Even though much of the State lies in arid and semi-arid zones, the Government has scripted a success story in social forestry by involving the people and incorporating their religious and cultural beliefs into the programme, writes Nilesh Shukla
While urban spaces across the country are turning into concrete jungle, the Gujarat Government has sought to turn the tide by increasing tree plantation in non-forest areas to improve the ecology of the State.
Gujarat is a pioneer in social forestry. The State was first in the country to initiate social forestry activities in 1970. Then learning a lesson from Gujarat, the first national seminar on social forestry was organised in Gandhinagar in 1976. After four decades, a second national seminar on social forestry was organised in February 2011, once again, in Gandhinagar.
In the last decade, social forestry initiatives have been intensified and new dimensions added across the State. The Van Mahotsav programme especially has made a significant contribution. Even though Gujarat’s forest cover is less, the State is now a leader in tree coverage. Nationally, about 2.77 per cent of the area is under tree cover but in Gujarat that number is over 4.0 per cent, according to a 2011 report of the Forest Survey of India.
Also, the number of trees outside the forest area increased from about 25.1 crore in 2003 to 26.9 crore in 2009 to 3014.14 crore this year. That’s an impressive 19.2 per cent increase in a decade. Gujarat’s tree density of 16 trees/ha in the non forest areas is also higher than that of the national average.
This year, the 64th State-level Van Mahotsav was celebrated at Nageshwar village of Dwarka in Jamnagar district where Chief Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 10th Sanskritik Van. In fact, it was Mr Modi who conceived the idea of a Sanskritik Van during the 2004 Van Mahotsav.
That idea was first executed in the form of Punit Van and, thereafter, a total of 10 Sanskritik Vans were successfully across the State. The objective of a Sanskritik Van or Cultural Forest is to increase the participation of the people and create awareness among them. This has both increased the number of trees in the State and generated employment. Indeed, these ‘Trees Outside Forest’ contribute over Rs5,000 crore to the State economy annually.
The concept of a Sanskritik Van is rooted in ancient Indian texts such as the Vedas, Puranas, and Upanishads that reflect upon the relationship between humans and their environment. But it also incorporates the fact that till date, people have great regard for astrology and the Ayurvedic system of medicine. Therefore, plantations are planned accordingly — such as Navgraha Van, Nakashatra Van, Rashi Van, Panchvati, Trithankar, Saptarshi, Shriparni and Arogya Van — and gain popularity among the Gujaratis .
According to Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Social Forestry) HS Singh, the Gujarat Forest Department manages a ‘Social Forestry Programme’ for planting trees on non-forest lands which has greatly improved the State’s green cover.
The objectives of the programme were to increase the number of trees in the State, promote the participation of people and institutions to plant trees and put unproductive land to productive use.
According to the National Forest Policy of 1988, one-third of the geographical area of the country should be maintained as forest and tree cover. As per the State of Forest Report (2009), Gujarat has only 9.83 per cent of its geographical area declared as forest, which is much below the national average. Forest and tree cover is only to the extent of 11.74 per cent (7.46 per cent forest cover and four per cent tree cover outside forest) of its geographical area.
This is because more than half of the population of the State resides in rural areas, which is directly dependent on forest resources. Consequently, it has become imperative for the Government to regenerate green cover and maintain the productivity level of non-forest lands, particularly the common lands so that it can meet increasing rural needs. Promotion of tree planting on non-forest land, through the Social Forestry Programme has, therefore, been considered to be the only answer to improve the State’s green cover.
Gujarat’s success in the field of social forestry has been globally acclaimed and is considered to be among the best conservation stories around the world. And this is despite the fact that a major part of Gujarat falls in semi-arid and arid zones. It is no wonder then that the Gujarat model in social forestry is being replicated all over the country.