Protect, not destroy, forests for livelihood

The revenue minister of Karnataka recently affirmed his determination to implement Forest Rights Act and issuing land rights to poor. Retorting to a query of mediapersons on the recent rise in forest encroachment cases, he also said that the felling of trees in forest has become essential for people to manage their basic amenities. 

The minister’s concern for the poor and the forest dwellers is laudable. But on the other hand, the world is realising more and more the Central role played by the same trees in forests to offer improved livelihoods for a growing population and to mitigate issues of climate change as well as food shortages.

By 2050, another two billion people will seek out shelter, food, cloth and other means of livelihoods. Researches show that world temperatures could rise by 4 degrees Celsius this century and by 2025, two-thirds of all nations will confront water supply stress, and 2.4 billion people will live in countries unable to provide sufficient water for basic health, agriculture and commercial needs. 

A little over a decade ago, the avid sponsor of all our redeemers of the poor and promoters of development – the World Bank – understanding the value of forests, approved 289 forest-related projects in 75 countries between 2002 and 2011 in an effort to integrate forestry into their economies to reduce poverty. In China, Albania and Ethiopia, the World Bank was the biggest financier of an ambitious plan to increase forest cover after devastating natural calamities. 

Forests are natural safety net for communities during times of famine and natural calamities when agriculture and food production are upset. They provide fruits, leaves, gum, nuts, timber, medicine and wood for fuel. Forests feed people and the animals they might depend on for trade or meals when crops fail. But the world still loses about 14.5 million hectares of forests each year.

“The Future We Want”, the outcome document of the Rio+20 Conference, stresses the importance of improving the livelihoods of people and communities by generating the conditions requisite to sustainably manage forests. It calls for the mainstreaming of sustainable forest management and practices into economic policy and decision-making.

Forests are the most biologically-diverse ecosystems on land, home to more than 80% of the terrestrial species of animals and plants. They provide shelter, jobs and security for forest-dependent communities. While an estimated 500 million people depend directly on forests for their livelihoods, the entire world depends on them for food, water, clean air, and vital medicines. 

In India, forests are one of the most mismanaged resources, partly because they are undervalued and partly because poor governance fuelled illegal activities. 

The challenge for policy makers in our country is to bring environmental services like carbon sequestration, watershed management etc that forests provide into markets, macroeconomics and development policy in general.

The Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission after a scientific integrated study on the area of expansion of crops in all the 30 districts in the last 10 years, reported that 5.97 lakh hectares of agricultural land in the state has been converted to non-agricultural purposes in the last one decade. 

Foodgrain production Several parts of the state are reeling under drought and a considerable reduction in food grain production is predicted in the current financial year. Lack of timely rains due to deforestation is the root cause for this situation. 

Presently, all our forests are highly fragmented due to various developmental pressures. When the world is realising the importance of forests for livelihood, responsible leaders through their derogatory statements can impair our conservation efforts. 

Forest rights are to be implemented. But action plans to deal with encroachments are to be chalked out before the execution of the Act. According to a submission by the then forest minister, around 2,04,442.16 acres of forest land in the state was encroached upon in 2014.  The government should work towards restoration of ecosystems with forest communities playing the lead role. Yes, people cannot live in the sky as the minister said. But promoting large-scale farming and tourism in forests to poison the poor people’s water and air is not development either. Forcing these communities to buy drinking water at the cost of milk is not the uplifting of the poor.

(The writer teaches at Christ University, Bengaluru)