Forest Management in India Challenges and opportunities

Dr V K Bahuguna, IFS Director General ICFRE

Status of forest management in India with references to challenges and opportunities

What is ICFREs contribution in meeting those challenges

Forest Cover in India

23.81% of the total geographic area of the country is under forests and Tree cover (as per ISFR 2011) Against the goal of 33.33% as per national forest policy

Balancing Pressures on Forests

Conservation

Development

Sustainable Management

Challenges
Degradation of biodiversity and life support systems Food and water security Ever mounting Population pressure on natural resources Forest Dependence syndrome

Meeting National goal of 3 to 4 cubic meters of biomass per hectare per year
Limited land availability. Climate change: Drought, salinity, flooding, high CO2

Forestry

Livelihood means for farmers

Meeting enhanced industrial raw material requirements.

Increasing quality of the natural forest, scaling up tree cover outside forest, and enhancement of productivity of plantations both inside & outside forest through technological interventions

Net-Change in the Forest Cover since 2001 Assessment

(Area in km2)
Assessme nt Year 2001 2003 Change Dense Forest 416,809 390,564 - 26,245 Open Forest 258,729 287,769 29,040 Total Forest Cover 675,538 678,333 2,795

2005
2007 2011 Change(2007)

403,420
402,522

286,751
288,377

690,171
690,899 6,92,027

- 898

1,626

728

Comparative Figures of Growing Stock (2003 Assessment)

World Asia South and South East Asia India 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Cubic meter per hectare

2011 Assessment: Total GS of India is 6047.15 m cum (Inside Forest: 4498.73 m cum & TOF: 1548.42 m cum) Total carbon stock of coutrys forests: 6663 m tonnes

GS in forest for top 10 forest species 2007 Assessment

Name of the Species Shorea robusta Tectona grandis Pinus roxburghii Total Vol % 8.53 4.59 3.10 Total Stem % 8.13 7.32 2.14

Terminalia crenulata
Anogeissus latifolia

3.06
2.80

3.74
4.26

Abies pindrow
Quercus semicarpifolia Cedrus deodara Pinus excelsa Abies smithiana

2.47
2.15 2.05 2.03 1.98

0.44
0.96 0.59 0.83 0.20

NATURAL FOREST MANAGEMENT Present challenges

Reduced dependence on natural forests for wood production. The inventories suggest that the contribution of commercial timber species of the growing stock of forest is fast decreasing. Regeneration is insignificant for these valuable spp. Yield of bamboo coupes decreasing due to lack of appropriate clump management interventions in natural bamboo forests.

NATURAL FOREST MANAGEMENT Present Scenario

Substantial decrease of NTFP & medicinal plants. Retrogressive succession is fast engulfing the different types of forest types giving place to obnoxious weeds. Serious impairment of nutrient cycling of the forest ecosystem because of regular incidences of fire, uncontrolled grazing, erosion and compactness of the site.

NATURAL FOREST MANAGEMENT Present Scenario

- Advent of JFM to manage and protect the degraded forest through manipulation of various cultural operations (revitalization of viable rootstock of economically important species, stool coppicing, singling, gap planting; clump management of bamboos; preferential treatment of NTFP species) with intensive smc works. - No sustainable livelihood base in terms of short-rotation plantations to get continuous annual economic returns

Joint Forest Management as strategy to link livelihood with conservation Two decades of evolution. 1,18,213 JFMCs managing 22.94 million ha of forest land in the country. Annual benefit per JFMC works out to Rs 2.50 lakhs and annual monetary benefit of forest produce per family comes to Rs 1943.94.

ICFRE
Shimla

National presence
Himalayan Forest Research Institute
Centre for Social Forestry & Eco-rehabilitation, Allahabad

ICFRE headquarters
Dehradun

Institute of Forest Productivity

Ranchi

Forest Research Institute

Dehradun

Arid Forest Research Institute

Jodhpur

Rain Forest Research Institute

Jorhat Centre for Forestry Research & HRD, Chindwara Advanced Research Centre for Bamboo & Rattans, Aizawl

Tropical Forest Research Institute

Jabalpur

Institute of Wood Science and Technology

Bangalore

Forest Research Centre, Hyderabad

Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding

Coimbatore

HUMAN RESOURCE
A. Scientific staff
i) Scientists ii) IFS iii) RO

280 85 62 682 1048

B. Technical staff
(RA I, RA II, TA Gr C, etc.)

C) Others
(Administrative / Support)

Total

2157

ICFREs contribution
Managing forests and forest products for livelihood support
Ex-situ medicinal plant gardens (NE region) Model plantations of bamboo (Six zones of TN) Agroforestry demonstration plots (Central / NE
Regions)

Reclaiming waterlogged areas (TFRI) Eco-restoration of overburden dumps mines

(Eastern region)

Models for Jhum lands (NE) Natural dyes (FRI) Bio-fertilizers (IFGTB)

Biodiversity security

conservation

and

ecological

Eco-friendly pest management (Southern India)

Precision silviculture practices for casuarina

(IFGTB)

Plant diversity assessment of protected areas (TFRI) Digitization of FRI herbarium (3.3 lakh specimen) Preservation of DNA of 1000 fungi (FRI)

Forestry interventions for climate change mitigation and adaptation

Micro met tower to measure canopy level gaseous exchange at FRI Soil organism carbon inventory for some states Phenological studies in relation to climate change

