| The Treasure of India the flora and fauna which are now dwindling very fast from here. If the necessary steps will not be taken to protect them it wont take more time to get this place converted these jungles into barren stretches. There are around 15,000 types of vegetaion in India.
Himalayan forests
The Himalayan belt a famous Botanical collection. In the eastern Region of India the thick tropical forests are in sharp contrast to the pine and coniferous woodlands of western Himalayas. As per the altitude the natural cover changes. At high alpine meadows the evergreen forests, in the elevations near the snowline have more of temperate forest. In the northwest Himalayas is covered with the chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) except of Kashmir. In inner Himalayas one can even find Chilgoza (pine nut), oak, maple, ash (Frazinus xanthoxyloides). After rainy season the foothills are covered with deciduous trees, shrubs, fern and grass. There are patches of tea plantations and fluorescent-green rice fields in the Brahmaputra Valley. Other trees like mulberry trees on which tussar silk worms are bred are found on slopes.
Southern Indian Rain Forests
Lying in the southwestern coast of Kerala is the most luxuriant rain forest. Here one can find lagoons are covered by coconut trees which results in the longest continuous rain forest in the country. There are other regions also with preserved rain forests like Andaman Is land in Andhra Pradesh. On the wet Karnataka plateau one can find dense sandal, teak and sisoo forests where one can even see elephanta roaming wild and free flourishing. By going closer one can find dry Telengana plateau in Andhra Pradesh covered with thorny scrub and wild Indian date palm.
Desert Region
In the Thar Desert one can find a totally different look, the trees here are short and stout standing in the burning sun. In addition from cacti one can even find reunjha (Acacia leucophloea), khejra (Prosopis spicigera), kanju (Holoptelia integrifolia) and ak (Calotropis gigantea). The tropical moist decicuous forests are covered with tropical dry deciduous trees. A few of the species which are there are sal (Shorea robusta), teak (Tectona grandis), semul (Bombax ceiba), laurel, rosewood, mahua (Madhuca indica), amla (Emblica officinalis), khair (Acacia catechu), common bamboo.
Fauna it is not only plants which are endangered today it is India's rich fauna also that are on the verge of extinction. There is a major threat to Indian wildlife too.
Different variety of Wildlife
India is known for its tigers, elephants and rhinoceros. It is home place for over 500 mammal species. You can fin Antelopes, one can easily find different types of deers like chinkaras (Indian Gazelle), barasinghas (swamp deer), chitals (spotted deer), muntjacs (barking deer) and sambars (Indias largest deer). One can even find many other animals like buffaloes massive Indian bisons (gaurs), striped hyenas, wild pigs, jackals, Indian foxes and wild dogs. Some smaller mammals like mongooses and giant squirrels too. Big cats like leopards and panthers, short-tailed jungle cats and very commonly found every where are Monkeys mostly around temples and sometimes in found in groups in cities too. India is a place which attracts lots of tourists and visitors from all over the world due to its variety of flora and fauna which is very rare in any other country in the world.
Bird Population
In India there are about 2000 type and their sub-types of birds which are rich with different colors also like Peacock, parrots, pheasants, geese ducks, mynahs, parakeets, pigeons, cranes and hornbills. Many sanctuaries in India are creating special breeding colonies for these birds and even serve the migratory birds from higher altitudes. In addition to all the birds and fauna and flora there are even 500 different types of reptiles and amphibians. Most famous ones like King Cobra, pythons, crocodiles, freshwater tortoise and monitor lizards. And also 30000 types of insects like butterflies. All these can be very well observed on a bright summer morning. In the category of insects also come the disease carrying mosquitoes and destructive locusts. There are even useful insects like bees, silkworms and the Lac insect.
Many wildlife sanctuaries and bird sanctuaries have been created along with national parks to protect these animals and birds from extinction. Most of the time these parks are reserved for a particular animal like we have Gir in Gujarat for Asiatic Lion, Kaziranga in Assam famous for Rhinocerous, for elephants we have Periyar in Kerala and for tigers it is Kanha in Madhya Pradesh and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. For the unique Royal Bengal Tigers are the mangrove forests of Sunderbans.
In all India has approximately 80 National Parks, 441 sanctuaries and 35 zoological gardens. India has huge variety of Flora and Fauna which depend on the geography of the region. The forest land has reduced to 14% of total surface area. Out of which 4% is protected within the national parks and other reserves. The government has taken necessary steps to prevent the environment and has established number of parks, reserves and sanctuaries total area covered by these reserves and sanctuaries is approximately 140,000 sq km.
A special project for Tiger reserves has been started in Indian government to save Tigers in nine different reserves.
Due to wide range of climatic conditions India even has a rich variety of vegetation. No other country in world has such large variety of flora. At different regions one can find different types of flora and so the regions are divided accordingly. Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Indus Plain, Ganga Plain, Deccan, Malabar and the Andamans. The ranges of flora have Alpine to the temperate thorn, coniferous to evergreen, scrubs to deciduous forests and from tropical jungles to cool temperate woods.
The Western Himalayan region has Chirpine and other blue pines, conifers deodar, silver fir, spruce, and junipers. The Eastern Himalayan contains maples, oaks, laurels, alder, rhododendrons, and birch and dwarf willows. The Assam region, evergreen forests with lots of bamboo and tall grasses. The Ganges Plain is under cultivation and the Indus plain has scanty vegetation. The Malabar region filled with commercial crops like coconut, betel, pepper, coffee and tea. The Deccan region has scrubs and mixed deciduous forests. Andaman region is evergreen and mangrove forests.
|