Essay on the Importance of Forests
Forests are a renewable resource and contribute significantly to the economic development of the country. They play a major role in enhancing the quality of our environment. India was once covered with dense forests. These Indian jungles are home to many threatened and threatened species of birds and other wildlife. Now, forests are less dense and wildlife is less diverse. India’s forest cover in 2007 was 69.09 lakh hectares, which was 21.02 percent of the total geographical area.
8.35 million hectare was very dense forest,
Of these, 8.35 million hectare was very dense forest, 31.90 million hectare was moderately dense forest and the remaining 28.84 million hectare was open forest. A comparison of the country’s forest cover between 2005 and 2007 assessments shows that there was a net gain of 728 km during this period.
Before the 1980s, India had deployed a bureaucratic method for estimating forest coverage. A land was notified under the Indian Forest Act, and the authorities then treated this land area as a recorded forest, even though it was devoid of vegetation. In the 1980s, space satellites were deployed for remote sensing of actual forest cover. The first record of forest coverage for India became available in 1987.
Thus the 2007 Forest Census data was obtained and published by the Government of India in which the five states have the largest area under forest cover. These states were Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra. The seven north-eastern states together account for about a quarter of the country’s total forest cover. The latest assessment shows that the mangrove cover in India is 4639 km. West Bengal has almost half of the country’s mangroves.
India’s tree cover is 2.82 percent of the country’s geographical area, which is estimated to be 92769 km. The tree cover is the largest in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Indian forests are more than trees and economic resources. They are home to some of the Earth’s unique flora and fauna, many of them endemic to India.
National Forest Policy in 1988
Also, In 1988, the government introduced the National Forest Policy in 1988 to ensure environmental sustainability, ecological balance and to preserve the remaining forests. Moreover, In the same year, the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 was amended to facilitate stricter conservation measures. However, In 1988, the National Forest Policy noted that the forest area was shrinking as a result of land clearing for agriculture and development programmes.
As of 31 December 2009
about 1969 projects covering about 33,187.20 hectares of forest area, had been accorded forestry clearance. These include projects like power generation, irrigation, construction of roads, railway lines, transmission lines, drinking water supply projects, rural electricity, schools, hospitals etc.
General approval has been given to promote development of undeveloped areas including tribal areas. Provided laying for underground electricity and wiring for individual homes, water supply / water pipelines, telephone lines, etc.
Good practices have been adopted to ensure transparency in the forestry clearance system. The status of all the cases received in the Ministry is regularly monitored. All this information is placed in the public domain.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests has six regional offices, located at Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow, Shillong and Chandigarh and is headquartered at Mantralaya in New Delhi.
Environmental Protection Act (EPA), 1986
The primary functions of the Regional Offices are to undertake and evaluate continuous forestry projects and plans on the conditions laid down by the Ministry and follow up on the implementation of safeguards by approving development projects under forests and forests.
Protection Act (FCA), 1980 and Environmental Protection Act (EPA), 1986. The Integrated Forest Protection Plan was implemented during the Tenth and Eleventh Five Year Plans.
The major components of this plan include forest fire control management; strengthening infrastructure; survey, demarcation and preparation of action plans; preservation and protection of sacred groves; conservation and restoration of unique vegetation and environmental systems;
Control and eradication of invasive species of forests and preparedness to meet the challenges of bamboo flowering and to improve the management of bamboo forest.
In 2003, India established the National Forest Commission to review India’s policy and legislation and its impact on India’s forests, its impact on local forest communities, and to make recommendations for achieving sustainable forest and ecological security in India.
Of. The Forest Rights Bill is likely to be detrimental to forest conservation and ecological security. The Forest Rights Bill has been in force since 2007.
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006
Further, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 has recognized the rights of forest dwellers to Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers over forest dwellers.
India should pursue rural development and animal husbandry policies so that local communities can get affordable animal feed and grazing. To avoid the destruction of local forest cover, fodder must be delivered to these communities year round on reliable roads and other infrastructure in all seasons.
India’s National Forest Policy is expected to invest USD 26.7 billion by 2020 to help advance forest conservation as well as wildlife, with the goal of increasing India’s forest cover from 20 per cent to 33 per cent. Will get
The government should reform the rules and regulations that ban the cutting of trees and the transit of timber within India. Sustainable agricultural infrastructure and agro-forestry should be encouraged through financial and regulatory reforms, especially on privately owned land. The government should work with mining companies.
The revenue generated from leasing mines should be deposited into a dedicated fund to help and improve the quality of forests in the region where the mines are located.
Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna
Every Indian state should have the power to declare ecologically sensitive areas. It is necessary to change the mandate of state forest corporations and state-owned monopolies.
Also, The concept of conservation of forests was strengthened in our country by the Chipko movement, which started in 1970 under the leadership of Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna. Since Chipko is now a matter of debate.
Some neoclassical theorists theorize the Chitko as an environmental movement and attempt to save forests, while others suggest that the Chipko movement had nothing to do with environmental protection, but primarily with the cultivation of crops by local communities.
was motivated to demand equal rights.
Deforestation since the early 1970s threatened not only the ecology, but the livelihood of the people in various ways thus making people more interested and involved in conservation. Thet, Chipko movement started in Chamoli district of Uttar Pradesh.
The Rat Ladies declared that they would embrace – literally (sticky in Chinese) trees to spare if a sporting goods manufacturer tried to cut down an ash tree in their district. Since the initial activism in 1973, the movement has spread and become an ecological movement.
Movement slowed down the process of deforestation
However, The movement slowed down the process of deforestation, exposed vested interests, increased ecological awareness and demonstrated the viability of people’s power. Also, The movement grew and the Indian government reacted by imposing a 15-year ban on felling of trees as a result of the Chipko movement.
Moreover, The movement assumes significance in the sense that it suggests that forests in India are an important and integral resource for the communities living in or near the edge of these forests. There are some protected forest areas in India, such as forests in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Jharkhand.
These areas are vulnerable to illegal entry by timber mafias. Sandalwood smugglers Veerappan was active for many years in a wide area covering Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The smuggling of timber flourished with the help of local politicians, the business class and government officials.
Conclusion
In conclusion, India’s forest cover fell in an area of 367 square kilometers between 2007 and 2009. While this figure may not seem alarming, it is running in the face of the assumption
that afforestation and conservation programs are showing results.
In conclusion, The biggest decline in forest cover was in the north-east region. Major damages have been reported from insurgency-hit Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
In conclusion, There was better news from states like Punjab, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu
and Rajasthan, where social afforestation projects have worked to some extent. The government has taken several steps to increase the forest cover. Social campaigns like ‘Plant a Tree’, ‘Van Mahotsav’ are celebrated to create awareness about trees.
The government has also made trees a criminal offence. The scenario has improved in all these steps, but more steps are needed to achieve our dream. Keep Reading
