Study Notes

Concept of Forest and

Forestry
Concept of Forest and Forestry

Forest`
• The word forest is derived from the Latin word 'foris’ which means ‘outside’.
• Forest is defined as a plant community predominantly of trees and other woody
vegetation, usually with a closed canopy.
• Legally, it is defined as an area proclaimed to be forest under a forest law.
• Forest is a land area chiefly covered with trees and under growth.
• The resources which render many services to the humans throughout the globe.
• An area set aside for the production of timber and other forest produce, or maintained
under woody vegetation for certain indirect benefits.
• According to American Society of Foresters, a forest is “A plant association
predominantly of trees or other woody vegetation occupying an extensive area of
land”

Important uses of forest can be classified as under:

1. Commercial values
2. Ecological significance
3. Aesthetic values
4. Life and economy of tribal

Stand:

• Aggregation of trees in a forest occupying a specific area, uniform in composition, age,

arrangement and easily distinguishable from rest of the forest. Hence forest designates
aggregation of different stands.

Species within a forest –

1. Principal sps. –most important species in a mixed forest by volume or value.

2. Accessory sps. –useful species but less than principal sps.
3. Auxillary sps. –species of inferior quality in the forest.

Forestry
• The term “Forestry” is defined as, ”the science, art and practice of understanding,
managing and using wisely the natural resources associated with, and derived from forest
lands”
• Forestry is the theory and practice of all that constitutes the creation, conservation and
scientific management of forests and the utilization of their resources to provide for the
continuous production of the required goods and services.

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Concept of Forest and Forestry

Branches of forestry and their interrelationship

Silviculture It refers to certain aspects of theory and practices of raising forests crops,
methods of raising tree crops, their growth and after care up to the time of final
harvesting.

Forest It refers to the determination of dimensions, form, volume, age and increments
Mensuration: of the logs, single trees, stands or whole woods.

Silviculture Process by which the crops constituting a forest are tended, removal and
system: replaced by new crops

Management: Practical application of sequence technique and economics to forest estate

for the production of certain desired results.

Utilization: Branch of forestry which deals with harvesting, marketing conservation and
applying the forest produce to a variety of uses.

eg. Timber, fuel, charcoal, pulp wood, ply wood.

Forest classification
Forest classification is defined as the grouping and arrangement afforests based on defined
criteria such as composition, age, climatic elements, structure, habitat, etc.

Objectives of forest classification

1. To study and characterize the different forest types

2. To develop suitable silvicultural management techniques for different forests
3. To avoid wastage of resource and save money by avoiding failure

1. Forest classification based on age:

a. Even aged forests (regular forests) – composed of even aged woods (up to 25%
age difference permitted)
b. Uneven aged forests (irregular forests) – composed of trees of different ages (more
than 25% age difference permitted)

2. On the basis of growing stock:

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Concept of Forest and Forestry

a. Normal forest – is a forest which has a normal age gradation, growing stock and
increment. It will give sustained yield and most ideal one. No virgin forests are normal
forests.
b. Abnormal forest – do not have normal growing stock and gives irregular yield.

3. On the basis of regeneration –

a. High forest – regenerated from seeds.
b. Coppice forests – forest originated vegetative from suckers or sprouts from
stump.
4. On the basis of species composition –
a. Pure forest – composed of one single sps with composition not less than 80%.
b. Mixed forest – composed of two or more sps with at least canopy of one sps more
than 20%.
5. On the basis of legal legislation-
a. Reserved forests – rights to all activities like hunting, grazing etc. are banned
unless permission is granted for a particular reason.
b. Protected forests - rights to activities are given to some communities who sustain
their livelihood partially or wholly from forest resources.
c. Village forests – managed and protected by villagers.

According to National Commission on Agriculture (NCA) (1976), the forests were

classified into three major categories.

1. Protection Forests:
• The practice of forestry with a view to conserving flora, fauna, soil and water,
increasing water yields, reducing floods and droughts, amelioration of climatic
conditions, etc. is called Protection Forestry.
2. Production Forests:
• The practice of forestry with object of producing maximum quantity of timber, fuel
wood and other forest produce is called Production Forestry.
3. Social Forests:
• The practice of forestry which aims at meeting the requirement of rural and urban
population.

6. Forest classification based on ownership

a. State forest
b. Private forest
c. Community forest
d. Panchayat forest

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Concept of Forest and Forestry

Forests Types of India

Champion and Seth (1967) classified forests of India into 5 major groups and further it is
classified into 16 type groups/ groups.

Major Groups:

1. Tropical Forests
2. Montane Subtropical Forests
3. Montane Temperate Forests
4. Sub-alpine Forests
5. Alpine scrub

THE TREE:

Tree is essentially a plant. Plants may be classified into the following three categories:

1. Herb
2. Shrub and
3. Tree

Parts of tree –

a. Leaf – Green, flattened, lateral structure attached to the stem.

