Renowned forestry and wildlife expert H.S. Panwar asserted here on Saturday that forest conservation and management of protected areas is critical and essential for sustainable development and well-being of people in the forested regions but the forestry sector is handicapped in meeting this mandate.
Dr Panwar was delivering the keynote address at a workshop on “Forestry, Biodiversity and Climate Chang” organised by the Environmental Planning and Coordination Organisation. Setting the pitch for deliberations, the Madhya Pradesh principal secretary housing and environment, Alok Shrivastav cautioned against excessive consumerism and stressed the need for striking a balance between human beings and nature. Drawing attention to the burning problem of climate change, Dr Panwar said that massive extra loads of carbon dioxide mainly due to excessive burning of fossil fuels (petroleum products and coal) has upset the natural carbon cycle.
Dr Panwar said MP had 41 per cent forest cover when he had started his career as a forester. Now the forest cover has come down to about 30 per cent and the status of a large area, which is supposed to be under forest cover, is a cause for serious concern. He said that over the years the situation vis-à-vis human to land ratio has worsened in Madhya Pradesh. The human to bio-productivity ratio is even more adverse at 1:7 due to shrinking and degrading forests. There is demoralisation and a resigned attitude in the forest department, he said and observed that political expediency is resulting in gaps when it comes to achieving the goals of forest conservation.
He said that the forestry sector’s domain is mainly carbon sequestering and effective forest conservation is essential for ecological security, biodiversity and wildlife conservation and also for meeting the dependence needs of forest dwellers and forest-side communities. Through effective conservation strategies, forestry sector can make optimal contribution to climate change mitigation, he added.
Dr Panwar said that healthy natural multi-tier forests carry rich layers of humus on the floor. Plant and animal debris and spongy humus on forest floor retard rainwater flow and promote ground water recharge and enrich forest soil with nutrients. As a result, rich water regime and nutrients optimise forest productivity. This sequesters carbon in trees, herbs, shrubs and grass. Effective forest conservation also moderates flood and drought cycles as forests help in controlling rainwater runoff. The streams retain water perennially or longer into the dry season with less silt load allowing winter and summer crops. Thus enhanced rural incomes reduce dependence on forests.