Deforestation and afforestation: Deforestation means the destruction of forests in various ways like construction of road, construction of dams etc. 

Expansion of urbanization, collection of firewood, collection of wood for commercial and domestic use, exploration of mines, etc. This causes oxygen deficiency and increases carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere. Deforestation causes problems of floods, sand storms etc. which are harmful to all living beings like plants, animals etc.

The following are the reasons for deforestation:

(i) Increasing need of food and over-breeding of food leads to deforestation.

(ii) Place of deforestation due to clearing of forests for settlement of increased population.

(iii) Deforestation is caused by the increasing needs of raw material for industrial use.

(iv) Deforestation takes place due to jhum cultivation, which is called jhum cultivation.

(v) Legal or illegal extraction of wood for industrial and domestic use is another important cause of deforestation.

The following measures should be taken for the protection of Deforestation:

(i) The rural people should inculcate the habit of planting.

(ii) The barren land within the premises of school, hospital, road side, far side of the embankment should be delineated.

(iii) Open cast mining should be reduced. New technology should be developed in place of open cast mining to extract minerals from the mines.

(iv) Terrace farming should be encouraged in place of jhum cultivation.

(v) To meet the needs of wood material products should be produced.

(vi) A proper tree felling policy should be followed by the Forest Departments.