Forests mired in problems

The woods are neither lovely nor deep in the State. Unfortunately, the State’s forest wealth is diminishing by the day. Contradictory policies and lack of a comprehensive approach towards forest conservation are slowly turning the forests brown. Only a small portion of forests (protected areas such as national parks and sanctuaries), receive comparatively best protection, are in their pristine condition. The rest is saddled with several problems.

Forest wealth

Karnataka ranks 18th in the country in terms of forest cover with 19.3 per cent of its land covered by it. Compared to many other states in the country, the number of types and habitats are very high. A significant portion of the Western Ghats, which is one among the 25 bio-diversity hotspots of the world, is found in Karnataka. It covers about 60 per cent of the forest area of Karnataka. A rich diversity of flora and fauna and most of which are still unknown to the scientific community can be found here.

The Shola forests, which are unique to the world, are found on mountain ranges at the Western Ghats. In the high rainfall region along the Western Ghats are the evergreen forests and down the Ghats are patches of moist deciduous forests. While the drier tracts and the plains have the dry deciduous and scrub jungles, the coastal region harbours a set of unique forests called as the mangroves. There are five national parks and 21 wildlife sanctuaries in State.

Diversion of forests

Despite housing rich bio-diversity, forests receive low priority. Contiguous stretches of forests are now in a fragmented state due to developmental activities like dams, canals, roads, mining, encroachments, agriculture and plantations.

Between 1956 and 1980, Karnataka lost 1,915.64 square km of forests for development. In the next two decades (between 1981 to 2002), another 345.20 sq km was cleared, of which 228.23 sq km alone went towards regularisation of encroachments and diversion for agriculture.

The decrease in diversion of forestlands in the last 20 years is mainly because of the enactment of the Forest Conservation Act in 1980 (FCA). Fragmentation of forests has led to problems for the wildlife. It has resulted in loss of corridors and migratory routes of wild animals and birds. A commonly encountered problem is the straying of elephants into agricultural lands leading to human-animal conflicts.

Paucity of funds

The problem runs deeper. Senior forest officials blame lack of staff, infrastructure and funds for the problem.

The plan outlay for forest department including externally aided projects is about one per cent of State’s annual budget. Considering that the department controls about 20 per cent of land in the State, the funds are dismal. As of 2001, the department had a shortfall of 2,200 personnel. A single guard with a stick in his hand has to patrol hundreds of acres on foot and deal with poachers who are equipped with rifles and jeeps.

“Most of the frontline staff who work as forest guards and watchers are temporary staff and would not always want to risk their life to save an elephant or a tiger. Sometimes, senior officers stay outside the forests in cities and towns and are not readily available during a crisis,” says a retired forest officer.

Involving community in conservation is the new mantra now. All along the Western Ghats there are patches of forests dedicated to gods called as Devarakadu.

These are forests conserved over centuries by people as an expression of important relationship to the God or Nature. These forests are also proof that our ancestors knew about forests and their importance. The State has more than 1,500 major sacred groves and Kodagu district alone has 15,500 acres of forests considered as sacred.

Communities in and around forests have never been considered as players in improving forest governance and conservation. In recent decades, however this mindset is changing. Afforestation programmes and forests are increasingly being managed by involving people around forests through joint forest management. The sustainability of this initiative in the State is uncertain as it is largely driven by foreign funds and is project-based.

There is a strong need to connect the urban people to the problem of forest destruction. The onus of conserving forests and wildlife, have been left to bureaucrats, corrupt politicians without considering urban centres, which draw abundant resources.

Many projects such as mining, power and water supply (which result in destruction of forests and wildlife) largely cater to urban needs.

              

THE VERDICT

The CAG report, 2003 says: “There has been laxity in the State Forest Department in monitoring the forest offence cases from the stage of their initiation till the disposal. The success rate of prosecutions of forest offenders has been very low. There have been innumerous delays in transportation of seized materials and in disposal of confiscated materials. Discrepancies were noticed in accounting of seized forest produce. Records for watching the progress of cases were incomplete.”

POOR PRIORITIES

Forests are storehouses for plant and animal genetic resources. They protect hydrological systems and regulate stream flow and protect soil erosion and act as carbon sinks. Forests have always been considered as a source of revenue rather than valued for its ecosystem services and this thinking needs to be changed. They also meet a large share of energy needs of the rural population and fodder for the cattle. Many of the non-timber forest produce such as tamarind, medicinal plants and fruits provide sustenance to rural people and tribals. But loss of forests is doing long-term damage to the viability of our rivers, soils, agriculture and bio-diversity resources that are crucial to the well-being of the people in the State. The prime example is the Bhadra dam which is filled with silt due to mining in the Western Ghats. 

This article appeared in Deccan Herald Newspaper on 17th August, 2004.