The impact of biomass extraction on the species diversity of a scrub forest has not been studied adequately in India. A study by the Centre for Wildlife Studies in Bangalore and the Council for Social Development in Delhi has done exactly this. The researchers say it’s the first of its kind in India.

Researchers say well-planned relocation of forest communities can help check the alterations. They do not dismiss the importance of the local community to the ecosystem.

Forest communities
The study comes after a public debate over relocation of forest communities in the aftermath of the report of the Tiger Task Force, set up by the Centre in 2005.

The study was carried out in 2005 in the Sariska tiger reserve of Rajasthan. It found the use of forest by local communities altered the structure of the trees in the forests, affecting diversity and abundance of bird species. The study was published in the July 16 issue of Forest Ecology and Management (Vol 246, No 1).

The researchers monitored ten sites in Sariska—four ‘undisturbed’ and six ‘disturbed’ by human interventions. They documented different characters of trees and species richness and how these were affected by human interventions.

“We need core areas in every reserve where human access is strictly restricted. But there should also be multiple use areas the communities can use,” concludes Ghazala Shahabuddin, one of the authors. An earlier paper by her says people feel alienated and cut in a hurry, thereby increasing extraction.

Experts say while mild human interventions can moderately boost biodiversity, intensive disturbances harm it. The paper reminds that India’s conservation policy is ambiguous on the role of forest communities in the ecosystem; the link has not been clearly established.

Discord on study
There are those that say the findings can not be generalised. K Sanker of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, says the study was done in a tourism zone of the park, and covered only 80 sq km of the 886 sq km reserve. “I don’t understand how the sites were chosen for this study.”

The damage to the ecology has several reasons. Shahabuddin, in a paper in the Economical and Political Weekly (May 19, 2007) says external factors like tourism and mining also affect Sariska reserve. She says the impacts of these have been overlooked. Historical mismanagement has damaged Sariska, which has seen widespread logging in the past.
CSE/Down to Earth Feature Service