Task Force to undertake a comprehensive study on Assessment of Forest Types of India

The forest types of India classified in 1968, Since then forests of India have undergone a number of changes due to several factors including climatic variations

Vital basic information for Forest Management

Key for monitoring impact of climate change

Management and improvement of forest genetic resources

Guidelines for Testing and Releasing of Tree Varieties and Clones High yielding clones of Eucalyptus, Casuarina, poplar and other species released 188 rhizomes of 115 bamboo clones conserved (NE) Germplasm bank of selected oil yielding trees (FRI) Productive hybrids and clones of Shisham (FRI) Genetic Improvement of tamarind in South India Genotyping and DNA fingerprinting (IFGTB/FRI) Timber Forensics (FRI)

FRI University
Doctoral programmes (1285) 4 M.Sc. Courses (2649)
M.Sc. Forestry, M.Sc. Wood Science & Technology, M.Sc. Environment Management & M.Sc. Cellulose & Paper Technology

1 Post Masters Diploma Course (Natural Resource

Management )

2 Post Graduate Diploma Courses

Forest Genetics, Tree Improvement & Biotechnology Aroma Technology

NEW INITIATIVES.

SAARC Scholarship South Asian Network Institutes

of

Forestry

Research

Extension Activities
Van Vigyan Kendras
joint collaboration with SFD

Demonstration Village
joint collaboration with SFD

Inbuilt extension component Direct to Consumer Scheme

An innovative initiative to link research directly with field application.

Environment Management
Consultancies
Completed Ongoing Total Number 30 13 43

Total cost
(Rs. in crore) 11.55 5.62 17.17

Only organisation doing holistic EIA

Hydropower, Mining, Tourism and Infrastructure Development

 76 lakh plants Spread over 1,398 villages, 61,000 farmers, all 16 blocks of Vaishali district 4.5 to 7.0 lakh metric tonnes of wood production from 2015 onwards Expected income of USD 4000 per ha

Innovative Poplar based Agroforestry program in Vaishali district

NEW INITIATIVES.

FIRST INDIAN FOREST CONGRESS 2011

Organized from November 22nd to 25th, 2011 Key Scientific event in India in the International Year of forests 2011 Eminent personalities attended Broad spectrum of Stakeholders participated Adoption of 17 point Charter

Forestry in the Service of Nation: ICFRE Technologies

Lack of information earlier - Now in Public Domain - ICFRE technologies & processes developed, extension activities undertaken, contribution in forestry education & informing readers about the history of scientific forestry in India.
-

Voices From The Field

- 36 stories from grass-roots to share and inspire - Have impacted the life of a common man - Forest Protection

Research Publications of ICFRE & Institutes

S. No
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Institute
Forest Research Institute, Dehradun Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore Rain Forest Research Institute, Jorhat Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur

Publications
7,923 484 166 599 83 626 63 728

Total

10,662

On an av., 500-600 per year; 25% in foreign published journals

Revamped Thrust Areas

1. Managing forests and forest products for livelihood support and economic growth 2. Biodiversity conservation and ecological security 3. Forests and climate change 4. Forest genetic resource management and Tree Improvement 5. Forestry Education and Policy Research to meet emerging challenges 6. Forestry Extension for taking Research to People
Above thrust areas are further divided into 35 themes for focused research.

NEW INITIATIVES.

Ginger Group
Consultative group of ICFRE scientists

To think beyond the traditional concept of stakeholder / demand driven / need driven research concepts To bring innovative ideas and out of box thinking for solving the problems of Consumers on the issues relating to emerging challenges of forestry science

NEW INITIATIVES.

Knowledge Pool
Consultative group of field foresters at ICFRE To bring innovative ideas for solving the contemporary problems of forest management in the country To improve the communication between scientists, research workers and consumers/ stakeholders of research

NEW INITIATIVES.

Think Tank
Nationwide representation of scientific force Eminent Foresters and Scientists from all over the country

To infuse new thinking and address the gaps between forestry and research

All India Coordinated Projects

All India Climate Change Forestry Research Programme AICFP Fringe forest area development linked to livelihood, food and water security and climate change Resource potential of NTFPs Bio-prospecting and Bio-piracy Tree improvement Forest hydrology Mangrove and marine ecology Agro-forestry Biodiversity

Proposed New Initiatives in the council

State of knowledge report in 35 thematic areas. Establishment of Forest Phyto-diversity Network in India Establishment of Conservation Centre for Rare and Endemic Species at Nilgiris in India Establishment of National Bureau of Forest Genetic Resources Establishment of Certification Mechanism for Sustainable Forest Produce

Upgrading Aizawl Centre as an Institute (Bamboo and Rattans Research Institute) Upgradation of Forest Research Centre, Hyderabad to a full fledged Forest Research Institute Establishment of an Advanced Research Centre for Ecology and Biodiversity in Western Ghats of Maharashtra Establishment of Centre for Forestry research and Technology Demonstration Agartala, Tripura Disaster Management Establishment of Adivasi Van Vikas Kendras (AVVKs) in states

 Tree Ambulance concept in urban areas Centre for Saline and Coastal belt Afforestation & Rehabilitation' under AFRI, Jodhpur Centre for Transfer of Technology at Guwahati Establishment of National Academy of Forestry Sciences (NAFS) Establishment of the Institute of Forest Chemical Technology Institution for forest based livelihood

Thank you for this opportunity