Management of Natural Resources..Part 2

Why do we seek to build dams?

1. Large dams can ensure storage of adequate water which can be used for irrigation. Canal systems leading from dams can transfers water to great distances eg. Indira Gandhi Canal has brought greenary to large areas of Rajasthan.

2. Stored water can be used for generating electricity.

3. Dams also control floods.

What are the reasons for opposition to construction oflarge dams like Tehri Dam on river Ganga?

Large dams Construction causes three problems:

Social Problems: Large numberof peasents and tribals are displaced without adequate compensation or rehabilitation.

Economic Problem: Huge amounts of public money is used in constructing dams without yhe generation of proportionate benefits.

Encironmental Problems: Dam construction leads to deforestation and loss of biological diversity.

What is Narmada Bacho Andolon?

It is a protest against raising ythe height of Sardar Sarover dam on river Narmada.

What is water shed management?

• Watershed management amphasises soil and water conservation to increase biomass production.
• Watershed management increases income of watershed community
• It also prevents droughts and floods.
• It increase the life of the dewnstream dam and reserviors.

What are the ancient or traditional systems of water harvesting?

• Digging small pits and lakes.
• put in place simple watershed systems.
• Building small earthen dams
• Construting dykes
• sand and limestone reservoir
• Setting up rooftop water collecting units

Name some of the ancient or traditional water harvesting structure/systems still in use.

• Khadins and Nadis in Rajasthan
• tals in Maharashtra
• Bundhis in M.P.and U.P.
• ahars in Bihar
• Kulhs in H.P.
• Eris in T.N.
• Surangams in Kerala
• Kattas in Karnataka

Describe the structure of water harvesting structure in largely terrain?

• In a largely level terrain water harvestinh structures are mainly crescent shaped earthen embankments or low, straight concrete and rubble checked dams built across seasonal flooded gullies.
• Monsoon rains fill ponds behind the structures.
• Only large structures holds water throughout the year while most dry up after monsoon
• The main purpose of water harvesting structures is not to hold the surface water but to recharge the ground water.

Write significance of water stored in ground.

• It does not evaporate, but recharges wells and provides moisture for vegetation over a wide area.
• It does not provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes like stagnant water bodies.
• Ground water is not contaminated by human and animal waste.

Why do we need to use coal and petroleum (Fossil Fuels) judiciously?

• Coal and petroleum are non- renewable resources. These were formed from degradation of biomass millions of years ago and will be exhausted in future.
• When coal and petroleum are burnt, they release SO2, CO2 oxides of N2. When combustion takes place in insufficient oxygen, CO is formed along with N2O and SO2 which are all poisonous high concentration and pollute our environment.
• CO2 formed by complete combustion of fossil fuel is a green house gas and causes global warming

What are two advantages of giving people control over resources?

1. Controls mismanagement of resources

2. Reduces over- exploitation of these resources.

How is Ganga river getting polluted? Which project has bean laiddown by Government to clean Ganga?

Causes of Pollution

1. Largely untreated garbage and sewage is dumped into Ganga every day from state like U.P. Bihar andWest Bengal.
2. Huamn activities like bathing, washing ofclothes, immersion of ashes or unburnt corpses pollute water.
3. Chemical effluents from industries also pollute Ganga and these toxic chemicals kill fish and other aquatic organisms in the river

A multicroreproject-- Ganga action plan was imlemented in 1985 to clean Ganga water

What changes can you make in your habits to become more environment friendly?

1.Reduce--

1. Save water by repairing the leaked taps.
2. Switch off unnecessary lights and fans
3. Don't waste food

2.Say no to plastic bags, disposable plastic cups

3.Reuse the thing again and again eg. using jam bottles to store some other material

4. Growing plants at your home and in surroundings

5.Stop using products like fur. Ivory from wild life.

Draw diagram of traditional water harvesting system --Khadin System

Refer to Fig16.3 Page No. 276 of NCERT Book

Management of Natural Resources

What is Ganga Action Plan and when was it implemented?

It is a massive multi-crore project implemented in 1985.It is to clean the excess pollution from the river Ganga.

Write the causes of pollution in the river Ganga.

1. Untreated sewagesuch as garbage and excreta are dumped into the Ganga.
2. Pollution is also caused by other human activities like bathing, washing and immersion of ashes or unburnt pieces of dead bodies.
3. Industries also contribute in Gang's pollution by adding chemical effluents and make thewater toxic, killing aquatic organisms.

How can you detect the presence of pollutants in river?

1. Presence of Coliform bacteria. It indicates contamination by disease causing microorganisms.
2. Ph of water can be detected by using universal indicator or litmus paper.

What is the essential mantra for reduction in pollution in the environment?

Three R's--reduce,recycle and reuse. Discuss

What is sustainable development?

It is not only meets the immediate needs of human society but also leaves sufficient resources for future generations.

Why should we conserve forest?

1. Forest bring rainfall and screen us from wind and sun.

2.Forest preserve wild life and provide suitable habitat for multiplication of wild animals and plants.

3. Forest by affecting the rainfall, wind velocity, temperature and CO2 concentration influences ecoclimate of atmosphere.

4. Forest prevent soil erosion which otherwise will result in the swelling of rivers and flooding of low lying areas.

5. Forest purify our air through photosynthesis.

6. Forest serve as beautiful place for recreation and tourism.

7. Forest provides us many valuable products like wood, fuel, pulp, paper, gum, resin, oil, honey, medicines, drugs, spices, etc.

What is wild life? Why should we conserve it?

