Introduction to Silviculture and Silvicultural System Forest is
defined as ‘an area set aside for the production of timber and
other forest product, or maintained under woody vegetation for
certain indirect benefits which it provides.’ This is the
general definition of the term and lays emphasis on the direct
and indirect benefits that the forests provide. But in ecology,
it is defined as ‘a plant community predominantly of trees and
other woody vegetation, usually with a closed canopy '. This
definition describes the forest as a kind of vegetation in which
trees constitute the predominant part, to distinguish it from
vegetation in which grasses or shrubs may be predominant, and
are fairly dense so that their crowns touch each other. In legal
terminology, forest is defined as ‘an area of land proclaimed to
be forest under a forest law’. This definition describes the
forest not as a biological unit but as property having an owner
and with rights of certain people. This definition is useful
only in law courts,