FOREST THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF LIFE

By: Dr. Ashiq Hussain


It is a very true saying that god help those who help themselves. Though the ultimate result of all decisions is believed to rest with Almighty God. One may have a firm belief in God and go to the places of worship and pray religiously everyday, but still one has to work to achieve some thing in life. A firm belief in God and prayers, I believe, certainly has their value. A firm faith in God, the firm faith that He is listening to ones prayers and looking after ones interests can build ones confidence, but yet, this does not mean that one merely sits at home and think that all his wishes and dreams will automatically be transformed into reality. No, one has to make efforts for the same.

Where there are tress there exists life” a well known quote to be remembered all the way by every one. Human beings and forests have always had a complex relationship. It will not be wrong to quote here that plants and trees (Forests) have played a key role to flourish life on this globe. Although the ocean was the original home of all life on earth, forests, as they themselves evolved, quickly became home to a vast majority of land based creatures including early man. Concrete jungles, factories spewing smoke, crowded roads crammed with traffic - certainly, humankind have come a long way from its humble beginnings. Plants themselves have been around for over 450 million years, starting with simple forms of single - layers of cells. But today they are among the most complex of life systems and also the oldest and most successful. Imagine that the first plants stood upright about 420 million years before the first animals could.It is widely believed that early human species evolved in and around the African rainforests between four and six million years ago. Even today, our closest relatives, the great apes, live there. We have depended on forests as long as we have inhabited the planet - getting clean air to breathe, food and water from it, fuel, shade and shelter, and now we need it for economic gain as well.


Early humans were known to worship trees, and even today, in some parts of the world, forests are regarded as places of awe, with spirits attributed to be living there.The worship of forests, plants and animals, and appeasing of animal and tree spirits are still quite common in some cultures, and the forest is treated with the kind of respect reserved for divine objects.

Yet we have been taking continuously from the forest to feed the ever - growing need for wood, and wood and non - wood products, to provide land for the burgeoning population for housing and cultivation. If one will try to think that what ended the nomadic life of man and from where all the things needed for his settlement came from, the answer lies with forests. Still the modern man is also totally dependent on forests. The medicines, the paper, the clothes, the food, the furniture, and all sorts of luxuries are directly or indirectly related with forests.

A forest is home to many types of plants, which are the food source for many types of animals, which are, in their turn, also sources of food for other animals. And, as these animals and plants die, they in turn become food sources for the plants that again become food sources for the animals. This circle of life, the linkages between all animals and all plants, is often referred to as "The web of life" - a reference to the common dependencies between all life in an ecosystem

Thus today, the ecosystem that gave us life is under severe threat. Early humans were hunter - gatherers, and later farmers, and because the population was small, the impact on the environment was minimal. But in the past couple of thousand years, the growing demands of an ever - increasing human population has halved the Earth's original forest cover. Forests are the Earth's largest and most productive ecosystem, and trees their most visible and important constituent. Humankind's past is linked to the forest, and it is easy to see how its survival will map our future as well. It has been postulated that for ecological balance there should be at least 33% forest cover on earth and if this and the percentage of deforestation in modern times is kept in mind, the last day of life on this globe is not so far.


Thus to maintain the ecological balance and hence the possibility of sustenance of life further, it should be the duty of me, you and hence of all of us not only to save the forest but plant more and more trees and popularize the slogan “Trees means food and Food means life” and the need of the hour to achieve this goal is that one has to develop a positive attitude towards things, have to work whole heartedly, sincerely and put in the best efforts into each and every little thing to save the forest and hence the mankind. Thus let us have a regret of our past deeds and think about the future. If we do all this, then life will become an unending merry song.