NCERT Solutions for Class 5 EVS Chapter 20

Forests are large areas of land which are covered with natural vegetation, mainly trees along with
smaller plants. They provide home to different plants as well as animals.

Deforestation means the cutting down of trees or destruction of trees in the forest areas in order to make the land available for other purposes like mining, agriculture, constructing buildings, malls etc. is called deforestation.

Reforestation means planting of trees on a barren land to increase the area under forests. It is actually the process of planting trees in a forest where the number of trees has been decreasing. Whereas Afforestation is actually when new trees are planted or seeds are sown in an area where there were no trees before. This is done to create a new forest.

Reforestation has certain positive effects on the environment as it-
• causes rainfall
• influences the climate of a particular place
• provides habitat to the wildlife
• prevents soil erosion
• prevents flooding

The statement means that the people who belong to forest area, called Adivasis are born in the forests and are dependent on them for almost all their needs. They get fruits, flowers, wood, herbs etc. for their food, shelter, and clothing from different plants and trees growing there. Thus, it is very important for them to gather knowledge about the forests to make the maximum use of the available resources so that they can live a comfortable life.

Forests are the natural resources and the people have an equal right over them. The thing which are available there, all the products which we get from the forests belong equally to all the people living there. So, creating an awareness amongst the people is very important to fight those people, contractors who misuse them by cutting down the trees, digging forests for different purposes.

Forests are a gift given to humans by nature. It is important to understand that the plants and animals in a forests are interdependent on each other. This relationship between the plants and animals and the interdependence of living things on non-living things is very important to maintain a balance. So, just by planting thousand trees we cannot make a forests. All the things, plants, animals, living and non- living things are equally important.

The native people or the advisasis are being moved away from the forests due to-
• deforestation as mines are being dug,
• roads which are being constructed,
• making of dams, flyover, malls etc
A forest is a lifeline of the Adivasis but due to the development going on in the name of various projects that have been started by the government, these people are being forced to move out of their land.

Suryamani is the first gold medallist in her village. She was awarded this medal for working hard and passing B.A after getting scholarship. She was a Tribal Environment Activist.

The Girl Star project started by UNICEF is a project which tells the tales of extraordinary girls who have changed their lives by getting educated. For example- Suryamani, Anita Khushwaha.

The project Suryamani includes a series of film which tell the story of those underprivileged girls who by getting educated have managed to make themselves self sufficient, self reliant and successful in their life.

Suryamani was given the title of Girl Star because she studied hard in the school and knew it from the very beginning that she had to do something to save forests.
Today, she fights for the rights of her community to live in forests and helps them to register their land. She also runs an organization called ‘Torang’ with her husband to help people and preserve the tribal culture as well as forests. Because of all her efforts, she was awarded the Girl Star title.

The various acts and projects implemented to save forests are:
• Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan
• Right to Forests Act (2007)
• Chipko Movement

Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan was a project which started in the early 1980’s to save forests. The natural Sal forests of Bihar, when the government proposed to replace those forests with commercial Teak plantations. This project helped the Adivasis to struggle to live and work in their own forests.

As per this act, people who are living in the forests for at least 25 years have a right over the forests and what is grown on it. They should not be removed from the forests. The work of protecting the forests should be the responsibility of the Gram Sabha.

The Chipko Movement was a step taken to protect the forests and to plant more trees. It was started by Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna in 1973. It was a movement started to promote forest Conservation.

The three states are:
• Madhya Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Chhattisgarh

The three states are- Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan

Jhoom farming is also called shifting cultivation. It is a local name for slashing or cutting and then burning the agricultural production which is done by the tribal groups in the north eastern states of India like Arunachal Pradesh,Meghalya, Mizoram,Nagaland. It involves natural recovery of the soil fertility as the ash of the crops burnt is mixed in the soil every time. Thus it helps in making the soil rich again in nutrients (potash).

The salient features of Jhoom Farming are:
• It is done by lightly digging up the land and ploughing it.
• The seeds are simply dropped on the land
• The crops are cut and then the leftovers, called weeds are burnt to make ash
• The ash mixes in the soil and makes it fertile.

The undesirable and unwanted plants which grow naturally along with crops are called weeds. They grow with crops and fight for nutrients and water with main crop. So weeds are very harmful.

The process which is used to control the unwanted and undesirable plants, the weed is called weeding.

People celebrate in the following ways-
• They cook and eat food
• Sing and dance together
• A ritual dance called Cheraw is also performed wherein four male dancer sit and hold crossed pair of bamboo sticks. While they move there in rhythmic beats , the female dancers perform by stepping in and out of those sticks.

Forest dwellers are the members or community who have for at least three generations prior to the 13th day of December, 2005 mainly resided in the forests and who depend on the forest or forests land for their livelihood.

One tin of land means the land on which one tin of seeds grow.

In Mizoram carrying rice crop home takes many weeks because of the poor road transport network in the region. This is such that the ground and the floor of Mizoram is muddy and the farmers are finding it difficult to move and carry their rice with by themselves or their animals. Another reason is the climatic conditions which takes them many weeks to carry rice crops.

The contractors would have cutting the trees and selling the wood for his own profit. He thought if the forest people will use the forest for their needs, it would be a loss to them. Therefore, they did not allow Suryamani’s people to go into the forest.

Suryanani’s father could no longer support the family on the small land. He moved to the town in search of work.

When Suryamani was young her father lost his job and she had to drop out of school during this difficult time as her family did not even have enough to eat. That is why she did not want to study in school in Bishnapur.

Suryamani was filled with joy when she saw the school at Bishanpur. The school was near a thick forest and Suryamani soon joined there to work for the Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan (Movement to Save the Forests of Jharkhand). This work took Suryamani to far off towns and cities.

Budhiyamai was not scared of the contractor because she believed that the people of this forest have a right over it. They are the ones who look after our forests and don’t cut trees like these contractors do. The forest belongs to everyone they are not yours or mine alone. They take from it only as much as they need.

The land earmarked for permanent cultivation is to be allotted under Periodic Patta which covers at least ½ (half) of the total land under the jurisdiction of the village concerned and shall include the area already used for permanent cultivation, such as, wet rice cultivation, mixed farming and land already.

Vasavi and Bijoy collected leaves and herbs and sold them as medicines in the markets, or made basket out of bamboo and fallen leaves. They ate wild fruits and flesh of the forest animals.

Forests are found in the areas which receive good rainfall. In India forests are found in upper Himalayas, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, slops of Western Ghats and small parts of West Bengal and Odisha.

The tribes in India in different states are:
• Tamil Nadu- Paniyas ,Bhadagas, Dodas
• Madhya Pradesh-Gonds, Bhills
• Gujarat- Bhills

Some things made from forest products are:
• leaves are used to make pattal (leaf plate)
• Baskets and flutes are made from Bamboos.
• rubber is obtained from rubber trees
• turpentine gums, and resins are also obtained from trees.

Vanmahotsava is celebrated every year during the rainy season to motivate people to plant trees. Most of the schools also celebrate this festival in the month of July. It is thus a tree plantation drive taken up to save the environment.
It is a movement which was initiated by K.M. Munshi in 1950. It is a week -long festival which involves tree plantation to increase the area under the forests.

If we keep on clearing the forest area for our needs, then the number of wild animals will decrease as by cutting of trees birds, reptiles, and insects lose their homes and food sources. It will result in the loss of habitat for animal species, which can harm ecosystem.