Deforestation in India – DPSIR FrameworkA presentation by Group L

Anamay Jii Bhupesh Doda Hardik Shah Nidhi Garg Prachi Agarwal Rahul D Suhas M Sangey R Tarun K

Priority environmental issuesPriority environmental issue

General Theme Geographical Scale/coverage of problem

Priority(high/low/Medium)

Asian Brown Cloud Air Pollution Global High

Land Filling and Degradation

Solid Waste Pollution

Country wide (many countries)

Medium

Excessive Noise and Health issues

Noise Pollution Country wide (many countries)

Low

Uneven Climate, Green House effect

Deforestation Global High

July 22, 2012 SEEB – Application of DPSIR framework to the issue of deforestation2

• All the environmental issues listed above are inter-related and at times solution of one leads to solution of the other

• We have considered the Deforestation as the key issue in our studies as it leads to not only harmful effects as listed but also leads to extinction of vital natural resources

What is Deforestation?• Deforestation, clearance or clearing is the removal of a

forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use

• Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use

• Deforestation occurs for many reasons: trees are cut down to be used or sold as fuel or timber, while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock, plantations of commodities and settlements

• The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity

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Problem Statement: Growing rate of deforestation in India

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• Dense forests once covered India. As of 2002, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates India's forest cover to be about 64 million hectares, or 19.5% of the country's area

• Indian forests types include tropical evergreens, tropical deciduous, swamps, mangroves, sub-tropical, montane, scrub, sub-alpine and alpine forests

• Deforestation is indeed a serious issue, and there will be no exaggeration in saying that since 1990 the jungle areas have been declining at a fast pace

• Forested area reduced from 14.8 billion acres in early 1990 to 8.6 billion acres in 2012.

DPSIR Analysis

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• Agriculture• Wood Harvesting• Grazing Land• Mining• Palm Oil

• Undernourishment and shift of wildlife to urban areas

• Decline source of natural medicines and biodiversity

• Uneven balance of natural cycles

• Green house effect• uneven rainfall• Air Pollution• soil erosion • land degradation

• Decline in Health of Local community living or dependent on forest

• Climate change• Environmental

degradation

The government's national action plan on climate change involves expanding forest cover from 23% to 33%Improved methods of farming to improve land productivity and there by decreasing the demand of land for agricultureOther movements include international prog. like: TFAP, ITTO

Driving Forces

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• Agriculture. With raise in the demands for agricultural products, forests are being destroyed to render space for cultivating crops and building farms, where especially cultivators are encouraged by the government to work on the areas. Moreover, the planters use fire in the development, which leads to the emission of large amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in an environment that creates a pessimistic blow on the biology.

• Wood Harvesting. Trees are cut down for attaining lumber or timber that is a wood used for constructing houses and making furniture. It is the most significant cause of deforestation.

• Grazing Land. Forests are also cleared for cattle grazing, which have made them one of the most heavily exploited.

• Mining. Excavating a diamond or coal means clearing of all woodland cover with the help of trucks and many other types of equipment. It is another main cause of deforestation.

• Palm Oil. Palm oil has been in great demands in the market and its intensifying costs making it more priceless. Therefore, farmers are exploiting acres of land of forests to reap it.

Pressure

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• Undernourishment for wildlife animals leading to death.

• Shifting of scores of wildlife animals to urban areas

• Declining source of natural medicine

• Uneven balance in the natural cycles

State

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• Green house effect:

• uneven rainfall

• Air Pollution

• soil erosion and declining productivity due to land degradation

Impact

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• Decline in Health of Local community living

• Communities dependent on forest directly facing threat

• Climate change – uneven rainfall, rising sea levels

• Environmental degradation – ozone depletion and greenhouse effect

Responses

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• The government's national action plan on climate change involves expanding forest cover from 23% to 33%

• Afforestation of 6million hectares of degraded forest land

• support campaigns like plant a tree

• Improved methods of farming to improve land productivity and there by decreasing the demand of land for agriculture

• Promotion of cyclic agriculture to improve productivity

• Other movements include international programs like: TFAP (Tropical forestry action plan), International Timber trade organization (ITTO)

• Implementation of Integrated social forestry program and National forestry policy resolution

Alternatives

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• Promotion of Go-Green Campaigns to reduce paper and other items which effect the tree and forestation

• Promote use of recycle items

• Tree Care campaigns

• Farming practices

• Cut back on Palm oil

Stakeholders– State

• Central Government• State Government • The Department of Urban Dev , environment, Municipality

– Market• The private organizations for promotion of Green Campaigns• The Recycling Industries• The packaging industries

– Citizen• The NGOs• The public

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Assessment of Initiatives

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Data used for Assessment

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Data Collected from Nation Forestation Program Scheme

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Analysis of the Reforestation Program of the DENRArea reforested

•The Available data showed that the area reforested by the DENR in particular and the government sector grew in general grew at positive rates during the period from 1974 to 2009 (Table 3).

•For DENR alone, growth was highest in the 1970, followed by the 2000s, 1990s and 1980s. Together for the government, growth was highest in the 1970s, followed by the 2000s, 1980s and 1990s.

•From these available data, it appears that the reforestation program of the government over time has been doing fairly well

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Analysis (Contd.)• In terms of fund utilization, the data indicated that the

NGP had a rather limited performance in this regard as of December 31, 2011 (Table 12). Nationally, the program only has a 79 percent fund utilization rate, defined as utilization divided by allotment

• Among the regions and institutions, it is notable that NCR and ERDB which did not attain their planting targets had 100 percent fund utilization;

Most of the regions which attained their planting targets had lower than 100 percent utilization

ARMM which had a zero percent accomplishment in planting had a 100 percent fund utilization rate

The Central Office of the DENR only had a one percent fund utilization rate

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Analysis (Contd.)• It is worth noting that updated figures indicated that the

NGP fund utilization rate was encouraging as of May 11, 2012 (Table 13). Nationally, in 2011, the program already has a fund utilization rate of above 80 percent in 2011 for current funds and above 90 percent for continuing funds

• These figures may imply that the fund utilization performance of the NGP is acceptable

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Summary• In summary, the reforestation program of the DENR over

the years in totality has been only partially successful in attaining its objectives particularly in terms of area coverage

• In particular areas, on the other hand, many of the reforestation activities of the DENR have actually helped improved the economic, social, environmental, institutional and related conditions in the areas they covered and the local people they are intended to serve

• In the case of the NGP, implementation is initially constrained by the delay in the availability of the mobilization fund at the ground level and inadequate personnel

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Conclusion• To end, much of the success of the NGP in particular and

future reforestation programs of the country in general would depend of on complex and sometimes intertwining factors

• Other than the infusion of sufficient financial and manpower resources for the purpose, a reforestation program can attain its objectives if it can sufficiently monitor its current activities and effectively implement changes in its operations

• It is hoped that the recommendations proposed by this study can be afforded

• serious consideration and eventually implemented for the improved management of the NGP and future reforestation programs

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A presentation by Group L