ADVERTISEMENTS:
1. Success of Farm Forestry but Neglect of Village Forestry:
The programme of social forestry has two main components—afforestation of village lands and planting trees on private lands, called farm forestry. In terms of sheer production of trees, the programme of farm forestry has been immensely successful, leading even to a glut in eucalyptus wood in certain areas of Gujarat and Karnataka.
The other component, village or community forestry, however, has failed to take off because local people are not effectively involved, villages are often heterogeneous and lack a cohesive spirit, village councils are multi-village bodies which do not inspire confidence in every constituent village, and there is no tradition of management of common lands.
2. Market Oriented Trees Preferred; Fuel wood and Fodder Trees Neglected:
This not only implied deviation from the stated objectives of social forestry, but also resulted in increased pressure on forest land as the farmers continued to collect branches, twigs, leaves, and grasses, as before, from the forests.
3. Shortage of Funds:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
With the government funds committed to match foreign contributions for social forestry projects, the forest lands became starved of funds.
4. Faulty Species Selection and Unscientific Methods:
Species section and spacing was not always carefully examined. The species yielding intermediate products were not properly ‘ appreciated. Also, the production of grasses, legumes, fodder, fruit, and other items of minor forest produce were neglected. Spacing between the trees was also reduced to avoid intermediate management operations, cut down plantation cost, and reduce staff supervision time.
As a consequence, spacing, thinning and pruning which could have produced immediate yields of grass and tree products for people, were not taken up. Thus, it has become clear now that the nature of species should be changed from teak, eucalyptus and other ‘timber only’ trees to usufruct-based trees, such as neem, mahua, karanj, sal, arjun and palmyrah. These should be supplemented with grasses, shrubs, bushes to yield fuel-wood and fodder in the shortest possible time.