➢ Evergreen sps – never entirely without leaves.
➢ Deciduous sps. – distinct leafless period for some part of the year.
➢ Autumn tint – change in colour before leaf fall.

b. Stem – principal axis of the tree from which buds and shoots are developed.
➢ Bole – lower part of the stem up to the point where main branches are given off.
➢ Taper – decrease in stem diameter from base to upwards.
➢ Flutting – irregular swellings on the stem.

c. Crown – upper branchy part of the tree above the bole.

a. Based on the crown, trees in the forests are classified as –
1. Dominant trees – trees of uppermost canopy

i. Predominant trees – tallest tress which are free from competition.

ii. Codominant trees – trees having 5/6 of the height of predominate sps.
2. Dominated trees - trees having ¾ of the height of the tallest trees.
3. Suppressed trees - trees having ½ to ¾ of the height of the tallest trees.
4. Dead or moribund trees – bent over or badly leaning trees.
5. Diseased trees – trees infected with parasites or diseases.

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Concept of Forest and Forestry

Tending of forests
Any operation carried out for the benefit of a forest crop at any stage of its life.
a. Weeding – removal or cutting back of weeds.
b. Cleaning – removal of inferior growth including individuals of favoured species.
c. Thinning – felling made in an immature stand for the purpose of improving growth and
form of the trees.
i Mechanical thinning – trees to be selected by some common thumb rule, eg. Trees
in alternate rows are removed.
ii Ordinary thinning – known as low thinning, thinning from below or German
thinning. Starts from suppressed class to dominated class. Some dominant trees
are also removed.
iii Crown thinning – known as high thinning, thinning from above or French thinning.
Thinning is carried out mainly on dominant trees.
iv Free thinning – trees retained for future will be selected from the beginning and
thinning is done around these trees to reduce competition.
v Maximum thinning – heaviest form of thinning in which high proportion of the trees
is removed to ensure best utilization of site by the trees retained.
vi Advance thinning – trees to be thinned before the actual competition takes place
and reduce the growth of desired one.

1. Improvement felling – removal of less valuable trees in a crop in the interest of valuable
individuals.
2. Pruning – removal of dead or live branches or multiple leaders from standing trees for
improvement of its timber.

Trees suitable for different wastelands :

1. Marshy areas – Bambusa vulgaris (Bamboo), Eucalyptus grandis, Terminalia arjuna
(arjun)
2. Sandy areas – Casuarina equisetifolia (Australian pine), Dalbergia sisoo (shisham),
Acacia auriculiformis
3. Acid soils – Gliricedia sepium, Albizia procera, Ailanthus ultisima
4. Alkaline soils – Acacia nilotica, Leucaena leucocephala, Terminalia arjuna
5. Saline soils – Acacia nilotica, Acacia catechu, Prosopsis juliflora
6. Dry clay soils – Acacia nilotica, Albizia lebbeck, Acacia tortolis
7. High altitude areas – Grevellia robusta (silver oak), Ailanthus altisima
8. Dry areas – Prosopsis juliflora, Ziziphus mauritiana (ber), Acacia sps

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Concept of Forest and Forestry

Miscellaneous :

➢ Forest’ word has its origin from – Latin language

➢ Art and science of cultivation of forest crops – Silviculture
➢ Study of life history and general characters of forest trees – Silvics
➢ Science dealing with tree age – Dendrochronology
➢ World Forestry Day – 21 March
➢ World Environment Day – 5 June
➢ Father of forestry in India – Dietrich Brandis (from Germany)
➢ International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) is situated in – Nairobi, Kenya
(est. 1977)
➢ Centre for Internationl forestry research (CIFOR) – Bogor, Indonesia
➢ Forest research Institute (FRI) situated in – Dehradun (est. 1906)
➢ National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB) was set up in – 1992
➢ National Research Centre for Agroforestry (NRCAF) is situated in – Jhansi (est 1988)
➢ National Research Centre for Agroforestry (NRCAF) renamed as – Central Agroforestry
Research Institute (CAFRI)
➢ Institute of Tropical Forestry is at – Puerto Rico
➢ National Wasteland Development Board came into existence in – 1985
➢ First Forest Act was drafted in year – 1865
➢ National forest policy first enacted in – 1894 (amended in 1952, 1988)
➢ Wildlife Protection Act enacted in year – 1972
➢ Tree protection Act- 1976
➢ Project Tiger launched in year – 1973
➢ Indian Forest Act was enacted in – 1927
➢ Forest Conservation Act enacted in – 1980

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Concept of Forest and Forestry

