By SHRI G. B. BAKSHI, Indian Forest Service, Chief Conservator of Forests, Central Provinces and Berar
At the dawn of civilization, the greater part of the habitable globe was covered by dense forests. A meager population wandered in these gigantic primeval forests, on which they were dependent for all the necessities of their existence. The forest was their home and the trees were their gods. As population increased and modern society began to evolve, man started an agricultural and pastoral existence, clearing the land in ever-widening zones for habitation, cultivation, and grazing. The first great onslaught on virgin forest lands thus commenced. It has been a long-sustained attack, which still continues with accelerated fury in many parts of the world. The destruction of forests, however, has not been uniform, but has varied directly with the stage of civilization reached and the special circumstances obtaining in each region. Britain and Germany found their forests very helpful as an impenetrable barrier against the mighty arms of Imperial Rome, while Greece and Rome had largely converted their forests into cultivation and the still older civilizations of the Near East had already largely destroyed the vestiges of their forests. In China and India, all forests within the zone selected for settlement and cultivation were cleared of virgin forests
Today the world's people depend in overwhelming proportion on agriculture for their maintenance, and one of the most important functions of forest management is to meet the requirements of this agricultural population. Forestry is well recognized as the handmaiden of agriculture. The peasant looks to the forests to supply some of his most vital needs - fuelwood, small timber for houses, and wood for implements, as well as grazing and fodder for his cattle. But man's needs for forests do not end with these primary necessities of life. Modern civilization is largely dependent on forest products and other resources obtained from forest areas. A definite minimum area of forest lands, therefore, is an economic and physical necessity for the well-being of every civilized nation.
In order to appreciate fully this question of ever-increasing local needs for fuel, timber, and other forest products, every administrative unit should be, if feasible, divided into three zones, depending on the relative accessibility of the forests in that unit to the local population and the availability of the necessary supplies from the forests.
FOREST COMMUNITIES
Residing within the very heart of the forests are small pastoral units still clinging to their traditional environment and depending almost entirely on the forest resources for their bare necessities of life. These are a fast decaying race and unless their requirements are considered sympathetically and they are gradually given helpful facilities to develop their precarious sources of livelihood, it can be assumed that their days are numbered. The forests give them some edible fruits, flowers, and roots, supply some herbs of medicinal value, and provide light and heat for their homes. All these supplies are essential, and on the successful arrangements made for them depend the welfare and even the very existence of a large population. In wooded surroundings, supplies of such essential forest produce hardly present any perplexing problem. The people collect their own modest requirements, and so long as they do not behave in a way prejudicial to the forests on which they depend for their necessities of life, they need not be interfered with. Unfortunately, however, the economic outlook of these people is incompatible with social progress and prejudicial to the main concepts governing sound forest management. As already indicated, the supplies of forest produce for their bare existence are not regulated; but since their needs are comparatively few in extent and character, this lack of regulation may not in itself offer any serious handicap to forest conservation. But associated with this unregulated demand for forest produce is their present practice of cultivating forest lands in a cycle, with the most primitive implements and methods. Vast areas of forest land are systematically felled and thoroughly burned every year for cultivation by them in their own way. A thorough burn gives them all the wood ash they require as fertilizer for growing their crops. They dibble in the seed by the stump side and materially economize in the use of seeds for cultivation. They cultivate a chosen area for a few years, and when its fertility has been completely exhausted, they move on to the next area. After a few years of rest, the first area is again restocked with vegetative growth, and as soon as the growing stock reaches a sizable dimension it is again felled and burned and the area is then cultivated again. It can hardly be overemphasized that this rotating shifting cultivation, which is practiced throughout Southeast Asia, is a negation of sound forestry.
In considering this matter, it should be realized that these tribesmen are not conversant with modern methods of agriculture and that their financial resources are too slender to meet the necessary cost of cultivation on improved lines. An attempt should be made in Southeast Asia, therefore, to wean the aboriginal away from this very harmful practice of shifting cultivation through a benevolent policy of substantial grants of seeds, fertilizers, and other equipment.
