Role of contemporary forestry in national economy – changing

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PROCEEDINGS OF THE

National Workshop on

Role of Contemporary Forestry in National Economy – Changing Roles

of Foresters and Resultant Training Needs

1st – 3rd February, 2016Directorate of Forest Education, Dehradun

Edited by

M P SINGH

K S JAYACHANDRAN

ROLE OF CONTEMPORARY FORESTRY IN NATIONAL ECONOMY, CHANGING ROLES OF FORESTERS AND RESULTANT TRAINING NEEDS

CONTENTS

BACKGROUND........................................................................................................................................................................1

WORKING SCHEDULE ..........................................................................................................................................................3

INAUGURAL SESSION ..........................................................................................................................................................5

SESSION 1: ROLE OF CONTEMPORARY FORESTRY IN NATIONAL ECONOMY ● Role of contemporary forestry in national economy: K D Singh .............................................................................8

SESSION 2: CHANGING ROLES OF FORESTRY PERSONNEL ● Role of contemporary forestry in national economy, changing roles of foresters and resultant training

needs: Irshad A Khan ...................................................................................................................................................19 ● Frameworks and tools for ecosystem based forest management: Christopher Kernan .....................................22 ● Valuation of forest resources: Rajesh Kumar ............................................................................................................25 ● Forests and economy: Dr Raman Nautiyal ...............................................................................................................27

SESSION 3: EMERGING TRAINING NEEDS OF FORESTRY PERSONNEL ● Reorienting the forestry training curriculum to meet the challenge of

climate change: some thoughts: R D Jakati ...............................................................................................................30 ● Increasing role of forest sector to national economy: some thoughts

on present day training needs: Dr Mohit Gera ........................................................................................................32 ● Role of contemporary forestry in national economy, changing roles of foresters

and resultant training needs: B K Singh ....................................................................................................................33 ● Emerging training needs in the Indian forestry sector: Dr Sushil Saigal .............................................................35

CONCLUDING SESSION ● Summary and recommendations ...............................................................................................................................38 ● Concluding remarks .....................................................................................................................................................40 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS .....................................................................................................................................................41

ABBREVIATIONSACF: Assistant Conservator of ForestsBAP: Bali Action PlanCASFOS: Central Academy for State Forest Service CBD: Convention on Biological DiversityCCF: Chief Conservator of ForestsCDM: Clean Development MechanismCF: Conservator of ForestsDCF: Deputy Conservator of ForestsDES: Directorates of Economics and StatisticsDFO: Divisional Forest OfficerFCA: Forest (Conservation) ActGDP: Gross Domestic ProductGIS: Geographical Information SystemsHDI: Human Development IndexHEP: Hydro Electric ProjectsICFRE: Indian Council of Forestry Research and EducationIFS: Indian Forest ServiceIUFRO: International Union of Forest Research OrganisationsJFM: Joint Forest ManagementJICA: Japan International Corporation AgencyMFP: Minor Forest ProduceMPCE: Monthly Per-Capita Consumption ExpenditureNAV: Net Asset ValueNFC: National Forest CommissionNFP: National Forest PolicyNGO: Non Governmental OrganisationNIC: National Industrial ClassificationNTFP: Non Timber Forest ProduceNWFP: Non Wood Forest ProducePCCF: Principal Chief Conservator of ForestsPES: Payment for Environmental ServicesREDD: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest DegradationSFD: State Forest DepartmentSFM: Sustainable Forest ManagementSFS: State Forest ServiceSMF: Sustainable Management of ForestsTNA: Training Needs Analysis TOF: Trees outside ForestsUNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

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Forests play an important role in providing ecological security and resilience to the living conditions of millions of people in the country. However the vital contribution is not adequately reflected in the low contribution to the GDP. Forestland is scarce and requires judicious scientific and efficient use to fulfill the requirements of food, settlement, industries and environment for sustainable development. Competing and conflicting land uses are a major concern and hence are dealt with greater caution now.

During last few decades, there has been a paradigm change in forestry sector. Inclusive growth is being propagated as a measure to prevent over-exploitation of forests. A transition to green economy is visualized to provide the right way of measuring growth even at the cost of environmental degradation. The shifts in approaches towards forest governance is because of experiences worldwide and in certain pockets in India; which suggest that given the right incentives, time, financial resources and technical support, communities can raise forest incomes, governments can increase revenues, and forest cover can increase.

Forests thus have the potential to help reduce rural poverty significantly. Slowly, improved technology and practices are generating greater returns by helping communities to add value to forest products such as medicinal plants and bamboo. Livelihoods in ecotourism are raising incomes significantly. Technology, Joint forest management and the Forest Conservation Act is improving forest conservation, against the challenges of population and the subsequent pressure on scarce land resources.

A remarkable shift in forest governance is the ecosystem approach to forest management. Forest management is moving beyond conventional objectives through the new working plan code, by ensuring involvement and commitment of people and local institutions to ensure implementation of the modern forest management strategies. The focus now is towards ecosystem values including soil, water, air, livelihood, aesthetic, NTFP and biodiversity values. Thus, ecosystem approach to forest management with multiple functions has turned out to be a turning point

in contemporary forest management.Against these rapidly changing dimensions of forest

governance, the roles of foresters have seen a sea change. The need to equip them with relevant knowledge and skills has become more important than ever before. There is a need to reform training curricula to address crucial capacity building concerns against the prism of social, technological and inter-disciplinary dimensions.

Training needs of foresters have evolved in a very complex manner. In order to stand the test of time, the forestry training sector should implement comprehensive training programs designed to promote innovation at all levels and strengthen positive behaviour amongst foresters.

The Directorate of Forest Education, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dehradun conducts induction and in-service trainings for State Forest Service (SFS) officers, Forest Range Officers and frontline staff from across the nation. Thus the Directorate of Forest Education is at the forefront of this massive change management.

The Directorate of Forest Education, during the past few years has been working on analysing the training needs of forestry personnel (except Indian Forest Service personnel). Directorate of Forest Education, in cooperation with Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), conducted series of interactions at various levels in the State Forest Departments to assess the training needs of SFS officers, as a part of implementation of JICA assisted Technical Corporation Project “Capacity Building of State Forest Training Institutions and SFS Colleges” during March, 2009 to March, 2014. Training experts like Mr Forrest Fleischman, Department of Ecosystem Science & Management; Texas A&M University as well as recognised master trainers of Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India contributed in creating a sound training framework with focus on training needs which stresses on solving complex problems related to the field-level implementation of forestry programs that implement national and state forest policies and laws. Varied platforms for forest officers including trainers, training administrators and

Background

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training managers of various state and central forest training institutions were provided during in-service training of SFS and Range Forest Officers. State Forest Service officer trainees undergoing induction training have also been a part of this effort. The mutual sharing of experiences and information through collaboration has created a huge body of knowledge encompassing crucial training needs for State Forest Service Officers.

This workshop is a sincere attempt to bring in experienced government officers including forest officers, both serving as well as retired, to brainstorm and discuss the changes in the roles of foresters in the field especially State Forest Service officers and Range Forest officers. A new spectrum of training needs for forestry personnel thus emerged, when a fresh role analysis of forestry personnel against the new set of situations existing in the field were done in a forum of experienced senior officers. The outcome was also

in the form of suggestions after discussions, to bring in improvements in the forestry training sector. The retired officers, who are part of the society now, played a big role, since their perspectives towards forestry have changed including their expectations out of foresters. The discussions showed the path for the Directorate of Forest Education to mould the training needs as well as the training strategies accordingly.

These deliberations would form the bedrock of the Training Needs Analysis (TNA), presently underway at the Directorate of Forest Education, which would be the precursor of the ongoing review of the Entrance and Training (Revised) Rules, 2004 for State Forest Service Officers. Thus the outcome of the workshop would be looped into Entrance and Training Rules immediately, ensuring realization of the potential synergy of entire spectrum of stakeholders involved in forestry training.

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Working ScheduleDay I: 1st February, 2016

1430 – 1500 hours: Registration

1500 – 1545 hours: INAUGURAL SESSIONWelcome Address by Shri M P Singh, IFS, Director, Forest Education Inaugural Address by Dr S S Negi, IFS, Director General of Forests & Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India Introduction and Introductory Remarks by participants

1545-1630 hours Group Photograph and Tea

SESSION 1: ROLE OF CONTEMPORARY FORESTRY IN NATIONAL ECONOMY

1630 – 1730 hours: Key Note Address: Dr K D Singh: Role of Contemporary Forestry in National Economy

Discussions and open forum:Moderator:

Dr R D Jakati, IFS (Retd.)Rapporteur:

Ms Meera Iyer, Faculty, CASFOS

Day II: 2nd February, 2016

SESSION 2: CHANGING ROLES OF FORESTRY PERSONNEL

1000 – 1100 hours Introducing the theme: Dr Irshad Khan, IFS (Retd.), and Dr Christopher Kernan, USAID

Tea Break: 1100 – 1130 hours

1130 – 1330 Presenters: 1. Shri Rajesh Kumar, Sr Dy Director, Forest Survey of India 2. Dr Raman Nautiyal, Scientist, ICFRE

Panel Discussion on Changing Roles of Forestry PersonnelModerators:

Dr Irshad Khan, IFS (Retd.) Dr Christopher Kernan

Rapporteur:Dr Surabhi Rai, Faculty, CASFOS

1330 – 1430 hours: Lunch at CASFOS, Dehradun

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SESSION 3: EMERGING TRAINING NEEDS OF FORESTRY PERSONNEL

1430- 1530 Introducing the theme: 1. Dr R D Jakati, IFS (Retd.)2. Dr Mohit Gera, IFS Professor, IGNFA

Tea Break: 1530 – 1600 hours

1600 – 1730 hours: Presenters: 1. Shri B K Singh, IFS Commissioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya2. Dr Sushil Saigal, Forest Plus

Panel Discussion on Emerging Training Needs of Forestry PersonnelModerators:

1. Dr R D Jakati, IFS (Retd.)2. Dr Mohit Gera, IFS Professor, IGNFA

Rapporteur:Dr K S Jayachandran, Faculty, CASFOS

Day III: 3rd February, 2016

CONCLUDING SESSION: ROLE OF CONTEMPORARY FORESTRY IN NATIONAL ECONOMY, CHANGING ROLES OF FORESTERS AND RESULTANT TRAINING NEEDS

0930 – 1200 hours: Role of contemporary forestry in national economy, changing roles of foresters and resultant training needs: Way forward - Discussions and Summing up

1. Dr K D Singh, President, Academy of Forests and Environmental Sciences2. Dr Anmol Kumar, IFS Director General, Forest Survey of India 3. Dr G S Goraya, IFS, DDG, ICFRE4. Shri M P Singh, IFS, Director, Forest Education 5. Dr R D Jakati, IFS (Retd.)6. Dr Irshad Khan, IFS (Retd.) 7. Dr Christopher Kernan, USAID8. Dr Sushil Saigal, Forest Plus

Rapporteur:Dr K S Jayachandran, Faculty, CASFOS

1200 – 1330 hours: Valedictory Address by Dr S S Negi, IFS, Director General of Forests & Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India

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Shri M P Singh, IFS, Director, Forest Education, welcomed all dignitaries, eminent serving and retired forest officers, scientists from sister organizations to the workshop.

