Answer:
(i) Forests provide us
food, wood, barks, leaves, rubber, medicines, dyes, wood fuel, manure, etc. So
we ourselves (human beings) have depleted our forests and wildlife by overusing
them.
(ii) The
greatest damage inflicted on Indian forests was during the colonial period due
to the expansion of railways, agriculture, and commercial and scientific
forestry and mining activities.
(iii)
Even after independence, agricultural expansion continues to be one of the
major causes of depletion of forest resources.
(iv)
Major parts of the tribal belts, especially in north eastern and central India
have been deforested or degraded by shifting cultivation, a type of slash and
burn agriculture.
(v)
Since 1951, lots of forests were cleared for river valley projects like the 'Narmada
Valley Project' in Madhya Pradesh which has cleared 40,000 hectares of forests.
(vi)
Mining is another important factor behind deforestation. The Buxa Tiger Reserve
in West Bengal is seriously threatened by the ongoing dolomite mining.
(vii)
Many environmentalists feel that the greatest degrading factors behind the
depletion of forest resources are grazing and fuel wood collection.
(viii)
Large-scale developmental projects have also contributed to the loss of forests.
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