Posted on July 2, 2022

AFFORESTATION AND ECO-DEVELOPMENT

Category ENVIRONMENT, GS Paper -3, Science & Technology

AFFORESTATION AND ECO-DEVELOPMENT

The National Wastelands Development Board (NWDB) set up in May 1985 has been bifurcated to form National Afforestation and Eco- Development Board (NABEB) under the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Department of Wastelands Development, which has been transferred to the Ministry of Rural Development.

The function of NAEB is to promote afforestation, tree plants Jon, ecological restoration and eco-development activities in the country. It gives special attention to the degraded forest areas and lands adjoining forest areas and lands adjoining forest areas, national parks, sanctuaries and other protected areas as well as ecologically fragile areas like the Western Himalayas, Aravalli, Western Ghats etc. It will carry out its functions through several schemes such as integrated wastelands development projects, fuelwood and fodder projects, minor forest produce including medicinal plants scheme, aerial seeding, seed development, technology extension, grants-in-aid to voluntary agencies etc. Several policy advisory groups have been set up to address crucial policy issues relating to fuelwood conservation, wood substitution, grazing and livestock management etc. Eco-task forces of ex-servicemen have been set up who are doing eco-restoration through afforestation, pasture development and other water and soild conservation measures in selected highly degraded and inhospitable areas of UP, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. The NAEB also coordinates and cooperates in the field of forestry development programmes. The National Fund for Afforestation and Eco-development. Financial assistance is being received from the World Bank, European Economic Community, Overseas Development Agency, etc., for forestry projects.

The “Rajiv Paryawaran Pariyojana” has been launched for integrated and intensive environmental action and eco-development in selected districts of the country.

TECHNOLOGY MISSION ON WASTELANDS DEVELOPMENT

In 1989 Wastelands development programme was brought under the national technology mission. It was launched: (i) to check land degradation (ii) restore ecological balance (iii) put wastelands to sustainable use to increase biomass availability specially fuel wood and fodder; (iv) regenerate degraded forests; (v) green public lands; and (vi) promote farm forestry.

Amongst the initiatives taken up by the National Technology Mission on Wastelands Development are Policy packages on grazing and livestock management, fuel wood conservation, wood substitution, equitable distribution of benefits from common lands.

(ii) Technical Advisory Group to identify research gaps and provide technology extension.

(iii) Coordination of Social Forestry projects and schemes for free planting, silvipasture development, soil and water conservation, agro and farm forestry, natural regeneration.

(iv) Village level action plans being drawn up by people’s institution and being implemented on a pilot basis in some districts

WASTELAND DEVELOPMENT

According to the NWDB, 1989 estimates nearly 120 m.ha of India’s land is wasteland – it is degraded and lacks good tree cover. Even after excluding 40 m.ha notified as forests, nearly 80 m ha land in non-forest wastelands. The causes for rapid expansion of wastelands in our country are soil erosion and desertification which in turn are due to over cultivation, gracing, cutting of tree cover, bad irrigation practices leading to waterlogging, salt accumulation and dumping of industrial/mining wastes etc.

Wastelands may be culturable or unculturable. Culturable wastelands are ravenous and gullied lands, surface water logged and marsh, saline lands, lands with laterite soild, shifting cultivation areas, degraded forest lands, shiplands, mining and industrial wastelands. Unculturable wastelands are barren rocky area, steep slopes, snow capped mountains and glaciers.

There are over 87 million hectares of agricultural land prone to degradation by severe erosion. The rapid expansion of wastelands in the country poses a big threat to the productive resources base and vital life support system. Therefore, the basic approach of the country’s wastelands development programme should be such as to meet the challenge of increasing and sustaining the population supporting capacity and productivity of land. The Indian government established a National Wastelands Development Board in May, 1985.

FORESTS

Forests are renewable source which contribute substantially in economic development. They play a major role in conserving biological diversity, in enhancing the quality of environment and in maintaining eco-balance. India has 752.3 lakh hectare area notified as forests, of which 406.1 lakh hectares is classified as reserved and 215.1 lakh hectare as protected. 131.1 lakh hectare area is an unclassified forest. About 19.47 per cent of the total geographical area of the country is under actual forest cover.