➢ As per the National Forest Policy (1952) the desired forest area to the total geographical
area should be – 33%
➢ % forest area to total geographical area in India is – 21.54% (2.7% dense forest, 9.8%
moderate forest, 3.79% open forest)
➢ Area under forest in India according to National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) – 75mha
➢ Most important agroforestry system in South India (Kerela and Tamil Nadu) is – Home
gardening
➢ Shifting cultivation is also known as – Jhum cultivation, Slash and burn farming
➢ Orchards protected by tall trees on its boundary, agroforestry system is – Hortisilviculture
➢ Wheat grown in space between newly planted aonla rows, agroforestry system is –
Agrihorticulture
➢ Taungya cultivation means – growing short term crops in early years of woody perennials
➢ Taungya cultivation started for the first time in – Myanmar (for Teak cultivation)
➢ In India, first taungya plantation was raised in – North Bengal
➢ Which system is known as scientifically managed shifting cultivation – Taungya system
➢ Taungya system is practiced mostly in – Kerala

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 Study Notes
Concept of Social Forestry
and Agroforestry
Concept of Social Forestry and Agroforestry

Social Forestry
• Social forestry is defined as “Forestry outside the conventional forests” which primarily
aims at providing continuous flow of goods and services for the benefit of people.
• The production of forest goods for the needs of the local people is Social forestry. Thus,
social forestry aims at growing forests of the choice of the local population.
• “Social forestry is the management and development of forests with afforestation on barren
lands to achieve environmental benefit and rural development”.
• The term was first used by National Commission on Agriculture, Government of India,
in 1976.
• Social forestry is supposed to diversify non-farm options or non-crop income options for
poor farmers & landless labourers.
• It was also designed to ensure better land use where wasteland encroached into a forestry
plantation.
• The programme was supposed to be one of the initiatives under the afforestation scheme
with the objective of increasing farming area of India to meet the total target of 33% forest
area.

• This programme became part of a wasteland development programme to encourage

forestry land use on slopes and upstream.
• With the introduction of this scheme, the government formally recognized the local
communities’ rights to forest resources and is now encouraging rural participation in
the management of natural resources. Through the social forestry scheme, the
government has involved community participation, as part of a drive towards afforestation,
and rehabilitating the degraded forest and common lands.

Different terminologies for describing tree cultivation in non forest areas

1. Farm Forestry:
➢ Farm forestry is the name given to programmes which promote commercial tree growing
by farmers on their own land.
➢ Farm forestry was defined by NCA ( 1976) as “the practice of forestry in all its aspects
2 in and the around the farms or village lands integrated with other farm operations.”
Concept of Social Forestry and Agroforestry

➢ At present, in almost all the countries where social forestry programs have been taken
up both commercially and non-commercial farm forestry is being promoted in one form
or the other.
➢ Individual farmers are being encouraged to plant trees on their own farmland to meet
the domestic needs of the family. In many areas, this tradition of growing trees on the
farmland already exists.
➢ Non-commercial farm forestry is the main thrust of most of the social forestry projects in
the country today.
➢ It is not always necessary that the farmer grows trees for fuelwood, but very often they
are interested in growing trees without any economic motive. They may want it to provide
shade for the agricultural crops; as wind shelters; soil conservation or to use wasteland.
2. Extension Forestry
➢ Extension forestry is the practice of forestry in areas devoid of tree growth and other
vegetation situated in places away from the conventional forest areas with the object of
increasing the area under tree growth.
It Includes:
A. Mixed forestry
Mixed forestry is the practice of forestry for raising fodder grass with
scattered fodder trees, fruit trees and fuel wood trees on suitable wastelands,
panchayat lands and village commons.
B. Shelterbelts
Shelterbelt is defined as a belt of trees and or shrubs maintained for the
purpose of shelter from wind, sun, snow drift, etc.
C. Linear Strip plantations
These are the plantations of fast growing species on linear strips of land.
3. Rehabilitation of Degraded forests
➢ The degraded area under forests needs immediate attention for ecological restoration
and for meeting the socio economic needs of the communities living in and around such
areas.
4. Recreation Forestry
➢ Recreation forestry is the practice of forestry with the object of raising flowering trees
and shrubs mainly to serve as recreation forests for the urban and rural population.
➢ This type of forestry is also known as Aesthetic forestry which is defined as the practice
of forestry with the object of developing or maintaining a forest of high scenic value.
5. Urban Forestry
➢ It is raising and management of trees on private or publicly owned lands in and around
urban centers for the purpose of improving the urban environment.
➢ Urban forestry includes the management of individuals as well as groups of trees.
➢ Urban forestry is also not restricted to trees that have been planted.
➢ Many urban trees may have established naturally, although, in an environment in which
competition for land is high, they are unlikely to survive long unless actively cultivated
and managed.
3 ➢ Urban forestry also includes the management of forests at the urban fringe.
Concept of Social Forestry and Agroforestry

