Social Forestry

The concept of social forestry was introduced by the National Commission on Agriculture in 1976. It refers to the rational afforestation, which is compatible with economic and social needs of a community. In the recent past, forestry  development programme was emphasised on the farm lands. It implies to the practice of forestry in all aspects of village lands. Basically farm lands, community lands, etc. Farm forestry is defined as the practice of forestry in all its aspects on farms or village lands generally integrated with farm operation. In other words, forestry has linkages with several operations.

The aim of social forestry is to disperse forests along the length and breadth of the country to meet the basic requirements of the villagers. Thus, social forests would cover waste lands, Panchayat lands, villages commons and land on the sides of the roads, canal banks and railway lines, which may be brought under forest plantations, shelter-belts and mixed forestry, comprising raising of grass and leaf fodder, fruit trees and fuel wood trees.

Objectives

The National Commission on Agriculture (NCA) has adopted the following objectives of social forestry, which are the basic and economic needs of the community and which aim at improving the conditions of the rural people.

1.Fuelwood supply to rural areas and replacement of cowdung, which may be used as manure.

2.Supply of small timber for rural housing and agricultural implements.

3.Supply of fodder

4.Protection of agricultural land against wind

Weaknesses of Social Forestry

1.   Social  forestry programme has completely ignored the prime objective of ensuring the rural households access to fuel wood and fodder for domestic consumption. In these areas, women and children spend their maximum time to collect the fuelwood. Thus, the World Bank, which has financed the social forestry in many developing countries, is now worried about the extent to which social forestry would benefit the landless to meet their requirements of fuelwood and fodder.

2.Social forestry programme has failed to involve the landless in afforestation. The programme was launched with the objective of removing poverty and unemployment in the country. But, in reality it has aggravated poverty and unemployment in the rural areas.

3.Social Forestry programmes did not involve women who collect fuel for the family everyday. It has also not involved the tribals who are deeply interested in the protection and promotion of forests.

4.Social forestry programme does little for ecological restoration. In fact, there is a general feeling in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana that the quick growing eucalyptus plantations are depleting soil nutrients.

5.The shade of trees on crops reduces the crop yield significantly.

Wetlands, Mangroves and Coral Reefs

India has a wealth of wetland eco-system distributed in different geographical regions from the cold arid zone of Ladakh in the North to the wet humid climate of Imphal in the East, the warm arid zone of Rajasthan in the West to the tropical monsoonic Central India and the wet and humid zone of Southern Peninsula. Most of the wetlands in India are directly or indirectly linked with major river system such as Ganga, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Tapti Godavari, Krishna, Cauveri, etc. A National Level Committee constituted to advise the Government on appropriate policies and measures to be taken for conservation and management of the wetlands, has so far identified 20 wetlands for conservation and management on priority basis. A directory of wetlands in India has been published which gives information on location, area and ecological categorization of wetlands in different parts of the country. India is a signatory to the Convention on Wetlands of international importance, especailly as Waterfowl Habitat

(Ramsar Convention) and six Indian Wetlands, viz., Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur and Sambar (Rajasthan), Chilka (Orissa), Loktak (Manipur), Wullar (Jammu and Kashmir), and Harike (Punjab) have been designated under this Convention.

Mangroves are salt tolerant forest ecosystem found mainly in the tropical and sub-tropical inter-tidal regions of the world. They are reservoirs of a large number of plant and animal species associated together over a long evolutionary period and exhibiting remarkable capacity for salt tolerance. They stabilize the shoreline and act as a bulwark against encroachments by the sea. India harbours some of the best mangroves in the world and these occur all along the Indian coastline in sheltered estuary, tidal creeks, backwaters, salt marshes and mud flats covering a total area of 4,827sq km. Under the scheme on Conservation and Management of Mangroves, 15 mangrove areas have been identified for intensive conservation and management purposes: Northern Andaman and Nicobar, Sunderbans (West Bengal), (Orissa), Pitchavaram and Point Calimer (Tamil Nadu), Goa, Gulf of Kutch (Gujarat), Coondapur (Karnataka), Achra/Ratnagiri (Maharashtra) and Vembanad (Kerla). Management action plans for all the 15 mangrove areas have been sanctioned.

Coral reefs are shallow-water tropical marine ecocystems, characterized by high biomass production and rich floral and faunal diversity. Four coral areas, Gulf of Mannur, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshdweep islands State-level steering committees have been constituted for the formulation and implementation of management action plans. Such action plans have been sanctioned for Andaman and Nicobar and Gulf of Mannar coral reefs so far.

National parks and Wild Life Sanctuaries

Western Ghats as World Heritage site

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee inscribed the Western Ghats of India as a world heritage site on July 1.2012 The decision will ensure the mountain range, spread across seven states, gets international support for its conservation. The Western Ghats extend from Dang in Maharashtra-Gujarat to a place near Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, along the western coast; it is spread over 7,953 sq km.

Older than the Himalaya, the Western Ghats mountain chain is recognised as one of the world’s eight “hottest hot spots” of biological diversity. The World Heritage Committee, which met in St Petersburg in Russia, acknowledged that the Western Ghats forests include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests anywhere and are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish species. Its ecosystems influence the Indian monsoon weather pattern. “Moderating the tropical climate of the region, it presents one of the best examples of the monsoon system in the planet,”

Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area

The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, a rich biodiversity in Himachal Pradesh and home to several rare and threatened species of flora and fauna, is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Located in Kullu district, some 250 km from Shimla, the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) embodies the ancient method of environmental conservation in the Kullu Valley.

Spread over 905.40-sq km, the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (GHNPCA) includes the upper mountain glacial and snow melt water source origins of the westerly flowing JiwaNal, Sainj and Tirthan Rivers and the north- westerly flowing Parvati River.

GHNPCA is home to several rare and threatened species including the western tragopan, chir pheasant, snow leopard, Himalayan musk deer, Asiatic black bear, Himalayan tahr, blue sheep and serow. Some 25 threatened IUCN red-listed plant species are recorded from the park.

The names of many places in this valley commemorate saints who came here to meditate in the great sanctuary of Himalayas, it said, adding that some of these sanctuaries are still preserved as sacred groves of trees.

The GHNP has more than 35 peaks of greater than 5000m and two greater than 6000m which taken together are arguably more exceptional than a few isolated higher peaks in the region.

Situated at the confluence of Oriental and Palaearctic realms, GHNP provides a unique opportunity for the species from both biogeographic regions to thrive, disperse and evolve.