Moist Forests of South India

Abstract

Moist Forests of South India includes several forest types described by Champion and Seth in 1962. Many of them are climatic climax and a few are edaphic climax forest types. Due to heavy biotic pressure on these dwindling forests, the typical forest types described by them may not be available or seen in their pristine condition. The an.nual increase in human population is about 5% as against the National average of around 2.2%. The livestock population will reach about 500 million by 2000 AD. Forest fires, excessive grazing, uncontrolled removal of fuel wood and diversion of forest lands for nonforestry purposes are some of the factors responsible for the degradation of forests. Increasing the present protected areas, enrichment plantations, improved fodder development, intensive fire protection etc. are some of the measures needed by increasing the investments to at least 5% of the total budget.