6. Rural Forestry
➢ Rural forestry lays emphasis on promotion of community forestry and agroforestry.
➢ Rural forestry can be divided into:
A. Community forestry
B. Agroforestry

A. Community forestry

➢ Community forestry is when communities have the right to manage the forest
resources upon which they depend, with a view to improving their living
conditions.
➢ It is the raising of trees on community land and not on private land as in farm forestry.
➢ All these programs aim to provide for the entire community and not for any individual.
➢ The government has the responsibility of providing seedlings, fertilizers but the
community has to take responsibility for protecting the trees. Some communities
manage the plantations sensibly and in a sustainable manner so that the village
continues to benefit.
➢ Over the last 20 years, large-scale planting of Eucalyptus, as a fast-growing exotic, has
occurred in India, making it a part of the drive to reforest the subcontinent, and create
an adequate supply of timber for rural communities under the augur of ‘social forestry’.
➢ The Community Forest Resource rights under Section 3(1)(i) of the Scheduled Tribes
and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (Forest Rights
Act ).

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Concept of Social Forestry and Agroforestry

2. Agroforestry
Agroforestry
➢ Agroforestry is a collective name for land-use systems involving trees combined with crops
and/or animals on the same unit of land.
➢ It combines
i) production of multiple outputs with protection of resource base
ii) places emphasis on the use of multiple indigenous trees and shrub
iii) particularly suitable for low-input conditions and fragile environments.
iv) It involves the interplay of socio-cultural values more than in most other land-use
systems; and
v) It is structurally and functionally more complex than monoculture.
➢ Any sustainable land-use system that maintains or increases total yields by combining food
crops (annuals) with tree crops (perennials) and/or livestock on the same unit of land,
either alternately or at the same time, using management practices that suit the social and
cultural characteristics of the local people and the economic and ecological conditions of
the area.
➢ In an agroforestry system there are both ecological and economical interactions between
the various components.

Types of Agroforestry systems:

1. STRUCTURAL BASIS :
Agrisilvicultural systems:
• In this system, agricultural crops are intercropped with tree crops in the
interspace between the trees.
• Are a combination of crops and trees, such as alley cropping or homegardens.
• Wider spacing is adopted without sacrificing tree population for easy cultural
operation and to get more sunlight to the intercrop.
• Performance of the tree crops is better in this system when compared to
monoculture.
Silvopastoral systems:
• combine forestry and grazing of domesticated animals on pastures, rangelands
or on farm.
• This system is classified in to three categories
a) Protein bank
b) Livefence of fodder trees and hedges
c) Trees and shrubs on pasture
Agrosilvopastoral systems :
• The three elements, namely trees, animals and crops, can be integrated in this
system.
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Concept of Social Forestry and Agroforestry

• It is illustrated by homegardens involving animals as well as scattered trees on

croplands used for grazing after harvests.
• This system is categorised as:
a) Home gardens
b) Woody hedgerows for browse, mulch, green manure and soil
conservation.

Silvopastoral system Agrosilvopastoral system

Home gardens

➢ This system is found extensively in high rainfall areas in tropical South and South east
Asia.

➢ This practice finds expression in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu with humid tropical
climates where coconut is the main crop.
➢ Many species of trees, bushes , vegetables and other herbaceous plants are grown in
dense and in random or spatial and temporal arrangements.
➢ Most home gardens also support a variety of animals.
➢ Fodder grass and legumes are also grown to meet the fodder requirement of cattle.
➢ In India, every homestead has around 0.20 to 0.50 ha land for personal production.
➢ Home gardens represent land use systems involving deliberate management of
multipurpose trees and shrubs in intimate association with annual and perennial
agricultural crops and livestock within the compounds of individual houses.
➢ The whole tree- crop- animal units are being intensively managed by family labour. Home
gardens can also be called as Multitier system or Multitier cropping.
➢ Home gardens are highly productive, sustainable and very practicable. Food production is
primary function of most home gardens.
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Concept of Social Forestry and Agroforestry

Homestead agroforestry
➢ Homestead agroforestry refers to intimate association of multipurpose trees and shrubs with
annual and perennial crops, and, invariably, livestock within the compounds of individual
houses, with the whole crop–tree–animal unit being managed by family labor.
➢ The home and adjacent grounds occupied by a family, is the potential production area.
Homestead agroforestry is popularly called homestead production system.
➢ Homestead agro forestry, that integrates tree production with crop and animal production,
is believed to have a higher potential to sequester carbon in pastures or field crops.
➢ It also helps to reduce carbon emissions from fossil-fuel burning through fuel wood
production and conservation of carbon stocks in existing agro forestry by alleviating
pressure on these forests.
➢ The significance of homestead agro forestry to reduce green house gases emission is well
appreciated throughout the world.
➢ Farmers usually prefers Multi Purpose Trees (MPTs) which simply fruit, fodder, fuel wood
and timber to meet their day to day requirement, as well as for sale to generate cash as a
regular source of income and also to tide over emergent needs.
➢ Homestead agroforestry is mainly silvo-horticultural and silvo-pastural system where
major agricultural crops are very rare.
➢ The plants grown in the homesteads are broadly classified into food (fruits, vegetables,
spices), timber and fuel wood, medicinal, and ornamental species.

