Forest and Wildlife Resources

This chapter explores India's rich biological diversity — its flora and fauna — and the urgent need to protect it. It explains how species are classified according to their conservation status, the causes behind the depletion of forests and wildlife (from colonial forest policies and agricultural expansion to large development projects, mining and unequal resource use), and the impact of biodiversity loss on ecology and on forest-dependent communities. It then covers India's conservation framework — the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, national parks, sanctuaries and Project Tiger — the classification of forests into reserved, protected and unclassed, and the powerful role of local communities and movements such as Chipko, the Bishnois, sacred groves and Joint Forest Management in conserving nature. It is a conceptual and highly scoring chapter of the Class 10 Geography (Contemporary India II) Board syllabus.