Unit 1

Introduction to Forest,
Forestry and Silviculture
 Learning Objectives

After completing this unit you shall be able to:

 Define forest, forestry and silviculture
 Know the classification of forests and forestry
 Appreciate Forests in India and
 Describe the history of development of forestry in
IndiaLearning Objectives
 What is Forest?

Forest: Derived from Latin word ‘Foris’ = ‘outside’ means simply

wild or uncultivated land regardless of cover
Definitions of Forest
“A plant association predominantly of trees or other woody
vegetation occupying an extensive area of land”
(American Society of Foresters)

“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”

Simply it is “A plant community predominantly of trees and other

woody vegetation, usually with a closed canopy”.
Or
“An area of land proclaimed to be a forest under a forest law”

Our country has redefined forests “A forest is a land area of at

least 0.05 ha, with a minimum tree crown cover of 15%, and
tree height of at least 2 m”.

“Forest Cover” includes “all lands with more than 1 ha area

with more than 10% tree canopy density irrespective of their
legal status and species composition”
India State of Forest Report 2011

“Forest” as the Land having trees of more than 5 meters spread

in over 0.5 hectares and with more than 10 per cent canopy cover,
or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
What is Forestry?

Definitions
“The science, art and practice of managing trees and
forests and their associated resources for human benefit.
Canadian Forest Service

“Forestry is the theory and practice of all that constitutes

the creation, conservation and scientific management of
forests and the utilization of their resources to provide
for the continuous production of the required goods and
services”

The science, art and business of creating, managing, and

conserving forests and associated resources in a
sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and
values — note the broad field of forestry consists of those
biological, quantitative, managerial, and social sciences
that are applied to forest management and conservation;
it includes specialized fields such as agroforestry, urban
forestry, industrial forestry and international forestry
(Adopted by IUFRO 2000).
Branches of forestry
Forestry has five different branches:
1. Silviculture (Deals with theory and practice of raising
forests crops i.e., the methods of raising tree crops, their
growth and after care up to the time of final harvesting).
2. Forest Mensuration (Deals with the determination of
dimensions, form, volume, age and increments of the logs,
single trees, stands or whole woods)
3. Silviculture system (A set of procedures by which the
forest crops are tended, removed and replaced by new
crop of the same or other species)
4. Management (Practical application of sequence technique
and economics to forest estate for the production of
certain desired results
5. Utilization (Branch of forestry which deals with harvesting,
marketing conservation and applying the forest produce to
a variety of uses eg. Timber, fuel, charcoal, pulp wood, ply
wood).

Branches Based on the objectives

1. Protection of Environmental Forestry (Protection of
land, regulation of water cycle, Wild life conservation
Modernization of climate conditions, combination of
above)
2. Commercial or Production Forestry (Timber and other
raw materials)
3. Social Forestry (Raising forests outside the traditional
forest with the involvement of society)
i) Community Forestry (The practice of forestry on lands outside
the conventional forest area for the benefit of local population
and involvement of community in the creation and management
of such forests)
ii) Farm Forestry (Raising forest trees on farms lands
iii) Extension Forestry (includes the activity of raising trees on
farm lands/ villages wastelands/ community forest areas/ road
side areas, canal banks and railway lines (Anon., 1976).
iv) Agro-Forestry (a sustainable land management system which
increases the yield of the land by combining agriculture crops
and forestry crops together on the same piece of land)
v) Recreational Forestry (Enhancing scenic beauty near towns and
cities)
Classification of Forest

A) Classification according to origin of forest

i) High forest (Forest originated from seeds)
ii) Coppice forests (Forest originated vegetative from
suckers or sprouts from stump)
B) Based on species composition
i) Pure forests (a forest composed of almost entirely of
one species (not less than 80%)
ii) Mixed forests (a forest composed of trees of two or
more species under the same canopy)
C) National Forest Policy of 1952
i) Protection Forests (forests which must be preserved
or created for physical and climatic considerations)
ii) National Forests (maintained and managed for
meeting needs of defense, communications, industry,
and other general purposes of public importance)
iii) Village Forests: Those forests which have to be -
maintained to provide firewood to re-lease cow-dung for
manure, and to yield small timber for agricultural
implements and other forest produce for local
requirements, and to provide grazing for cattle;
iv) Tree Lands: Those areas which though outside the
scope of the ordinary forest management are essential
for the amelioration of the physical conditions of the
country.
According to National Commission on Agriculture (NCA)
(1976) Three major categories. These are as follows:

