S.6 Geo Forestry 1 Caltec S.6

FORESTRY A forest is a large tract of land covered extensively by trees. Forestry is a scientific process of planting, exploitation, and conservation of forests. It is concerned with managing forests on a sustainable basis, balancing exploitation and conservation. In the world there are almost 40 million km2 of forests with roughly half found in the tropics. Forests once covered about 60% of the earth’s surface but have greatly reduced by clearance for settlement and farming or during the exploitation process. About 25% of the earth’s surface is today covered with forests and the world demand for timber is increasing leading to over cutting of forests. On the other hand, some people are realizing the need of maintaining timber supplies and have planted forests / established forests farms. MAJOR TYPES OF NATURAL FORESTS IN THE WORLD The major forests of the world are found in the more humid temperate and tropical areas. The classification is based on climatic factors and the dominant type of trees / wood they produce. The major types include: Tropical hard wood forests (a)Tropical evergreen forests / tropical rain forests/ Equatorial forests (b) Tropical monsoon forests* Temperate hard wood forests* Coniferous forests/ temperate forests TROPICAL HARDWOOD FORESTS These are divided into two: Tropical evergreen forests/equatorial forests/ tropical rainforests. Tropical monsoon forests TROPICAL EVER GREEN FORESTS/ TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS/ SELVA FORESTS/ EQUATORIAL FORESTS These forests are located astride the equator extending approximately 100N and 100S of the equator. The largest expanse of tropical rain forests is in the Amazon basin of Brazil, extending from the Atlantic coast to the foothills of the Andes Mountains. These forests also occur on the pacific coast of Columbia and in Central America. In Africa tropical rainforests occupy the Congo basin (former Zaire), low lands of West Africa such as Sierra Leone, …