Ø Forest Policy and Law

Indian forest policy that dates back to 1894 underwent revision in 1952 and again in 1988. The revised forest policy of 1988 emphasizes on protection, conservation and development of forests. Its objectives are: (i) maintenance of environmental stability through preservation and restoration of ecological balance; (ii) conservation of natural heritage; (iii) check on soil erosion and denudation in catchments area of rivers, lakes and reservoirs; (iv) check on extension of sand dunes in desert areas of Rajasthan and along coastal tracts; (v) substantial increase in forest/tree cover through massive afforestation and social forestry pro-grammes; (vi) steps to meet requirements of fuel wood, fodder, minor forest produce and small timber of rural and tribal populations; (vii) increase in productivity of forest to meet the national needs; (viii) encouragement of efficient utilization of forest produce and optimum substitution of wood; and (ix) steps to create massive people’s movement with involvement of women to achieve the objectives and minimize pressure on existing forests.

Forest activities are being given a new orientation in the light of National Forest Policy. 1988. Some of the measures initiated foil immediate and effective protection of forests include afforestation and development of wastelands, reforestation and replantation in existing forests, settlement, restriction on grazing encouragement for wood substitutes and supply of other kinds of fuel, elimination of forest contractor discouragement of monoculture practice etc.

Ø Forest Conservation

The increasing destruction and degradation of forests and tree lands especially in the Himalayas and other hilly areas is contributing to heavy erosion of top soil, erratic rainfall and recurring floods. It is also causing acute shortage of fuel wood and loss of productivity due to eroded and degraded lands. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 enacted to check indiscriminate deforestation, diversion of forest lands for non-forestry purpose was amended in 1988 to make it more stringent by prescribing punishment for violations.

Another area of concern has been degradation of forests due to biotic pressure. Guidelines have been framed for preparation of working plans and felling in forests. Some of the salient features are: (i) working plans should be up-to-date and stress conservation’s; (ii) preliminary working plan should have multi-disciplinary approach; (iii) tribal rights and concessions should be highlighted along with control mechanisms; (iv) grazing should be studied in detail and specific prescriptions should cover fodder propagation; (v) shifting cultivation and encroachment need to be controlled; (vi) clear felling with artificial regeneration should be avoided as far as possible and clear felling blocks should not exceed 10 hectare in hills and 25 hectare area in plains; and (vii) banning all felling above 1000 metre altitude for a few years should be considered to allow these areas to recover. Critical areas in hills and catchments area prone to landslides, erosion, etc., should be totally protected and quickly afforested. Guidelines have been issued in June, 1990 to State Governments for involving village communities and voluntary agencies for regeneration of degraded forest lands on usufruct sharing basis. So far 14 states have issued such orders.

In India, one of the main reason for destruction of forests is fire which is mostly man-made and is generally deliberate and rarely accidental. Deliberate fires are caused to facilitate grazing, poaching, shifting cultivation, collection of Mahua seeds and flowers, etc., collection of tendu leaves, etc. Forest department have initiated many steps to reduce the incident of fire in India. They are: (i) development of firelines; and (ii) establishment of watch towers besides employing fire watchers during fire seasons. A UNDP assisted Modern Forests Fire Control Project has been started in 1984 in Chandrapur in Maharashtra and Haldwani/Nainital in UP. Under the project, techniques for detection, prevention and suppression of fire are being developed. Some of the techniques developed under the project like better communication network and effective use of hand tools and other equipments have proved successful in reducing the fire damage.

According to the forest policy of India, forest conservation has become one of the most important objectives and in order to achieve this a number of measures are being taken. The important measures include conservation of ecologically fragile ecosystems and preservations of biological diversity in terms of fauna and flora; increasing substantially the forest cover; meeting the basic needs of the people in respect of fuelwood; fodder and small timber; special emphasis on forestry research and creating a massive people’s movement for achieving these objectives.

The forest development programme mainly consists of two components: social forestry and productive forestry programme. The social forestry emphasizes the role of people in creating forests to meet the needs of people in respect of fuel, fodder and light timber. After meeting the needs of local people on a priority basis, forests would provide raw materials for a number of industries and this type of forestry is included under productive forestry. Still another type of forestry that can be identified is conservation forestry which relates to growing and preserving of forests to maintain the fragile ecosystems on the hill slopes, catchments of river, river and canal banks and semi-arid and desert regions.

In order to evolve and adopt modern management techniques in the field of forestry, Indian Institute of Forest Management was established in Bhopal in 1981. The Forest Research Institute, Dehradun (FRI) is the nodal agency for forest research and education in the country.

