By Sanskrithi Thakur Creation of forest as its lap has been Mother Nature’s greatest act of benevolence towards its children – be a tiny little insect or a ‘thinking and evolving’ human. In a perfect setting that could never be matched by the most creative set designer, a loving mother laid down everything from the […]
By Sanskrithi Thakur
Creation of forest as its lap has been Mother Nature’s greatest act of benevolence towards its children – be a tiny little insect or a ‘thinking and evolving’ human.
In a perfect setting that could never be matched by the most creative set designer, a loving mother laid down everything from the moss as a carpet to tall trees that majestically rise to touch the skies, ploughed through streams and rivulets, built mountains and valleys and whatnot for a wide and vivid life form that ranged from aquatic ones swimming to wings fluttering in skies to felines and canines and human, to thrive.
But cursed are the ones that fail to understand, appreciate and honour this gift. An unkind mankind has steadily and without any sorrow been denuding and defiling the forests — chopping away the green, flattening the mounds and filling up the water bodies. Forests, where sages stayed for long years in quest of enlightenment, have over the decades become victims of the dark greed of humans.
Forests are the lungs of the earth, the mainstay of biodiversity, and also a source of livelihood for more than 300 million people across the globe. March 21st is proclaimed as ‘International Day of Forests’ and is dedicated to ‘celebrate the ways in which forests sustain and protect us’.
But why is there a need to raise the issue of forests? And why do we Indians, who traditionally revere forests, tragically have to start educating ourselves on the importance of forests?
It is estimated that the world is losing 10 million hectares of forests, about the size of Iceland, each year
Upsetting Eco-Balance
The unhindered and ruthless march of industrialisation over the last century has started to expose its hitherto hidden dark underbelly. Cheered on, egged on and applauded, the behemoth machinery of the industrial revolution had rolled on and on. The advancements it has garnered to provide better life and comfort to mankind has in the process left behind a trail of destruction — devouring forests. In its wake, industrialisation-spurred urbanisation has started to eat away forests and usher in nightmares of eco-balance being badly upset.
It is estimated that the world is losing 10 million hectares of forests, about the size of Iceland, each year. This comes on the heels of the IPCC report that has already issued a code red warning about climate change and cautioned: we are inching towards irreversible damage unless the right measures are taken and that too now!
The effects of climate change are not a distant concept but a stark reality that is hard to escape from. In this context, the importance of forests becomes critical as they are huge carbon sinks, meaning they absorb more carbon than they emit. In a world reeling under the ill effects of excess carbon, forests provide us with a fighting chance in this downhill battle.
Way of Life
A Forest Survey of India (FSI) report states that approximately 80% of India’s terrestrial biodiversity exists in forests. Many tribes and communities still depend on forests as their main source of livelihood. Living in the forests or in its vicinity is a way of life for these people.
The Indian government through its many policies has sought this way of life continues to survive sustainably. In the Paris Agreement (2015), as part of Nationally Determined Contribution, India even pledged to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 eq through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
Approximately 80% of India’s terrestrial biodiversity exists in forests and for many tribes and communities, forests are their main source of livelihood
With afforestation being a relatively inexpensive method, many governments and corporate houses are even using it as a way of carbon offsetting.
But forests are far away from cities!
Because they were far away from the major cities, away from heavy human interaction and intervention, it offered the biodiversity, flora and fauna, to survive. It helped them thrive and become the cooling pads of the earth, helping in putting brakes on climate change. But these benefits are missed out by the urban centres. Urban landscapes are generally hotter than their counterparts. These pockets of heat islands form due to infrastructure like buildings, roads and asphalt absorbing and re-emitting the sun’s heat.
If only there was a way to protect forests and also get their benefits to the cities! Have all the characteristics of a forest but minimise the land used. As cities are reeling under land constraints to accommodate the burgeoning population, it is essential that more is achieved in less space.
Forest in the Backyard
That’s where a solution was sought in the Miyawaki method, which was developed in the 1970s by the renowned Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. He researched extensively on Japanese vegetation and developed an ingenious method to have tiny forests right in the city’s heartland. It can convert degraded lands into self-sustaining lush forests in just two to three years.
March 21st is proclaimed as ‘International Day of Forests’ and is dedicated to ‘celebrate the ways in which forests sustain and protect us’
Under this, first indigenous species and plants local to that place are identified. Next is the procurement of the different varieties of trees, sub-trees and shrubs. The planting site is prepared for the saplings by loosening the soil and adding rich organic matter. The soil is kept relatively loose to make sure that the plants take root and go deep easily. The unique part starts now, with the planting done two to four trees per square metre. This dense plantation makes the saplings compete for sunlight and helps them grow vigorously. This race to win the maximum sunlight in a dense setting is also the reason why they grow vertically and not so much horizontally. Mulching is done after plantation and care is taken only for two years, after which they start becoming self-sustaining.
A tiny forest in your locality will not only reduce the local temperature but will also bring in biodiversity by attracting birds, insects and other fauna. It will also do its bit in cancelling out noise pollution and providing much-needed lung space. Famously called ‘Miyawaki Forests’, this method has been used in Japan, the Netherlands, Pakistan and even India. It was further propagated by Shubhendu Sharma through his famous TED talk in 2014, where he talked about how he converted his backyard into a lush forest.
