The Enchanted Forester

It is testimony to T P Singh's devotion to green issues that he refused to join the coveted IAS and opted instead for the Indian Forest Service. There is virtually no post in the world of forestry that this senior fellow at the TERI has not held, yet this self-effacing officer is critical of the role of people like himself in the future of forests. He tells Lalita Panicker that unless people are given a primary stake in forests, all the ambitious plans for forest conservation will remain on paper. What is the main problem in our forest management today? People have been alienated from forest management, they no longer feel the forests belong to them. This is the major reason why we cannot protect the forests. Has this led to greater deforestation? No, actually we have a negative rate of deforestation. But the density of the forests has gone down. This is because degradation is taking place. Is this why there are more and more landslides in the Garhwal area? Though deforestation is one reason, the main reason for landslides is that the Garhwal area still has young mountains. They tend to settle down rather violently at intervals and when this happens the trees come down creating landslides. Politicians have been saying that the new Uttaranchal state will prosper through its forests. Do you think this might mean indiscriminate felling? I cannot say for sure. But I think they should take this opportunity to promote eco-tourism. Uttaranchal can cash in on religious tourism as well. I am in fact preparing a document on eco-tourism for the region. I don't think it will be easy to carry out any illegal felling because the Supreme Court has banned felling above an elevation of 1,000 metres without prior approval. Every forest has a ten-year master plan and not much can be done outside of this. Has all this really worked? Felling has definitely come down, the contractor system has almost been eradicated. Most forests are now worked by the forest corporations, eliminating the contractor system. What is really worrying, however, is the water shortage in the region. Earlier when I was posted there, we would drink from the springs, now they have all dried up. Roads and houses have come up around the forest areas. Once again, I reiterate that people must understand the importance of water conservation and be involved in forest management. When they develop a stake in productivity from the forest, things will work but this has to mean less bureaucracy. Does the Forest Policy of 1988 take this factor into account? Yes, it does. In fact, in 1990 the government issued an order to states to involve the people in forest management and many states have done so. This has actually increased the proceeds from the forests and this has gone into development, schools, roads etc. The government has given forests less than one per cent in the budget, so ways have to be devised to reduce the dependency on government. At the policy level, what I feel needs to be done, is to factor in a green budget in all development projects whether it is a big dam or some other project. We have suggested this to the Planning Commission and the response has been positive. Do you feel that the drive to plant only one species of trees for quick returns is a problem? There are two types of monocultures. One happens naturally, when the forest itself evolves to a single species. But when a certain species is artificially introduced, the most famous case being eucalyptus, it goes against the principles of conservation. Certain trees like teak permit no undergrowth leading to soil erosion. One inch of lost soil takes 100 years to replace. Another disturbing phenomenon is a tendency to go in for pine forests these days. They yield very little by way of timber or fodder and are in fact a fire hazard. The Chipko movement was aimed at forest conservation, but have we moved to the next stage where conservation can be married with profitability? We can do this when people are introduced to the concept of farm forestry. People must plant trees for fodder and fuel and not touch the forest. The government must remove restrictions on felling one's own trees. Whenever the government comes in, corruption comes in. These restrictions have created an unorganised market in forest produce where people are being fleeced by contractors. Can information technology play a role in more efficient forest management? We have already suggested that the Internet be used to post prices for forest produce like timber. A survey done across 11 districts in UP found that the farmers were eager for information on where they could get the best price for their produce. Perhaps, this way people in one forest area could also learn from experiences in other forest areas. Absolutely. In fact, across the board, there is need for greater information sharing. Let me give you an example. Suppose I am a forest official carrying out some plantation activity. I have to get people involved in this, they must know what I am doing. We should have a clear board on which the types of trees being planted are posted, telephone numbers where more information is available, the value of these trees, how to manage them and so on. Andhra Pradesh has actually come up with what is called a sunset clause, where every forest management clause has to be modified and where all rules and regulations have to posted on the Net. All government departments must have brochures telling people everything they need to know about the forests. But the bureaucracy still feels comfortable working without the people. Should science not play a greater role in maximising returns from the forest in a sustainable manner? We tend to forget the role of science in forest management. We have been using the same plantation technology for the last 200 years. We need science to improve trees, we need to experiment with different new species. The new species of eucalyptus available in other parts of the world, for example, yield far more wood. The problem is that donor agencies are focusing on the social aspects only. We need to constantly upgrade forest nurseries. Again, AP has done this quite successfully. How crucial, in your view, are forests to climate change? Forests are natural sinks for carbon dioxide. The choice of species is also very important. If we know a particular area is prone to climatic disturbances, we can choose an appropriate species to plant there. We must also plan for the natural movement of species so that it is in harmony with climate. This could be done by creating corridors in the forest so that species can expand and animals can move around naturally. But a lot more work needs to be done on the role of forests in climate change.