What are the Important Products of the Tropical Hardwood Forests?

(a) There are some important products of the tropical hardwood forests are- (a) Spices (Pepper, Cloves, Cinnamon and Vanilla)

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i. Pepper from Indonesia, Sarawak, Malaysia and Malabar Coast of India.

ii. Cloves from Indonesia (Molucaa or Spice Island), Pemba and Zanzibar islands on the east coast of Africa.

iii. Cinnamon from Srilanka, Java (Indonesia), Indo-China and southern China.

iv. Vanilla from Mexico and the east coast of Madagascar.

(b)Chicle: a kind of gam used largely in making chewing gums.

i. Abundantly found in the tropical rainforest of South America (from Southern Mexico to Brazil)

(c) Nuts: Brazil nuts-important in the Amazon basin

i. Ivory nuts from Carribean coast of Panama and Southern Ecuador.

ii. Betel Nuts from India.

(d)Palm Products: Palm-oil Kernels from Congo, Nigeria, West Africa and Sierra Leone.

(e) Wild Rubber and Balata:

i. Rubber from the Amazon basin of South America and the Congo Basin of Africa.

ii. Balata from the Equatorial rainforests of South America mostly used in sea cables and belting. (0 Waxes, Lac

(g) Drugs: Camphor and quinine are the two most important drugs of the equatorial region.

i. Camphor grows well on mountain slopes of Japan, Formossa and Southern China.

ii. Quinine extracted from the bark of Chinchona trees grows in abundance on the well-drained mountain slopes of the equatorial region.

(g) Tannin Materials: obtained from the leaves and bark of mangroves trees of tropical forests.

i. Quebracho or ‘axe breaker’ the most important source of tanning material grows in Parana Paraguay basin.

ii. Wattle of Africa is a plantation crop of Kenya and Natal (South Africa)