Abstract
THE value of forests to mankind in their beneficial influence on climate and the protection they exert against erosion, flood disasters and the man-made desert has come to the fore of recent years as one of the serious questions of present-day administration and civilization. It has been recognized that in both the Old and the New Worlds the results of the ignorant interference with the world's formerly existing and widespread forests and the failure to understand Nature's laws and the equilibrium she maintains when left alone has resulted in the past, and is resulting at the present day, in disasters of unforeseen magnitude. In a study of the past, India can show many instances of the results of interference with Nature's delicate balance between the forest, grassland and water supplies, and in that country, as a result of seventy years of forest conservancy, the lesson of the importance of the forests to the country has been grasped to some extent by her administrators. Even the people insome localities have become aware of the value of their local forests. The wireless has now come to the assistance of the Forest Department in making this value, for varying reasons in varying localities differing inconfiguration, elevation, aspect and climate, generally known to the people chiefly concerned, and including the town-bred population. The Indian Forester (63, No. 8 ; 1937) reproduces a radio talk on forests and climate given by Sir Gerald Trevor, inspector-general of forests, from Delhi. Those with a knowledge of the Indian district and its methods of administration in the past will appreciate to the full the significance of the enormous stride from the past which such a method of forest propaganda freshadows.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The Value of Forests. Nature 141, 680 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/141680a0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/141680a0