Benefits of Agroforestry System

1. Environmental benefits:
➢ Reduction of pressure on natural forests.
➢ More efficient recycling of nutrients by deep-rooted trees on the site.
➢ Better protection of ecological systems.
➢ Reduction of surface run-off, nutrient leaching, and soil erosion through the impeding effect
of tree roots and stems on these processes.
➢ Improvement of microclimates, such as lowering of soil surface temperature and reduction
of the evaporation of soil moisture through a combination of mulching and shading.
➢ Increment in soil nutrients through addition and decomposition of litterfall.
➢ Improvement of soil structure through the constant addition of organic matter from
decomposed litter.
➢ It is also recognized that Agroforestry is perhaps the only alternative to meeting the target
of increasing forest or tree cover to 33 percent from the present level of less than 25
percent, as envisaged in the National Forest Policy (1988).
➢ Agroforestry is known to have the potential to mitigate the climate change effects through
microclimate moderation and natural resources conservation in the short run and through
carbon sequestration in the long run.
➢ Agroforestry species are known to sequester as much carbon in below-ground biomass as
the primary forests, and far greater than the crop and grass systems.
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Concept of Social Forestry and Agroforestry

2. Economic benefits:
➢ Increment in outputs of food, fuelwood, fodder, fertilizer, and timber.
➢ Reduction in the incidence of total crop failure, which is common to single cropping or
monoculture systems.
➢ Increase in levels of farm income due to improved and sustained productivity.
➢ Agroforestry has significant potential to provide employment to the rural and urban
populations through production, industrial application, and value addition ventures.
➢ Current estimates show that about 65 % of the country’s timber requirement is met from the
trees grown on farms. Agroforestry also generates significant employment opportunities.

3. Social benefits:
➢ Improvement in rural living standards from sustained employment and higher income.
➢ Improvement in nutrition and health due to increased quality and diversity of food outputs.
➢ Stabilization and improvement of communities through the elimination of the need to shift
sites of farm activities.

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 Study Notes

Joint Forest Management

Joint Forest Management

Introduction
• Joint Forest Management (JFM) is a collaborative approach to forest management in
which local communities and the forest department of a country work together to protect
and manage forest resources.
• The concept was introduced by Government of India through the National Forest
Policy of 1988.
• JFM is based on the principle of co-management, which recognizes the importance of
involving local people in decision-making related to forest management.

JFM:

• Under JFM, village communities are entrusted with the protection and management of
nearby forests.
• The communities are required to organize forest protection committees, village forest
committees, village forest conservation and development societies, etc.
• Each of these bodies has an executive committee that manages its day-to-day affairs. In
return of their services to the forests, the communities get the benefit of using minor non-
timber forest produce. As a result, the forest can be conserved in a sustainable manner.
• JFM depends on the formation of local (village) institutions that undertake protection
activities mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department.
• In return, the members of these communities are entitled to intermediary benefits like non
– timber forests produce and share in the timber harvested by successful protection.
• Certain societies revere a particular tree which they have preserved from time immemorial.
• eg. The Mundas and the Santhals of Chotanagpur region worship Mahua and Kadamba
trees and the tubes of Orissa and Bihar worship the Tamarind and many trees during
weddings.
• In many locations people’s voluntary groups were engaged in protection of forests without
any initiative from the Government. Subsequently, based on the experience, the process
of institutionalizing people’s participation in forest protection and regeneration began. This
type of collective endeavour in protection and management of forests through people’s
involvement was later termed as Joint Forest Management.

For example:

➢ Gaddi & Gujjar Tribes: The Gaddi and Gujjar tribes in the Himalayan states control
the grazing of cattle, which helps to preserve biodiversity by preventing the
development of wild grass.
➢ Bishnoi Community: The Bishnoi people in Rajasthan are crucial to ecological
preservation through the famous Chipko Movement.
➢ Maldhari Tribe: The lion population has increased due to cooperative conservation
efforts with the nomadic Maldhari tribe, which lives close to Gir National Park.

