the-south-asian.com                                  March  2004

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FOREST HUMP: ECOLOGICAL NIGHTMARE IN THE MAKING
(cntd.)

by

Dr. Sharad Soni

Rampant deforestation 

But that is not the end of the story. Apart from the rampant plundering for green fodder and timber, forests are also being exploited drastically to meet the country's ever-increasing energy demands. It is estimated that forests contribute almost 40 per cent of the total wood fuel needed in the country including more than 80 per cent of the fuel needed in rural areas.

For meeting the energy needs, a permissible felling of timber from forests is limited to 12 million cubic metres. However, that rule is also only on paper and an estimated 28 million cubic metres of timber is being felled annually to meet the energy demands. Besides, as green fodder from permanent pasture lands serves only 50 per cent of the requirement, the remaining is again covered by destructive over-grazing in forests.

Tree-felling has deteriorated the soil conditions so much in the forests that the land has been rendered dangerously weak and with every monsoon there is rampant erosion and the soil loses much of its minerals and other vital ingredients. It doesn't need a horticulturist to tell us the disastrous consequences of this phenomenon. Some of the states where tree felling is rampant include, Orissa where the total area affected by land degradation is said to be a startling 49.02 lakh hectares. In Bihar it is to the tune of 14.2 lakh hectares and in West Bengal it is 10.33 lakh hectares.

In many states, large-scale mining too has caused rampant damage to the soil. This is particularly relevant in Rajasthan where mining of marble, stone, dolomite and limestone in the districts of Alwar, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Dholpur, Karoli, Kota and Udaipur, is so widespread that the forest area has shrunk beyond recognition and wildlife is diminishing rapidly, thus endangering the entire eco-system.

The problem has become even more acute as the sludge and filthy water from these mines is drained into the forests thereby snuffing out vegetation. The tribal people are worst affected who live in nearby areas and depend on the forest for their daily requirements. During 1993-94, Rajasthan government gave mining leases to 12,175 parties out of which about 1,324 are major mines covering an area of 157,339 hectares and 10,851 are minor mines spread over 81,055 hectares. Besides, there are 19,251 quarry licenses in operation.

Despite the fact that forests also help in soil conservation especially in hilly areas, not much attention has been paid to this rampant looting of our natural forests. Soil erosion continues due to the reckless felling of forest trees which in turn gives way to the unexpected occurrence of landslides and other natural calamities.

The Himalayan range, often called the weather-maker of the Indian subcontinent and stretching from Hindukush in the north-west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east, is today facing a great threat to its ecological security because of deforestation. If one has to single out causes, it is essentially the expanding economic pressures which contribute much to the felling of trees in the once lush green mountainscape.

According to a recent survey, mountains constitute 1/5th of the world's landscape and provide shelter to atleast 1/10th of the world's population. Not only that, even half of the world's population depend on mountain watersheds for fresh water since 80 per cent of the earth's fresh water originates directly from mountains. Besides, mountains encompass an enormous wealth of natural living and non-living resources, an asset to man's life.

But what's most striking is that in an era of deforestation the mountainous regions have been the worst victims. Geologically, the Himalayas are the youngest, the highest and the most fragile mountain system of the World. They are also highly susceptible to any thoughtless interference in the natural balance of its sensitive diverse ecosystems ranging from the cold desert of Ladakh to the tropical rainforests of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Terai has now been converted into tracts of arable land and woods have been greatly devastated in the name of `development' in the hills. Such `development' serves only to disrupt the whole natural resources thereby disturbing the ecosystem.

Man's interference with nature in the Himalayan region is not a new development. It began when the British targeted a sizable number of forests of commercial value for exploitation and brought them under government control. Massive cutting of trees was undertaken to fulfill the requirements of the railway tracks in places like Shimla and Darjeeling. The widespread deforestation disturbed the eco-balance permanently.

In recent years not much has been done to save the hills from deforestation. The approach is exploitative. Community ownership of the forests has virtually ended in many areas in order to satisfy the commercial needs of timber. Added to it, is the escalating demand for firewood. Felling of trees has become a regular feature, especially in the western tracts. Bulk of the Himalayan hillsides can now be seen bereft of trees that had taken over a century to grow and had since time immemorial protected the land and its people.

The Forest [Conservation] Act of 1988, however envisaged that 60 per cent of the land area in the hills should be under forest cover as against 33 per cent for the country as a whole. But the fact remains that neither in the hills nor in the plains this Act has yielded the desired target.

If the dense forest cover for the country as a whole is merely 11.71 per cent, for the Himalayan region the figure is only an estimated 21.78 per cent. Ironically, except Arunachal Pradesh [65%], not a single Himalayan state of India is anywhere close to 60 per cent targetted forest cover.

Investment in the forestry sector on the part of the government needs to be increased which is continuing to be abysmally low. Considering the Five Year Plans, it has been revealed that from first to the six the plans, the allocation in the forestry sector was between 0.39 and 0.71 per cent of the total plan outlay. In the seventh plan, it was increased to 1.03 per cent of the total plan outlay, while in the eighth plan it again came down to 0.94 per cent.

If this low allocation in the forestry sector continues, it would be difficult to meet the day- by-day increasing problems of protecting and developing the country's forests. The present investment of about Rs.800 crore annually in afforestation and tree-planting activities is not sufficient, rather it requires much more investment.

What's more important is that a large section of Indian population depends on forest produce for survival, so every kind of measures should be taken to cut short of deforestation whether by using competent man power or increasing investment.

The preservation of the country's forests is an urgent need both in terms of protecting the resources as well as maintaining a balanced eco-system. If that’s not done then, sustainable development cannot be ensured.

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