Assessment of Trees Outside Forests in Rural Region of Varanasi District in U.P.
Abstract
A study has been undertaken to assess the number of important tree species outside forests in rural areas of district Varanasi. Varanasi is a commercial center and a consumption center for the tree based needs. The species selected were Teak, Mango, Shisham, Mahua, Neem, Aonla and Eucalyptus. These species are very common species as Trees outside Forests (ToF) in rural area of the district. Mango, Neem and Shisham are most demanded species of the region. The district Varanasi has 1277 villages, out of which 12 villages (1 %) were taken for the study. The number of trees on the basis of girth classes was recorded in selected villages of respective blocks. Incase of Teak, a total of 272390 trees, in Mango species, a total of 86648 trees, a total of 53116 trees in Neem, incase of Shisham, a total of 23917trees, in Eucalyptus species, a total of 24851 trees, incase of Aonla, a total of 8795 and for Mahua, 16556 trees were enumerated indifferent girth classes. It was found that Mahua and Aonla trees were very less as compared to other species. Thus, introduction of these species in large areas / private land of farmer may be a viable option for minimizing demand supply gap as well as to increase the tree cover.
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Introduction
In India, TOF is defined as all those trees, which has attained 10 cm or more diameter breast height, available on lands, which is not notified as forests. However, FAO defines TOF as trees available on lands which is not defined as ‘forests’ or ‘other wooded land’. Trees outside forests (TOF) in India, mainly growing on private land, are the main source of wood in the country for industry and domestic wood-fuel1. These are attracting attention in view of pressure mounting on the existing forests due to increasing population and resource consumption2. Unlike forests, TOF are present on all non-forest lands in varying densities and configurations, which makes them a resource rather than an area category3. Agroforestry, one of the categorizations under trees outside forests, has immense potential in meeting day-to-day needs and food security of rural population. Trees outside forests are predicted to have a huge role in combating climate change. It is estimated that over 90% of total wood availability for domestic and industrial use now comes from non-forest areas especially from the farmland and some from imports4. Trees outside forests occur in natural and in cultivated landscapes and serve in a number of ecological and economic functions 5. Trees and other woody plants in the landscape serve also important ecological functions, particularly for the conservation of biodiversity, offering shelter and food, and nesting sites 6; other ecological functions are erosion control, water protection and carbon sequestration. India with its diverse bio-geographical zone and varied agro-climatic conditions presents a unique scenario for the growth of tree species in varying situations. The Trees Outside Forests (TOF) refers to trees on land not defined as forest or other wooded land and generally include trees on farmlands, in cities and human settlements, orchards, roadsides, pastures, banks of river, streams and canals and as shelterbelts which are less than 20m wide and 0.5 ha area 7. It is now being increasingly argued that the role of TOF in providing food, wood and fuel to rural masses, carbon sequestration, prevention of soil erosion, biodiversity conservation, checking desertification, establishment of wildlife corridors and microclimatic stabilization, is quite substantial8. The share of wood energy from non-forest land used for cooking in rural India is 59% while that of biomass energy is 90%9. In another study10, estimated that of the total fuel-wood requirement in India in 1996 (201 Mt), 51% (103 Mt) came from forestlands while the remaining 49% (98 Mt) came from non-forest lands. Today, Indian agriculture faces diverse challenges and constraints due to growing demographic pressure, increasing food, feed and fodder needs, natural resource degradation and climate change
Conclusion
The systematic pattern in tree planting needs to be improved for the region. The extension and training programmes regarding selection of species, tree planting pattern, nursery raising, quality planting material, maintenance and management of plantations and most importantly, the marketing of trees as end produce. In marketing or sale of trees, transit and felling permit to be issued by forest department is very important. The unawareness of rules and fear of administration discourages farmers for adopting agroforestry widely at large level in this region. It is now urgent need of time to adopt tree plantations in massive way in districts of Eastern Plain zone to achieve our national target of forest policy. Agroforestry adoption with suitable species of economic value will improve country’sforest and tree cover to the 33%. The foresters, researches, NGOs and tree growers & traders are needed to be coordinated on a common platform for successful implementation of agroforestry programme on massive level. Further, to enhance the efforts of farmers, sale of end products should be strengthened with the involvement of project planners and wood based industries.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors are grateful to Council of Science and Technology, Uttar Pradesh for providing financial support to the project under which the research work was carried out. The special thanks are also due to Head, FRCER, Prayagraj (Under Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, Dehradun) for providing constant guidance and encouragement throughout the work. The authors are also grateful to resource persons of villages of selected districts for their cooperation and support.