The Directorate of Forest Education, during the past few years has been working on analysing the training needs of forestry personnel. The present workshop is an attempt to bring in experienced government officers, both serving as well as retired, to brainstorm and discuss the changes in the roles of foresters in the context of contemporary forestry, wherein the focus has shifted to ecosystem goods and services including NTFPs. Ecosystem functioning is now a priority area in forest management. However, demand of forest products and opportunity to harness huge potential of ecotourism is increasing day by day and more sustainable and acceptable ways of managing these multiple forest functions need to be found. Consequent to these and other changing roles, improvements in the forestry training sector are imperative. An energetic team of innovative foresters and scientists from all sister organizations in Dehradun would try to evolve

a working template on the theme from this workshop.Dr S S Negi, IFS, Director General of Forests

and Special Secretary to the Government of India, congratulated the efforts of the Directorate of Forest Education and the Central Academy for State Forest Service to bring together the entire spectrum of senior forest officers to deliberate on the burning issue of the changing roles of foresters in the context of the present economic realities. He felt that it was time to introspect and flag the issues facing the forestry sector. He highlighted challenges like productivity of forests and diversion of forest lands for non-forestry purposes. Diversion is inevitable in the face of development needs and there is a need to balance both the development and conservation needs. There is a huge amount of funds lying with the government and the question is whether the foresters’ community can utilize the funds to increase the quality of forests.

Man animal conflict is another challenge. There are no ready made solutions. Foresters need to evolve solutions, based on field situations. Digitization of forest boundaries is a challenge which needs to be addressed

Inaugural Session

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through capacity building by training institutions. Training has to be dynamic and continuously evolving. The workshop is expected to offer inputs to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for further action and taking the process ahead on the training for the foresters’ community.

Dr R D Jakati, IFS (Retd.) gave a background of the forestry training institutions in the country. He flagged the infrastructure and the manpower challenges in the forestry training sector. The reorientation of forest training syllabus is a pressing area of concern in the context of climate change and ecosystem management. Ecosystem integrity and ecosystem assessment should find place in the curriculum. He highlighted the need of investment and matching infrastructure to enthuse

and motivate new entrants, as well as to improve the training efficiency. The challenges of technical forestry, falls on the institutions under the Directorate of Forest Education and hence investment is more than crucial for the Directorate of Forest Education.

Dr Jakati, also felt that training institutes should be well funded and the infrastructure in training institutes should be developed to enable the institutions to impart world class training. The syllabus should be attuned to the global trends in forestry today; it should not be production forestry centric but should be ecosystem centric. The assessment of the health of the ecosystem and its integrity is very important before going into its management, hence parameters and methods for the assessment of ecosystems and its integrity should be

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integrated into training. Dr Anmol Kumar, IFS, Director General, Forest

Survey of India, stressed the fact that one cannot do away with basic forestry, but training should build a strong foundation of basic forestry and others streams like sustainable forestry, ecosystem services etc. should flow from it. The line between tangible and intangible benefits is now blurred and all benefits coming from the forest have to be treated as concrete benefits and their measurement and assessment should find a place in training.

Dr V B Mathur, Director, Wildlife Institute of India, briefed the house about evidence based learning and decision making. He said that evidence cannot be contradicted, but on the other hand requires modern tools and investment. He underlined that we still depend on foreign satellites, be it radio collaring or any other intervention. Further he emphasized that in an era of diminished forest felling and emergence of substitutes, the forestry sector has to concentrate on ecosystem services to establish the need of retaining our remaining forests across the country. Thus the training curriculum has to equip foresters to identify, map, assess and valuate forest resources economically.

Shri Vinod Kumar, Director, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, expressed the importance of traditional forestry, though with requisite adaptations in consonance with emerging trends. Wood is still crucial despite all the societal progress. Productivity

needs to be improved for wood and NTFP’s through the practice of silviculture, in line with new developments in knowledge. Biodiversity is another aspect which is becoming important given the increasing population and subsequent requirements of livelihoods and food security. Working with Gram Panchayats and empowerment is an area where we will have to orient our budding forestry personnel. And training needs to be structured accordingly

Dr Mohit Gera, IFS, Professor, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun elaborated the importance of equipping trainers for training. The trainers are generally on deputation to training institutes. The expertise of these trainers is basically built on their educational qualification, the training undergone and the field experiences. Besides a basic desire, aptitude and attitude for mentoring and training, most of the trainers have not received any formal input on training methodology.

Shri V S Silekar, IFS (Retd.) highlighted the problems with regard to state training institutions. He raised special concern regarding the quality of trainers deputed. Elaborating further, he suggested that trainers should be oriented to grass root level democracy; the lowest field functionaries should not be the only people from the forest department interacting with the grassroot level democracies. Emphasis was also laid on the development of cartography skills as it was observed that foresters need to possess superior skills of map reading.

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SUMMARYThe paper is divided into three parts. The first part presents an account of new global understanding of forests as ecosystems and their roles as stated in the Forestry Principles. This was followed by the 2020 outlook of the national economy along with potential roles of contemporary forestry. The second part deals with a detailed assessment of each role and its impact on the national economy, including forest industries, agro-forestry, fuelwood and grazing, NTFP, wildlife, watershed, climate change and ecotourism. The third and the concluding section dwells on formulation of a comprehensive policy, strategy and programme for each group of forest functions.

Key words: Forestry in the post-UNCED era, Emerging Societal Demands on Forests, Initiatives for formulation of policy, strategy and programmes

PART - I: CHANGING CONCEPTS OF FORESTS AND FORESTRY WORLDWIDE1. Recognition of Forest as an Ecosystem

Though an ecosystem view of forests has been known to ecologists since long, a political acceptance of the fact came only at the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment 1972, when the Heads of the assembled states unanimously acknowledged the role of forests in maintaining global environmental stability and contributing to ecological processes. Forests were yet again at the centre of debate at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED 1992). Forests found an important mention in all the three International Conventions signed at UNCED, which obliges countries to take action for

Session 1: Role of Contemporary Forestry in National Economy

Key Note PaperRole of Contemporary Forestry in National Economy

Dr K D Singh, PresidentAcademy of Forests and Environmental Sciences

conservation and sustainable management of forests and submit regular reports on the state of forests to UN Bodies. However, a Forest Convention could not be agreed upon due to concern about sovereignty. Instead, a non-legally binding agreement, known as the Forestry Principles (FP), was adopted.

The FP provides a globally accepted framework for accounting of forest functions. According to Forestry Principles, “the vital role of all types of forests in maintaining the ecological processes and balance at the local, national, regional and global levels through, inter alia, their role in protecting fragile ecosystems, watersheds and freshwater resources and as rich storehouses of biodiversity and biological resources and sources of genetic material for biotechnology products, as well as photosynthesis, should be recognized” (Article 4); and “forestry issues and opportunities should be examined in a holistic and balanced manner within the overall context of environment and development, taking into consideration the multiple functions and uses of forests, including traditional uses and the likely economic and social stress when these uses are constrained or restricted, as well as the potential for development that sustainable forest management can offer” (in Preamble).

The forty years interval, since the Stockholm Conference, may seem as too long a period for developing scientific tools and techniques for valuation of environmental functions of forests. However, the progress in scientific understanding of forests functions has been very slow indeed. The scientific knowledge in the field is still very limited. Making of assessments even for a small country presents a complex task. It is

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formidable in our case on account of the size of our country with diverse ecological, social and economic setting and varying roles in different regions. The interested readers may get general idea of assessment problem in the Report of the Millennium Assessment (2003) on a global basis and papers of Chopra et al. (2008) and Verma (2008) in the Indian context. Singh and Nilsson (1974 and 2008) present a comprehensive framework for identification, assessment and evaluation of the environmental benefits of forests. For this purpose, authors define broad components of the forest ecosystem as follows (see Figure 1):

A. Natural Components including:● Abiotic (Soil and Water conservation etc.)● Biotic (Flora, Fauna, Microbes, etc.)● Atmospheric (Climate, etc.)

B. Cultural Components relating to demographic, political, socio-economic factors, etc.)

2. The Dynamic Nature of Forest EcosystemsFigure 2 pictorially depicts the Forest Ecosystem (N)

interacting with the human Ecosystem (C) over a time interval (T). The sub-scripts 1, 2, 3, etc. specify values of the systems over time. The terms input and output are used in a wide sense and include not only planned direct inputs and effects, but also side-effects associated with forest change such as land degradation, biodiversity loss, etc. The cultural aspects are being highlighted as

they are the most important determinants of forest area in any country at any time.

As a reference point relating forestry with national economy, Table 1 presents a vision of the national economy (2020) and includes key parameters such as demography, urbanization, GDP during 2000-20. The per capita GDP, which tripled during 1980-2000, is expected to almost quadruple during the period. The urban population will grow from 28% in 2000 to 38% in 2022, raising demands for urban forestry and ecotourism. The income of the poor (lowest 10%) is expected to improve; however, the relative divide between rich and poor is likely to remain almost the same as evident from the last column.

3. Classification of Forest Production Using the conceptual model presented earlier,

functions of forests (as ecosystem) are presented as rows in a matrix form (Table 2). The potential contribution of influencing factors (natural factors, cultural influences and other influences) could be added as additional columns in the matrix.

What is presented in the matrix is by no means a ready-made classification system of the desired quality but a first effort to satisfy some or the desired qualifications. It seemed necessary and logical to begin with the first condition – the product identification. When defining primary area production, a distinction between services and commodities is made to begin with (see Column 1). The concept of services stands

Figure 1: Constituents of a Global Forest Ecosystem

Source: Singh and Nilsson (1974)

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Table 1: Socio-economic trends during 2000-2020

YearPopulation Urbanization

TrendsGDP / Capita

(All)GDP / CapitaLowest (10%)

Billions No/ha (%) US$ US$

2000 1.01 307 28 429 159

2010 1.16 357 32 762 282

2020 1.30 405 38 1538 569

Sources: Planning Commission (GOI , 2006 ) and Abdul Kalam et al. (1998)

Table 2: General classification of forest production

Category ofProduction Production Class Examples

Services

(S)

Environmental Services Active inside the Area unit

Erosion control, Soil amelioration, Wind break, Shelter belt, Nature conservation (biodiversity)

Environmental Services Active outside the Area unit

Climatic influences, Ground water control, Flood control

Recipiental Services (Carrying capacity) Anti-pollution effects, Recreation Grazing

Commodities(C)

Minerals Rocks and minerals, Soil Water

Flora Commodities; Food and Wood Trees, Grasses, “Crops”

Fauna Commodities Animals, Fowl, Fish

S+C Urban services and commodities Sites and Infrastructure


Figure 2: An integrated natural and cultural system


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for functions, effects and influences that may be active within and between the area units. These influences are temporarily defined as environmental - environmental being a rather “loose” concept. The first two “environmental” production classes respectively are: Environmental Services Active inside the Area unit and Environmental Services Active outside the Area unit. The third category viz. influence of outside systems on the area unit is identified in the third row as Recipiental Services.

The concept of area unit needs further elaboration. As long as a classification system is used merely in a qualitative way, this area unit must not necessarily be homogeneous in respect of production properties and capacity. Any meaningful area classification (for instance by administrative units) could be used. A joint study by TIFAC and IIASA clearly brings the rapid and fundamental changes undergoing in the forest systems of India (see Table 3). A move towards a more comprehensive and multiple use forestry would require re-orientation of the existing forestry institutions and creation of new institutions to effectively cope with emerging demands, through production of goods and services both within and outside forests. A mismatch between the changing societal demands on forests and non-changing forestry institutions and organization could result in slowing down of growth / stagnation of the sector and acceleration of forest degradation.

4. Stages of Value Addition: a ConceptThe potential opportunities for production and

value addition can be listed as follows: ● Primary area production● Secondary area production● Tertiary production and● RecyclingPrimary area production occurs within an area unit

as a result of ecological processes and human influences that creates services and commodities useful to satisfy human needs and could be traded for the purpose. Primary area production may be past, actual or potential; natural or influenced by man.

