Types And Distribution Of Forest

TYPES OF FORESTS IN INDIA:

Reserved Forests:

Permanently earmarked either to production of timber or other forest produce, right of grazing and cultivation is seldom allowed, covers 0pt.4% of total forest area. More than half of the total forests are regarded as the most valuable, as far as the conservation of forest and wildlife resources are concerned.

Protected Forests: Right of grazing and cultivation is allowed, subject to a few minor restrictions, covers 29% of the total forest area, almost one third of the total forest area is protected forest as declared by the Forest Department. This forest land is protected from any further depletion.

Unclassed Forests:

Consists largely of inaccessible forests or unoccupied wastes, covers 16% of the total forest area, forests and wastelands belonging to both government and private individuals and communities.

NEW TRENDS IN CONSERVATION POLICY:

Increase Biodiversity: The conservation projects are now focusing on biodiversity rather than on a few of its components. There is now a more intensive search for different conservation measures. Increasingly, even insects are beginning to find a place in conservation planning. In the notification under Wildlife Act of 1980 and 1986, several hundred butterflies, moths, beetles, and one dragonfly have been added to the list of protected species. In 1991, for the first time plants were also added to the list, starting with six species.

Community and Conservation:

• In some areas of India, local communities are struggling to conserve these habitats along with government officials, recognising that only this will secure their own long-term livelihood.
• In Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, villagers have fought against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act. In many areas, villagers themselves are protecting habitats and explicitly rejecting government involvement. The inhabitants of five villages in the Alwar district of Rajasthan have declared 1,200 hectares of forest as the Bhairodev Dakav ‘Sonchuri’, declaring their own set of rules and regulations which do not allow hunting, and are protecting the wildlife against any outside encroachments.
• Nature worship is an age old tribal belief based on the premise that all creations of nature have to be protected. Such beliefs have preserved several virgin forests in pristine form called Sacred Groves (the forests of God and Goddesses). These patches of forest or parts of large forests have been left untouched by the local people and any interference with them is banned. Certain societies reserve a particular tree which they have preserved from time immemorial.
• The Mundas and the Santhal of Chhota Nagpur region worship mahua (Bassia latifolia) and kadamba (Anthocaphalus cadamba) trees, and the tribals of Orissa and Bihar worship the tamarind (Tamarindus indica) and mango (Mangifera indica) trees during weddings. To many of us, peepal and banyan trees are considered sacred.
• Indian society comprises several cultures, each with its own set of traditional methods of conserving nature and its creations. Sacred qualities are often ascribed to springs, mountain peaks, plants and animals which are closely protected. You will find troops of macaques and langurs around many temples. They are fed daily and treated as a part of temple devotees. In and around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of blackbuck, (chinkara), nilgai and peacocks can be seen as an integral part of the community and nobody harms them.
• The famous Chipko movement in the Himalayas has not only successfully resisted deforestation in several areas but has also shown that community afforestation with indigenous species can be enormously successful.
• Farmers and citizen’s groups like the Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehri and Navdanya have shown that adequate levels of diversified crop production without the use of synthetic chemicals are possible and economically viable.
• In India joint forest management (JFM) programme furnishes a good example for involving local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests. The programme has been in formal existence since 1988 when the state of Orissa passed the first resolution for joint forest management. JFM depends on the formation of local (village) institutions that undertake protection activities mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department. In return, the members of these communities are entitled to intermediary benefits like non-timber forest produces and share in the timber harvested by ‘successful protection’.
• The clear lesson from the dynamics of both environmental destruction and reconstruction in India is that local communities everywhere have to be involved in some kind of natural resource management. But there is still a long way to go before local communities are at the centre-stage in decision-making. Accept only those economic or developmental activities, that are people centric, environment-friendly and economically rewarding.

Project Tiger:

In 1973, the tiger population had dwindled to 1,827 from an estimated 55,000 at the turn of the century.

Threats for Tiger Population:

• Poaching for trade,
• Shrinking habitat,
• depletion of prey base species
• growing human population etc.

“Project Tiger”, one of the well publicized wildlife campaigns in the world, was launched in 1973

Success Rate: Tiger Population:

19854,002

19894,334

19933,600

Important Tiger Reserves:

• Corbett national Park in Uttranchal

• Sunderbans National Park in West Bengal

• Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh

• Sariska Wildlife sanctuary in Rajasthan

• Manas Tiger reserve in Assam

• Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala

JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT:

• In India joint forest management (JFM) programme furnishes a good example for involving local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests.
• The programme has been in formal existence since 1988 when the state of Orissa passed the first resolution for joint forest management JFM depends on the formation of local (village) institutions that undertake protection activities mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department.
• In return, the members of these communities are entitled to intermediary benefits like non-timber forest produces and share in the timber harvested by 'successful protection'.