ENVIS RP on Forestry and Forest Related Livelihoods

The forest department has claimed it planted nine lakh saplings in 2014 and distributed six lakh more to citizens for greening the capital. That makes it 15 lakh saplings, the department submitted in reply to a query on curtailing air pollution at National Green Tribunal. But the numbers don't add up, considering Delhi hasn't seen any substantial rise in forest cover since 2009. The bench has been cautious about accepting the department's claims. "Even if a part of it was done, there can be no doubt that the greenery of Delhi would have a different shape and look," it said on Monday. NGT directed the chief conservator of forests to file a personal affidavit and present details of expenditure incurred and names of species of saplings planted. Prior to 2014, at least 5.5 lakh saplings were reportedly being planted every year. But the department doesn't have any data on how many of them are surviving and at which locations. The Tree Authority, a committee of forest and civic agencies formed in 2007 with a mandate of preserving Delhi's trees, started a process of third-party verification in 2012 to assess the survival rate of saplings. It entrusted Delhi Parks and Gardens Society with the task of coming up with the data.
But DPGS officials claim they haven't received any information from agencies that conduct plantation drives. "How can survival rate be assessed without knowing where they have been planted?" S.D. Singh, CEO, DPGS, said.
A DPGS official said survival rate of plantations in Delhi is poor owing to harsh weather conditions. "After one year the survival rate is usually 70 per cent but after three it's less than 50. Survival rate of avenue plants is the lowest because of disturbance as well as exposure to harsh conditions," he said.
Ravi Agarwal, former Tree Authority member, said, "Plantations are outsourced to various agencies but nobody monitors survival. The saplings need to be cared for. They should be grown in a nursery and moved to other areas only once they reach a certain height."
The department, however, seems to have washed its hands of the matter. "We have a supervisory role. That's to hand out saplings to 18-19 urban agencies like the corporation, DDA, NDMC, DMRC and others. We obviously don't know whether all survive," said a senior forest official. Another official claimed that "the casualty is highest in Asola Bhatti Sanctuary. That area has rocky or sandy soil, and often no soil and no water. Often, over 30 per cent of the saplings need to be replaced."
Singh said plantations may be more successful in coming years when Yamuna banks are made available. NGT has already directed that agriculture on Yamuna bank be stopped as the polluted water is affecting the crops.

Describes the structure and composition of a planting brick. Use of planting brick in arid zone to protect the plant against drought and precautions to be taken at the time of planting are discussed. Advantages of brick planting are described. The following species are listed as suitable for brick planting- (a) Branch cuttings - Tamarix articulata, (b) Root shoot cuttings - Prosopis juliflora, (c) Sowings - Prosopis juliflora, Prosopis spicigera, Tecoma undulata, Cordia rothii, C. myxa, Zizyphus species, Salvadora persica, (d) Transplanting young seedlings - Eucalyptus rostrata and all species under (c) except Prosopis spicigera and Prosopis juliflora.

Forest management during the 50 years of independence has made a full circle from conversion to uniform crops and back to conversion to irregular crops. The early years of independence were charactarized by production (for industry) euphoria. Von Mon Roy’s report on the status of raw material supply in the country and the national commission on agriculture’s report reinforced this industry oriented production. The objective of sustained yield of timber which guided and governed forest management during the early 30 years of independence could not be achieved. The concept of a normal forest in which each age-class occupies an equal area came under attack for environmental reason. 1980 was watershed year. The world conservation strategy altered the way we look at forests and forest management. During the subsequent years, environmental awarness and conscionsness swept the world. The Earth summit, the convention on biological diversity and the recent climate change convention have all focused on the need to maintain forest cover, conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainability. This led to the stoppage of clear cutting system, and the need for increasing production of non-wood products for sustaining forest dependent communities. All this is possible only by making forest sustainable in all its dimensions. The forests of the country are sick and unstable and have suffered heavily in productivity. A little over 30 million ha have been degraded. The restoration of these forests requires a different approach, a different technology and a different administrative structure. This is one of the biggest challenges facing the foreters today.

Based on the 1988 national forest policy, the joint forest management(JFM) programme has been taken up in different states. Andhra Pradesh is one the leading states implementing JFM over 16.5 lakh hectares by forming 6,575 vana samarakhshana samities (VSS). The case study of one VSS inVizianagram district (Andhra Pradesh) has been presented to show how the people and the forests have benefitted from the JFM programme. The paper also deals with the difficulties in funding the programme and it is suggested that JFM should be taken up under poverty alleviation programmes of the rural development department.In tribal areas, JFM should be considered as one of the strategies for developing the tribal economy instead of depending upon agriculture alone.

Five villages undertaking joint forest management (JFM) were chosen in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka for assessing regeneration in plantations and nearby natural forests of the village, Species number, stem density, diversity index, similarity in species composition in less distrubed and disturbed forests and plantations in the village were compared. Stem density was low in all the disturbed forests; however, the species number was low in disturbed forests of three villages and high in two villages. Plantations showed lower diversity values compared to the adjacent natural forests. Regeneration in all less disturbed forests was better compared to the disturbed counterparts. Villages were ranked based on number of landless families, per capita forest available and number of cut stems. Assessment of village forests using ranks indicates that parameters such as per capita availability, cut stems in the forests may determine the success of JFM.