Secondary area production is defined as the actual harvesting and transport of primary produce to delivery (consumption) point. Delivery point is to be kept flexible and depending on delivery conventions.

Tertiary production is defined as conversion processes beyond delivery point in industries or otherwise.

Recycling is defined as conversion processes where re-use of area products occurs.

All four stages are relevant in forestry and development of forest industries and land use in general. It should be noticed that all production stages do not always exist; two or more of them could coincide too. As foresters, our primary interest is on the primary area production. Here, our interest is in assessing and comparing the value of alternative sets of produce

Table 3: The changing priorities in the forestry sector of India

SerialNumber

Forest Goods / Services Changing Importance of Forest Production

1980 2010

1 Industrial forestry Very High High

2 Agro-forestry Limited Very High

3 Fuel wood Very High Very High

4 Fodder and Grazing Very High Very High

5 Non Timber Forest Products Medium Very High

6 Biological Diversity / Protected Areas

Medium High

7 Ecotourism Limited Medium

8 Watershed services Medium Very high

9 Climate change Almost Unknown Very High

Source: India-IIASA Report (2007)

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(production alternatives, land use alternatives). Brief comments will be made to illustrate the process of value addition in respect of forest goods and services listed in Table 4. The examples given here are intended to illustrate the opportunities offered by them for enhancing forest sector contribution to the national economy. The examples will also help in making appropriate policies in respect of various options.

PART – II: ROLE OF CONTEMPORARY FORESTRY IN NATIONAL ECONOMY

1. Forest Industries: The forest products are among the major contributors to income and employment in relatively underdeveloped areas. The total industrial demand of wood in terms of Round Wood Equivalent (RWE) in the year 2000 was estimated at 58 million m3 with a deficit of the order of 29 million m3. The projected demand is expected to reach 153 million m3 in the year 2020. However, wood based industries continue to face challenges with regard to raw material supply and are obliged to import wood in form of raw logs as well as processed products resulting in a huge import bill as statistics in Table 4 show.

Table 4: Wood import and its Cost

Year Wood Import(million cum)

Import Bill(Rs. billion)

2010-11 4.8 63

2011-12 6.7 101

201-13 7.0 124

2013-14 6.6 136

2014-15 6.7 133

Source: FSI (2015)

According to a global study undertaken by a leading international company, the largest consumption growth in pulp and paper products during the next decade is expected to be in Asian region, which accounted for nearly 34% of the world’s paper consumption in 2010. India is listed among countries with the largest increase in consumption growth.

2. Agro-forestry: Trees outside forests have already become an important source of the industrial raw material supply and contributor to income of farmers. The pulp and paper industry is shifting procurement of fibrous raw materials from natural forests to farm forests

due to unavailability and higher cost of transport. It is estimated that most of the industrial raw material in the future will come from farm forestry sources (MoEF 1999).

Agro-forestry holds a promise for enhancing tree cover combined with prosperity to farmers. By end of the millennium, agro-forestry was producing industrial and non-industrial wood more than forestry proper. It was also improving the productivity of the farm environment and providing additional income and employment in the rural areas. The needs of industrial wood by 2020 could be met from forest plantations in non-forest areas through private and public partnership (PPP), which would also create substantial new employment opportunities to the rural poor and add value through processing by a ratio of 1:5 (Table 5). The greening of the country will also have positive impact on climate change, perhaps, one of the most important global concerns

Table 5: Value Addition in Agro-forestry: from stump to finished products: Yamuna Nagar, Haryana

Annual Wood Supply: 2.3 million m3

Price of Unprocessed Wood: INR 3,500 million

Price of Processed Product: INR 17,000 million

Employment Generated: 150,000

3. Fuelwood, Grazing and Fodder: The estimates of biomass drain from forests are very ad hoc. As per MoEF (1999), there is removal to the extent of 145 million tonnes of dry fodder and 178 million tonnes of green fodder annually from forests. In some regions, lopping of trees during certain periods is the only option and this causes significant loss of production. Table 6 shows the staggering extent of forest/land degradation due to excessive biomass drain in form of fuel wood, fodder and animals grazing, all for subsistence without getting accounted for contribution towards GDP by forests. Added together, the withdrawal from forests and fallow lands amounts to an astronomical figure of nearly 300 million tons of Carbon per year. Its side effects are almost complete lack of natural regeneration in forest, soil erosion and flash floods and reduced life of dams.

4. Non-timber Forest Products: There is growing importance of Non-timber Forest Products over timber in revenue terms, which rose from less than

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Rs. 5 billion in 1980 to over Rs. 20 billion in 2000 (Figure-3).Though most of the marketed NTFP originates from Government Forests, only a small fraction of the market value trickles down to poor forest fringe dwellers. NTFP removal has a very important relation with biodiversity conservation. Therefore, it has been described as a separate task. A way to improve the situation could be infrastructure development (information on prices, micro-credit and transport facility), training and value addition of NTFP. Cultivation of medicinal plants is an another promising area for investment in

Table 6: Annual biomass drain from forest and fallow lands of India

YearExtent of Forests &

Fallow Lands

Extent of Annual Withdrawals From Forests and Fallow Lands

Forest Cover (Green Wash) and Growing Stock

Total Drain Fuelwood Fodder / grazing Cover Stocking

Millionsha

Million Tonnes/

year

Million Tonnes/

yearMillions

Tonnes/yearMillion

Ha M3/ha

1950 200 -300 150 150 75 100

2015 170 -600 200 400 52 75

Source: Singh 2008 (b)

view of the steadily growing international demand (Chauhan et al. 2008)

Andhra Pradesh established Girijan Cooperative Cooperation (GCC) in form of an Autonomous Corporation in 1980 to get rid of the middle men and thereby increase the benefit to the tribal people. The Girijan Cooperative Cooperation was able to eliminate the middleman, provide essential commodities (like food and medicine) even in the interior areas and extend credit facilities for “agricultural activities” (see Table 7). However, GCC fell short of promoting integrated

Figure 3. NTFP & Timber in GDP Estimates

Source: Chauhan et al. 2008

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development by excluding forest management from the scope of their involvement. In the new context of the 1996 Constitutional changes, local people have an important role as custodians of forest resources and their sustainable development.

Table 7: Economic impact of GCC Andhra Pradesh on tribal economy

Forest Area 3.2 million ha

Number of Forest Districts

25 (on an average 130,000 ha per district

Beneficiaries 2.5 million tribal people

Number of Depots 817

Processing Units 8Annual Turnover 25 million US$

For the success of NTFP and agroforestry initiatives, it is absolutely necessary that trade is organised as a business enterprise. Such business prospects in both cases are great. The Government could play an important catalytic role by promoting investments, knowledge transfer and capacity building of the indigenous people, who could make sustainable use of resources as a part of their social system.

5. Conservation of Biological Diversity / Protected

Areas and Wildlife Management: The track record for “protection” particularly in the tropical countries has been rather poor. There is a strong emerging consensus that, if forest conservation is to succeed, it is imperative that conservation efforts exist beyond protected areas. Even the most ambitious exponents of biodiversity protection only hope to achieve the allocation of around 10% of the geographic area of the country under parks and reserves. In our country it is presently (4.75%). Obviously, the fate of most of biodiversity will depend upon what happens to forests under sustainable forest management. To achieve an effective protected area system, even within the limited area presents a formidable task, as obvious from the current debate on tiger protection in the country.

As an example of strategic planning for conserving biological diversity, Figure 4 presents the number of tigers in 20 national parks of India around 2000. The number of tigers ranges from 20 to 100 and area of the park from 200 to 1800 km2. The two largest parks have very few tigers.

A number of questions emerge from the above graphics: what minimum number of tigers, from a genetic perspective, one should aim to have in a park; what could be done to increase the number of tigers in two parks which are among the largest but contain among the lowest number of tigers? Can conservation and forest management be integrated to increase the

Figure 4: The State of Protected Areas in the country

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effective size of the parks? What could be the role of intensive forestry practices, to reduce the pressure on protected forest areas?

6. Ecotourism: Ecotourism is a special form of tourism that meets following three criteria of; 1. providing for environmental conservation, 2. including meaningful community participation and 3. being profitable and self sustaining (Subramaniam 2008). Ecotourism has to be seen in the larger context of tourism and social fabric that motivates travel to and in India. For this purpose, the non-existing infrastructure is a bottleneck as well as the forest regulation and existing management of forests for development of forest ecotourism. The data and statistics are very weak on the current volume and characteristics of tourism in India and hardly anything exists on forest ecotourism. This makes it difficult to execute any demand analysis of ecotourism in India. Also, there is a supply side issue of forest ecotourism. There is hardly any information available on interesting areas/places for forest ecotourism. In order to develop the forest related ecotourism there is a need to map out (inventory) interesting and potential areas for forest ecotourism.

7. Integrated Watershed Management: This strategy will cover all areas presently under cultivation in the region and other degraded areas and directly focus on meeting local needs of food, fuelwood and fodder (3-F’s). The land use choice will be based on land suitability (i.e. environmentally sound) with the main goal to make the community self-reliant in respect of basic needs and consist of: • Improved agriculture through soil and water

conservation, minor/micro irrigation, technology upgradation and extension with greater emphasis on high value crops including medicinal and aromatic plants

• Livestock improvement including poultry etc.• Access to safe drinking water• Other income generating activities• Improving access to markets, market information

and rural roads/marketing infrastructure The above issues are important in most forestry

regions of the country. Other important considerations are: participation of all stakeholders including the private sector’s involvement, building sustainability into the design of programmes at the start-up stage itself,

promoting use of social capital, cost sharing among stakeholders and use of sustainable models / practices.

A strategy based on watershed development with emphasis on water conservation, appropriate combination of annual and perennial crops is most likely to provide a reliable source of income and livelihood security. A balanced approach to land use will be more profitable and ecologically more sustainable. Land use choices need to be made after proper land evaluation taking into account land capability, farmer needs and market demands (and micro-financing) in order to give the highest economic returns to the farmer. Economic gains are estimated to be high (6%) as there will a possibility of value addition from combining crops, forestry and cattle rearing. There are many success stories on the subject, which provide a sound basis for planning such projects.

8. Forest and Climate: The present recommendations for improving management of existing forests and creation of new forests are expected to make all round impact on improving the growing stock and biological diversity. The Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC (1999) recognizes that changes in greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks resulting from land-use, land-use change and forestry activities may offer a range of options for assisting the Parties to meet their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.

India’s position on the subject has been elaborated by MoEF in the following communication: “Forestry is at the centre-stage of global climate change negotiations”. This is because forests have the potential to be a carbon sink as well as a source of carbon emissions. We are actively participat ing in the discussions on forestry that are taking place under the Bali Action Plan (BAP) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is India’s view that we need an agreement on a comprehensive framework for compensation and positive incentives for forestry as part of the ongoing climate change negotiations.

It is important that any such agreement provides incentives not only for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), but also for Sustainable Management of Forests (SMF) and Afforestation and Reforestation (A&R). A “REDD Plus” approach that includes SMF and A&R is required in order to meet the principles of equity and efficiency. India has put forward a formal submission

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on a potential conceptual framework for such an agreement as part of the UNFCCC process which sets up a sound foundation for discussion towards an agreement.

III. THOUGHTS FOR DISCUSSION AT THE WORKSHOPThe first part of the paper gave an account of the rapidly growing international recognition of the important role of forests since the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment in 1972. However, it took almost 20 years to reach a legally non-binding international agreement on Forests known as Forestry Principles, which emphasize the living and dynamic nature of forests as ecosystems and their great ecological, social and economic roles. These legally non-binding ideas need to be internalized in forest sector Policies and Plans and reflected in the management of existing forests and creation of new forests. This was followed by formulation of a conceptual framework to facilitate data collection and analysis. Then, emerging demands on the forest sector of the country were identified, each of which has very high societal relevance in their own way and need to be recognized and properly planned.

