HCS study notes: Haryana's Environment

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Updated : Oct 12, 2018, 16:15

By : Arpit Kumar Jain

HCS study notes: Haryana's Environment

Biodiversity

 State Bird – Black Francolin

 State Tree – Peepal
 State Flower – Lotus
 State Animal - BlackBuck
 Vegetation: Deciduous forest and Thorny bushes are most prevalent vegetation.
 Important trees: Mulberry, Eucalyptus, Pine, Shisham, Babul, etc.
 Fauna: Nilgai, Black Buck, Panther, Fox, etc.

National Parks

 Kalesar National park – Yamunanagar District

 Sultanpur National park – Gurgaon District

Wildlife Sanctuary
  Abubshehar WS – Sirsa district
 Bhindawas WS – Jhajjar district
 Bir Shikargarh WS – Panchkula district
 Chhilchhila WS – Kurukshetra district
 Kalesar WS – Yamunanagar district
 Khaparwas WS – Jhajjar district
 Nahar WS – Rewari district
 Saraswati WS – Kaithal district

Zoological Parks

 Mini Zoo – Kurukshetra district

 Rohtak Zoo – Rohtak district

Deer Parks

 Deer Park – Hisar

Afforestation

 With 80% of its land is under cultivation the state of Haryana is predominantly an
agricultural state. Thus the scope to notify forest areas is very less. The notified forest
area is only 3.9 %.
 The forest department has taken various initiatives to increase the forest cover and
tree cover by plantation programmes under Social Forestry Initiatives on
government lands, common lands, panchayat lands, and other wastelands.
 Also, the forest department distributes the seeds free of cost to farmers, government
departments, and institutions, village people, etc.
 Forest Department undertakes plantations on an average 20,000 ha area annual basis.
 Approximately 60% of the plantation is done outside the notified forests.
 Due to large-scale plantation initiated by forest department on non-forest lands as well
as the adoption of tree farming by farmers, the forest & tree cover of the state has
increased to 6.80% as per the State of Forests Report published by Forest Survey of
India Dehradun in 2011.
 Forest Department has set a goal to achieve 20% of forest and tree cover in a phased
manner in the state. This goal can be achieved only when major thrust is given to
agroforestry and plantations on lands outside the notified forest areas.

Conservation of Wildlife

 Though the forest cover is less in this state the bio-diversity is abundant
especially bird species are prominent here, mostly migratory birds.
 Out of nearly 1250 bird species recorded in the Indian subcontinent; approximately
500 species of birds are found in Haryana State.
 Two-pronged strategies by the forest department for best preserving the wildlife in
their natural habitat was adopted. One is Protection and the other is Awareness
generation
 The department is giving emphasis on habitat protection as well as protection against
poaching.
  The aim of wildlife conservation is being achieved through in-situ and ex-situ
conservation strategies.
 For in-situ conservation of wildlife inside their natural habitat, 2 National Parks, 8
Wildlife Sanctuaries and 2 Conservation Reserves have been established in the state.
 As part of ex-situ conservation efforts breeding of Red Jungle Fowlis being done
near Pinjore. Red Jungle Fowl in Shiwaliks of Haryana is considered to be of pure
breed, which is also verified by Centre for DNA/Fingerprinting and Diagnostics
(CDFD), Hyderabad.
 With the Gyps Vulture species on the brink of extinction, the department has
established Vulture Conservation and BreedingCentre near Pinjore in collaboration
with Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB), Zoological Society of London
(ZSL) the United Kingdom and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
 The department has established deer park at Hisar and mini zoos at Bhiwani, Rohtak,
and Pipli to create awareness about wildlife conservation.
 A Peacock & Chinkara Conservation and Breeding Centre has been established at
Jhabua Reserve Forest in Rewari district.

Soil and Water Conservation

 Lack of dense vegetation in this state leads to more soil erosion, run-off, siltation, etc..
the Shiwalik hills which act as a watershed of the state are prone to more soil
problems due to lack of dense vegetation, and during monsoon seasons heavy soil
erosion takes place.
 The government has taken various measures to conserve the topsoil and run-off water.
 Soil and water conservation structures have been built. Structural Interventions for
catchment area treatment along with biological remedial measures and social
fencing is developed to reduce the soil erosion and to prevent scouring and
undercutting of hill surfaces, channel banks and for stabilized channel bed slopes.
 The structural measures include staggered contour trenches, peripheral trenches,
gully plugs, spurs, studs, check dams, silt retention dams, relevant crate wire
structures, and drop structures.
 The bio-remedial measures include vegetative/brushwood check dams across
channels, vegetative spurs in single or double lines, vegetative filters and grass
barriers, vegetative gully plugs and stabilization of poundage area by planting trees
and mulching with locally available biomass.
 In addition to structural and bio-remedial measures, the effective closure to animal
grazing and illicit felling of vegetation with peoples active participation can be the
most effective social fencing measure in the rehabilitation of degraded catchments.
 Awareness and motivation are needed both among the local people, NGOs, and
public functionaries.