FOREST RESOURCES ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS a case

FOREST RESOURCES

ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS: a case study CONDITION THAT PREVAILED BEFORE u One of the finest tropical evergreen forests u Rich biodiversity u Low population, tribals living in harmony with nature.

CONDITION THAT EXISTS NOW: u Forest degradation due to legal and illegal logging. u Degradation of soil, soil erosion. u Heavy flow of sediments into coastal waters killing substantial amount of corals. u Threat to the biodiversity (saltwater crocodile and Andaman wild pig have become endangered species). u Threat to tribes. u Population pressure is high.

CAUSES: u Extraction of timber : from 1883. u Govt. supported migration of people from other parts of the country. u The 340 -km long Andanman trunk road. u Increased interference of man.

FOREST AREA COVER Class Area in sq. km. Percentage of Geographic area DENSE FOREST 377358 11. 48 OPEN FOREST 255064 7. 76 MANGROVES 4, 871 0. 15 51, 896 1. 58 NON FOREST 2, 598, 074 79. 03 TOTAL 3, 287, 263 100. 00 SCRUB SOURCE : FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 1999

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Our focus will be on : u Present scenario u Threats posed due to human activities u The resources u Forest conservation and sustainable resource use. u Community participation

STATE OF WORLDS FORESTS u u u The total forest area of the world amounts to 3. 6 billion hectares in 1999 , down from 6 billion hectares 8000 years ago 56 countries have lost between 90 and 100% of their forests. 15 million hectares of forest were lost annually in the last two decades, largely in the tropics. 12. 5% of plants and 75% of animal species are threatened by decline of forests In the developing countries alone, some US$ 45 billion is lost through poor forest management. About 14 million hectares of forestland are lost annually, due to conversion of forests into cropland. Source: WCFSD report , 1999

Plant species under threat u Threat Category (IUCN ) species Extinct/Endangered/Vulnerable Rare Indeterminate Insufficiently Known No information Not threatened u TOTAL u u u u u Number of IUCN – RED LIST OF ENDENGERED SPECIES 2000 19 43 149 2 108 256 719 9 1441 374 3120

Animal species under threat IUCN – RED LIST OF ENDENGERED SPECIES 2000

Medicinal plant(endangered) u For the next 5 years following seven plants require concentrated attention: u Aloe vera (Ghrita Kumari) Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi) Centella asiatica (Mandookparni, Gotu Kola) Rauwolfia serpentina (Sarpagandha) Catharanthus roseus (Periwinkle) Taxus baccata / Taxus wallichiana (Himalayan Yew) Artemisia annua u u u

INITIATIVES ON THE PART OF INDEPENDENT COMISSION To get a political as well as technical approach for the solutions in forest degradation a group of 30 former heads of government and state, was established by the name of world commision on forestes and sustainable development (WCFSD). The independent commisions objectives were to: • Increasing awareness about preserving the natural environment and contributing to economic development. • Broadening the consensus on the data , science and policy aspects of forest conservation and management. • Building confidence between north and south on the forest matters, with emphasis on international cooperation. the commission held public hearings in Asia, Africa, Euriope, Latin America and the Caribbean and North America and dealt with forest dwellings, local communities, farmers, industry executives etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF FORESTS AND ITS EXPLOITATION Three main categories of forests i. e. old growth, secondary growth and plantations. u Old growth or frontier forests are uncut forests that have not been seriously disturbed by human activities or natural disasters for several years. u Secondary growth forests are formed due to result of secondary ecological succession that has taken place due to clearance by human activities or natural disasters and then left undisturbed. u Plantations consists of commercially valuable trees which are managed forests created by clearing old-growth or secondgrowth forests. These are a source of industrial wood.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES PROVIDED BY FORESTS u INDUSTRIAL WOOD AND FUELWOOD u NON-WOOD PRODUCTS u ECOSYSTEM SERVICES u OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS

Wood and non wood products u Timber u Tendu leaves u Bamboo u Sal seed u Honey u Medicinal plants u Rubber u Pickle u Biodiesel u Ply wood www. orissafdc. com

Ways of destruction of forests Natural Human made Forest fire u Climatic change u u Commercial logging u Commercial harvesting u Construction u Intentional fire u Mining

Impact of deforestation u Erosion of topsoil u Floods u Extinction of plants and animals u Local climatic change u Global warming u Loss of livelihood of local communities

u SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT FO REST

FOREST CONSERVATION Foresters and local people are working together to conserve forests. u Extractive Reserves-Protected forest in whichlocal people are allowed to harvest products like fruits, fibre , medicine etc. u Main objective is to improve the life of the people while conserving biodiversity. u

Communities involved in Forest Conservation u Joint Forest Management Concept introduced in 1980’s. u In JFM local communities are involved in planinng the conservation programme. ` `eg. -The Tamilnadu Afforestation Project(TAP) u SOCIAL FORESTRY u Used in India in 1976. u Plantation of eucalyptus tree u

Efficient use of wood u Paper made from natural fibres and agricultural residues. u China plans to make 60 % of its paper from tree free pulp. u In India Navneet publications use eco friendly papers to make copybooks.

Some notable examples in the field of forest conservation u CHIPKO MOVEMENT –Gaura Devi u The Green Belt Movement— Wangari Maathai u Struggle in Amazonia—Chico Mendes u Red wood trees California—Julia Butterfly

VASUNDHARA Vasundhara is a non-governmental organisation, working primarily in Orissa with natural resources management focused on sustainable rural livelihoods. u Trying to improve community-state collaboration. u Facilitates policy changes in the direction of sustainable community based forest management systems. u Main area of work deals with policy advocacy, research an documentation, capacity building and networking. u Instrumental in initiating coordinated action and respons from the civil society on forestry issues. SOURCE: WWW. ENVINDIA. COM

u ACTIONS RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION-focused on supporting efforts to improve access and control of “eco-system people”, people who depend upon their immediate ecosystem for sustenance on their natural resources, forestry-agriculture etc. u NETWORKING AND ALLIANCE BUILDING - especially for creating a pressure group for policy changes for devolution of power to local communities for resource management. u CAPACITY BUILDING EFFORTS-for village institutions especially in two field locations which include information generation, networking, alliance building, training workshops and meetings etc.

Recommendations for conservation of forests u Stop destructions of forest u Use of sustainaible forest management approach u Research and training programme. u Proper planning for the whole landscape and not the forest in isolation

THANK YOU GROUP 9: u ANANDA SAHA ( 9) u SUBHODIP GANGULI (53) u VIJAYESH KR. PANDEY (57) u VIKAS CHATURVEDI (59)