The second part of the presentation was concerned with contributions of contemporary forestry to the national economy, sub-sector by sub-sector. Forest industries development was taken up first as it received very high importance in the early periods of Independence. The Reports of the National Commission on Agriculture (1976): recommended a change over from “low yielding, low investment to high yielding, high investment forestry”. In NFP 1988, however, industrial development was given less importance compared to NFP 1952. This complete reversal of policy has led to a mounting supply-demand gap in respect of supply of industrial wood and has resulted in a huge import bill. Production of industrial wood is a major challenge to forestry and offers new opportunities for enhancing sector contribution to the national GDP and employment creation in remote regions and meeting of emerging urban demands.

Agro-Forestry has come to the rescue of forestry. It is presently meeting almost 80% of the wood-based industries demand, but not their total requirement. Example of Yamuna Nagar Market was presented to emphasise importance of value addition in the forest sector. Traditional forestry, NTFP and Agro-Forestry, all three, are of high importance for development of nearly

300 million tribal and rural poor, who constitute the lowest 1/3 of the society. Whereas NTFP development has a direct bearing on the livelihood of forest fringe dwellers; agro-forestry and forest plantations in non-forest areas have direct bearing on rural and industrial development. Such initiatives would create millions of jobs in rural and forest fringe areas, contribute to greening of the country and make a significant impact on climate change, among the most important global and national concerns.

Fuelwood and grazing continue to be of major importance for subsistence living, adding little value to national GDP, but causing great damage to natural regeneration. From climate change considerations too, taking of ameliorative measures jointly with Department of Renewable Energy is urgently required.

The next four roles relate to environmental functions of forests and include: Protected Areas and Biological Diversity Conservation, Watershed Conservation, Climate Change and Ecotourism, each function demanding new knowledge, information and strategic planning for taking effective measures. It may be mentioned that the current system of data gathering and analysis, in particular, forest accounting is not functioning satisfactorily. Fresh data and inventories are needed with respect to requirements, management and impacts of the emerging issues in the Indian forestry sector. The planning process needs to have an integrated and systems view in line with the newly defined functions of forests and organized on the basis of Integrated Assessments. These integrated assessments should go far beyond the traditional forest sector assessments to be meaningful and to deal with real issues causing the degradation of the Indian forest resources, like sustenance and livelihood pressures.

The integrated assessments should further feed into a Strategic Planning process. Currently there is no strategic planning process in place with respect to the forest sector. An ongoing institutionalized process has to be established with integrated and systems view approaches that attempt to interlink the major sectors affecting the over-utilisation of forest resources and deriving non-sustainable benefits from the sector. The strategic plan implementation might require restructuring of the existing Governance and Institutions within and outside the forest sector. Governance and institutions, in the future, have to operate in a much more integrated way, taking on board crosscutting issues in order to

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address the real problems of the sector and to interlink more efficiently in governance between states and central government.

REFERENCES

Abdul Kalam A P J with Y S Rajan 1998: India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium. Penguin, Books, New Delhi, India.

Chauhan K V S, K Sharma and Kumar R 2008: Non-forest Products Subsistence and Commercial Uses: Trends and Future Demands. Forestry International Forestry Review, Special Issue 2008, London

Chopra K and Dasgupta P 2008: Assessing the Economic and Ecosystem Services Contribution of Forests: Issues in Modeling and an Illustration. International Forestry Review, Special Issue 2008, London

CSO 2010: National Account Statistics, Central Statistical Organization, New Delhi, India

FSI 1996: Fuel wood, Timber and Fodder from Forests of India. Forest Survey of India Dehradun, India

INDIA-IIASA, 2007: Economic, Social and Environmental benefits provided by Indian forests. Report of Joint Workshop. Technology, Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, New Delhi

Kishwan J, Sohal H S Nautiyal R, Kolli R and Yadav

J 2008: Statistical Reporting in the Indian forestry sector – status, gaps and approach, International Forestry Review, Special Issue 2008, London

MoEF 1999: National Forestry Programme, Volume I and II with Executive Summary. Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, India

PANDEY C N and RANGARAJU T S 2008: India’s –Industrial Wood Balance, International Forestry Review, Special Issue 2008, London

SINGH K D and NILSSON NE, 1974: On the problem of identification and evaluation of environmental functions of forests. FAO/ECE ad hoc meeting of forest inventory experts, Geneva, Switzerland.

Singh K D 2008: Forests, Farm and Trees: Recent Trends and Future Prospects, International Forestry Review, Special Issue 2008, London.

Singh K D and Nilsson N E 2008: Institutionalizing Strategic Forest Planning in India, International Forestry Review, Special Issue 2008, London

Subramaniam P 2008: Outlook for Ecotourism in India, International Forestry Review, Special Issue 2008, London

UNCED 1992: Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of all types of Forests, UN, New York,

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USAUNEP 2003: Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: A

Framework for Assessment. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Island Press, Washington, USA

Verma M 2008: Framework for Forest Resources Accounting: Factoring in the Intangibles. International Forestry Review, Special Issue 2008, London

DISCUSSIONS

Shri K D Singh, the key note speaker emphasized during the discussions that climate change can influence at global, national and local levels and the forestry sector has tremendous opportunities to cash in, in the light of these global changes. Increasingly the environmental functions of forests are gaining precedence over the resource providing role of the forests. The recognition of forests as ecosystems aids the integration of forests from local to global. The collective work of all people eventually feeds into a global ecosystem – hence it is essential to follow the ecosystem approach to forest management.

A robust reporting system from the field level needs to be developed in order to understand the functioning of forests as ecosystems. Protocols on the effect of climate change on forests and biodiversity have to be developed. This requires capacity building in a good measure.

Compartment history which used to be meticulously documented in the past is on the wane today; this is an example of a very detailed forest accounting system at the local level.

Global forestry principles are inspiring goals for the future forest management strategies. The first millennium development goal is poverty alleviation which is directly related to the forestry sector. Rural poverty is most noticeable in tribal areas and forest fringe villages and foresters being people who actually visit and work in such remote areas can directly influence this aspect. Fuelwood is an important aspect of rural sustenance and livelihoods and needs to be given greater importance. The augmentation of the timber imports through local sources is another important challenge before the forestry sector. The anticipated service responsibilities should be reflected in the change in syllabus.

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Session 2: Changing Roles of Forestry Personnel

Dr Irshad Khan, IFS (Retd.), and Dr Christopher Kernan, USAID, introduced the theme through introductory talks on the evolving roles of forestry personnel in the country.

Dr Irshad Khan, IFS (Retd.), deliberated on the new roles and added responsibilities of foresters.

Role of Contemporary Forestry in National Economy, Changing Roles of Foresters and Resultant Training Needs

Irshad A Khan IFS (Retd.)

1. Changing forestry and role of forestry professionals

All over the world steps have been taken and are being taken to address the need for sustainable forest management and the integrated management of forest resources. There are many people, not only in India but also all over the world, who are calling today for a paradigm shift in forestry. It is being argued that old practices based on the priority of timber above all other functions and values of forests are obsolete and a new ecosystem management paradigm is needed. Such arguments are based on the perceptions that forest managers have remained obsessed for the past 200 years with a paradigm where the production and harvesting of timber have been dominant. All over the world steps have been taken and are being taken to address the need for sustainable forest management and the integrated management of forest resources. However, this new paradigm does not mean end of the traditional forestry as we know it today. We only have to change our approach to forest management that should be science-based and ecosystem-based. It is a fact the forestry practices have recently been undergoing very deep and rapid change.

Multiple function, multiple use and holistic approaches will increasingly become basis for managing forest resources. The change from classical

sustained yield management of a few commercially important species to the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems is transforming some of the basic principles of forest management. The trend, however, is that the demand for wood and wood products and ecosystem services is rising gradually and the productive forest area is declining particularly in tropical countries due to deforestation, degradation and use of forest land for non forest purposes. These trends are resulting in increased pressures on wood production from forests as well as increasing importance of NTFP, biodiversity and other ecosystem services. Therefore, multiple functions, multiple use and holistic approaches will increasingly become basis for managing forest resources.

This is the new paradigm in forest management. Recently increased importance is being given to biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation through forests. An important driving force now, which is shared by foresters and conservationists, as well as a vast majority of stakeholders is the need to conserve and sustainably manage forest ecosystems and to restore their ecological integrity.

Global changes in forest resource management. Forestry personnel historically thought that they were managing forests on a sustained yield basis and believed that this was the way forests would be managed in the

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future too. The myth that foresters are omniscient has been shattered long ago. Globally the forestry is being guided by the following developments:

• Rio 1992 Earth Summit• Agenda 21• Sustainable Forest Management• Convention on Biodiversity 1992• Framework Convention on Climate Change 1992• Ecosystem-based management• Forest Certification • Kyoto Protocol (CDM)• REDD plus• Sustainable Development Goals• Paris Climate Agreement 2015

Rio Declaration (1992). The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development included 27 principles defining the rights and responsibilities of nations as they pursue human development and wellbeing. One of the principles was that in order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection should constitute an integral part of the development process and could not be considered in isolation from it (Principle 4). Another important principle was that States should cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth’s ecosystems (Principle 7).

Agenda 21 reflected a global consensus and commitment at the highest political level on how to make development socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. A non-legally binding, authoritative Statement of Forest Principles to guide managing, conserving and sustainably developing all types of forests was also adopted.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aim to stabilise greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at concentrations that will not dangerously upset the global climate system was adopted in 1992 under which Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 by most countries.

Convention on Biological Diversity. More than 150 countries at the Rio Summit signed the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992. It became effective on December 29, 1993.

The ecosystem approach to forest management is the new paradigm. There were many initiatives to develop Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management. However, the application of C&I in management and policy is still far away. There are many

limitations in understanding the concept of sustainable forest management and therefore in implementing it. It would be advisable to move to a new broad paradigm, which would enable us to improve forest management in the sense to include ecological, economic and social needs of present and future generations. This new paradigm is ecosystem-based management.

Ecosystem based forest management evolved in USA as response to court orders curtailing production of timber to half in many states (within range of spotted owl). President of USA, Bill Clinton, convened a full day conference in Portland, Oregon, on April 2, 1993, which decided to set up a working group Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team. This was the beginning of FEMAT.

REDD plus. The most recent development is the adoption of REDD plus approach to mitigate climate change in tropical countries. It is the part of Paris Agreement adopted by all countries in December 2015 under UNFCCC. REDD plus is to be implemented by developing countries which are witnessing largescale deforestation and forest degradation.

India cannot remain isolated and will soon be required to integrate its forestry practices in the global forest policy and expectations. India’s economy, culture and technology are rapidly integrating with the global standards. It is a matter of time when forestry comes out of its isolation and moves to global environmental integration. Climate change is already a global issue and forests are expected to play a significant role. The global changes would require additional and changed role of forestry personnel in coming years. As the new forest policy is conceptualized as a practical instrument that is feasible and implementable, new responsibilities will devolve on foresters.

We have seen many changes in forestry in India since 1950. Though in our country, forests are not meeting full demand of timber and we are importing huge quantities of timber and wood pulp, we do not have a real scarcity or crisis over the supply of wood. Thus the supply of timber worldwide is not having any perceptible crisis. We will have crisis if timber import is affected.