1.The term wild life covers any or all non cultivated plants and non domesticated animals in natural surroundings.

2.Wild life has links in the food chain and if any of links is disturbed the balance in nature is disturbed.

3.Wild life also helps in biological control eg. Birds like hawks and snakes eat rats which otherwise will damage our crops.

4.Wild life helps in maintaining that keeps the soil fertile.

5. Trees and vegetation purify air by giving out O2.

6. Trees and vegetation prevent soil erosion by wind and water.

7.Wild species of plants and animals are destroyed by man to satisfy his demands of food , Fashion and sports eg leopard is killed for skin which is warm and decorative, antelops for their horns and many economically useful plants yielding medicines etc. As a result many species have become extinct while others are at the verge of extinction. Thus man needs to preserve this treasure of nature.

Q Steps for conservation of forests

1. A master plan is to be prepared for massive a forestation project which should include growing appropriate kinds of trees in plains as well hills.
2. Forests should be prevented from forests fires.
3. Cutting and uprooting of ligneous species should be punishable by law. Grazing of animals should be allowed in a controlled manner.
4. As there is great pressure on forests for fuel, firewood farming should be done on degraded land with proper planting techniques.
5. Public should be made aware on subjects like tree felling, tree planting, land reclamation, forest planning, proper use of forest products etc through programmes on radio, television.

Steps for Conservation of wild life

1. Hunting and trading of wild life should be punishable by law particularly endangered species.
2. National parks and sanctuaries should be set up to provide natural habitat for wild life.
3. Forest should be conserved.
4. More attention should be given to conserve endangered species of plants or animals to prevent their extinction.
5. The Government Department should conduct periodic surveys of National Parks/ Bioreserves/Sanctuaries to have knowledge of all population species of wild animals and birds.
6. Some of the international organizations which help in conservation of wild life are IUCN, WWF, and FAO etc.

Why forests are called biodiversity hot spots?

Forests are rich in biodiversity. There are many endemic species of plants and animals found in forest. Since forests are undergoing rapid habitat loss, there is danger of many species becoming extinct. Thus forests are priority areas for conservation so these are called hot spots.

What are the causes of damage to forests?

1. Local people damage forests to fulfill their daily needs.
2. Deforestation caused by industrial needs.
3. Deforestation caused by development projects like building roads dams.
4. By tourists or in making arrangements for tourists.
5. Forest Fire is also one of the causes of damage to forests.

Why biodiversity is important?

1.It is important for stability of an ecosystem.

2. It is important for the well being and healthy functioning of an ecosystem.

Enlist the stakeholders who should be considered, while we think of conservation of forest

The stakeholders are

1. The people who live in and around forests and depends on forest products.
2. The forest department of Goverment responsible for managing the forest and control the resources and revenues form forest.
3. The industrialist, who use forest produce as raw materials.
4. The wild life and nature enthusiasts who are involved in wild life and nature conservation.

What do the local people need from the forest?

1. Use bamboo to make huts.
2. Use basket for collecting and storing food materials.
3. Gather fruits, nuts, and medicines from forest.
4. Use wood to make implements for agriculture, fishing and hunting.
5. Large quantities of firewood
6. Do hunting and fishing.

Discuss how the forests have been damaged/ affected after they had been taken over by the Forest Department of our Goverment.

1. Local needs and knowledge were ignored in the management practices.
2. Large areas were cleared and converted to monoculture of pine, teak or eukalyptus.
3. This leads to destruction of biodiversity in the area.
4. Local people were not able to fulfilltheir needs.
5. But these plantations are the important source of revenue for the Forest Department

Does prejudice against traditionl use of Forest areas have any basis? Justify your answer.

1. The Great Himalayan National Park has alpine meadows. The nomadic shepherds used to take their flock of sheep in this area from the village every summer.
2. When the National park was established and the area was taken over by the Government. The practice of grazing by sheep was probhited.
3. Now it is seen that without grazing the grasses first grow very tall and fall over the others and prevent the fresh growth of grasses. Grazing allows the fresh growth of grasses.

Quote three instances where human intervention saved the forests from destruction

1. Bishnoi Community in Rajasthan take forest and wild life conservation as a religious tenet.King of Rajasthan ordered to get wood for their palace.Workers went to Khejrali village near Jodhpur in Rajasthan to get the wood of Khejri trees. It was opposed by Bishnoi community. Amrita Devi Bishnoi sacrificed her life along with 363 others in 1731 for protection of Khejri trees. Government is giving Amrita Devi Bishnoi National award for wild Life Conservation.
2. 'The Chipko Andolan'(Hug the trees Movement) In 1970's a contractor was given permission by the Forest Department to cut trees in a given area of the forest near to Reni Village Garwal. When the contractor reached the area, menfolks of the local community were not present. Without any fear the women of the village went to the forest and hugged the tree trunks which prevented the contractors men from felling the trees.
3. 1.Sal Forest in South- West districts of wesr Bengal were degraded. It was recognised by West Bengal Forest Department. They tried to revive the forest but failed. As they used traditional methods and policies and not involving local people.The Forest Department Started to involve the villagers in managment practices.

2. A.K.Banerjee. A forest officer involved the villagers in reviving the Sal forests in Arabari Forest range of Midnapur district. He involved local villagers to protect 1,272 hectares of badly degraded Sal Forests. Employment was given in both Silviculture and Harvesting operations. They were allowed to take 25% of the final harvest, fuel wood and fodder collection on payment of a nomianl fee. Sal Forests recovered remarkably by 1983 and the Forest were valued at Rs 12.5 Crores.