04 FAO workshop on urban and peri-urban forestry

We’ve been having the FAO workshop for the Asia-Pacific on Urban & Peri-urban forestry at Delhi these couple of days (5-7 Marc h 2012). Manoj Dabas and his team of the Aravalli Foundation for Education organised it with their usual thoroughness and attention to detail, in the lovely conference hall at the India International Centre.

On this subject, which is very dear to me as well, there is a separate sub-Mission in the Greening India Mission. We have distinctly listed out different types of opportunities in this area. Firstly, and for the Forest Departments the most urgent and important, are the patches of notified forest and revenue lands under their charge, which will be engulfed by developing layouts and roads if they are not CORDONED OFF by a physical boundary … a wall, or more aesthetically, a half wall topped by a tall railing or chain-link fence (there’s not much difference in cost between a masonry wall and a fence, so if long life and effectiveness are the objective, a wall is better). That’s what protects Lalbagh gardens in Bangalore, and that’s what will protect the Ridge forests in Delhi.

Then there are lands under various institutions… colleges and institutes, industries, corporations, then defence establishments, and so on, many of which have much more land than they will ever develop (and, in the case of dying entities like many Public Sector Undertakings which I shall not name, more than they can look after). These lands were given decades back when the nation was newly independent. They are all potential woodlands. In fact, those around Bangalore can probably be worked just for the sandal trees (Santalum album), on a sustained basis for a good many years: the species regenerates profusely, though the sandal poachers will not allow any tree to grow to an old age. These lands are generally well protrcted behind high walls, and so can be easily kept under green cover without much difficulty.

Thirdly, there are all the bits and pieces of vacant land, strips and verges under different agencies, with different levels of protection. These require special attention and tricks to protect the vegetation. Finally, there are the lands under households and small office plots, which are again fairly well protected.

One of the points I have had to make repeatedly, is that these lands, especially the unfenced forest patches and municipal plots, will not survive unless there is a combination of a framework of strong laws, strong judicial enforcement, physical protection by a dedicated cadre and department like the Forest Department, assisted and supported by a willing community. There are any number of land sharks waiting to swallow these lands, or use them to dump rubble or garbage (especially the case for wetlands and depressions as a land-fill process, the first step to taking them over). Ceaseless, round-the-clock physical protection and prevention is required. It is in this context that the fashion nowadays to focus solely on “tenure”, as a panacea, is puzzling. Have these experts who harp only on this, not actually experienced these situations? The people on the ground, the communities, do not themselves demand it; they know that the strong arm of the law and enforcement is required to keep the land ‘mafia’ at bay. To the … how shall I put it without offending… urban genteel well-intentioned liberal, however, it becomes the most attractive choice to press the so-called win-win solution of handing over title to the community. It’s also a very populist solution that leaves everybody gratified, except of course the poor custodian (the forest watcher or guard), who now has no legal backing.

Luckily, there are enough sensible people on all sides in the field, who will maintain a balance between these ideas and interests. A lot of common sense goes into our actions in the field, and hopefully they will take the opportunity of the GIM to effectively protect and save our remaining urban and peri-urban open spaces.

What is the use of these open spaces, and how must they be managed and utilised? In my experience, their highest value is as an ‘amenity’ space for ordinary people, to have their morning or evening walks, commune with nature, breathe a little fresh air, give a little relief to their families from the oppressive life in crowded places. I’ve seen how in small towns old people have nowhere to walk, except these little patches preserved by the Forest or Horticulture Departments. Then, neeedless to say, there are all the other co-benefits of soil and water conservation, moderating the extremes of climate, providing a refuge for all forms of life (animals, birds, plants, insects, etc.). A great exercise of restraint has to be done, however, to keep out that destroyer of natural greenery, the dread program of ‘eco-development’, especially in its PPP (Public Private Partnership) avatar. This is nothing but a ploy to hand over these priceless urban open patches to private developers, to build shopping centres, theatres, malls and other such imaginative structures to make profit. Instead, let the residents’ committee organise some watchmen, collect some modest fees, and just maintain the natural vegetation and keep out anti-social elements. There are enough other locations for commercial ventures.

03 An exciting new project... “The Forests of India”

I’ll get back to the Greening India Mission shortly, but let’s take a small digression to talk of an exciting new project. This is a fully illustrated coffee-table book on “The Forests of India”, to be released on the occasion of the 2nd Indian Forest Congress, to be held in early November, 2012 at Bangalore.

The book is proposed to be of around 250 pages, which implies around 10 pages for each State/UT plus or minus a few pages depending on the material submitted. The contents should cover the basic ecology & distribution, interesting accounts of their history, exploration, flora/fauna, ethno-geography; record of administration & management, working plans & results, and biographies of the principal persons involved. For each state, 2-3 box items are envisaged, which will go into the details of a few outstanding or important forest locations.. those with, so to speak, iconic identities.

The idea is to highlight the contributions, even sacrifices, made by various people, especially frontline staff, citizens, village communities etc. Here is where the positive aspects of the forest administration & forest services can be projected. Benefits to local communities, especially women, should be prominently described with facts & figures, supported by case studies and photographs.

This will be a great opportunity to bring out case studies, and the “voice of the people”, through supporting videos. That was also an underlying element of our “Voices from the Field” project for the 1st Indian Forest Congress, and we understand ICFRE is working on the video part... a “Voices” book has already come out, and preparatory steps should be underway for the 2nd “Voices” volume for the Bangalore Congress in November 2012. This “Forests” volume will be an additional product, and another feather in ICFRE’s cap if they take it up in right earnest. The book will be for the general reader, especially aimed at policy-makers and leaders in society, hence it should be of global standards in concept, content, and production, like the Marg productions on the Indian Lion and on the Asian Elephant (the latter by Sukumar, our elephant expert at IISC Bangalore), various TimeLife or NatGeo publications, and so on... we are spoilt for choice as far as models are concerned.

For each State, a competent resource person needs to be identified, who can put together a draft within a month or two. We anticipate that this will usually be a senior or retired forester, but in case there is an academic or writer who can contribute, that would also be welcome.

The Director, Institute of Wood Science & Technology (IWST), Bangalore, is to coordinate this effort, in collaboration with Vinay Luthra, Addl.PCCF, Government of Karnataka, Aranya Bhawan, Bangalore. They will be in touch with the PCCF’s or the nodal persons assigned in each State for further follow-up.

So far, they have not thought of making any payment for this work, but a modest honorarium may be made available for incidentals, apart from TA/DA for any follow-up tours/visits by the resource persons. It is also possible that research assistance may be provided... especially if we get interns from the Indian Institute of Forest management (IIFM), Bhopal, who could be sent to the field to collect extra material, video and still photographs, record the voices of the people on the ground, and so on.

Contact Nos./addresses are as follows:-

1. Shri Vinay Luthra Tel. No.080-23348544
Addl .Principal Chief Conservator of Forests,
1st Floor, Aranya Bhawan,
18th Cross, Malleswaram,
Bangalore.

2. Shri S.C. Joshi, Tel.No.080-23341731
Director,
Institute of Woods Science and Technology,
18th Cross, Malleswaram,
Bangalore.

We will be zeroing in on the resource persons now...those interested (better, passionate!) about this may also email back on this site, apart from the contact persons above. Maybe we should start a separate blog for this... but we’ll run it here for now!