India’s forestry evolution in recent decades. Our forestry management and policy trajectory took a somewhat new direction in seventies and eighties partly under our own compulsions and outcry against forest and wildlife depletion. These were reflected in the Wildlife Act of 1972 and Forest Conservation Act of 1980

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with an increased emphasis on afforestation and social forestry. The other policy directions included phasing out of the timber contractor and their replacement by Forest Corporations. The new changes necessitated new skills among forestry personnel like forest extension, people’s participation, agroforestry etc. Interestingly, The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, brought new and serious conflicts creating an environment of resentment against forestry institutions as a hindrance to development and restriction on forceful conversion of forest to non-forest uses by States.

Policy implementation. The National Forest Policy of 1952 became irrelevant and deliberations started on its revision in early eighties. The new policy was adopted in 1988. The FCA was amended in 1988 and was made more stringent. Despite it, deforestation and forest degradation continued. The massive afforestation drive during the 1980s led to another management paradigm that demanded community participation in protection of forests in lieu of a share in forest produce. Later on this was popularly called “joint forest management” which according to many activist NGOs was “neither joint nor forest management”.

The actual efficacy and impact of JFM on forest growth and productivity are yet to be fully understood. The question that is still being asked is whether JFM was willingly adopted by forestry institutions or was thrust upon them under finance for externally aided program or development schemes. Whatever the reason for its initiation, promotion and expansion, the forestry personnel were under tremendous pressure to change their mindsets and learn the art of participatory management. Reorientation and training program, involving forestry personnel, communities and civil society, have been implemented and are still going on.

Judicial activism came as a salvaging act. The judicial activism that has had profound impact on the way forests were managed came as a result of failure of the executive to implement its own policies and rampant destruction of forests in north-east India and elsewhere. It has many positive results; one has been a halt of indiscriminate and heavy exploitation of forests by a combination of vested interests. The working plan system was restored, saw mill activities regulated, felling of green trees banned in many states, NAV and compensatory afforestation funds (kind of PES) were institutionalized and so on. However, the executive has so far failed to fully respond to the judicial verdicts to renew and assure managing forests sustainably through

policy, legal or / and financial inputs. The challenges for forest sector and therefore for

forestry institutions are still growing. There is an expectation to increase production of wood and other forest products as well as enhance a host of ecosystem services. At the same time the challenge is how to harmonise competing demand on forests, local needs and livelihood issues of forest dependent communities. The political support for forestry is not significant and environment is not the priority. The priority today is fast economic growth measured in terms of GDP. This makes unavoidable the need to rethink to revitalize the role and significant contribution of forestry in national economic development.

Changes in forestry practices are inevitably being accompanied by changes in the role of foresters. The forestry personnel of today and of the future will be dealing with new expectations, responsibilities, accountabilities and also challenges. They are faced with one serious challenge to overcome isolation and lack of social awareness and support for forest conservation and sustainable use. Foresters have the historical tendency to view the world from their point of view that limits their ability to respond to different points of view rational and irrational.

Governance deficit. Also, there are governance issues attributed to external forces that constrain foresters’ efficacy and forestry institutions tend to become passive participants. The siege mentality among foresters has been prevalent for the last more than four decades. They have not been able to come up with a strategy to counter unjustified criticism and blame game and give up the sense of remorse by developing a greater sense of self confidence and self-respect. They need to be empowered to play their crucial role in management of natural resources and providing environmental services from forest ecosystems. Governance reforms in general and forestry sector in particular will provide an enabling environment to manage forest ecosystems on a sustainable basis.

2. Emerging Training NeedsThe training need assessment begins with an analysis

of the roles of, expectations from and challenges to forestry personnel at all levels. As seen from above, new challenges and developments require new and additional skills among forestry personnel to play their expected and rightful role in forestry sector.

The training should respond to the changing

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circumstance and new paradigms evolving fast in recent years. Routine administration, accounts and procedures could be easily learnt on the job. However, attitudes, approaches and strategic thinking have to be made part of skills to be acquired while attending induction as well as in-service training.

Forests belong to everybody and everybody is a stakeholder especially in the light of the current climate change issues. The societal perceptions and expectations should be taken into consideration and we need to take care that these expectations are fulfilled and negative perceptions are reduced or changed.

While our country has seen great economic growth, poverty continues to exist, widening the economic disparity between the haves and have nots. As foresters we can play a central role in the alleviation of rural poverty and contemporary forestry needs to directly address issues of rural poverty, sustenance and livelihoods.

Sustainability issues are gaining greater importance today. Multiple functions, uses and holistic management approaches will increasingly be used to manage forests. Ecosystem approach to management is the norm today in global forestry and forestry in India should also be attuned to global trends to fulfill common goals.

The role of foresters has been fast changing down the ages. Shri Khan pointed out certain issues which have been the failure of forest governance

• Foresters have not been able to respond to or counter judicial directives with strong scientific backing

• Alliances and partnerships are missing • Conflicts are typical to forest management and

as foresters we are not equipped for conflict resolution and management

• Forestry personnel have not been able to communicate and convince the need of sustainability to stakeholders nor have been able to generate awareness about these issues among policy makers, lawmakers, political bosses etc.

• Public relation skills are very poor; we do not indulge in lobbying for common goals, pushing ideas and promoting our issues

• We are also very weak in advocacy and extension services are non-existent in most State departments

• Our forestry training institutes are also more oriented towards the academic and theoretical and not in tune with reality. Trainees are often insulated from real and pressing issues like corruption in the department and are ill equipped to address these issues once posted in the field. Training should also touch upon such real life issues like handling the issue of corruption, politicians, media etc.

Dr Christopher Kernan talked on the changing roles of foresters with respect to the frameworks and tools for ecosystem based forest management. Forest management is increasingly moving towards an ecosystem approach to management rather than forest resource extraction. He gave an interesting strategy for fitting of forest biodiversity into local, regional or wide scale frameworks and the subsequent fitting of these frameworks into our management strategies.

Towards the end he recommended that the best approach to forest management would be the ‘close to nature’ approach – a strategy in which management hinges on replication of natural forest systems by

Frameworks and Tools for Ecosystem based Forest management

Dr Christopher Kernan

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Biodiversity and scaleCharacteristics

Regional-scale species

Matrix ecosystems

Coarse-scale species

Large-patch ecosystems

Intermediate-scalespecies

Small-patchecosystems

Local-scalespecies

Geo

grap

hic

scal

e

RegionalMillions of hectares

or greater

CoarseTens of thousands tomillions of hectares

IntermediateHundreds to tens of

thousands of hectares

LocalMeters to thousands of hectares

Successional mo-saic, large spatial extent, amorphous boundaries

Geomorphologicallydefined,spatiallyfixeddiscreteboundaries

Habitatrestrictedorspecific

Utilize large patches or multiple habitats

Definedbyphysicalfactors/regimes,internal structure & compositioneither homogeneous or patchy

Area-dependent, habitat-generalists

Wide-ranging

Regional

Coarse

Intermediate

Local

Functional network Conserves regional species

+ or - biodiversity at lower scales

Functional landscape Conserves biodiversity at coarse,

intermediate, and local scales

Functional site Conserves biodiversity at one or two

scales below regional

Without lower scales

One scale Two scales

With lower scalesRegional

Coarse

Intermediate

Local

Regional

Coarse

Intermediate

Local

Regional

Coarse

Intermediate

Local

Regional

Coarse

Intermediate

Local

Regional

Coarse

Intermediate

Local

Regional

Coarse

Intermediate

Local

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studying the type and composition of the natural forests in the past. Nature responds if we carefully protect it.

Ecosystems can absorb disruptions that are within the natural range of variation and only when the disruptions are beyond this natural range will the ecosystem and the biodiversity be affected. Management should be oriented towards the identification of these perturbations, systematic analysis of the source of these perturbations and finally the identification of steps that can be taken to manage these disturbances.

A question was raised on how forests can be utilized for disaster management strategies like preparedness for disasters like tsunamis. Management intervention like the restoration and rehabilitation of coastal forests were suggested. Shri K D Singh remarked on how hydrological regimes like continuous aridity and dry spells are a more relevant limiting factor for Indian forests citing the example of the decline of the Indus Valley civilization with the drying up of the Saraswati river system and also suggested a possible link between the destruction of forests and the drying up of the river.

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Shri Rajesh Kumar, Senior Deputy Director, Forest Survey of India, spoke on various issues relating to valuation of forest resources. Different kinds of valuations were discussed such as Gross Domestic Product, Green GDP, Valuation of Eco System Goods and Services and Forest Account. The method of compiling Gross Domestic Product was emphasised with focus on coverage of forestry and logging sector. The forest products are classified into two broad groups; 1. major products comprising industrial wood and fuel wood, 2. minor products comprising a large number of wild growing forest material such as bamboo, fodder, lac, sandalwood, honey, resin, gum, tendu leaves, cork, balsams, vegetable hair, eelgrass, acorns, horse chestnuts, mosses, lichens etc.

Methods of estimation of gross value added• Production approach• Aims at estimating value of output and

deducting the value of various inputs• Estimates are prepared at the State level

Sources of Data• State Forest Department (SFD’s)• State DESs• Consumer expenditure surveys of the National

Sample Survey Office

GDP OF FORESTRY SECTOREstimates at current prices

• Industrial Wood: Category-wise production multiplied by average annual prices are supplied by the SFD.

• For unrecorded production of industrial wood a norm of 10 % of recorded production (as reported by the SFDs) is adopted.

• Minor Forest Products: Data on quantity and producer prices of MFPs /Economic value are available from the SFDs.

• Fuel wood:(i) household fuel wood consumption (Survey

of Consumer Expenditure) (ii) agricultural by-products used as fuel wood

and (iii) fuel wood consumed by industries and on

funerals.

Valuation of Forest Resources

Shri Rajesh Kumar

Inputs• Material inputs in the forestry sector include

expenditure on transportation, water, electricity, fuel, normal repairs and maintenance of the fixed assets etc.

• Based on analysis of budget documents, input rate is estimated at 10 per cent.

Estimates at Constant Prices • State-wise estimates of the value of output are

obtained by using the corresponding base year (1999-00) prices.

• For minor forest products for which data on the value of output only are available, the relevant wholesale price index is used as deflator.

Share of the forestry sector in GDP and Investment• Share of forestry sector declined from 2.6% in

50-51 to 0.7% in 2005-06.• Rapid decline in share of forestry sector is due to

higher growth in other sectors• Average annual growth of forestry sector during

1950-2006 was 0.9% against growth in overall GDP of 4.6%.

Implicit GDP Price Deflators• Prices of forestry products have risen relatively

higher than those of all commodities.• The average price rise in forestry products

during 1950-2006 was 8.1%, while the price rise in total economy during this period was lower at 6.4%.

Table No. 1: Share of Forestry Sector in the GDP in different time periods (%)

YearsShare of forestry in Total GDP

Growth rate in GDP Forestry Sector

Growth rate in overall GDP

1950-60 2.0 0.2 3.61960-70 1.8 2.7 4.01970-80 1.9 0.1 2.91980-90 2.0 0.4 5.6

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1990-2000 1.2 0.9 5.7

2000-06 0.9 1.4 6.5 Average1950-06 1.7 0.9 4.6

Table No. 2: Analysis by forest products

YearsGrowth in Value Output (%)

Total Indl. Wood

Fuel Wood MFP

1950-60 0.2 4.9 -1.1 1.41960-70 2.7 4.8 1.3 5.81970-80 -0.1 -0.1 0.0 0.51980-90 0.3 -5.5 2.4 3.51990-00 0.8 4.1 2.8 4.12000-06 1.4 -0.8 2.1 -0.6Average 1950-06 0.9 -0.2 1.2 1.2

The share of industrial wood declined from an average of 21.9% to 9.3% between 1960-70 to 2000-06, while MFP declined from 17.6% to 8.1%. Share of fuelwood has increased from 60.8% to 82.7% in this period. Decline in share of industrial wood and MFPs is steepest since 1997-98.

