Forest, Categories, Types, Functions and Institutional Framework for protection

Rahul Kumar IFSPCCF (HOFF)

Introduction

• The word forest is derived from a Latin word“ Foris” meansOutside

• Forests are one of the most important natural resources of theearth.

• Approximately 1/3rd of the earth’s total area is covered byforests

• Forests vary a great deal in composition and density and aredistinct from meadows and pastures.

• Forests are important to humans and the biodiversity. Forhumans, they have many aesthetics, recreational, economic,historical, cultural and religious values.

• Forests provide fuelwood, timber, fodder, wildlife, habitat,industrial forest products, climate, medicinal plants etc.

Forest Cover of India

• As per the State of forest report 2013, forest cover of countryis 6,97,898 sq.km (69.79 million hectare)

• This is 21.23% of the total geographical area of the country.

• The tree cover of the country is estimated to be 9.13 millionhectare which is 2.78% of the total geographical area.

• The total forest and tree cover of the country as per 2013assessment is 78.92 million hectare, which is 24.01% of thetotal geographical area of the country.

• There is an increase of 5871 sq.km in the forest cover of thecountry in comparison to 2011 assessment.

Source-India State of Forest Report 2013

FOREST COVER IN INDIAYears FOREST COVER % F. cover sq km Growing stock

Million m. cum

2005 23.41 769,621 4602.30

2009 21.02 690,899 4498.66

2011 21.05 691,969 6047.158

2013 24.01 789,164 5658.046

77.51%

2.54%9.70%

8.99%

1.26%

21.23%

An Overview of Forest Area in Rajasthan

• Total Geographical Area of the State : 342239 sq.km

• Total Forest Cover of the State : 16086 sq.km

• Tree Cover : 7860 sq.km

• Total Forest & Tree Cover : 23946 sq.km

• Per capita forest & Tree Cover : 0.035 Hectare

• Of State’s Geographical Area : 7.00 %

• Of India’s Forest &Tree Cover : 3.03 %

• Very Dense Forest : 72 sq.km

• Moderately Dense Forest : 4424 sq.km.

• Open Forest : 11590 sq.km

• Recorded Forest Area:-

– Reserved Forest : 12475 sq.km

– Protected Forest : 18217 sq.km

– Un-classed Forest : 2045 sq.km

Total : 9.57 %

Source: India State of Forest Report, 2013

Physiographic Zones

Land Use types

Total Geographical area 3287263 sq kmArable land 51 %

10 to 40 % canopy density

Source: Environmental Information system, Database WII India

Forest Cover Distribution in India

Area

FSI, 2009

Growing stock in India

State of forests, FSI 2009

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By: erjveruivbevb

Protected areas in India, 2011

Trends in PA,s India

Source: Environmental Information system, Database WII India

Up to 2016, Proposals: 75 NPs & 219 WL S

Protective Functions

• Forest Provide protection against Soil erosion, Droughts, floods, noise, radiations

Soil erosion FloodsSoil erosion Droughts

Productive Functions

• Forest Provide various products like, gum resins, medicines,Katha, honey, pulp, bamboo, timber, and fruits

Regulative Functions

• The Forest regulates the level of Oxygen and carbon dioxide inatmosphere. The forests also help in regulating temperatureconditions

Accessory Function

• Forest provides aesthetics, habitat to various flora and faunabesides that it also has an recreational value.

Ecological Importance or uses of Forests

• Regulation of global climate and temperature• Forests play a crucial role in regulation of global climate and

temperature as forest cover absorb the solar radiations thatwould otherwise be reflected back into the atmosphere by baresurface of the earth.

• Transpiration of plants increases the atmosphere humiditywhich affects the rainfall, cools the atmosphere and thusregulate the hydrological cycle

Reduction of Global Warming• The main green house gas co2 is used by forests for

photosynthesis process, the forests act as a sink for co2 there byreducing the green house effect due to co2

Production of Oxygen

• During Photosynthesis process forest releases oxygen a veryimportant gas for human survival thereby are called as lungs ofearth.

Conservation of Soil

• They prevent soil erosion by binding the soil particles tightly intheir roots. They also reduce the velocity of wind and rain whichare chief agents causing erosion

Absorption of air pollutants

• Forest absorbs many toxic gases and air pollutants and can help

in keeping air pure.

Economical Importance of Forests

• Timber: Wood used for commercial purposes likefor making furniture and other items like boats,bridges and other day to day uses.

• Fuel Wood: The wood is used as fuel for cookingand other purposes by poor people.

