E.3. Forest Conservation

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E.3. Forest Conservation

A forest policy in 1952, which was further modified in 1988.
According to the new forest policy, the Government will emphasize sustainable forest management in order to conserve and expand forest reserve on the one hand, and to meet the needs of local people on the other.

The forest policy aimed at-

Bringing 33 per cent of the geographical areas under forest cover;
Maintaining environmental stability and to restore forests where ecological balance was disturbed;
Conserving the natural heritage of the country, its biological diversity and genetic pool;
Checks soil erosion, extension of the desert lands and reduction of floods and droughts;
Increasing the forest cover through social forestry and afforestation on degraded land;
Increasing the productivity of forests to make timber, fuel, fodder and food available to rural population dependant on forests, and encourage the substitution of wood;
Creating of a massive peoples movement involving women to encourage planting of trees, stop felling of trees and thus, reduce pressure on the existing forest

Important Topics	Details
Social Forestry	Social forestry means the management and protection of forests and afforestation on barren lands with the purpose of helping in the environmental, social and rural development. The National Commission on Agriculture (1976) has classified social forestry into three categories. These are urban forestry, rural forestry and Farm forestry. Urban forestry pertains to the raising and management of trees on public and privately owned lands in and around urban centres such as green belts, parks, roadside avenues, industrial and commercial green belts, etc Rural forestry lays emphasis on promotion of agro-forestry and community-forestry. Agro-forestry is the raising of trees and agriculture crops on the same land inclusive of the waste patches. It combines forestry with agriculture, thus, altering the simultaneous production of food, fodder, fuel, timber and fruit.
Community forestry (CF)	CF involves the raising of trees on public or community land such as the village pasture and temple land, roadside, canal bank, strips along railway lines, and schools etc. Community forestry programme aims at providing benefits to the community as a whole. CF provides a means under which the people of landless classes can associate themselves in tree- raising and thus, get those benefits which otherwise are restricted for landowners Urban forestry pertains to the raising and management of trees on public and privately owned lands in and around urban centres such as green belts, parks, roadside avenues, industrial and commercial green belts, etc.
Farm Forestry	Farm forestry is a term applied to the process under which farmers grow trees for commercial and non-commercial purposes on their farm lands. Forest departments of various states distribute seedlings of trees free of cost to small and medium farmers. Several lands such as the margins of agricultural fields, grasslands and pastures, land around homes and cow sheds may be used for raising trees under non-commercial farm forestry