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Joint Forest Management

➢ Mundas & Santhals: In the Chotanagpur region, the Mundas and Santhals worship
the Mahua and Kadamba trees, while in Orissa and Bihar, the tribes adore the
Tamarind and numerous other trees.

What is a Joint Forest Management Committee?

• A Joint Forest Management Committee ( or JFMC in short) is a democratic, decentralized

and transparent local institution of forest and forest fringe dwelling communities, that is
part of the Gram Sabha fully or partially and set up as per the provisions of applicable JFM
rules/guidelines of the state.

What is an Eco-Development Committee?

• An Eco-Development Committee (EDC) is similar to JFMCs, but meant for villages in

Protected Areas and their buffer zones.
• Their setup, working, role, responsibilities, powers, funds etc. are as per the state level
orders.
• Their area of operation is restricted to protected Areas, and forest and non-forest areas
near protected areas.
• EDCs are set up with twin objectives – to protect wildlife and other biodiversity, and also
undertake eco-development activities in the villages.

JFM- Process:

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Joint Forest Management

• Village communities are given responsibility for the management and preservation of
the surrounding forests under JFM.
• By speaking with the local population or with the assistance of NGOs active in certain
regions, forest departments take the initiative to establish such committees.
• NGOs are also involved in the creation of these participatory institutions and frequently
serve as the catalysts for capacity building, information distribution, monitoring, and
evaluation.
• The establishment of forest protection committees, village forest committees, village
forest conservation, development groups, etc., is a requirement for the communities.
• An executive committee oversees the day-to-day operations of each of these
organizations.
• The communities receive the benefit of utilizing small non-timber forest products in
exchange for their services to the forests. Thus, the forest can be preserved in a
sustainable manner.

Who can form and facilitate the formation of a JFMC/EDC?

• The request for formation must be signed by the area residents.

• Formation can be initiated /facilitated by:
➢ Residents
➢ Panchayat
➢ FD staff
➢ NGOs / Research or Educational institutions

The potential role of Joint Forest Management in improving the livelihood of the
forest dwellers and fringe forest communities are as follows:

• For working in coordination with villagers, Forest Committees are constituted, which play
an active role to increase the agriculture and forest production and processing their
produce.
• Employment opportunities, such as sustainable tourism are created in villages so that
villagers are dissuaded from illicit felling and encroachment of forests.
• Attempts are made to provide other basic facilities so that pressure on forest is minimized.
• The Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 along with the Forest Rights
Act plays a significant role towards ensuring entitlement to forest dwellers.
• A specific woman sub-committee in the Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC)
ensures gender balance.
• The JFMC provides training on animal husbandry, poultry farming, dairy development and
managing small forestry enterprises along with implementation of the National Rural
Employment Guarantee programme in fringe forest areas.
• Non-wood forest products (NWFP) are also important to JFM.
• NWFP are integral to lifestyle of forest-dependent communities. They fulfill basic
requirements, provide gainful employment during lean periods and supplement
incomes from agriculture and wage labor.

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Joint Forest Management

• Medicinal plants collected through JFM have an important role in rural health.

Importance of JFM:

• Preservation of Forest Rights: Together with the Forest Rights Act, the Panchayat
(Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996 significantly contributes to ensuring the
rights of forest residents.
• The Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) maintains gender balance with a
dedicated women's subcommittee.
• The JFMC implements the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
program in peripheral forest areas and offers training in animal husbandry, poultry farming,
dairy development, and managing small forestry firms.
• NWFP is essential to the way of life in communities that depend on forests. They satisfy
fundamental needs, offer profitable employment during hard times, and enhance
agricultural and wage labor wages.

Challenges of JFM:

• On the one hand, legislations like the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, and the
Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996, have come into
existence, giving rights to tribals and forest dwellers over forest resources and their
management. On the other hand, communities demand the huge sums forest departments
owe them under the programme.
• Communities seek the considerable funds that the forest departments owe them as part
of the scheme.
• JFM program implementation is expensive. For instance, afforestation costs around Rs
20,000 per acre.
• Forest Protection Committees (FPC) lack legal standing as well as financial and executive
authority.
• Conflicts between and within communities hinder the operation of the Forest Protection
Committees (FPC).
• Inadequate remuneration for local communities from JFM activities.
• Inter and intra-community conflicts that hamper FPC functioning.
• Denial of rights on disposal over valuable NTFPs to local communities.

Ecological Impact of Joint Forest Management:

• JFM plantations are dominated by exotic firewood species and are deficient in timber and
nontimber species, resulting in lower biodiversity.
• The rate of biomass growth in JFM forests was higher than the national average.
• Other JFM support activities revealed that various biomass conservation programs were
launched, with a large number of energy-saving and alternative energy devices installed.