1. Protection Forests: (Maintaining forest with a view to

conserve flora, fauna, soil and water, increasing water yields,
reducing floods and droughts, amelioration of climatic
conditions. The practice forestry for these purposes is called
Protection Forestry).ields, reducing floods and droughts,
amelioration of climatic conditions, etc. is called Protection
Forestry.

2. Production Forests: The practice of forestry with object of

producing maximum quantity of timber, fuel wood and other
forest produce is called Production Forestry. The production
forestry can be further classified into:

(i) Commercial Forestry: Commercial forestry aims to get

maximum production of timber, fuel wood and other
forest products as a business enterprise.

3. Social Forests: Social Forestry is the practice of forestry

which aims at meeting the requirement of rural and urban
population. The object of social forestry is to meet the basic
needs of community aiming at bettering the conditions of
living through:

 Meeting the fuel wood, fodder and small timber

requirements

 Protection of agricultural fields against wind

 Meeting recreational needs and

 Maximizing production and increasing farm returns

 Advantages of Forests
A) Direct benefits
 Timber uses (commercial use as well as non-commercially. The
timber uses in construction houses, manufacture of windows, doors
and furniture etc. Wood-based panel and paper/paperboard)
 Uses as fuelwood and charcoal
 Fodder for domesticated animals
 Non-timber forest products (NTFP) such as wild edibles, latex, wild
cocoa, honey, gums, nuts, fruits and flowers / seeds, spices,
condiments, medicinal plants, rattan, fodder, fungi, berries and also
includes animals and their products

B) Indirect Benefits
 Conservation of Biological Diversity
 Watershed protection
 Arresting landslides and erosion
 Control of floods
 Recharging of natural springs
 Carbon storage and sequestration
 Tourism and recreation values
 Amenity values
 Option and existence values
National Forest Policy -1894
 The purpose of this policy was to lay down general principles for forest
management in India. Forest Policy of India triggered the development of forest
policies in various other countries under the British Empire of that time. The
basic principles of this policy were:
 The main objective of management of State forests is public benefit. In general,
the constitution and preservation of a forest involve the regulation of rights and
the restriction of privileges of the user of the forest by the neighbouring
population
 Forests situated in hill slopes should be maintained as protection forests to
preserve the climatic and physical conditions of the country, and to protect the
cultivated plains that lie below them from the devastating action of hill torrents
 Forests which are the store-house of valuable timbers should be managed on
commercial lines as a source of revenue to the State
 Ordinarily, if a demand for agricultural land arises and can be met from a forest
alone, it should be conceded without hesitation, subject to the following
conditions:
 - honeycombing of a valuable forest by patches of cultivation should not be
allowed;
 - cultivation must be permanent and must not be allowed so to extend as to
encroach upon the minimum area of forest that is needed to meet the
reasonable forest requirements, present and prospective;
 - forests that yield only inferior timber, fuel wood or fodder, or are used for
grazing, should be managed mainly in the interest of the local population, care
should be taken to see that the user does not defeat its subject and the people
are protected against their own carelessness.
National Forest Policy-1952

This national policy stressed on the following points:

 persuading the people to give up the harmful practice of shifting
cultivation;
 increase of the efficiency of forest administration by having adequate
forest laws;
 giving requisite training to the staff of all ranks;
 providing adequate facilities for the management of forests and for
conducting research in forestry and forest products utilization;
 controlling grazing in the forest; and
 promoting welfare of the people.
National Forest Policy-1988

Basic objectives of the policy were:

