Question

Silent valley has been preserved, as it has
A. Recreational value
B. Valuable timber plants
C. Natural forest
D. Rare plants and animals

Answer 1

Hint: Silent valley is the name of the national park located in Kerala, India. This Park is part of the south western ghats mountain rain forest. This forest is home to a large population of lion-tailed macaques. It also receives a large amount of rainfall during the south west monsoon. The flora of the valley contains about a \[1000\] species of flowering plants, orchids, ferns, liverworts, lichens and algae.

Complete explanation:
Option A Recreational value: Recreational value relates to activities that the public engages in. For example, sports including diving and fishing. Silent valley national park is highly conserved and restricted to any human activities. Hence this option is wrong
Option A is incorrect.
Option B valuable timber plants: Silent valley has many common timber plant species like Mesua ferrea, Calophyllum elatum etc. However, the valley is not preserved specially for timber plants.
Option B is incorrect.
Option C Natural Forest: A forest refers to a large area of land that is covered in trees and plants. It is a habitat to distinct varieties of flora and fauna. Not all the natural forests are preserved. Hence this option is wrong.
Option C is incorrect.
Option D Rare plants and animals: Silent valley national park has some rare species of flora and fauna. There are several threatened species present here. Often new plant and animal species are discovered. There are about \[16\] bird species, \[34\] mammal species, \[730\] insect species and \[1000\] of flowering species present here. The silent valley is preserved mainly due to this reason.
Option D is correct.

Hence, Option D. Rare plants and animals are the correct answer.

Note:
Silent valley has many endemic bird species like Nilgiris wood-pigeon, Malabar parakeet, Malabar grey hornbill, white-bellied treepie, grey-headed bulbul etc. Some of the mammal species include lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiris langur and Malabar giant squirrel. It also has many endemic plant varieties in cardamom, black pepper, yams and beans.