COMMUNITIES ADJACENT TO FORESTS
The zone which lies close to the main areas of forests is mainly agricultural, and the needs of the population for forest products generally present no serious problem. The village consumers require small timber, firewood, grass, grazing, thorns and other fencing material, edible fruits and leaves, flosses and fibers for their limited needs. To enable them to sustain and improve their cultivation, the prices for all such supplies should be well within their capacity to pay.
Satisfactory though the position generally is, however, the question arises whether these supplies should not be correlated with the supplies that normally become available in any particular tract. With the continued pressure from an ever-increasing population and increasing livestock numbers, some of the forest areas adjoining the cultivated tracts are being denuded very rapidly and are showing signs of exhaustion. Although this problem is of comparatively local importance, it raises the important issue whether such supplies can be continued at a rate definitely prejudicial to the interests of sound silviculture. In such areas, presumably, the present supplies of all forest produce should be brought into conformity with the present resources of the adjoining forests. The rights and privileges of users and the grazing of cattle in forest areas should be permitted only to the extent that the forests can stand. In tropical or subtropical regions the rainfall is commonly restricted mainly to a particular season, and any misuse or unduly large-scale use of forests will lead to deterioration and should, therefore, be discouraged. The daily grazing of ever-increasing herds of cattle within a limited area of forest presents a serious problem in all forest areas within easy reach of a well-cultivated tract. As a comparatively large herd of cattle uses the same area almost daily in search of fodder which has sometimes disappeared or is fast disappearing, extensive damage to the forest growth is likely to occur and may progressively render the area unproductive. It is necessary, therefore, to restrict daily grazing to the rate that the land can support and to provide for fodder by other methods.
The provision of an unregulated supply of fuelwood in bulk from any tract, however well-wooded it might be, is also likely to result in gradual degradation of these forests. The factors governing growth or regrowth in a particular tract should be carefully considered, and supplies and restocking should be correlated in order to avoid any undue depletion of the growing stock.
There are, however, a very large member of village consumers living in extensively cultivated and thickly populated areas whose demands for fuelwood, grass and other forest produce are most insufficiently supplied at present. The drift of population from undeveloped tracts with marginal lands to areas with fertile soil and more of the amenities of life is natural and can readily be understood. It must, however, be conceded that the system of land use in force has failed to hold the population to more remote parts of the country. Roads, schools, and other facilities may help to reattract men and their families to these parts, and concentrated efforts should be made to develop such areas in this way.
COMMUNITIES IN AREAS DENUDED OF FORESTS
The supply of forest products for the vast and ever-increasing population of a comparatively narrow belt that is devoid of any forest growth is a matter of great importance. In such areas, the general standard of living is reduced, and the greatest calamity of all - the burning of animal manure as fuel - commences. This practice deprives the villager's fields of an essential source of fertility. The crops have less and less nutritive value and ultimately a vicious circle of general poverty is created.
The main problem is how best to supply the need for small timber, fuel, fodder, and other forest products in the areas which are devoid of any forests or of scientifically forests. Though good quality timbers do not grow in all provinces, their intrinsic value permits costly haulage, including long distance transport by railway or by sea. Consequently, an area that is short of such timber can always get its requirements from other areas. But fuelwood, fodder, grass, and fencing materials - all items of forest produce that are intrinsically valuable in the agricultural economy of a well-defined tract - cannot stand very costly haulage. It is, therefore, highly important that the supply of such locally important forest produce should be increased within local limits and be made available within easy reach of the consuming public.
The question, therefore, arises as to how a suitable scheme of reforestation of such densely populated areas can best be achieved. Any plan which aims at self-sufficiency in respect of fuelwood and other forest produce for the ordinary village consumer must involve a great deal of rehabilitation of waste lands and artificial plantation of fuelwood and fodder reserves on an ambitious scale. Owing to tremendous pressure on lands for agricultural purposes in this zone, lands for other purposes have become scarce. Nor is it feasible to cry a halt to the Grow More Food programs. The main concentration, therefore, must be on whatever village wastes and degraded forest areas are available. These local fuel and fodder forests need not encroach more than lightly upon potential food production, for they do not require land that is suitable for crops. But as population growth necessarily imposes the need to improve land use, degraded village wastes and unproductive forest areas should now be turned to good account and made productive once again. Apart from such lands, the lands along public roads, canals, and railroads offer the most promising locations for planting schemes. These tracts may not be suitable for grazing purposes, but if well-selected fodder species are also planted, they may go a long way towards relieving fodder scarcity in such areas.
