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♤ The National Commission on Agriculture, Government of India, first used the term ‘social forestry’ in 1976.
♤ It was then that India embarked upon a social forestry project with the aim of taking the pressure off the forests and making use of all unused and fallow land.
♤ Government forest areas that are close to human settlement and have been degraded over the years due to human activities needed to be afforested.
♤ Trees were to be planted in and around agricultural fields. Plantation of trees along railway lines and roadsides, and river and canal banks were carried out. They were planted in village common land, Government wasteland and Panchayat land.
5 F’s
♤ Social forestry also aims at raising plantations by the common man so as to meet the growing demand for food, fuel wood, fodder, fiber and fertilizer etc, thereby reducing the pressure on the traditional forest area.
♤ With the introduction of this scheme the government formally recognised the local communities’ rights to forest resources, and encouraged rural participation in the management of natural resources. Through the social forestry scheme, the government has involved community participation, as part of a drive towards afforestation, and rehabilitating the degraded forest and common lands.
Social forestry scheme can be categorized into groups Farm forestry
♤ Individual farmers are being encouraged to plant trees on their own farmland to meet the domestic needs of the family.
♤ Non-commercial farm forestry is the main thrust of most of the social forestry projects in the country today.
♤ It is to provide shade for the agricultural crops; as wind shelters; soil conservation or to use wasteland.
Community forestry
♤ It is the raising of trees on community land and not on private land as in farm forestry. All these programmes aim to provide for the entire community and not for any individual. The government has the responsibility of providing seedlings, fertilizer but the community has to take responsibility of protecting the trees.
Extension forestry
♤ Planting of trees on the sides of roads, canals and railways, along with planting on wastelands is known as ‘extension’ forestry, increasing the boundaries of forests. Under this project there has been creation of wood lots in the village common lands, government wastelands and panchayat lands.
Recreational forestry
♤ Raising of trees with the major objective of recreation alone.
Do you know?
The atapaka Bird Sanctuary, part of the Kolleru Lake, has been identified as the world’s largest home for the spot-billed pelican.