August 10, 1998

Bring Back the Woods

After four months in office, the environment minister comes up with a new initiative to cover one-third of a denuded India with forests. But will it work?

By Vijay Jung Thapa

Suresh Prabhu strikes you as a man who wants to make an impression -- fast. Say the word "forest" and suddenly, as if switched on by some unseen button, the Union minister for environment and forests turns on the hype with a frenzy. He becomes compelling, almost theatrical as he twitches with energy, flitting from file to file, rattling off figures and, wherever necessary, pausing for dramatic effect. The thing is he has a grandiose goal: to have one-third of the country's total land area covered with trees (an objective around which the National Forest Policy is based) as fast as possible.

And so, within just 100 days of taking over, he has met every single state forest minister, every single state forest secretary, every single principal conservator of forests and every single tribal MP who has anything that vaguely resembles a forest in his constituency. He has also personally written to every forest officer in the country. This done and digested, he has now come out with an elaborate, new forest action plan that he hopes will regenerate the dying forests. "Give it just seven to eight years -- you'll see the results," he promises.

Yeah, right. Forest action plans in conservation circles come as frequently as AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha's threats to pull down the Government. Very few of them address the real issues and India is still losing forests at a rapid rate. Since 1947, we have lost 53,000 sq km of prime forests -- an area larger than Punjab. The problems are complex. As much as 250 million tonnes of wood is lost as fuel in villages every year. But what can be safely collected without harming the existing forests is only 50 million tonnes. Obviously, the deficit is made up by annihilating vast tracts of forests. Similarly, livestock has grown by 66 per cent, while grazing land (mostly due to land-grabbing) has shrunk by as much as 45 per cent. This has forced livestock to raid the forests -- with devastating consequences.

The Forest Survey of India in its latest report estimates the forest cover in the country to be about 19.4 per cent today. And even this is a charade because, of this, the dense forest category (read 40 per cent or more of the area covered by trees) amounts to only 11.7 per cent. In fact, India has, at 0.08 hectares, the lowest per capita forest area in the world, compared to countries like Canada (14.2 hectares), Australia (7.6 hectares) and even China (0.13 hectares).

So what can the new plan do? Prabhu's main thrust is afforestation. India's total land area is about 300 million hectares. This means that to achieve the one-third target he needs to have 100 million hectares of land under forest cover. It's a daunting task. The current forest area hovers around 69 million hectares -- a deficit of 31 million hectares (about as big as Kerala) that need to be under trees. The ministry figures it requires Rs 20,000 crore in the Ninth Plan to achieve this -- something it knows it will never get.

What's new in the action plan is a detailed blueprint to identify (down to district/ village levels) where degraded land that can be afforested is available. Here too, the degraded area needs to be classified into three categories: land that already has existing root stalks, land that needs some enrichment procedures and land that is completely waste. Prabhu's plan is to channel his limited resources only into the second category. "The first category will regenerate with only simple protection and it would be a waste to invest money in the third." Besides, once identified, state governments will be given deadlines (again down to the village level) to achieve the afforestation. "It's a way to pin them down," says A.N. Prasad, dig, forests.

However, many are sceptical. Says S. Debroy, a former additional inspector-general of forests: "It won't work because the states never give a damn." A case in point: to divert forest land for development work one condition put forth by the Centre is that an equivalent area of non-forest land should be provided with enough money to carry out afforestation in the same area. However, records indicate that only 54 per cent of such land taken in lieu of diversion has actually been afforested. As for the money meant for afforestation, up to Rs 200 crore languishes in various state government treasuries. Besides, the non-forest land provided in lieu of prime forest area is usually wasteland that has no commercial value. So, in effect, prime forest land is being acquired for only afforestation money which adds up to a paltry Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 per hectare. Adds Prasad: "We are now thinking of charging market rates for the forests."

The other thrust areas are the Joint Forest Management (JFM) scheme (started eight years ago to involve villagers in forest conservation) and improving the lot of forest officials. Today, 19 states have issued JFM resolutions and there are 28,000 village committees looking after 3.5 million hectares of forests. Though this, in itself, is a huge achievement, there has been criticism that many of these committees get bogged down after the formative stages. But Prabhu wants change. He now wants the Forest Department, instead of the administration, to take up all development work in the two lakh villages in and around forests. The action plan calls for a separate funding institution -- the Joint Forest Management and Development Agency (JFMDA) -- with the district forest officer acting as the chief executive. Prabhu hopes this will also help the demoralised forest official. From a mindset of protecting the forests from the villagers, they are now being asked to work and assist them to solve their problems. A forest guard today is a miserable creature, patrolling an area of about 15 sq km on a rickety bicycle. He also has to deal with poachers armed with sophisticated weapons and irate villagers with numerous problems. The action plan specifically asks for an amendment in the CrPC which will put these guards on a par with the police and allow them to use weapons.

Again, there is criticism. Experts feel the foresters are in a quandary today and there should be a definite delinking of those who guard the forests and those who are in the JFM. And as far as the JFMDA is concerned, everybody seems against it because the JFMs are already addressing developmental work in their areas. Says Arvind Khare, principal consultant, Environment Resource Management, India: "The plan has not taken reality into account. I feel the proposed JFMDA will add another unnecessary bureaucratic level."

In the end, Prabhu is humble enough to accept there will be criticism. But he hopes the forest action plan will work like a guided missile, adapting and adjusting as it goes along. What he promises is cohesive follow-up action. Otherwise, the plan will be just another addition to the list of policies that promised India's forests so much but left it at that.

Issue Contents | Write to us | Subscriptions | Syndication

© Living Media India Ltd