Industrial wood has relatively high share in Goa (56.8%), Himachal Pradesh (48.6%), Jammu and Kashmir (21.4%), Madhya Pradesh (20.6%), Chhattisgarh (29.6%) and Uttarakhand (20.6%). In case of minor forest products Arunachal Pradesh (21.7%), Himachal Pradesh (14.6%), Madhya Pradesh (24.2%), Meghalaya (31.8%), Sikkim (13.6%) and Uttaranchal (40.6%) have high contribution. The following States, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Manipur, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the UT’s, have mainly fuel wood as the forest products.

Investment in the forestry sector, since 1950-51 shows that the annual investment in forestry sector has been in the range of 0.1% to 0.3% of investment in the country.

Some of the limitations are: a) Non-availability of species-wise production and

prices b) Incomplete coverage of reporting of production c) Non-availability of data on production and prices

of most of the MFP’sd) Time lage) Unrecorded production of industrial wood-10%

of recorded production is considered to be an underestimate

f) Grass grown in the forest areas is allowed to be grazed by animals. The quantity and value of grass grazed by animals is not included in the output of forest products

g) Information from the SFDs on MFP is also an underestimate

h) Social forestry, farm forestry, agro-forestry- data not available

Trees Outside Forests (TOF)

Production Component1. Data on output of industrial wood from TOF

provided by FSI.2. FSI estimates the growing stock of forests and

TOF in State of the Forest Report.3. Production from TOF has been derived by

distributing all TOF species into two groups, timber and others. The timber group has been divided into to three categories viz. i. fast growing, ii. slow growing and iii. species having no timber / fuel value.

Price Component1. Base year TOF price 2004-05 was provided by

SFDs. 2. For estimation of prices for subsequent years, the

growth as observed in industrial wood prices has been applied to the base year TOF price.

3. The production figure as available from FSI is multiplied with derived price of TOF to arrive at gross value of output from TOF.

Fuelwood1. The data on Monthly Per-Capita Consumption

Expenditure (MPCE) of fuel wood is available from quinquennial consumer expenditure surveys of NSSO in rural and urban areas.

2. The rural MPCE is multiplied with rural population and the urban MPCE is multiplied with urban population accordingly.

3. Value of agricultural by-products like cotton sticks, castor sticks, etc. used as fuel is deducted.

4. Fuel wood consumed by industries and funerals is taken as 6% of fuel wood consumption net of agricultural by-product.

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Minor Forest Products1. The data on quantity and prices of MFPs are

available from SFDs.2. From the New Series, output of fodder from

forest sources has been included as a part of MFP.3. At the national level, FSI estimated that 23.8%

of livestock population is solely dependent on forest areas for fodder.

4. This proportion has been used to arrive at the value of fodder from forest sources.

Inputs1. Material inputs in the forestry sector

include expenditure on transportation, water, electricity, normal repairs and maintenance of fixed assets, etc.

2. Based on analysis of budget documents, input rate is revised from 10% to 15.6% of the gross value of output.

Shri Kumar also deliberated on the Green GDP concept. Green GDP relates to the percentage of savings rate to the GDP. Adjusted savings rate for environmental factors means deterioration of natural resources are adjusted and savings rate are lowered implying lower GDP. There is substantial gap between the economic growth as measured by GDP and the real well-being of the country as measured by economic performance after being adjusted for environmental factors. FSI is providing carbon and inventory data for development of methodology, which is to be ready by the year 2015.

The economic stature of a sector is often measured by the contribution it makes to the economy, often measured as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation in a given year. The contribution of forestry sector to the Indian GDP has hovered around 1%, often estimated on the lower side, or grossly underestimated. The reasons for this low contribution can be attributed not only to the lack of proper data management (ranging from collection to their submission for national accounts) but also due to the fact that focus has shifted from forestry being a purely economic activity to a mix of economic and conservation activity. However, if one goes through the National Industrial Classification (NIC) 2008, most of the activities listed under the Forestry and Logging sector are still not properly covered for accounting. To add to this, most of the activities, largely ecosystem goods and services are missing from the satellite accounts to GDP that can give a near-true picture of the contribution of forestry to the national economy, directly and indirectly.

Without a reason-analysis this problem seems difficult to surmount. Clear methodologies for collection and collation of estimates of various themes of the forestry sector are yet to be formalised, even if developed, in the training modules of the forestry force. Thus, forestry statistics is a subject largely underrated

Forests and Economy

Dr Raman Nautiyal

in the training programmes, whether induction or mid-service (refresher). A programme to develop futuristic modules of methodologies, both for training and reference purposes is the need of the hour to ensure consistency in data management.

Taking NIC 2008 as a base, discussion on forestry parameters to be estimated or enumerated, depending upon their nature is to be held and appropriate methodologies be developed with applications in training programmes. Well developed algorithms for understanding and applying methodologies in field by the field level staff are a necessary pre-requisite for the programme to succeed.

Differentiation amongst parameters that are important for economy, management and policy is also important to ensure the data on economic parameters comes within a given time frame. All this forms a part of the methodologies and training programmes. Well structured formats along with built-in calculating mechanisms will add on the value of the data and their integrity.

Raman Nautiyal also questioned whether GDP is the right parameter to judge the contribution of forests; since contribution of forestry sector approximates only around 1%. Forest falls in the National Industrial Classification 2008 in Division 02 Forestry and Logging

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and covers all economic activities. Tendu leaves, Lac, resins, rubber like gums etc are

all estimated fully, while other NWFPs are grossly underestimated. Wild mushrooms, truffles, berries, nuts, cork are not accounted. The main reason is the weak capacity, lack of methods and diversity in systems, units, formats. Data collection not initiated on time and hence estimates are not available. The challenges are:

1. Collectiona. Methodologiesb. Staffc. Calendard. Willingness to stick to the calendar

2. Collation3. Dissemination

a. Delayed

He recommended a segregated system, in which all parameters are not equally important to be measured annually. A three tier system is recommended:

Tier 1: Economic – strict time frame (annual) essential, mostly census based or precise estimatesTier II: Management – periodicity may be extended say 2 to 3 yearsTier III: Policy – have largest periodicity say 5 to 6 years, robust estimates for a particular timeThe problems in forest accounting are thus summarized as follows:

1. Absence of methodologies2. Lack of understanding importance3. Frequent transfers4. Absence of accounting cadre in forest

departments5. Sectoral definition6. Lack of interest

The way to success is through developing methodologies for census as well as sample surveys – well defined algorithms with little room for subjectivity. Accounting and estimation methodologies need to be imbibed in training curricula. Investment in information has to be done since presently the investment is meager relative to the size of the sector. Use of technology such as relational databases and MIS needs to be done. Specialization of tasks from collection to analysis has to be targeted. A uniform system is not the aim. Established systems need to be reviewed and well oiled.

There needs to be state level statistics from state level mechanisms and a central database. Report generation should be from central database, while the analytics needs to be handled by a consortium of stakeholder organizations.

DiscussionsDuring the ensuing discussions, Shri Siddappa,

IFS (Retd.) discussed the central role of foresters in the area of tribal development and human wildlife

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management conflict as an important issue for contemporary foresters.

Shri P Michael Vetha Siromani, IAS, talked about the creation of forest biomass on wasteland to address the issue of poverty. Foresters also need to look into the terminology of carrying capacity whether it is real or imagined and develop a strong scientific basis for determining the carrying capacity of forests. He stressed on the fact that a culture of volunteerism is needed for conservation; forests should stop becoming only the foresters business therefore short term courses for other stakeholders would also be an important training need. Other important contemporary forestry

issues are greater focus on livelihood trees like Madhuka indica and the black palm tree, management of water bodies, assessment of fuelwood needs, proper and targeted utilisation of funds and development of mining rehabilitation models were flagged. An important achievement of the forestry sector has been in the area of eco-development in tribal areas where the general administration has not achieved much – training should also prepare foresters for this important function. Along with technical skills and knowledge it is equally important to instill sensitivity, appreciation and reverence for nature in a forester - it would be like breathing soul into a fully trained forester.

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Session 3: Emerging Training Needs of Forestry Personnel

Dr R D Jakati, IFS (Retd.) and Dr Mohit Gera, IFS, Professor, IGNFA introduced the theme.

Reorienting the Forestry Training Curriculum to meet the Challenge of Climate Change: Some thoughts

R D Jakati

• It is predicted that the climate change is going to affect or has already started affecting the world’s forest resources. In India the NATCOM II, based on the model based studies reported that 45 % forested grids would be affected by climate change. The test run studies predict dieback-mortality in the teak and sal forests despite the fact that the conditions for increasing the primary productivity would be favorable. The dieback- mortality would take place because of nutrient stress. Teak and sal are generally confined to the tropical moist and dry deciduous forest types which together comprise about 70% of India’s forest.

• In so far as the adaptation to climate change in forest management is concerned the broad principles adopted are; 1. Increase tree species richness. Degradation of forests generally results in decrease in species diversity. Past management have generally favoured economically important species at the cost of others. 2. Increase structural diversity using uneven aged silvicultural system. 3. Maintain and increase genetic variation within tree species through tending and thinning practices or through enrichment planting of tolerant provenances of native species. 4. Increase resistance of individual trees to biotic and abiotic stress, for example vigorously growing dominant and codominants are resistant to biotic stress and individuals with well developed big crowns are resistant to wind damage. 5. Replace high risk stands with less vulnerable ones. 6. Keep growing stocks low. This is

generally recommended in plantations to reduce the financial losses.

• In response to growing climate change pressures, ecosystem-based approaches have emerged as a promising strategy to increase the resilience of ecosystems and support sustainable livelihoods.

• “The Ecosystem Approach” seeks to combine the conservation of the structure and functioning of ecosystems with efforts to meet social needs and the sustainable use of ecosystem services for human purposes. However, unlike traditional resource management, implementing the Ecosystems Approach does not mean to begin by enumerating and maximizing outputs. Rather, the first priority is conserving the long-term ecological sustainability that allows the use of ecosystem services in a sustainable manner. Therefore, the view of humans as exploiters of substitutable resources is changing to see humans as stewards, using practices in synergy with ecosystem processes and functions.”

• …..” an influential body of forest managers in Europe view CNS (“close to nature silviculture”) as particularly suitable for managing forests in a changing climate.”

• To propagate close to nature forestry the European federation of foresters established an institution named ProSilva in 1989 in Slovenia. This institution advocates forest management based on”the principles grounded on the processes found in natural forests.” They believe that conservation of ecosystem is necessary for the forests to provide

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all necessary benefits to the society. For this to be achieved they recommend “paying serious attention to (i.e. maintaining or restoring) the natural forest vegetation pattern, while making use of the forest; maintenance of soil productivity, through continuous cover and through the maintenance of biomass in the forest (including dead wood); propagation of mixed forest with special attention to rare and endangered species; restricting the use of exotics to cases where this is an economic necessity, and then only if the exotics can be mixed with the indigenous vegetation pattern within certain quantitative and qualitative limits; in special cases, forgo any harvest.”

• In Sept 2010, IUFRO organized the 7th conference on Uneven aged Silviculture in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the main theme of which was ‘21st Century forestry: Integrating ecological, uneven-aged silviculture with increased demands for forests’. The 9th IUFRO International Conference on Uneven-aged Silviculture had “Future concepts in uneven-aged silviculture for a changing world” as the main theme. This was held at Zurich, Switzerland from 17-19 June 2014. IUFRO has formed a group on Uneven aged silviculture.

• All these developments call for reorienting forest management in India and up grading it to international standards. This also calls for preparing future generations of forest managers ready for the job which also implies the changes in the curriculum of forest officers’ training at all levels.