• Raw material for wood based industries: forestsprovide raw material for various wood basedindustries like paper and pulp, sports goods,furniture, match boxes etc.

• Food: Fruits, roots, leaves of plants and trees along with themeat of forest animals provide the food to the tribal people.

• Miscellaneous Products: Miscellaneous products like, resin,gums, oils, medicines, Katha, honey are provided by forests

Tropical wet evergreen and semi evergreen forests

• found in Southern Western Ghats, north-eastern India and Plains of West Bengal rainfall exceeding 200cms.

• Height of trees is from 45-60mts.

• Vegetation is very dense.

• Variety of species is very large consists of rose wood, paan, aini, telsur.

Tropical moist deciduous forests

• Found in Western ghats and ChotaNagpur plateau and Siwaliks of Himalayas.

• These forests have hilly terrains and plateau regions with rainfall between 100-200cms.

• These are tropical monsoon forests with tall trees which rise upto 25-60mts.

• Teak is a dominant species and other species are sandal wood, sal and shisham

Tropical dry deciduous forests

• occupy the large part of peninsular plateau, Gangaplain and area between the Thar, the Himalayas and the Western Ghats.

• They cover vast areas of plateau and plain areas with rainfall between 70-100cms.

• This type of forest is found with open formations and the important species are teak, bamboo, sal and khair.

Forest Area-

Udaipur Distt.

AERIDES CRISPUM

RARE PLANT OF DRY DECIDUOUS FORESTS OF RAJASTHAN

COSTUS SPECIOSUS ENSETE SUPERBUM

RARE PLANT OF DRY DECIDUOUS FORESTS OF RAJASTHAN

Hastikarn

RARE PLANT OF DRY DECIDUOUS FORESTS OF RAJASTHAN

Thorn forests.

• Found in the plains of Punjab, seaside's of Western ghats and the drier parts of the Deccan plateau,

• This type forests are found in dry areas with rainfall less than 70cms.

• The vegetation consists of open stunted forests and xerophytic bushes and trees are just 6-7mts high.

• Acacias and euphoria's are common species everywhere

Tidal forests

• Tidal forests are found in channels and islands of the Indian deltas like Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna.

• They grow in the brackish as well as fresh waters areas and where mud and silt get accumulated.

• Mangrove is the most important tree in these forests which reaches 30mts high.

• Canes and palms are the species.

The Himalayan Temperate and Alpine forests

• Found in all the ranges of middle and upper Himalayas.

• The trees range from 100-250cms.at an elevation 1600-3000mts

• The Alphine forests at a higher elevation of 3500mts and above.

• A great variety of species like broad leafed temperate evergreen trees like oaks, laurels, chestnuts, walnuts etc…

• The Alphine vegetation consists of birch junifers, silver fir and shrubby rhododendrons

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTION OF FOREST

• Principal Chief Conservator of Forests• Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests• Chief Conservator of Forests• Conservator of Forests• Deputy Conservator of Forests• Assistant Conservator of Forests• Range Forest Officer (Gr. I)• Range Forest Officer (Gr. II)• Forester• Assistant Forester• Forest Guard

KEY ISSUES

• Illegal mining activities

• Encroachments

• Forest fire

• Grazing pressure

• Fuel-wood removal

• Shifting cultivation

Impact of human activities and natural forces on the forest of India

• Clearing and burning of the forests foragriculture,cattle rearing and timber extraction.

• Clear cutting and conversion of forest land in hillyareas for agriculture,plantation and housing.

• Forests affected by acid deposition originating fromindustries.

• Pesticides spraying to control insects in forestplantation leads to poisoning all the way up the foodchain and unintended loss of species.

Impact of human pressures

• Dams build in forest areas for hydropower andwater drown huge areas ,destroying species anddepriving people of their land.

• In wilderness areas like the Arctic ,oil explorationand military activities disrupt the ecosystem,contaminating areas and lead to decline ofspecies.

• The harvesting of old growth forests destroyscrucial habitat for endangered species

• .

History of forest management

• Ancient Indian scriptures and literature mention forest management

• scientific study of managed forests and came with the colonial rule only

• The Indian Forest Department was set up with British officers in senior positions and Indian officers to assist them.

• Forest Act of 1878- control of all reserved forests including harvesting if timber and restricting access of the people and livestock to these forests.

• 1890 almost every province in India had a permanent forest administration to look after the state forests.

• Historically India had forest cover 65% • It shrunk to 40% by the middle of the century• Since India’s independence the figure has

shrunk to 19% today.

Management concern

• JFM not extended to protected areas and well-stocked forests

• lack of clarity regarding tenure

• the extent of forestry department control within JFM is significant.