Joint forest management (JFM) is a strategy in the right direction for decentralised people-oriented forestry manangement in India. It is also a process for empowering the people and strengthening democracy. However, the need of the hour is to analyse the ground realities and then take a decision to make the JFM programme a long term sustainable movement. The basic problems should be reviewed and a new approach is to be made, putting economic parameters at the top of the agenda. A few strategies like categorising, zoning of areas, precise sharing of benefiits, etc. need to be chalked out.JFM is not like a wide-spectrum antibiotic drug to cure many ills at a time. Rather, it is a symptom specific specialised medicine to be prescribed with due care and caution.

This paper contains a general account of the mesquite - Prosopis glandulosa Torr. and P. juliflora, including the various forms of the latter. These trees were introduced into India as very promising species useful in afforesting dry and degraded lands. A historical review of their cultivation in India is included. Observations have also been made on their distribution and economic importance. Botanical descriptions of the genus Prosopis and its two species, mentioned above, are given . The behaviour of P. juliflora as a composite species has been explained. The silvicultural characters and diagnostic features of the various forms of P. juliflora, including P. glandulosa have been discussed and a key to their correct identification has been provided.

Institutional arrangements for the management of common property resources are created and evolved as responses to certain combinations of circumstances. A full understanding of the evolution and survival of such arrangements requires an in depth analysis. Presented in this paper is an analysis of the management system that has evolved in Lohgarh village in response to certain factors. It is important to note that systems which have evolved at the grassroots essentially due to the efforts and involvement of the villagers have a better chance of survival as compared to the systems developed due to external leadership. These systems are also seen to be highly flexible which would undergo change with the changing circumstances. Systems imposed from the outside on the other hand would face lesser chances of either evolving any further or sustaining themselves.

Prosopis juliflora seeds eaten, and excreted undigested by goats germinate well due to action of mild HCl of gastric secretion on hard seed coat which otherwise hampers speedy germination of seeds. Laboratory experiments conducted to determine the most desirable acid concentration for treating mesquite seeds, using three different HCl concentrations I N, .5 N and .I N for soaking the seeds have shown that .I N concentration gives the best results.

Natural regneration in areas under joint forest management has shown a possitive trend and the percentage increase in natural regeneration varies from 0.15% to above 50% in some areas depending upon the degree of protection.
It is also observed thati under assisted natural regeneration from the data collected, around 26% of sites showed a negative trend, i.e. natural regeneration was not coming up properly, whereas under VRDP areas only around 3% of sites from the data collected showed this trend. The negative growth may be explained by the fact that initially these areas did not regenerate as expected or the level of protection was poor. However, it is possible that these areas may show positive growth in the later years once protection is more stringent and the rootstock present in the ground starts growing.

The management of forests in appropriate and judicious manner through joint forest management has been discussed in this paper.

Reports tentative results of testing in green condition of mechanical properties of woods of Tectona grandis from Malabar, Nilambur and Coimbatore, Prosopis juliflora from Poona, Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Prosopis specigera from Hyderabad, Sind. Figures on moisture content, weight, specific gravity, shrinkage, static bending, compression, shear and tension etc. are tabulated for drawing comparision between the woods of species tested as well as the localities of wood production as related to mechanical properties. Prosopis juliflora wood was found comparing well with Tectona grandis and Prosopis spicigera in strength, hardness and toughness.

The present note embodies the results of strength improvement due to compression of Populus deltoides and Populus ciliata. Both these species were compressed to density of 1.10 g/cubic cm. Physical and mechanical properties of compressed and uncompressed poplars have also been compared with Acer caesium, Carpinus spp. and Cornus spp. which are accepted species for making compressed wood shuttle blocks.

Poor germination in Prosopis juliflora seeds is due in part to the occurrence of ‘hard’ or impermeable seeds. In the samples tested, over 40 per cent. of the seeds failed to absorb water. It was found that this could be remedied by shaking the seeds in a metal or glass container for about fifteen minutes at the rate of twice per second. Seeds so treated gave over 95 percentge germination. Abrading the seeds by pounding them with sand was also found to be a successful, but less easy method.

The paper proposes a pragmatic approach to participation especially with regards to forest management and outlines the impracticability to the prevalent participation concept.A simple and practical approach of involving the people coupled with consistency and dedication is the hope for the countries struggling with the pressure on their natural resources.

Of all the treatments, the least mineralized N occurred with Dalbergia sissoo leaves (47.3 ppm). Other leaves in descending order of mineral nitrogen release were Prosopis juliflora, A. lebbek, S. sesban, B. purpurea, P. pinnata and C. fritula. In all the species but leucaena maximum mineral N was available in the soil on day 14.