• Forest ecosystem assessment, forest resources survey (including carbon stock estimation), inter sectoral linkages and cooperation may be some of the newer areas which may need inclusion in the existing curriculum. In addition Forest measurements (mensuration/ forest biometry), silviculture, forest production (traditionally known as forest management) may require strengthening in the existing syllabus.

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Together with nature we fight climate changeEcosystem Approach (CBD) to forest management

is a broad level management approach primarily focusing on maintaining the integrity/ functionality of the ecosystem, within which lies the philosophy of close to nature forestry (Prosilva) at the heart of which is un-even aged silviculture (IUFRO)

Forest PLUS (USAID), the partnership for land use science, is integrating these approaches and philosophies, for forest management in India to mitigate and adapt to changing climate.

R D Jakati stressed the need to focus on the ecosystem approach to forest management. The focus has to be renewed towards the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity, protection and enhancement of

ecosystem integrity. It is vital that we understand the interdependent

relationship of plants, animals, and ecological processes that link them with the physical environment and the needs of people. In essence, the ecosystem approach to forest management is being guided by an understanding of the natural forces of change in ecosystems and how human activities affect those forces.

Ecosystems with greater ecological integrity are more resilient and resistant to changes in the intensity of stresses in the environment. In the ecological context, resistance refers to the capacity of organisms, populations, and communities to tolerate increases in stress without exhibiting significant responses.

Forests play an important role in India’s economic development in terms of their contribution to GDP, employment, and livelihoods of millions of people, who are mainly dependent on forests. Besides, they are also the main source of meeting fuelwood, fodder, food and small timber requirements of the forest dwellers. The recorded contribution of the forestry sector to India’s GDP in the recent years had been around 1.5% which is very low compared to its actual contribution. Despite making significant contribution to India’s economic and ecological systems, forests of the country do not

Increasing Role of Forest Sector to National Economy: Some thoughts on present day Training Needs

Dr Mohit Gera

get proper recognition in the national economy of the country. This is because most of the goods and services provided by forests do not have markets. As a result, the intangible services of forests such as recharging of ground water, regulation of stream flows, flood control, prevention of soil erosion, water purification, carbon storage, pollution control, micro-climatic functions, biodiversity conservation, human habitat, recreational values are grossly underestimated or ignored during development planning.

Forest ecosystem services needs to be distinctly

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recognised in the new Forest Policy with specific emphasis on standardization of their quantification methods and economic valuation. The policy document needs to make it emphatically clear that beneficiaries of the forest ecosystem services need to pay for continuity and quality of forest ecosystem benefits to the service providers. A suitable mechanism involving stakeholders also need to be also provided.

Forestry training also needs to reorient itself to give greater emphasis on providing inputs on forest ecosystem services, their quantification and valuation. There had been significant emphasis on the training inputs on Forests and Climate Change in the recent past but other forest ecosystem services have not been given due importance. Other areas where the forest sector can play increasing role in national economy is by growing tree species for solid wood, i.e., teak, shisham, eucalyptus on farmlands. This will save the country a significant amount of foreign exchange, besides providing recognition to forest sector in building the national economy.

Another important issue in training of the foresters, especially the frontline staff is the delivery of the training. There have been workshops and meetings on the training needs assessment but the delivery of the training also needs to be discussed in detail and we need to develop a system of “training of trainers” so that a properly trained professional imparts training in the academies/forestry training centres.

Mohit Gera spoke on the contemporary issues pertinent to foresters. Climate change issues, ecosystem services, NTFP’s, trees outside forests and people centric approaches were highlighted.

The Working Plan Code – 2014 requires rigorous exercise and more time for socio-economic profile making should be devoted. Quantification of forest ecosystem services and monetisation of forest ecosystem services are also issues which needs to be part of the training curriculum.

Mohit Gera also stressed on the importance of training delivery and presented some methods of training delivery, which are followed in the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun.

The changing scenario of national economy has provided a colourful backdrop for forest management, wherein foresters have to contend not just with tangible benefits to rural population, but also with ample habitat for biodiversity and maintenance of the healthy ecosystem. These conflicting objectives and management principles require better training not only in silviculture but also in resource assessment, conflict management, project management, administrative/coordination acumen, environment management including water, air and soil pollution management etc.

The increasing role of costing of different services provided by forestry requires better financial management tools and more empirical data to sustain different hypotheses resulting in more needs based research work. It will require out of the box thinking for our training needs.

Forestry today has become so much inter-disciplinary that it is not possible to have foresters with

Role of contemporary forestry in National Economy, changing roles of foresters and resultant training needs

B K Singh, IFS

expertise in all fields. However, we can prepare foresters having strong foundations in forestry but with good knowledge of all other allied disciplines. They must have the option to specialize in one of chosen subjects like tree management, wildlife management, resource assessment, environmental conservation like water pollution, soil pollution, air pollution etc., biodiversity conservation and development.

The changing role as explained above will require different types of training for higher officials (PCCF, Addl. PCCF and CCF level) engaged in policy making, middle level managers (CF, DCF and ACF) engaged in supervision of different field and ground level officials and professionals (Range officers, Block officers, Beat officer (Forest Guard)) engaged in actual execution at field level. Period of training and content of training will also vary. The classroom training will require more field oriented training with modular courses and lot of electives to choose from.

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Training needs at different levels requires drastic modifications to address professional needs in the changing scenario. It requires among others, an assessment of Contemporary Forestry, its role in national economy, mapping of changing roles of foresters from earlier roles, professional requirement of foresters in their new roles and tentative projections for their training needs, networks required to provide that and finally a national framework for training needs.

Shri B K Singh provided insights to the forestry sector in the context of Indian economy especially with regard to energy requirements. The evolution of forest management in India he explained was divided into phases:

• Phase of least management: Phase of open resource management till advent of British

• Phase of eminent domain management: Start of scientific management by the British to meet their commercial demand for timber and start of silviculture management to have better productivity from natural forest. Establishment of commercial plantation crops like tea, coffee, coconut, teak etc.

• Phase of agricultural expansion: After independence there was a huge diversion of forestland for agriculture, HEPs and other Government work

Contemporary forestry evolved slowly in the following fashion:

• Regulatory Phase: To check diversion, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, was enacted. Start of regulation of forest land

• Phase of conflict between Forest rights providers and regulatory role since 1995

• Ecosystem service phase: Role of forest as a provider for different ecosystem services

Today, forestry is acknowledged as the provider of numerous goods and services, and maintenance of life support systems essential for life on earth. Some of these life support systems of major economic and environmental importance are:

a. Water cycle management b. Soil nutrient management including soil erosion c. Air, soil and water pollution management

Role of foresters in present context had been defined as:• Phase of least management: No trained foresters• Phase of eminent domain management: Foresters

trained to manage forests to meet the commercial demand for timber, plantation crops through use of silviculture management for better productivity from natural forests

• Phase of agricultural expansion: Role of silviculture manager continues with less control however, large tracts of land have come under their control

The multifarious roles played by foresters are:• As an natural resource manager to provide

ecosystem services• As a silvicultural expert• As an administrator in estate management• As revenue generator• As a regulator in uses of ecosystem services• As a conflict manager for forest rights issues, non

forestry uses, wildlife habitat issues etc • As an project planner, project manager and

monitor

Training needs of Foresters were summarised as:• Technique and skills for managing natural

resources for providing sustainable ecosystem services

• Techniques for silvicultural management of forests to provide timber, fuel wood, MFPs etc.

• Techniques for public administration in estate management with local population

• Modules for project planning, management and monitoring

• Modules for financial management including costing so that sustainable and marketable strategies for conservation are developed

• Tools for conflict management on forest rights issues, non-forestry uses of forest land, wildlife habitat issues etc.

The speaker also acknowledged the challenges such as creation of institutional networks instead of creating new structures as well as identification of resource persons from all sectors and from all over India.

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The major challenges facing this country are: • India has 2.4% of world’s area but 17.5% population• 30% of the world’s poor; 24% of the people without

electricity; and 30% relying on solid biomass for cooking live in India

• 9.2 crore people without access to safe drinking water

• Low HDI (0.586; 135th Rank)• Annual energy consumption only 0.6 toe in 2011;

world average was 1.88 toe and 4 toe needed by countries with high HDI (=> 0.9)

Forests and Climate ChangeForests play a crucial role in climate change, since

deforestation and forest degradation are a leading cause of GHG emissions. There has been a lot of thought given to climate change since 2007. There are no commitments on part of India being a non-annexe country, but voluntary commitments such as additional carbon sink by 2030 are committed in the forestry sector. The immediate and slower release is estimated to about 5.8 GtCO2/yr and the emissions are about 17%; in fact 20-25% if emissions from changed land use after destruction of forests are considered.

There are multiple stakeholders, both national and international (UNFCCC, CBD, Basel Convention etc.) interested in forestry sector. India has binding commitments under international conventions and hence there is a huge spectrum of stakeholders. The training curriculum should incorporate these wider issues. And forest managers on the ground should be aware of our international commitments.

Emerging Training Needs in the Indian Forestry Sector

Dr Sushil Saigal

The objective of forest management has now changed. Sustained yield of a limited set of products (primarily timber) has changed towards sustainable forest management for optimization of a range of ecosystem services. Management tools could be used in forest management especially on adaptive management, rather than the blueprint approach. Services such as provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting (MEA, 2005) have attained prominence.

Ecosystem Approach is defined as [A] strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way…An ecosystem approach is based on the application of appropriate scientific methodologies focused on levels of biological organization, which encompasses the essential structures, processes, functions and interactions among organisms and their environment. It recognizes that humans, with their cultural diversity, are an integral component of many ecosystems (CBD). It is not technical management but includes human elements. Awareness at the field level about this approach is important.

There are many cutting edge techno-managerial skills such as ecosystem management, biodiversity/wildlife, biotechnology/genetics, remote sensing and GIS, urban forestry and of course the art of citing current literature in government reports. Citations need to be modern and scientific utilizing internet resources and good journals as well as libraries.

Local community needs are going to be crucial. 33.8% of the rural people were living below the official poverty line (Rs. 3,900/month/family) in 2010 and 58.2% workforce were still in the agriculture sector. Forest products such as timber, fuelwood,

Indicator India in 2014 India in 2030

Population (billion)a 1.2 1.5

Urban population (million)b 377 (2011) 609

GDP at 2011-12 prices (in trillion)c INR 106.44 INR 397.35 (USD 6.31)

Per capita GDP in USD (nominal)c 1408 4205

Electricity demand (TWh)c 776 (2012) 2499Source: a: Population Foundation of India; b: UN World Urbanization Prospects, 2014; c: Government of India.

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fodder, NTFPs and cash income can support local communities. Forest ecosystem services and other intangible benefits help communities in a big way. Community forest management needs to be encouraged. Kalpavriksh (120), UNDP (18) and Forest-PLUS landscapes have documented the communities approach very distinctly.

Two key approaches are alternative livelihoods and sustainable use. Assumptions that alternative livelihoods and poverty reduction will reduce ‘pressure’ on the target resource and projects like Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs) provide indicators on alternative livelihoods. The time has come to focus on the quality of forest as well, in addition to the quantity, because very dense forests cover only 2.5%; growing stock (58.46 m3/ ha.) and carbon stock in living forest biomass pool (40.82 tons/ha.) which is about half the world average and only 48% of forest area has adequate regeneration; there is no regeneration in 10% of the forest area. Humus layer in only 54% forest area (43% shallow humus). Though India is one of 17 mega diverse countries; but as per NFC, a third of all endemic species are facing the threat of extinction.

