FOREST THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF LIFE

It is a very true saying that god help those who help themselves. Though the ultimate result of all decisions is believed to rest with Almighty God. One may have a firm belief in God and go to the places of worship and pray religiously everyday, but still one has to work to achieve some thing in life. A firm belief in God and prayers, I believe, certainly has their value. A firm faith in God, the firm faith that He is listening to ones prayers and looking after ones interests can build ones confidence, but yet, this does not mean that one merely sits at home and think that all his wishes and dreams will automatically be transformed into reality. No, one has to make efforts for the same.            “Where there are tress there exists life” a well known quote to be remembered all the way by every one. Human beings and forests have always had a complex relationship. It will not be wrong to quote here that plants and trees (Forests) have played a key role to flourish life on this globe. Although the ocean was the original home of all life on Earth, forests, as they themselves evolved, quickly became home to a vast majority of land based creatures including early man. Concrete jungles, factories spewing smoke, crowded roads crammed with traffic – certainly, humankind have come a long way from its humble beginnings. Plants themselves have been around for over 450 million years, starting with simple forms of single – layers of cells. But today they are among the most complex of life systems and also the oldest and most successful. Imagine that the first plants stood upright about 420 million years before the first animals could.It is widely believed that early human species evolved in and around the African rainforests between four and six million years ago. Even today, our closest relatives, the great apes, live there. We have depended on forests as long as we have inhabited the planet – getting clean air to breathe, food and water from it, fuel, shade and shelter, and now we need it for economic gain as well.   Early humans were known to worship trees, and even today, in some parts of the world, forests are regarded as places of awe, with spirits attributed to be living there. The worship of forests, plants and animals, and appeasing of animal and tree spirits are still quite common in some cultures, and the forest is treated with the kind of respect reserved for divine objects.Yet we have been taking continuously from the forest to feed the ever – growing need for wood, and wood and non – wood products, to provide land for the burgeoning population for housing and cultivation.  If one will try to think that what ended the nomadic life of man and from where all the things needed for his settlement came from, the answer lies with forests. Still the modern man is also totally dependent on forests. The medicines, the paper, the clothes, the food, the furniture, and all sorts of luxuries are directly or indirectly related with forests.A forest is home to many types of plants, which are the food source for many types of animals, which are, in their turn, also sources of food for other animals. And, as these animals and plants die, they in turn become food sources for the plants that again become food sources for the animals. This circle of life, the linkages between all animals and all plants, is often referred to as "The web of life" – a reference to the common dependencies between all life in an ecosystem.It is incredibly difficult to sum up the importance of forests in a few words. Just think of how forests have affected your life today by just answering the following few questions. Have you had your breakfast? Read a newspaper? Switched on a light? Traveled to work in a bus or car? Signed a cheque? Made a shopping list? Got a parking ticket? Blown your nose into a tissue? All these and many more activities directly or indirectly involve forests. Some are easy to figure out – fruits, paper and wood from trees, and so on; others are more difficult – by-products that lead to the manufacture of other everyday items like medicines, detergents, etc. Looking at it beyond our narrow, human perspective, forests provide habitats to diverse animal species, and they also form the source of livelihood for many different human settlements as well as for governments. They offer watershed protection also known as a catchment basin, the region of land that drains into a specified body of water, such as a river, lake, sea, or ocean, timber and non-timber products, and various recreational options. They prevent soil erosion, help in maintaining the water cycle, check global warming by using carbon dioxide in photosynthesis. The bulk of the earth’s rainfall is received by mountains, thus forming the headwaters of the land’s water distribution channels. As a result, the mountain forests influence the quantity and quality of this precious freshwater resource. For example, forests are usually the best cover for safeguarding water quality from sediments and chemicals. Flow of water from Forest catachment areas is complex, making generalizations difficult. However, there is evidence to suggest that cloud forests and some older natural forests can increase net water flow. Cloud or "fog" forests are special kinds of forests that scrape out moisture from the clouds or fog. This water extraction function is in addition to the vertical precipitation received by these forests. Having relatively low water use, these forests add to the water supply of a catchments. In addition, forest cover can reduce the problem of flooding from many small, frequent storm events in headwater watersheds close to the forest area. Not only this Forests act as Earth’s air purifiers. Just as our lungs absorb carbon dioxide from the blood and infuse it with oxygen, green plants absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and release oxygen into the atmosphere in return. This is why forests are often referred to as the Earth’s lungs.We all know about photosynthesis – the production of energy in the presence of light by plant containing chlorophyll for the subsistence of the organism. Carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas, is a major requirement of photosynthesis. This suits us just fine as it means forests form an effective sink for the carbon dioxide produced as a result of animal respiration, burning of fossil fuels, volcanoes and other natural and human-induced phenomenon. And if that is not all, a by-product of photosynthesis is oxygen. Thus, the forests are the Earth’s air purifiers, as they absorb the large amounts of carbon dioxide they from the atmosphere.However, these forests, the greatest ever wealth bestowed by the Almighty God to the human on earth, are being depleted at an alarming rates. The lungs of the planet are increasingly being likened to those of a compulsive smoker. Scientists, including the FAO, estimate that more than 50 per cent of the original forest cover has been lost since the beginning of the twentieth century, and what remains is disappearing at an alarming rate. Deforestation had been the major culprit in the disappearing forest cover. However, in a study published in Nature in late 2004, researchers say that the forest is disappearing faster than we think, as logging and accidental fires – which were assumed to have minimal impact, are not taken into account in standard calculations. But the present estimates available have calculated that the logging practices and wild fires destroy as much or perhaps more annually than deforestation and this affect more communities than earlier estimates.  Thus today, the ecosystem that gave us life is under severe threat. Early humans were hunter – gatherers, and later farmers, and because the population was small, the impact on the environment was minimal. But in the past couple of thousand years, the growing demands of an ever – increasing human population has halved the Earth’s original forest cover. Forests are the Earth’s largest and most productive ecosystem, and trees their most visible and important constituent. Humankind’s past is linked to the forest, and it is easy to see how its survival will map our future as well. It has been postulated that for ecological balance there should be at least 33% forest cover on earth and if this and the percentage of deforestation in modern times is kept in mind, the last day of life on this globe is not so far.   Thus to maintain the ecological balance and hence the possibility of  sustenance of life further, it should be the duty of me, you and hence of all of us not only to save the forest but plant more and more trees and popularize the slogan “Trees means food and Food means life” and the need of the hour to achieve this goal is that one has to develop a positive attitude towards things, have to work whole heartedly, sincerely and put in the best efforts into each and every little thing to save the forest and hence the mankind. Thus let us have a regret of our past deeds and think about the future. If we do all this, then life will become an unending merry song.  



Who “Save the Forests” can be happy all life long.

           

   (Dr. Ashiq Hussain)

R/O Kakoo, Bhalessa Doda

   C/O Deptt. Of Chemistry

          Govt Degree Colllege Kishtwar

 Email: drashiqhussain@rediffmail.com,