5
 Study Notes

Propagation of Forest
Plants
Propagation of Forest Plants

Propagation of Forest Plants

VEGETATIVE REPRODUCTION or ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION

• Describes reproduction in plants in which new individuals develop asexually from

specialized structures such as bulbs, rhizomes, or runners rather than from
specialized sex cells.
• Asexual propagation is the production of new plants from the leaves, stems,
or roots of a single parent plant. Asexual propagation, which does not require
pollination or fertilization, is a rapid method of propagation. It ensures that all of the
parent’s genetic material survives even if the parent dies, and it creates offspring,
known as clones, with the same traits as the parent plant. Asexual propagation is
advantageous when plants are well adapted to a particular environment. E.g. by
coppice or root suckers, etc.
• This is the primitive method of reproduction by which a new organism is formed
from just one parent without the participation of mate, gamete or fertilization. The
offsprings produced by this method are the exact copies and thus identical to their
parents and no variations are seen because all the offsprings are genetically
identical to their parents. For example: Fission, Budding, Regeneration,
Parthenogensis, Cloning.
• In plants, two types of buds are found (i) Dormant buds (originate in the leaf axils
and in the bark, each year growing sufficiently to keep the tip just out of wood) (ii)
adventitious buds (found in living tissues). When any disturbance occurs in
physiological activities e.g. by cutting or by injury, etc these develop shoots.

REASONS FOR VEGETATIVE REPRODUCTION

Vegetative reproduction is adopted under special circumstances, which are as under:

1. Inability to produce viable seed (in spp like Banyan, Fig, Oranges, etc)

2. True to type spp (exactly similar to mother spp)

• By seed, the seedling may not be like mother tree or somewhat father tree
• In veg reproduction, 100% surety is guaranteed.

3. A particular form of plant (e.g. a dwarf tree)

4. Modify growth habit (e.g. if Olea ferrugenia, which has good root system but low seed
production, is grafted with other Olea spp, which has poor root system but good seed
production, the new spp. will be modified with not only good root system but also
excellent seed production)

5. Adaptation of habitat: (by vegetative means the adaptability of a species in a particular

area is increased)

6. Produce immunity against pests and diseases

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Propagation of Forest Plants

7. More quantity of plants/ greater no. of plants

• Tissue culture

1. here a single tissue produces a single plant

2. From a single tree, we can produce millions of plants.

1. Easy and quick results:

• Sometimes seed collection is a problem e.g. poplar, Tamarix, etc also
vegetative means takes lesser times to grow which the seeds take to
germinate, establish, etc.

TYPES/ METHODS/ MODES OF VEGETATIVE REPRODUCTION

Root Suckers

• When a root of a plant is partially or wholly cut to produce new shoots.

• OR; A shoot arising from the root of the woody plant is called root suckers.
• Roots of the plant are injured (which results in the disturbance of the
physiological functions)
• When new shoots have appeared, the main stem is cut.
• Mainly used for regeneration purposes in Bela Forest in Punjab.
• E.g. shisham, Populus alba, ailanthus, simal, Robinia, etc.

Coppicing

• When the main plant is cut from near ground, it produces a flush of fresh
shoots.
• “A shoot arising from an adventitious bud at the base of the woody plant
that has been cut near the ground or otherwise burnt back” BCFT
• Mainly observed in Eucalyptus, broad leaves, Dodonaea, acacia modesta,
Morus alba, Prosopis juliflora, etc.
• The stem is cut as near to the ground as possible because the adventitious
buds are concentrated to collar regions (where adventitious buds are
located b/w bark and wood i.e. cambium)

Factors influencing coppicing:

Age/ Size of tree.

Greater age less coppicing

• Some trees have coppice power till the age of 50 to 70 years

• Season
• Cut the stem before spring i.e. cut in dormant season
• Site characteristics
• Sites having fertile, deep, etc soils produce good coppices.

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Propagation of Forest Plants

• Height of cutting
• Cut near collar point
• Coppicing power
• Inherent coppicing power
• Strong coppicers ; Conifers are not at all

Strong coppicers:

• Shisham
• Eucalyptus
• Acacia
• Albezzia
• Olea
• Salix

Fair coppicers

• Oak
• Acacia

Limited

• Acacia nilotica
• Bombax ceiba

No coppicing

• Pines/ conifers
• Reported in Chir in a young age called seedling coppice

Cutting

• A portion of stem, root, or branch is planted in the soil. A new shoot is produced.
• Cutting depends upon:
• Spp
• Age (1-3 yrs)
• Lateral and basal portion give better results than an apical portion or terminal portion
• Season: early spring or late winter
• Habit:

1. Deciduous: early spring/ late autumn

2. Evergreen: monsoon (because high humidity affects less

evapotranspiration)

• Size of cutting (thumb size/ finger size)

• Hormones: (root inducing hormones)