To many minds, such an undertaking would appear to be a long-term undertaking, and this would, of course, be true in the ease of plantations for timber production. But it does not seem to be equally true of suitable fuelwood species growing under a short rotation. In regard to such cropping, this idea of long-term returns is apt to be overemphasized.
In recent years the question of farm forestry has received considerable attention. Although much has been achieved by farm forestry and much more can be achieved by the introduction of a more rational land use, this development is entirely dependent on the existence of farms of suitable size. Because of the fragmentation of holdings in many countries in this region, farm forestry alone, as understood in advanced countries, can hardly solve the problem. But the formation of co-operatives that would provide the technical control of a number of fragmented farms at low overhead cost may go a long way towards solving this baffling problem. With the technical advice of the Department of Forestry, local authorities now established in many parts of the country could take over the administration of such village co-operatives.
As a short-term measure towards the solution of fuelwood problems in scarcity areas, it will be necessary to prevent any avoidable waste by conserving all sources of power and energy. Sawdust and coal briquettes with a suitable matrix can possibly be of help in solving this problem. The destructive distillation of wood on an extensive scale reduces bulky transport and may not involve an expenditure that would be prohibitive for the common consumer. With proper research into the utilization of these methods, a solution of this intricate question can be found.
CONCLUSIONS
The three zones of availability of forest produce outlined here may be peculiar to the Indian Union, and possibly in many other regions the distinctive belts or tracts are less clear-cut. It is, therefore, necessary to consider the question of over-all forest resources in all territorial units, with a view to examining the question of easy supply of fuelwood, fodder, and other forest products to the rural population. In the Near East, countries are short of the necessary forest areas. In Southeast Asia, though, the situation is generally better than in the Near East. Shortages have also assumed serious proportions in China and a few other countries.
It has been assumed rather arbitrarily that at least 20 to 25 percent of a country's total land area should be under forest, and that this area, if properly maintained, should be sufficient to meet the demands of the people. But mere acreage figures based on a percentage of total area do not reliably indicate whether the forests are ample to meet all domestic needs. In the first place, it must first be ascertained whether the forest areas are all productive on a sustained basis. Equally important is the question of the distribution of such forest area. If the forests are crowded into one part of the country, the question of easy supplies of necessary forest products to the cultivator will always remain more or less insoluble. An even distribution of forest areas throughout the centers of demand is very important. This is the crux of the entire problem. With effective distribution of forest areas, it might be possible to do with less area than the limits indicated above. A third important consideration in this connection is the density of population. Where the population is more crowded, the demand for supplies of forest products will be greater.
Apart from the domestic demands of the population, the requirements of forest products for industrial development are of outstanding importance. At present the distribution of industrially useful species is limited, but as research proves the commercial utility of more species of trees, shrubs, and grass, their large-scale production will have to be undertaken. The forests on the slopes should mostly be classed as protection forests and will presumably not contribute substantially to commercial production.
To relieve the pressure on forests due to increases in population and in livestock numbers and to meet the growing industrial demand for forest products, therefore, all forest areas now under private control should be taken over by the State and their productivity increased. The Conference should, therefore, consider the question of recommending to governments the abolition of private ownership of forest land, where feasible, and should also urge a well-defined policy for effective control over such forests on the principle of sustained yield.
All countries should also examine the extent and distribution of their forests with due regard for the agricultural population. In formulating plans for reforesting denuded areas and creating new forests, a prime consideration should be easy accessibility of rural consumers. Since intensive research in silviculture is necessary for raising plantations of fast-growing species efficiently on poor and degraded lands, the results of such research now being undertaken in different countries should be assembled and circulated to member countries for planning purposes. In this connection the creation of an organization to advise member governments on special problems bearing on this subject should receive most careful attention.