INITIATIVE BY THE FOREST DEPARTMENT

Forest department has initiated many steps to reduce the incident of fire in India. They are: (i) development of firelines and (ii) establishment of watch towers besides employing fire watchers during fire seasons. A UNDP assisted Modern Forests Fire Control Project has been started in 1984 in Chandrapur in Maharashtra and Haldwani/Nainital in UP. Under the project, techniques for detection, prevention and suppression of fire are being developed. Some of the techniques developed under the project like better communication network and effective use of hand tools and other equipments have proved successful in reducing the fire damage.

According to the forest policy of India, forest conservation has become one of the most important objectives and in order to achieve this number of measures are being taken. The important measures include, conservation of ecologically fragile ecosystems and preservations of biological diversity in terms of fauna and flora; increasing substantially the forest cover; meeting the basic needs of the people in respect of fuelwood, fodder and small timber; special emphasis on forestry research and creating a massive people’s movement for achieving these objectives.

Ø Forestry Research

With the increasing recognition of the importance of forests for environmental health, energy and employment, emphasis must be laid on scientific forestry research, necessitating adequate strengthening of the research base as well as new priorities for action. Some broad priority areas of research and development needing special attention are:

i) Increasing the productivity of wood and other forest produce per unit of area per unit time by the application of modem scientific and technological methods.
ii) Revegetation of barren/marginal/waste/ mined lands and watershed areas

iii) Effective conservation and management of existing forest resources (mainly natural forest eco-systems).

iv) Research related to social forestry for rural/ tribal development.
v) Development of substitutes to replace wood and wood products.
vi) Research related to wildlife and management of national parks and sanctuaries.

DRAFT PROPOSALS

It is proposed to issue a notification to protect and improve the quality of environment in the Himalayas, which would include all the northern States. In order to ensure environ-mentally sound development of hill towns, the following restrictions and conditions are proposed for all future activities in the areas of Himalyan region:

No construction should be undertaken in areas having slope above 30° or areas which fall in hazard zones or areas falling on the spring lines and first order streams identified by the State Governments on the basis of available-scientific evidence;
Construction should be permitted in areas with slope between 10° to 30°, or spring recharge areas or old landslide zones with such restrictions as the competent local authority may decide;
Tourist resorts, commercial complexes and institutional buildings should be located in areas with surplus water and electricity so as not to affect the rights of existing users without their prior consultation; and
An integrated development plan may k prepared taking into consideration environments and other relevant factors including ecological sensitive areas, hazard zones, drainage channel steep slopes and fertile land. Areas rich in ground water may not be diverted for construction activities.

Ø Rain Water Harvesting

All buildings to be constructed in future in the urban areas should have provision for roof-top rail water harvesting commensurate with its plinth area with minimum capacity of 5 KL for plinth are above 200 sq.m., 2 KL for plinth area of 200 sq.m or below in case of – residential buildings and minimum capacity of. 0.01 cum per sq.m. of plinth area in case of commercial and institutional buildings such as tourist complexes, hotels shopping complexes, and Government buildings.

Provided that minimum standards for commercial and institutional buildings shall also apply to such buildings in areas not covered within the limits of urban areas.

HILL ROADS

Instructions to be issued by the Stat Governments for construction of Hill Roads:

For construction of any road in the Himalayan region.
Designing of the roads in the terrain area:
Disposal of debris from construction sites appropriate manner.
Runoff of water from the road side drains.

WILDLIFE PRESERVATION

In 1983 government adopted the National Wildlife Action Plan that provides the framework of strategy as well as programme for conservation of wildlife. Today the protected area network comprises 80 national parks and 441 sanctuaries covering 4.5 per cent of the total geographical area of the country, which is proposed to be increased to 5.1 per cent. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, adopted by all states except Jammu and Kashmir (which has its own Act), governs wildlife conservation and protection of endangered species. Under the Act, trade in rare and endangered species is prohibited. Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, of which India is also a signatory, export or import of endangered species and their products is subject to strict control. Commercial exploitation of such species is prohibited.

The Central Government provides financial assistance to states for activities related to wildlife preservation. Amendment has been made in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, to make it more effective. Endangered species of plants and animals have been brought under the purview of the Act. To look after the management of zoological parks a Central Zoo Authority has been set up. The Authority has notified rules for recognition of zoos which stipulates the standards of upkeep, maintenance and veterinary care of animals. The Animal Welfare Board of India, established in 1962 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 is working for the cause of animal welfare in the country. Research in wildlife are carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore.

Kredoz IAS