- National Forest Policy was developed in 1988 which put the following objectives :
- Maintenance of Environmental Stability through preservation
- Restoration of Ecological Balance if needed.
- Flaws in the Current Policy
- There is not term as ecological balance it is always – the balance of nature.
- Environmental Balance is a Myth : Nature’s balance is always dynamic changing so there is nothing like environmental balance.
- Forest word itself is not defined in policy.
- Defining the Forest
- Author has suggested to define forest as – Self Sown and Self-regeneratin Community of Plants that supports a community of creatures dependent on those plans and each other.
- Self-Sown is important since govenment waste money on planing the new tress, however forests are created by themselves.
- Re-Defining Forest Policy as
- “Maintenance of a healthy natural environment through preservation and, where necessary, restoration of the original natural ecosystems that have been adversely affected by over-exploitation of the forests and other natural resources of the country.”
- Implementations of re-defined Policy
- Conserve the complete ecosystem which include flora, foana, wetlands, encourage the area under forest cover to increase.
- Once original ecosystem is established then forest would be self-sowed via bush, shrubs and then trees.
- Check Soil Erosion and denudation in the river cachement areas – lakes, water conservation, mitigating floods etc.
- Principal aim of forest policy should be – balance the natural equilibrium like carbon cycle, water cycle etc.
- Way Ahead,
- Preserve the river catchement areas.
- Restore and maintain the health of surface water.
- stop planting new trees rather then focus on protect the natural ecosystem like watersheds, coasts etc.
- Improve forest services where there is conviction of single forest officers for negligence and irregularity.
- Article Link : http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/a-forest-policy-on-todays-terms/article19657457.ece