Prof (Dr) R.D. Gupta
Forests have greatly suffered from considerable damage during the last 5-6 decades. According to some reports, nearly 20 to 30 per cent of the forest cover has been declined due to illegal cutting of the forest trees. For instance, during November 2006, Forest Protection Force seized large quantity of fresh wood from a sawmill at Delina in Baramula District. Similar was the situation of Kupwar District. Likewise, the timber from the forests of Kandi belt of Jammu is being smuggled. About 5-6 decades back, the forests of Bahurakh as well as those of Jindra, Manwal, Majalta and Bajalta, were very thick and inhabited with wild animals, which now have totally deforested. Even the forest of Rajouri and Poonch Districts as well as those of Udhampur, Reasi and Ramban and Districts are being destroyed largely. With the disappearance of these forests, the villages that make 80 per cent of our total populations have degraded. There is an acute shortage of primary needs of village community for fuel, fodder, timber, food, water and other forest products. Agricultural economy is subservient to forests. Decline in agricultural productivity is the natural conquences of deforestation.
Soil erosion is at the once cause and effects of the depletion of forests. Deforestation causes soil erosion and floods, and these in turn cause further damage to forest resources. The Himalayan region including Jammu and Kashmir is most severally eroded and floods of the northern India is the result of deforestation of the Himalayas. Top rich fertile soil that supports vegetation has since been washed away and what is left behind is the infertile mass with coarse texture. This requires heavy manuring to obtain good produce in agriculture including that of fruits, vegetables and forest products.
Strategies for control of deforestation
Step up agroforestry practice: As agroforestry refers to the practice of combining agriculture and forest activities so it provides food, fodder, fuel, fibre and fertilisers which are primary needs of the farmers. Thus, setting up of agroforestry practice in the villages will make villagers self sufficient in their primary needs of fuel, fodder, food as well as timber so that they do not resort to forest damage. Social forestry was meant for this self sufficiency of the rural population.
Use of conventional energy: Use of conventional energy for cooking should be discoursed in the towns and large villages, and these segments of population should be supplied with substitution of kerosene oil or other source. Mass planting drive: Mass planting drive should be launched on the lines of foreign countries as we have lot of vacant waste lands for reforestation.
Planting of fast growing trees and shrubs: Planting of fast growing species of trees and shrubs, which can be harvested on short cycles (three to six months) to long cycles (two to three years) should be planted on mass scale for fire wood and fodder purposes. Environmentalists opine that pasture lands by complete fencing as a remedial measure to allow the natural recovery self generation and increase in productivity. Further receding with quick growing native plant species would restrict soil erosion and consequently help in stabilization of the sloppy range lands.
Adoption of soil conservation measures: Besides reforestation and planting of grasses, agronomic and mechanical or engineering practices like check walls check dams, gully plugging contour trenching etc. should be followed to check the soil erosion. Bunding and terracing, strip cropping, contour farming, mulching, crop rotation, are the main agronomic practices which require to be followed.
Ban onillicit cutting, lopping and fire: Pressure of human and livestock population on the planet earth can be visualized in the form of vegetation which has highly deteriorated. Thefts of forest produce and smuggling of timber have depleted forests growing stock. Medicinal plants growing belts have shrunk. Lopping of broad leaved trees for fodder has threatened out of their existence. Species like harar, bahera, amla, arjun etc; are disappearing largely due to lopping. Forest fires take a heavy toll of trees, shrubs, medicinal herbs as well as soil microorganisms. In the light of the above illicit cutting of forest trees and their lopping vis-à-vis forest fires should be totally banned.
Encroachment of forest land: Over 14,000 hectares of forest land has been encroached upon by the people in the J and K State (Anonymous 2010). As per the record of forest department 9,496 hectares of forest land in the Jammu region and 4,877 hectares in Kashmir valley had been encroached with total forest area of 20,230 km2. This area was largely distributed in the Kashmir valley and the Jammu region. Leh and Kargil are mostly devoid of forest vegetation of the total forest area in the state, 8,128 km2 is in the Kashmir valley, and 12,066 km2 in Jammu, and 36 km2 in Ladakh region. Suitable measures are being taken from time to time by the Forest Department for restoration of encroached and degraded forest land. Recently 1,300 timber sleepers of deodar and kail trees have been seized in Mahore area of Reasi district as per the latest report (Annonymous, 2015). The defaulters must be punished.
By adopting aforesaid measures, the area under forests can be increased. Although according to forest policy of India 33 per cent of the total area of every region in plains and 60 per cent in the Himalayan region must be under forest but unfortunately the forest area in India is not more than 22 per cent. Similarly forest area of Jammu and Kashmir is not more than 20 per cent of the total area of the state. However, according to Satellite it is not more than 10 per cent of total area of Jammu and Kashmir.
(Concluded)