 Maintenance of environmental stability through preservation and,
where necessary, restoration of the ecological balance that has
been adversely disturbed by serious depletion of the forests of the
country
 Conserving the natural heritage of the country by preserving the
remaining natural forests with the vast diversity of flora and fauna,
which represent the remarkable biological diversity and genetic
resources of the country
 Checking soil erosion and denudation in the catchment areas of
rivers, lakes, reservoirs in the interest of soil and water
conservation, for mitigating floods and droughts and for the
retardation of siltation of reservoirs.
 Checking the extension of sand-dunes in the desert areas of
Rajasthan and along the coastal tracts
 Increasing substantially the forest/tree cover in the country through
massive afforestation and social forestry programmes, especially
on all denuded, degraded and unproductive lands.
 Meeting the requirements of fuelwood, fodder, minor forest
produce and small timber of the rural and tribal populations.
 Increasing the productivity of forests to meet essential national
needs.
 Encouraging efficient utilization of forest produce and maximizing
substitution of wood.
 Creating a massive people's movement with the involvement of
women, for achieving these objectives and to minimize pressure
on existing forests
Forests of World and India

The total forest and tree cover of the country is 8,07,276

sq kms (which is 24.56 per cent of the geographical area
of the country) compared to 8,02,088 sq kims (24.39 per
cent) as reported in 2017 (ISFR 2017). The report marked
an increase of 5,188 sq kms of forest and tree cover
combined, at the national level as compared to the
previous assessment

Region Forest area, 2005

(mill. ha)
Africa 63,5412
Asia 571,577
Europe + all Russian 1001,394
Federation
North and Central America 705,849
Oceania 206,254
South America 831,540
World 3,952,026
Source: FAO, 2006a
What is Silviculture?

Definition

“The theory and practice of controlling establishment,

composition and growth of the forest”. In other words,
Silviculture is that branch of forestry which deals with the
establishment, development, care, and reproduction of
stands of timber or forests. In general, Silviculture may be
defined as art and science of growing and reproducing
timber stands on permanent or regular basis.
Aims and objectives of
silvicultural practices

 The objectives of silviculture may be one or

more of the following:
 To yield produce of a definite description, for
instance trees and shrubs of special beauty, or
trees giving a certain kind of timber, or other
produce fit for particular purposes, such as
grass, turpentine, etc.
 To produce greatest quantity of wood or other
produce per acre and per year.
 To produce the highest possible money return
on the invested capital.
 To produce certain indirect effects, for
instance, influence on climate, to regulate the
'drainage of the country, to prevent landslips
or avalanches, to arrest shifting sands
Source of silvicultural
knowhow and scope of
silviculture
 Knowhow of fundamental plant physiology, which helps
in understanding the basic relations of plants to the
factors that influence their growth and development
 Forest ecology which helps in understanding the
relationship of forest crop with surrounding biotic and
abiotic factors
 Silvicultural systems which helps which system will be
appropriate under given set of conditions to achieve
the objectives
 Forest itself gives much information to the observer
 Existing literature on the silviculture of object crop
species
Further Readings

 Sangria, K.P. Forest and Forestry. New Delhi : National Book

Trust India, 1967.
 Baker, F.S. Theory and Practice of Silviculture. California :
McGraw Hill Book Company, INC, 1950.
 Kirpal J.S., Verma B.N. mahaforest.nic.in › stand_ord_file.
mahaforest.nic.in › stand_ord_file. [Online] December 12,
1996. mahaforest.nic.in › stand_ord_file.
 UBC. What is Forestry? s.l. : University of British Columbia.
 S.K. Jonathan, T. Robert. Woodland Management: Glossory of
Forestry Terms. Fact Sheet 620. s.l. : University of Maryland,
1914.
 IEA. World Energy Outlook. Paris : IEA Publications , 1998.
 ISFR. India State of Forest Report. GOI. 2019.
 A new definition of silviculture. Spurr, S.H. 1945, Journal of
Forestry, p. 44.
 ICFRE. Forestry Statitics INdia. Dehradun : ICFRE, 2011.
 Venkateshwarlu, D. Definition of Forest- A review.
Opendevelopmentmekong.net. [Online]
https://data.opendevelopmentmekong.net › download ›
venkateswarlu.
 11. FAO. Global Forest Resources Assessment. Rome : FAO of
United Nations, 2015.
 12. Forest Forestry. John, A.H. 2002, Journal of Forestry, pp.
15-19.