Landscape approach is defined as “a contiguous area…with a specific set of ecological, cultural and socio-economic characteristics distinct from its neighbors.” A shift to a landscape approach could also be explored. Integrated landscape approach should be attempted.

Since TOF is meeting 89% of the country’s wood demand and as per NSSO, 15% of the country’s geographical area is de jure common property lands, which harbors a huge biological diversity. Forests are being lost at a quinquennial rate of 1.9% and landscape approach might offer a refreshing change. There is also a need for a paradigm shift in monitoring and evaluation and a shift to evidence-based policy to be more comprehensive in our forest management approaches. Outcomes are more important to outputs.

There is a need to inculcate critical thinking and training should concentrate strategies beyond “skills”. Forest officers need to have broader perspective; thinking beyond national boundaries and time has come when our training methodologies should inculcate the art of critical thinking.

DiscussionsMohit Gera highlighted the Planning Commission’s

Green Grant. The philosophy of Wood is Good is also mentioned by the Eleventh Planning Commission; which needs to be carried forward by the forestry sector.

Ruchi Badola felt that foresters need to have crucial skills which are very challenging; given the development versus conservation debate. The skills should be modern, but not sacrificing the traditional skills of foresters. The pressure on the sector to dilute provisions to give a green signal for unabated development is real and a big

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challenge to the foresters. International agencies also need to be involved for getting a broader perspective. Rajbir Singh highlighted the training needs in respect of the new working plan code and the multiple functions of forestry. Quantification of goods and services as well as impact assessment need to be intertwined into the training needs.

K D Singh underlined the role of teachers and trainers in the training program. Mensuration and preparation

of yield tables are traditional approaches which need to be strengthened with stress more on seeing and thinking. Our challenge is to implement new forestry – near nature forestry and develop forestry models for budding foresters. The contribution of the research sector should also be linked to training and the institutions should not be working in an isolated manner. Teaching, training and research should be working together. Monitoring should be given very high importance.

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Foresters have played an important role in national development in the midst of wide array of challenges of socio-economic, political and environmental character. The workshop threw open several facets of the changing roles of foresters in the Indian economy and the overall forest governance framework.

There has been a paradigm change in forestry sector. The landmark shifts in approaches towards forest governance is because of several developments both national and international.

Forest management is moving beyond conventional objectives through the new Working Plan Code, 2014; by ensuring involvement and commitment of people and local institutions to ensure implementation of the modern forest management strategies. The focus now is slowly moving towards productivity enhancement and ecosystem values including soil, water, air, livelihood, aesthetic, NTFP and biodiversity values. In the process, ecosystem approach to forest management with multiple functions has turned out to be a turning point in contemporary forest management. Livelihoods which stem from forestry sector and inter-sectoral cooperation in forest governance have attained prominence.

Thus the Preamble for revision of training framework for foresters across ranks with special reference to the State Forest Service officers consists of the following developing forestry issues.

1. Global forestry trends (REDD +, Climate Change, CBD)

2. Forest Transition

Summary and Recommendations

3. Productivity enhancement 4. Multiple functions, uses and holistic management

approaches5. Ecosystem approach to forest management; with

people in centre while maintaining and restoring ecosystem integrity (New Working Plan Code).Ecosystems can absorb disruptions that are within the natural range of variation

6. Quantification and valuation of ecosystem goods and services at all levels (range, division, circle etc.)

7. Decision support system integrating MIS & GIS 8. Rural poverty, sustenance and livelihoods 9. Inter sectoral cooperation10. Challenging public interface and Conflict

management

Foresters across ranks need to possess a wide and diversified set of knowledge, skills and attitude, never envisaged in the history of forest management. The training needs are summarised in the following lines:

1. Better understanding of forest ecosystems 2. Identification and understanding multiple

stakeholders – local to global3. Rural poverty, sustenance and livelihoods 4. Ecosystem based forest management including

forest ecosystem services such as water, NTFP, carbon storage and sequestration as well as ecotourisma) Forest & Water (Resource persons,

Concluding Session

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Specific tours)b) Provisioning services - Fuelwood, Fodder,

Grazing, Quantum impactsc) Climate regulationd) Soil stabilisation and erosion controle) Biological control / Pollination servicesf) Natural hazard mitigationg) Assessment of ecosystem services /

quantification / valuation 5. Building alliances and partnerships6. Conflict management 7. Developing interest for Innovations and Research8. Ethics 9. Equity especially gender10. Effective Communication, Advocacy and Public

Relations skills11. Observational and analytical skills, sensitivity,

appreciation and reverence for nature 12. Forests and Climate Changea) Mitigation role of forests / plantationsb) Vulnerability of forests to changing climate c) Climate change resilient forest managementd) SFMe) Evidences of impacts of climate change on forestsf) Forest management for climate change adaptation

- SFM13. Expanding role of NTFP

i. Most important speciesii. Sustainable harvesting limits from forestsiii. International and domestic demandiv. Market channels; Market Players; Collectors’

sharev. NTFP cultivation techniques; B/C analysisvi. NTFP trade

14. Growing of timber outside forestsa) Main species, plantation modelsb) Market demand, market access and

informationc) Species specific benefit-cost analysisd) Business cycle; Past experience of price crashe) Global wood availability scenario

15. People centric approacha) Socio-economic studiesb) People’s empowerment

16. Working Plan Code – 2014 a. More time for socio-economic profile makingb. Quantification of forest ecosystem servicesc. Monetisation of forest ecosystem services

17. Information and Statistics

a) Forest data and informationb) Data collection and reporting - methodologies

and formatsc) Accounting methodsd) Data Analysise) Estimation of NTFP’sf) Valuation of Forests and ecosystem services

Training Needs with renewed focus:1. Biotechnology/Genetics2. Urban forestry3. Art of quoting current literature in reports4. Techniques for public administration in estate

management with local population5. Module for project planning, management and

monitoring6. Module for financial management including

costing so that sustainable and marketable strategies of conservations are developed

7. Tools for conflict management on forest rights issues, non forestry uses of forest land, wildlife habitat issues etc.

Other Training and Development Issues 1. Training needs analysis shall be done, which

could include analysis of the forest department’s current performance problems, and flagging of training needs based on anticipation of changes that are likely to occur in the near future.

2. Training methodologies needs to be modern and participatory encouraging peer and group learning, keeping in mind the training content and the level of the trainees (entry behaviour)

3. Training delivery may be in modular form which would simplify learning processes in temporal based modules. Trainees will be in a controlled space for a fixed period of time with clear learning objectives to be achieved in a time bound manner, without being distracted by competing training needs. Modules will also ensure a better learning experience, immediate capabilities evaluation and an increased trainer / trainee participation

4. Training of trainers is very crucial to update the capabilities of trainers in our forest training institutions, both Central and State. It is said that training is only as good as the trainer. Master trainers accredited by Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change in forestry domain will have to be utilised more productively in this process

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Concluding RemarksDr S S Negi, IFS, Director General of Forests and Special Secretary to the Government of India, congratulated the efforts of all the participants during the course of the three day workshop. He further stated that the efforts and the recommendations are crucial, given the important role played by the Directorate of Forest Education in the training of SFS, Range Forest Officers and frontline staff. The recommendations should be used across all the ranks. He reiterated the importance frontline staff training in this regard. The recommendations will be passed on to IGNFA too, since they are taking care of the Training Needs Analysis of IFS officers. They would also be passed on to ICFRE, since scientists are also undergoing induction training

and forest science and forest management should go hand in hand. He thanked all the participants for the excellent work done.

Shri. M P Singh, IFS, Director, Forest Education, assured that the recommendations would be incorporated in the Training Rules of the State Forest Service Officers, as well as the frontline staff. One predominant recommendation which emerged from across thematic sessions during the workshop had been the need for development of methodologies for assessment of ecosystem services. A group of experts from various institutions including IGNFA and ICFRE would be created for developing methodologies for ecosystem service assessment.

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Name of the Participant Designation Contact No. Email

Ajay Kumar, IFS APCCF, Regional Office, MoEF&CC, Dehradun

0135-2753009 [email protected]

Ajay Srivastav Scientist- G, WII 8057981755 [email protected]

B K Singh, IFS Commissioner Navodaya Vidalaya

9654451297 [email protected]

Chhotu Ram Jotriwal IFS (Retd.) 1979 Haryana 9417655372 [email protected]

Dr Christopher Kernan CoD Forest Plus 9560311414 [email protected]

Dr Alok Saxena, IFS Addl. Director , IGNFA 9412053119 [email protected]

Dr Amit Pandey Scientist F 9410350114 [email protected]

Dr Anmol Kumar, IFS Director General, FSI, D.Dun 8006423055

Dr Anup Chandra Scientist- E, FRI, D.Dun 9411727576 [email protected]

Dr Arvind Kumar Scientist-D, FRI 9456105197 [email protected]

Dr Charan Singh Scientist- E Extension Division, FRI, D.Dun


Dr D Nuthan IFS (Retd.) Gujarat 9449866915 [email protected]

Dr D P Khali Scientist- F, Forest Production Division, FRI


Dr Girish Chandra Scientist-C, Statistics, ICFRE 9410542274 [email protected]

Dr Om Kumar Scientist, ICFRE 7830710575 [email protected]

Dr R Thanga Pandian, IFS DCF, ICFRE, D.Dun 9471511222 [email protected]

Dr R S Rawat Scientist, ICFRE 9456565525 [email protected]

Dr Savita, IFS Director, FRI 9410110759 [email protected]

Dr Shamila Kalia Scientist- F Directorate of Research


Dr Sushil Saigal Advisor USAID, Forest Plus Programme


Dr V B Mathur Director WII, D.Dun 09412054648 [email protected]

Dr Vinod Kumar, IFS Director, IGNFA 9412055419 [email protected]

Dr Vishavjit Kumar Scientist, ICFRE 9412050898 [email protected]

Dr Y P Singh Head, Forest Pathology Div., FRI 27526722224313

[email protected]

List of Participants

| 42 |


H P Singh Scientist –E RSM Division 9410776143 [email protected]

Irshad Khan IFS (Retd.) Former PCCF (J & K) 09717161414011-41321230

[email protected]

Jawaid Ashraf Scientist , RSM 9410394438 [email protected]

Kamal Jeet Singh, IFS Dy Director 8126682238 [email protected]

Manoj Kumar Research Officer 9458122164 [email protected]

Manoj Misra CCF (Retd.)

Ms Ranjana Negi Scientist –C Sys. Botany, Disc. Botany Div, FRI


Ms Ruchi Badola Professor 9412055986 [email protected]

Mukul Trivedi, IFS Joint Director, FSI 9412055237 [email protected]

PM Vetha Siromany, IAS Managing Director Marketed Gandhinagar Kochi, Kerala


Prakash Lakhchaura Dy Director 9412939806 [email protected]

R D Jakati IFS (Retd.) 09403675618 [email protected]

Rajbir Singh IFS (Retd.) Haryana 9599558503 [email protected]

Raman Nautiyal Scientist, ICFRE, D.Dun 9411717722 [email protected]

Saibal Dasgupta, IFS DDG, ICFRE, D.Dun 2750693 [email protected]

J C Pant IFS (Retd.) Additional Secretary 9810789556 [email protected]

Siddappa IFS (Retd.) former Addl PCCF 9980119160 [email protected]

Sudhir Kumar Scientist, ICFRE 9458396688 [email protected]

Suneesh Buxy, IFS DIG, RT, MoEF & CC 9868948253 suneeshbuxy.gov.in

Survesh Dalal Registrar, WII 8476009756 [email protected]

Sushant Sharma Sr Deputy Director 8755567888 [email protected]

V S Silekar IFS (Retd.) 9893145486 [email protected]

Role of contemporary forestry in national economy – changing

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