THE RELEVEANCE OF FORESTS AND DESERTS TO MAN

Posted by Cliff on April 20th, 2019

MEANING OF FOREST

A forest is a large area of land that is thickly covered with trees i.e. Obeche, Mahogany, Iroko, etc. Areas where forests are found always have heavy rainfall which allows trees and plants to grow rapidly.

Animals that live in the forest are chimpanzees, monkeys, lions, jaguars, tigers, snakes, chameleon, etc.

TYPES OF FOREST

There are two major types of forest, namely:

1. Tropical forest: They have heavy rainfall and sunshine.
2. Temperate forest: They have low rainfall (compared to the tropical forest) and very cold winter.

EXAMPLES OF FORESTS AND WHERE THEY CAN BE FOUND IN THE WORLD

1. Amazon rainforest, largest rainforest in the world found in South America (Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, etc.)
2. Zaire forest found in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo).
3. Daintree rainforest, oldest rainforest in the world found in Australia.
4. Black forest, the darkest forest in the world found in Germany.
5. Sagono Bamboo forest, has the largest number of Bamboo trees in the world is found in Japan
6. Sambisa forest found in Bornu state, Nigeria.
7. Okomu forest reserve found in Edo state, Nigeria

IMPORTANCE OF THE FOREST TO MAN

The importance of forests to man include the following:

1. Source of timber used for building, furniture and other construction activities.
2. Source of employment i.e. hunting, lumbering (cutting of trees)
3. Rainforest serve as tourist centres with exotic animals to be seen there.
4. Chief source of soft wood used in making paper, toilet rolls and matches.

THE MEANING OF DESERT

A desert is a large area of dry land that has very little water (very low rainfall) and few plants (i.e. cactus) growing on it. Some animals that live in the desert are rattlesnake, camels, donkeys, porcupines etc.

TYPES OF DESERTS

There are four major types of deserts, namely:

1. Sandy deserts- made up of a lot of sand.
2. Rocky deserts- made up of mainly rocks.
3. Stony deserts- made up of mainly pebbles and gravels.
4. Mountain desert- made up of mountains, plateaux and hills.

EXAMPLES OF DESERTS AND WHERE THEY CAN BE FOUND IN THE WORLD

1. Sahara desert is the largest desert in the world, found in West Africa (Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Libya, Morocco, Algeria).
2. Kalahari desert found in Southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia and South Africa).
3. Namib desert is the oldest desert in the world found Namibia.
4. Arabian desert found in the middle eastern, Asia country of Saudi Arabia. 
5. Iranian desert found in the middle eastern, Asia country of Iran.
6. Thar desert also called the Great Indian desert found in India, Asia
7. Mohave desert found in the United States of America.
8. Atacama desert is the second driest desert in the world (some parts of the desert have not experienced rainfall for about 400 years) found in Chile, South America
9. Icy Antarctica desert is the driest desert in the world found on the South Pole. It is considered a desert because it gets little or no rainfall (less rainfall than that gotten in the Sahara desert).