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Propagation of Forest Plants

1. IAA (Indole Acetic Acid) (make solutions of hormones and dip cuttings and perform
the field planting)

Types of cuttings

Root Cuttings

1. From adventitious buds

2. 10 – 25cm length of cutting (3 to 10 inches)

3. Placed horizontally underground

4. E.g. shisham, pulonia, Robinia, etc

Root Shoot cutting

1. Cutting having part of the root as well as shoot

2. Size is equal to thumb and length 9 inches (6-inch root while 3 shoot)

3. The height of stump depends upon moisture availability; greater moisture, longer
the shoot

4. Also known as stump cutting

5. Planting should be as quick as possible

Stem Cutting/ Branch cutting:

1. 10 – 25 cm length of cutting

2. One-year-old plant

3. Finger size should be the minimum size

4. Two-third of the cutting should be in the ground

5. The uppercut should be 5 cm above node

6. Cutting should be slanted so that moisture could not accumulate

7. Cutting should be inserted obliquely

8. Cutting should be done before dormant period

9. Keep wet while transporting

5
Propagation of Forest Plants

leaf cutting
1. In some spp like Philloden spp (ornamental plant)

2. Also in Jack pine (Pinus bantsions)

3. Petiole is removed

4. Give superficial cut to the vein

5. Place on soil with pins

6. It will absorb moisture and will develop roots.

Layering:

• A method of propagating plants by covering a branch or shoot with soil so that

it takes root while still attached to the parent plant ▪ Methods of Layering:
• Two methods of layering are commonly used.
• Air layering
• Soil Layering

Soil Layering:

1. Remove bark after making a cut

2. Place a stone and cover the cut with soil.

Provide moisture

1. Don’t cut the branch from the mother tree in a single cut, rather 1/3 should be cut off the
old branch and check its effect on the mother plant. After a week cut it off if there is no
effect on the new shoot. If effects are visible, then do not directly cut the branch rather
cut it up to ½ lengths. E.g. roses, mango, jasmine, grapes, etc.

Soil layering is of following types:

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Propagation of Forest Plants

a. Serpentine Layering:
in such layering, a single is branch is inserted in two or three places inside the soil
mainly for that spp having soft and flexible branches, especially for ornamental plants.
b. Mound layering or Stool layering.
under this condition, cover the plant with soil and new shoots arise.
e.g. in apple

Air Layering:

This method can be done in an upper atmosphere

• The part of the branch is covered with a polyethene sheet or a plastic cover with
soil and tie with spongy material
• Rest of the process is similar as in soil layering i.e., removal of bark; cutting in
intervals, etc.

E.g. sweet chestnut

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Propagation of Forest Plants

Grafting

Image – Twin Graft on an Apple Tree

This picture shows a successful twin graft between two plants. In grafting, the scion, or
portion of a plant to be propagated, is physically attached to a seedling or stock plant of the
same species using a grafting rubber band and grafting wax. After several weeks, if the graft
is successful, the stock and scion will have grown together. Wild plants such as trees and
shrubs can also undergo natural grafting, in which their root systems grow together. This
allows for the sharing of essential nutrients between different species.

SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

It is the type of reproduction which involves sex cells, the gametes. A male gamete, the
sperm, fuses with a female gamete, the ovum, to form a zygote which undergoes
development and a new individual is formed. This type of reproduction involves two parents,
a male who contributes the sperm and a female who contributes to the ovum.

Flowers contain the structures necessary for sexual reproduction. The male component, or
stamen, consists of a thin stalk called the filament, capped by the anther.

Following fig. explains the whole process of sexual reproduction in plants

8
Propagation of Forest Plants

Flower Pollination and Fertilization

Flowers contain the structures necessary for sexual reproduction. The male component, or
stamen, consists of a thin stalk called the filament, capped by the anther. The female
component, the pistil, includes the stigma, a sticky surface that catches pollen; the ovary,
which contains the ovule and embryo sac with its egg; and the style, a tube that connects the
stigma and ovary

A. Pollen is produced in the anther

B. It is released when mature
C. Each mature pollen grain contains two sperm cells. In self-pollinating plants, the pollen
lands on the stigma of the same flower, but in cross-pollinating plants—the majority of
plants—the pollen is carried by wind, water, insects, or small animals to another flower.
If the pollen attaches to the stigma of a flower from the same species, the pollen
produces a pollen tube, which grows down the neck of the style, transporting the sperm
to the ovule

D. Within the embryo sac of the ovule, one sperm cell fertilizes the egg, which develops
into a seed. The second sperm cell unites with two cells in the embryo sac called polar
nuclei, and this result in the development of the endosperm, the starchy food that feeds
the developing seed.
E. The ovary enlarges and becomes a fruit.