Future of Indian Forests

Future of forests(native plant and animal species) is very bleak. India is richly endowed with fertile lands(used as fields) and dense forests. Forests have hidden in their soils valuable minerals like gold, bauxite iron, aluminium, and many more. Forest dwellers are communities of people who are isolated and live in the brink of civilization; they are the tribal people. They depend on the produce of the forest, honey, timber(fuel), fruits and wildlife(food) But they do not have land rights as they are unlettered people. Their land is acquired for creating mining industry. Taking land away from these people is easy as they are not aware of their rights. Forests will disappear as India develops. The native species of forest animals also disappear with it. Native herbal species of plants and their knowledge will also disappear. These are biggest losses as India industrializes. Recently the tribal people's struggle in the state of odisha ended when their land was acquired by POSCO. Whatever the monetary compensation be, their heritage, culture and way of life cannot be re-created in an industrial environment. By denying rights as partners in the industry in their land, we have denied them dignity which they deserve as forest people of India. At some future time, we would regret this. When an auto industry is created while destroying the tribal land, what job can it offer to to the unlettered tribal?None. Iron ore is extracted from the forest areas in Chhattisgarh to supply industrial steel plant (Bhilai) Needs of industries are unlimited. Forests are limited. We are destroying all forests for the rich minerals they have in their soil. In the state of Karnataka, iron ore is dug out of forest lands and exported away for development of industries outside India. We are finishing our forest lands for someone else's industrial development. Our country's resources must be preserved and not made into a commodity to be traded.
Several dams were made while harnessing the Himalayan rivers. Forests are cut down in the making of the dams. But new trees are not planted. This means that the topsoil would be eroded or washed away by wind and water. Forests when tampered with illogically lead to desertification. Ecologically speaking, industrialization will result in desertification.
For creation of tea-gardens in the North-east, forests are destroyed. Tribal population there were subsistence farmers who had no "idea" of what land is. They practised slash and burn cultivation in their forests; they cultivated in a small piece of land by "slash and burn" method and left the land and practiced cultivation on another area. But now their forest land has been converted into tea gardens. Tea industry has replaced the forests. Such ecological takeovers result in eco disasters like the flooding. Forests form integral part of ecological cycles, climate and environment in India. Destroying of forests will result in desertification, flooding and drastic climatic change which will change India's destiny.We have 36% less forests than ten years ago. Because forest have rich minerals, mining industry is eager to get to it and government helps these industries. True treasures of the India are its forests-- the rich flora and fauna it supports. Forests are invaluable. The eco-catastrophe which the loss of forests will cause will be much greater than the mineral yields of the mines. By destroying forests, we are interfering with mighty nature; and our plans to plunder the Earth of its minerals would result in vast floods with which we cannot deal with. We can recycle for minerals; and not play havoc with sensitive ecology of our subcontinent. For if we loose nature's balance, we cannot we cannot undo the damage.