Wilderness

Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by civilized human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with roads, pipelines or other industrial infrastructure."

Some governments establish them by law or administrative acts, usually in land tracts that have not been modified by human action in great measure. The main feature of them is that human activity is restricted significantly. These actions seek not only to preserve what already exists, but also to promote and advance a natural expression and development. Wilderness areas can be found in preserves, conservation preserves, National Forests, National Parks and even in urban areas along rivers, gulches or otherwise undeveloped areas. These areas are considered important for the survival of certain species,biodiversity, ecological studies, conservation, solitude, and recreation. Wilderness is deeply valued for cultural, spiritual,moral, and aesthetic reasons. Some nature writers believe wilderness areas are vital for the human spirit and creativity. They may also preserve historic genetic traits and provide habitat for wild flora and fauna that may be difficult to recreate inzoos, arboretums or laboratories.

The word wilderness derives from the notion of "wildness"—in other words, that which is not controlled by humans. The mere presence or activity of people does not disqualify an area from being "wilderness." Many ecosystems that are, or have been, inhabited or influenced by activities of people may still be considered "wild." This way of looking at wilderness includes areas within which natural processes operate without human interference.

The WILD Foundation states that wilderness areas have two dimensions: they must be biologically intact and legally protected. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) classifies wilderness at two levels, Ia (Strict Nature Reserves) and Ib (Wilderness Areas). Most scientists and conservationists agree that no place on earth is completely untouched by humanity, either due to past occupation by indigenous people, or through global processes such as climate change. Activities on the margins of specific wilderness areas, such as fire suppression and the interruption of animal migration also affect the interior of wildernesses.

Especially in wealthier, industrialized nations, it has a specific legal meaning as well: as land where development is prohibited by law. Many nations have designated wilderness, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. Many new parks are currently being planned and legally passed by various Parliaments and Legislatures at the urging of dedicated individuals around the globe who believe that "in the end, dedicated, inspired people empowered by effective legislation will ensure that the spirit and services of wilderness will thrive and permeate our society, preserving a world that we are proud to hand over to those who come after us."

      

A moist forest

Because European explorers initially travelled through tropical forests largely by river, the dense, tangled vegetation lining the stream banks gave a misleading impression that such jungle conditions existed throughout the entire forest. As a result, it was wrongly assumed that the entire forest was impenetrable jungle.This in turn appears to have given rise to the second popular usage of jungle as virtually any humid tropical forest.Jungle in this context is particularly associated with tropical forest,but may extend to cloud forest, temperate rainforest and mangroves with no reference to the vegetation structure or the ease of travel.

The word "Tropical forest" has largely replaced "Jungle" as the descriptor of humid tropical forests, a linguistic transition that has occurred since the 1970s. "Rainforest", a specific type of tropical forest that does not occur in the Indian sub-continent, itself did not appear in English dictionaries prior to the 1970s. The word "jungle" accounted for over 80% of the terms used to refer to tropical forests in print media prior to the 1970s, since when "rainforest" has been used widely, although "jungle" still remains common in discourse when referring to tropical forests.

Varying usage

As dense and impenetrable vegetation

One of the most common meanings of jungle is land overgrown with tangled vegetation at ground level, especially in the tropics. Typically such vegetation is sufficiently dense to hinder movement by humans, requiring that travelers cut their way through.This definition draws a distinction between primary forest and jungle, since the under-storey of tropical forests is typically open of vegetation due to a lack of sunlight, and hence relatively easy to traverse.Jungles may exist within, or at the borders of, tropical forests in areas where the forest has been opened through natural disturbance such as hurricanes, or through human activity such as logging. The successional vegetation that springs up following such disturbance of rainforest is dense and impenetrable and is a ‘typical’ jungle. Jungle also typically forms along forest margins and along stream banks, once again due to the greater available light at ground level.

Tropical seasonal forests and mangroves are commonly referred to as jungles of this type. Having a more open canopy than rainforests, seasonal forests may have denser under-storeys with numerous lianas and shrubs making movement difficult,^[4][11][12]while the prop roots and low canopies of mangroves produce similar difficulties.

                                                                     

Wildlife

Because jungles occur on all inhabited landmasses and may incorporate numerous vegetation and land types, the wildlife of jungles cannot be defined and consists of the biota of the land type and region.

Etymology

The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala (Sanskrit: जङ्गल), meaning uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to dry land, it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its connotation as a dense "tangled thicket"^[1] while others have argued that a cognate word in Urdu did refer to forests.^[2] The term is prevalent in many languages of the Indian subcontinent, and the Iranian plateau, where it is commonly used to refer to the plant growth replacing primeval forest or to the unkempt tropical vegetation that takes over abandoned areas.

Jungle

A jungle is land covered with dense vegetation dominated by trees. Application of the term has varied greatly during the last several centuries. Jungles in Western literature can represent a less civilised or unruly space outside the control of civilization: attributed to the jungle's association in colonial discourse in the British Raj. Therefore, the nearest equivalent scientific term is probably monsoon and seasonal tropical forest.