Forests are natural assets and provide a variety of benefits to the economy. Though the recorded forest area is about 23 per cent of the geographical area of the country much of this is degraded. There forests are therefore unable to play an important role in 11
environmental sustainability and in meeting the forest produce needs of the people,
industry and other sectors. The problem and constraints in forestry development include lack of awareness about multiple roles and benefits of forests; especially its role in drought-proofing and prevention of soil and water runoff; no linkage between management and livelihood security of the people; low level of technology; inadequate research and extension; weak planning capability, wastage in harvesting an processing; market imperfections; overemphasis on government involvement and control; low level of people’s participation and NGOs involvement; lack of private sector participation; unwanted restrictions on felling, transport and marketing of forest produce grown by the people; lack of inter-sectoral coordination; and, conflicting roles of public forest administration.
Existing policy, laws, rules, regulations and executive orders should be reviewed for
removing constraints in holistic development of forestry with people’s participation.
Areas where action by government is needed and where the government programmes have not been up to the mark include:
Focus on farm forestry which has been surprisingly diluted since 1991 despite its
enormous potential, especially in agriculturally backward areas.
Measures to sustain JFM beyond the project period have not been conceptualized.
These relate to: building one-to-one correspondence between user groups and
forest patch through a new forest settlement, reorganization of JFM groups in law and linking them with statutory panchayats, and integrating the activities of such groups with other income generating programmes such as watersheds and marketing of NTFPs.
Protecting women’s traditional usufruct rights and enabling women’s group to collect and market NTFPs has been proved to be viable and cost effective strategy not only for women’s empowerment but also for renewal of forests. It is important to acknowledge and recognize women as managers, food gatherers, wage earners and producers. Forestry development policies must be developed accordingly.
Continuing subsidies on government auctions of wood and bamboo to industries, which act as a disincentive to industry to pay a remunerative price to farmers. Governments need to examine the pattern of subsidy to forest based industries and wipe out that subsidy in a time-bound manner so as to improve valuation of forests.
The tariff structure on forest-based products such as timber and pulp keeping in view the incentive effect on farmers.
Poor understanding of the social implications of technology; old style plantations still continue to be funded despite the 1988 policy. Forest technology should be changed by shifting attention from timber to floor management and production of more gatherable biomass.
Classification of bamboo as NTFP thereby providing rights to tribal population and other forest dwellers over this resource. Bamboo harvesting policy systematically maximizes dry bamboo output for paper mills rather than green bamboo output for artisans. In fact the present practices ban felling of green 12 bamboo. Streamlining the procedure for making green bamboo available directly to artisans.
Gregarious flowering of bamboo is expected from 2003 onwards. This will result in mass mortality of bamboo, fire, increase of rodents, famines and unrest in tribal areas. Emergency plan should be formulated to face the calamity.
Forest fire prevention and control should be given top priority to reduce losses and emission of greenhouse gases.
Conservation and development of medicinal plants should be given priority to meet the local crude drug requirements and for export.
Agro forestry, mountain, watershed development, river valleys, arid areas, wastelands afforestation programme should be given priority.
Research and technologic al development must increase productivity, production of new products, value addition, improved marketing, export and productive employment generation.
Promotion of coastal shelterbelts plantations for prevention of natural calamities.
An integrated system for addressing issues of animal welfare, including ecology, safety and commercial exploitation will need to be evolved (18).
Targets to bring greater areas under forest protection have been set for the five year periods 2002-2007 and 2007-2012. It has been proposed that the forest cover of the country should be increased to 25 per cent by 2007 and 33 per cent by 2012. This would mean bringing up extensive tracts of land under tree cover which would require a substantial investment both by the government and private sector.
The main elements of the strategy for 10th plan will include convergence of afforestation schemes to avoid duplicity and canalize smooth flow of funds; introduction of multi cropping system and promotion of agro forestry/ farm forestry; increased role and involvement of private sector in plantation; removing of bottlenecks and reviewing felling and transit rules and standardization of cost norms under afforestation schemes. It also includes provision of quality planting material, infusion of improved and innovative technologies in nursery plantation, suitable protection against forest fires, pest attack and other diseases, strengthening of JFM net work for greater involvement of people and sustaining such programmes, strengthening of monitoring mechanism through establishment of IT network, development and sustainable management of NTFPs including medicinal plants, review of state monopoly on NTFPs, revival of working plans, strengthening of human resource planning and management and evolving Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) instrumentations .

National river conservation directorate (NRCD)
DONOR PRIORITIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

The International Human Development Programme (IHDP)

Winrock International India

NGO'S PRIORITIES IN THE ENVIRONMENT SECTOR

Development Alternatives (DA)

The Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR)

Foundation for the Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions

Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI), New Delhi

The Small Industries Pollution Problem

Environment Protection, Energy Conservation & Audit Services [Page-21]