Role of Foresters in Disaster Management
- Part 1 -

By PMVS Mony and Anil Kumar *

Introduction

Forests and Foresters have a greater-role to play in Disaster Management by virtue of being the custodians of forest and a large renewable resource base and its inhabitants. More than one fifth of the land is managed by the foresters. There is large variance in forest cover in the districts from heavily forested area to no forest area. Country is endowed with large tracts of waste land, land under agriculture, underutilized land, landless laborers in comparison to European countries. Sunshine and average rainfall are all linked and converging for more bio-mass production.

Most of tribal population and others live in forest and adjoining forest area. It is estimated that about twenty crore people sustain on forests (directly & indirectly). Biomass availability and accessibility directly enhances the coping mechanism against disasters and reduces the vulnerability and in turn disasters mitigation. Adequate biomass production provides safety against the disaster it could be proved to be Panacea for disaster mitigation and small timber are the versatile materials in Disaster Management and it is poor man’s safety insurance.

The bamboo is an ideal construction material for house in the earthquake prone areas, as well as in North East region & other biomass prevent land slides. They are effective materials against soil erosion, river bank protection, shelter belt in cyclone areas and breaks acts as against the sea tide (man groves).

In rural and arid areas, trees are the safety insurance against drought. Trees provides shelter in times of flood. Mangroves are very effective natural protection against sea erosion, cyclone & tsunami. Biomass is a safety against drought. Thus, forests play an important role in disasters management.

Material and Method:

1. Deforestation and Degradation of Land

At the time of independence India was having 22.74% of the total geographical area as Forest but according to State forest Review (FSI) the forest cover is reduced to 19.39% in 1999 and to 20.60% in 2005. The Indian forests experienced tremendous loss during the mid-1970s to 1980. The rate has somewhat been arrested after the promulgation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, but it still remains a cause of concern and alarm. There is need for forest cover to be 1/3rd on plains & 2/3rd in the Hills.

The latest State of Forest Report-of Forest Survey of India assessed the actual area of forest cover as 63.34 million ha. The comparative data of forest cover as estimate by the forest Survey of India in its publications are given below in table.

Forest cover as Estimate by the FSI from 1987 to 1999 (sq km)

Cycle	Year	Forest cover (sq.km)	Percentage of geographic area
First	1987	640,819	19.49
Second	1989	638,804	19.43
Third	1991	639,364	19.45
Forth	1993	639,386	19.45
Fifth	1995	638,879	19.43
Sixth	1997	638,879	19.27
Seventh	1999	637,293	19.39
Eight	2001	653,898	19.89
Ninth	2003	677,816	20.62
Eleventh	2005	677,088	20.60

* The present assessment is based on digital interpretation of the satellite data of Nov-Dec 2004/February 2005.
http://www.fsi.org.in/

2. Loss of Natural Forests

The main concern, based on the available information is that despite increase of the plantation area, loss of natural forests continues to take place. Plantation is not sufficient enough to fully compensate for the loss of natural forests, since they have very different attributes/functions.

The other serious issues to be looked into is that degradation of natural forests is due to over use, lack of protection and unemployment among the rural people and demand for forests products in urban areas. The deteriotion of quality. Stocking condition and productivity of forests is a matter of serious concern. Most of the forest areas in the country are ecologically in various stages of retrogression.

Deforestation leads to less rainfall that results in drought situation. In case of heavy rainfall soil erosion and landslide takes place which cause damage to culverts, dams and siltation of lakes and rivers etc. Landslide version of river water course, causes damage to the agriculture land and human-animal conflict habitats. Water pollution gives rise to ‘health problems to both man and animal.

3. Causes of Deforestation:

The major factors responsible for shrinking of the forests area of the country are:

(i) Human and cattle population explosion around forest thus overgrazing, by cattle and use of forests for fodder and fuel etc.

(ii) Human activities - Agriculture (including shifting cultivation) Multipurpose irrigation projects, roads, Erection of transmission lines, Clearing of forests for encroachments (industrialization, urbanization and human settlement). Illicit felling, forest litter removal, looping for fodder and fuel wood etc.

(iii) Forest fires and other disasters such as landslides, earthquake, cyclone, floods, drought etc.

4. Deforestation and Disasters:

The ill effects of deforestation and forest degradation are enormous, affecting the-overall welfare of the people It causes heavy social cost. In brief these negative impacts fall in two categories:

(a) Environmental impact: It includes loss of Ecological stability, damages to the ecological foundations of agriculture, loss of bio-diversity, reduction in carbon sink capability, effects of climate change, flood, drought and related losses, damages to watershed, silting up of reservoirs, soil erosion, desertification and changes in hydrological regime.

(b) Economic impact: It includes fall in agricultural productivity and crop yields, scarcity for forest products, closure/unused capacity of forest industries continues and cumulative disinvestment of forest capital.

The major adverse impacts of deforestation and its contribution in increasing the vulnerability may be enlisted as follows:

(i) Deforestation has increased the frequency and intensity of other cataclysmic disaster Le. soil erosion, landslides, silting, floods, droughts, desertification etc.

(ii) Deforestation in the country has very adversely affected the eco-balance resulting into various problem - ultimately leading to increase in vulnerability of the society and the land to various forms of natural hazards (Crop Change).

(iii) In ecologically, more sensitive and destabilized areas like Himalayas the impact of deforestation have been more severe which directly or indirectly affects the lower plains of the country also.

(iv) Deforestation in Himalayas has increased the severity of flooding during rainy season and reduced stream flows and dried up of springs during dry seasons.

(v) The increase of soil erosion has reduced the water carrying capacity of the. rivers resulting into swallowing their beds leading to floods in the plains.

(vi) Ever increasing population pressure and increasing demand for food/and fodder with no alternative source of livelihood has forced the people to exploit the limited natural resource and convert forest land even in very sensitive zones to Agriculture field cause enormous loss to environment and stability of the region. (Tropical cultivation in sloppy areas.)

(vii) Deforestation and other allied land degradation activitiis such as water logging, flooding, ravines, shifting cultivation mining water logging, soil erosion, landslides and desertification etc. have affected more then half of the total geographical of the country.

(viii) The deforestation of mangrove forest has made the costal region more susceptible to erosion and causing more damage to human settlement.

(ix) It has also enhanced the people’s vulnerability to natural hazard (increasing both the risk and exposure to disaster). The deforestation and destruction of other natural resources has compelled the people from the rural area to migrate in search of new livelihood in urban area, which lead to increase vulnerability to disasters.

(x) Climate change and disasters: Large scale deforestation and non Sustainable over use of other natural resource has caused pollution leading to global change in environment. This human in induced climate change has increased the overall global temperature resulting excessive snow melting of glaciers causing water related disasters. The global warming is also upto certain extent responsible for the rain/fall variation, accelerating desertification, and land degradation.

Loss in agriculture production (particularly rain fed) human and cattle’s health deterioration scarcity, of water resource are other adverse impact of global warming on society. All this factor have a compounded defect on the impact of occurrence of natural disasters, beside escalating the intensity of frequency of water related disasters. They also increase the vulnerability of the society, particularly in the sensitive zone, like Himalayas and the coastal areas towards Disasters.

To be continued.....

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* PMVS Mony and Anil Kumar wrote this article for The Sangai Express.
The writer is Addl Principal, Chief Conservator of Forest. He may be reached at anilkr(at)yahoo(dot)in
This article was webcasted on August 22 2011.

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