‘Miyawaki Forests’, developed in the 1970s by the renowned Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, is about having tiny forests right in the city’s heartland
Green Telangana
The youngest State of India, Telangana, has already made great headways in afforestation and increasing green cover with initiatives like ‘Telangana ku Harita Haram’ (A Green Garland for Telangana). It has also been deploying this method to reap higher benefits.
Started in 2015, the TKHH project is aimed at increasing the tree cover of the State from 24% to 33%. It had set a target to plant 23,000 lakh seedlings across the State by 2021-22, and has overachieved its target (102.6%) by planting 23,599.5 lakh seedlings. Being a step ahead in its green endeavours, Telangana has already seen this method used in the upcoming Yadadri belt, NIT Warangal, NTPC Ramagundam, Karimnagar Police station, among others.
The tree species mainly used have been Neem (Vepa), Jamun (Neredu), Sacred Fig (Raavi), Tamarind (Chinta), Wood Apple (Velaga), Custard Apple (Sitaphal), Flame of Forest (Moduga) and Golden Shower (Rela). However, a lot more varieties of shrubs, flowering plants and medicinal plants can be added. As the plants grow vigorously, they become a full-fledged dense and multi-layered forest in a quarter of the time taken for a normal forest. This means that the benefits can also be reaped sooner than usual.
Also, heavily investing in the Miyawaki method will benefit Telangana’s green schemes. Its forest cover accounts for 24.05% of its total geographical area. Its forest carbon stock, meaning the amount of carbon stored in forests in the form of soil, biomass, deadwood and litter, is 16.2 crore tonnes for an area of 21,214 sq km. The higher the carbon stock, the higher is the forest’s capacity to absorb and sequester CO2.
Since its formation and yearning to increase its green cover, Telangana under the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has come up with various initiatives. One such strategy that promises to redefine the urban land space is the development of Urban Forest Blocks.
Telangana is engaged in developing 188 forest blocks in the Hyderabad Metropolitan areas. In an experiment worth emulating across the country, if it throws positive results, 59 of these urban forest parks are shaping in close proximity to residential areas. Put simply, the green strategy is to bring forests, albeit smaller in size, closer home for citizens.
Telangana is engaged in developing 188 forest blocks in the Hyderabad Metropolitan areas and if it gives positive results, it will be an experiment worth emulating across the country
If the strategy is to build small forests as green islands, given the constraints of land, the government can do well to go ahead with improvised plans for the rural side where the scope and scale of saving and restoring the forest is much higher. The administration needs to devise and support innovative strategies in the endeavour. Like Miyawaki, a garden or landscaping will sequester more carbon and throw a shield of protection than being just an eye-pleaser.
Powerful Movements
There have also been some powerful movements to protect our forests. Despite the fact that the personal reasons for the cause varied, from local people asking for their traditional right to forest resources to civil society asking the state to stop mindless development at the expense of nature, the end goal remained the same: to prevent the commercialisation of nature’s resources and maintain ecological balance.
The most famous one which changed the course of environment protection in India was the Chipko movement in the Garhwal Himalayas in the 1970s. Led by Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandini Prasad Bhatt, the Chipko (meaning to hug) movement started when the forest department allotted the Ash tree to a private company, which the locals felt was their traditional right first. People also believed that they could maintain the forests sustainably as well which the company would not.
And, woodman leave the spot;
While I’ve a hand to save,
Thy axe shall harm it not.
These lines by George Pope Morris, ‘Woodman, Spare the Tree!’, were brought to life with this movement when the women and the youth embraced the trees and put themselves between the axe and the tree, to stop the loggers. The sheer simplicity of the act and the defiance it projected, still remains iconic.
The Appiko movement in Karnataka, Silent Valley Movement in Kerala and many other equally important movements followed suit. The world also grew conscious of the need for ‘Green Movements’ by the 1970s, by which time global climate change had started to become a buzzword.
The green movement in Germany even brought political changes. In America, it led to the establishment of national parks and protection of forests on a large scale. It built a strong culture of grassroots climate activism that needs to be replicated by other nations. ‘Earth Day movement’ and ‘Save the Rainforest’ were some of the movements that see relevance even today.
Yet, the rate at which the forests in the world are disappearing is alarming. The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest still remains an issue. The wildfires due to human-induced climate change is also ravaging forests and habitats. Who can forget the devastating ‘Black Summer’ in Australia in 2019-20, when the world saw huge flames engulfing forests and had humans and kangaroos fleeing in the same direction to preserve themselves.
Forest is the primal place where the human was born. Tragic it is that the human having acquired tools and technologies of ‘civilisation’ has turned inimical to mother’s womb. Destruction wrought now will be at our own peril for a future with plundered forests and depleted nature’s benevolence looks grim.
The question stares at us — what inheritance are we leaving for coming generations?
(The author is pursuing MBA in Sustainable Development and Management from Nalanda University)
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