FOREST RESOURCES

ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR

ISLANDS: a case study
CONDITION THAT PREVAILED
BEFORE:
One of the finest tropical evergreen
forests
Rich biodiversity
Low population, tribals living in
harmony with nature.

CONDITION THAT EXISTS NOW:

Forest degradation due to legal and
illegal logging.
Degradation of soil, soil erosion.
Heavy flow of sediments into coastal
waters killing substantial amount of
corals.
Threat to the biodiversity (saltwater
crocodile and Andaman wild pig have
become endangered species).
Threat to tribes.
Population pressure is high.

CAUSES:
Extraction

of timber : from 1883.

Govt. supported migration of people
from other parts of the country.
The 340-km long Andanman trunk
road.
Increased interference of man.

FOREST AREA COVER

Class

Area in sq.km.

Percentage of
Geographic area

DENSE FOREST

377358

11.48

OPEN FOREST

255064

7.76

MANGROVES

4,871

0.15

51,896

1.58

NON FOREST

2,598,074

79.03

TOTAL

3,287,263

100.00

SCRUB

SOURCE : FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 1999

www.mapsofindia.com

www.mapsofindia.com

Our focus will be on :

Present

scenario
Threats posed due to human
activities
The resources
Forest conservation and sustainable
resource use.
Community participation

STATE OF WORLDS FORESTS

The total forest area of the world amounts to 3.6

billion hectares in 1999 , down from 6 billion
hectares 8000 years ago
56 countries have lost between 90 and 100% of
their forests.
15 million hectares of forest were lost annually
in the last two decades,largely in the tropics.
12.5% of plants and 75% of animal species are
threatened by decline of forests
In the developing countries alone, some US$ 45
billion is lost through poor forest management.
About 14 million hectares of forestland are lost
annually, due to conversion of forests into
cropland.
Source: WCFSD report ,1999

Plant species under threat

Threat Category (IUCN )

Extinct
Extinct/Endangered
Endangered
Endangered/Vulnerable
Vulnerable
Rare
Indeterminate
Insufficiently Known
No information
Not threatened

TOTAL

Number of species
19
43
149
2
108
256
719
9
1441
374
3120

IUCN RED LIST OF ENDENGERED SPECIES 2000

Animal species under threat

IUCN RED LIST OF ENDENGERED SPECIES 2000

Medicinal plant(endangered)

For the next 5 years following seven plants

require concentrated attention:

Aloe vera (Ghrita Kumari)

Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi)
Centella asiatica (Mandookparni, Gotu Kola)
Rauwolfia serpentina (Sarpagandha)
Catharanthus roseus (Periwinkle)
Taxus baccata / Taxus wallichiana (Himalayan
Yew)
Artemisia annua

INITIATIVES ON THE PART OF

INDEPENDENT COMISSION
To get a political as well as technical approach for the solutions in forest
degradation a group of 30 former heads of government and state, was
established by the name of world commision on forestes and
sustainable development (WCFSD). The independent commisions
objectives were to:

Increasing awareness about preserving the natural environment and

contributing to economic development.

Broadening the consensus on the data ,science and policy aspects of

forest conservation and management.

Building confidence between north and south on the forest matters, with
emphasis on international cooperation.
the commission held public hearings in Asia,Africa,Euriope,Latin
America and the Caribbean and North America and dealt with forest
dwellings, local communities, farmers, industry executives etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF FORESTS AND

ITS EXPLOITATION
Three
mainor
categories
of forests
Old
growth
frontier forests
arei.e.old
uncut growth,
forests
that have
not been
seriously
by human
secondary
growth
and disturbed
plantations.
activities or natural disasters for several years.
Secondary growth forests are formed due to
result of secondary ecological succession that has
taken place due to clearance by human activities
or natural disasters and then left undisturbed.
Plantations consists of commercially valuable
trees which are managed forests created by
clearing old-growth or second-growth forests.
These are a source of industrial wood.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

PROVIDED BY FORESTS
INDUSTRIAL

WOOD AND FUELWOOD

NON-WOOD

PRODUCTS

ECOSYSTEM

SERVICES

OTHER

CONTRIBUTIONS

Wood and non wood products

Timber
Tendu leaves
Bamboo
Sal seed
Honey
Medicinal plants
Rubber
Pickle
Biodiesel
Ply wood

www.orissafdc.com

Ways of destruction of forests

Natural

Human made

Forest fire
Climatic change

Commercial
logging
Commercial
harvesting
Construction
Intentional fire
Mining

Impact of deforestation
Erosion

of topsoil

Floods
Extinction

of plants and animals

Local climatic change
Global warming
Loss of livelihood of local
communities

 SUSTAINABLE

MANAGEMENT

FO REST

FOREST CONSERVATION
Foresters and local people are working
together to conserve forests.
Extractive Reserves-Protected forest in
whichlocal people are allowed to harvest
products like fruits, fibre , medicine etc.
Main objective is to improve the life of the
people while conserving biodiversity.

Communities involved in Forest

Conservation

Joint Forest Management

Concept introduced in 1980s.

In JFM local communities are involved in
planinng the conservation programme.
`
`eg.-The Tamilnadu Afforestation Project(TAP)

SOCIAL FORESTRY
Used in India in 1976.
Plantation of eucalyptus tree

Efficient use of wood

Paper

made from natural fibres and

agricultural residues.
China plans to make 60 % of its
paper from tree free pulp.
In India Navneet publications use
eco friendly papers to make
copybooks.

Some notable examples in the field

of forest conservation
CHIPKO

MOVEMENT Gaura Devi

The Green Belt Movement Wangari
Maathai
Struggle in AmazoniaChico Mendes
Red wood trees CaliforniaJulia
Butterfly

VASUNDHARA

Vasundhara is a non-governmental organisation,working

primarily in Orissa with natural resources management
focused on sustainable rural livelihoods.
Trying to improve community-state collaboration.
Facilitates policy changes in the direction of sustainable
community
based forest management systems.
Main area of work deals with policy advocacy, research an
documentation, capacity building and networking.
Instrumental in initiating coordinated action and respons
from the civil society on forestry issues.

SOURCE:WWW.ENVINDIA.COM

ACTIONS
RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION-focused on supporting
efforts to improve access and control of eco-system
people,people who depend upon their immediate
ecosystem for sustenance on their natural resources,
forestry-agriculture etc.

NETWORKING AND ALLIANCE BUILDING - especially for

creating a pressure group for policy changes for
devolution of power to local communities for resource
management.
CAPACITY BUILDING EFFORTS-for village institutions
especially in two field locations which include information
generation, networking, alliance building, training
workshops and meetings etc.

Recommendations for conservation

of forests
Stop destructions
of forest
Use

of sustainaible forest
management approach
Research and training programme.
Proper planning for the whole
landscape and not the forest in
isolation

THANK YOU
GROUP 9:
ANANDA SAHA ( 9)
SUBHODIP GANGULI (53)
VIJAYESH KR. PANDEY (57)
VIKAS CHATURVEDI (59)