These ‘forests’ are disturbing balance

Source: The post is based on the article “These ‘forests’ are disturbing balance” published in The Times of India on 22^nd May 2023.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Environment

News: The article explains concerns associated with forest development corporations (FDCs) and measures needed to address them.

What are Forest Development Corporations (FDCs)?

FDCs were established by states with the aim to raise industrial plantations of teak, eucalyptus, bamboo etc., to enhance the production of forest produce, to restore the productivity of degraded forest areas, etc.

However, FDCs are using these monoculture plantations for financial exploitation.

Monoculture plantations are not only harmful to tiger conservation, but also play no role in climate change.

What are the concerns with FDCs in different states?

Maharashtra: Maharashtra has leased out 6% of the total forest area to the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM). FDCM commercially extracts about 50,000 cubic metres of timber annually, causing substantial environmental damage.

Moreover, FDCM takes high-quality miscellaneous forests, which act as food security and habitat for tigers, and removes these for teak plantations.

However, the monoculture practice of FDCM has become outdated because dense mixed forests are more important to maintain biodiversity and ecological balance. 

Monoculture practice harms biodiversity in the long run while miscellaneous forests provide maximum food availability for wildlife in fruits, leaves and grass, and shrubby canopy throughout the year.

Miscellaneous/mixed forests have the highest capacity to hold herbivore populations and carnivores.

Kerala: Kerala Forest Development Corporation (KFDC) used to focus on community-based ecotourism and earned revenue through pulpwood and teak. However, it had to discontinue pulpwood plantations after the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

Therefore, for KFDC, it would be better to focus on carefully planned ecotourism and impart proper training to the dependent community.

Along with these initiatives, riverine vegetation must be promoted near the water bodies, and trees must be replaced with timber.

Telangana: In Telangana, eucalyptus dominates most of the plantations. Out of 33,000 hectares of forests leased out to Telangana State Forest Development Corporation (TSFDC), eucalyptus is spread over 22,000 hectares.

This monoculture practice has depleted the soil health. Therefore, to overcome the issue, KFDC has opted for other plantations like red sanders and sandalwood.

TSFDC is also focusing on ecotourism including botanical gardens in Hyderabad, resorts in backwaters and national parks.

What can be the way ahead?

Various state Forest Development Corporation (FDCs) are focusing on monoculture practices which are harmful for both the ecosystem and the environment.

According to the experts, deadly monoculture plantations act as ‘green deserts’ that have the least capability of mitigating climate change.

Therefore, FDCs should focus on growing trees on wastelands to increase forests area along with opting diversification of plantations. It should also plant those trees which can be economically as well as environmentally useful for the state.