildlife and to recognize the importance for providing special protection to endangered plant species have so far been negligible. The extinction of certain attractive animals stimulated efforts to protect fauna, but no special heed was given to flora. The word ‘Wildlife’ had till recently been considered synonymous with animal life and consequently, conservations and naturalists have their attention only to conservation of animal species. It was only in the year 1968 at an International Conference (UNESCO 1968) that the problem of conservation of flora and fauna was appreciated and several recommendations were made urging the International Biological Programme (IBP), .the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural resources (IUCN) and various international and national organizations to initiate studies in to the problems involved, particularly the proble...