• village organizations in most states have no autonomous status and can be dissolved by the forestry department.

Causes of forest management failure

• Indian Forest Act 1927 -restricting people’s access to ‘government’ forests

• The Forest Act 1952- village communities

should in no event be permitted to use forests at the cost of 'national interest'.

• rights to manage forests were vested with the state governments till 1976

• After that forests put on the concurrent list

• Prior to the Forest (Conservation ) Act 1980the state governments could take any forestland out of forestry and put to other use suchas agriculture, roads, and habitationsettlement.

• Until 1988, the policy lands used forcommercial purposes

Trends in Forest Management• Social forestry- moving tree planting activities

away from traditional forests and into othercommon lands and private lands

• It intended to serve the needs of the people attheir ‘doors’ and reduce their dependence uponthe natural forests.

• It provided incentive to large-scale industries toclear fell ecologically valuable degraded forestareas and common property lands forplantations.

DEFINITION OF JOINT MANAGEMENT

Joint Management of forest lands is the sharing of the products, responsibilities, control and decision-making authority over forest lands between Forest Department and local user groups.

It involves a contract specifying the distribution of authority, responsibility and benefits between villages and State Forest Departments with respect to land allocated for Joint Management.

Source: Moench

• It created a uniform monoculture of timberspecies.

• It escalated commercial felling

• CFM, PFM, JFM emerged out of the failure ofcolonial and social forestry and the Indiangovernment’s forest policies in general.

• CFM-local community initiatives towardsregenerating, protecting and managing publicand other forest lands.

• (JFM) management systems that are collaborative in nature.

• The Sukho Majri project underlined the imperative ofinvolving the communities in the protection, conservation,management and sharing of natural resources.

• Forest Policy in 1988

• Shifting the focus from revenue generation to conservation

• Answering the subsistence needs of the communities.

• The policy gives higher priority to environmental stability thanto earning revenue.

• It discourages monocultures and prefers mixed forest

• The rights and concessions enjoyed by them should be fullyprotected.

• JFM) refers to formalized localcommunity and forest departmentagreements relating to regenerating,protecting and managing state owned,public forest lands.

• The ministry issued guidelines on June 11990 regarding JFM.

• share in usufructs• MP provides100% share of the net profit

of the harvesting of timber and bambooto the JFM.

BACKDROP

The policing approach of the Forest Department resulted in continual clash of interests between the forest staff and the local communities with regard to use of forest resources.

Foresters realised that strong laws are meaningless and counter productive without adequate and voluntary participation by the local communities.

User communities are likely to protect forests when they have a say in forest management and receive a significant proportion of the benefits.

GENESIS OF JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

1972 – Arabari (West Bengal)

Mid-1970s – Sukhomajri (Haryana)

Two most well known pilot experiments in early 1970s

JFM ENVISAGES A MOVEMENT

FROM TO

Centralized management Decentralized management

Production motives Sustainability

Large working plans Micro-plans

Unilateral decision making Participatory decision making

Controlling people Facilitating people

Department People’s institution

Achieving single, pre-set

objective

Fulfilling multiple, need

based objectives

Timber production Multiple products combined

with bio-diversity

Plantation as first option Low input management and

regeneration

• 28 State Governments have adopted JFM.• Almost 60% of the forest cover within the

tribal districts of the country, and the tribal families are automatically covered in the JFM programme in these areas.

JFM IN RAJASTHAN

• Total no. of VFPMCs: 5620

• Forest area under management: 8.95 lac Ha

• Total funds available in the committee’saccount: 11.09 Crores(through collection of MFP,sale of

grass,penalties,corpus fund etc.)

• Total members- 642377 ,women: 230287

{SC:89926,ST: 274590, Others: 277861}

Shifting of forest policies towards conservation

• 1980 the Forest (Conservation) Act-

to check uncontrolled diversion of forest areas forother purposes, particularly for agriculture andhuman settlement.

• state govt. cannot de-reserve Reserved Forests ordivert forest lands for non-forest purposes withoutthe permission from GOI.

• The states cannot now lease out forests to theprivate entrepreneurs/ Corporations not owned bygovernment.

Some provision should take into consideration

• Provide clear policy signals to the forest-basedprivate sector

• Remove bottlenecks to farm forestry and cutback on subsidized supply of raw material toindustry

• Tackle intra-community inequity

• Incorporate farm forestry in watersheddevelopment programmes

CONCLUSION

• single-use strategies inadequate for local development.

• Adopting a contemporary, multiple-use strategy.

• Focusing on generating multiple products