Convergence of Forest Resources in Jangalmahal, West Bengal

Introduction

Each country of the world is unique. Each has its own peculiar combination of climate, geology, ecology, landscape, politics, economics, and social perspectives. The problems and challenges are also different for each. However, there are also similarities between many aspects for many countries. Consequently, one country's experiences in a particular sphere can be relevant to a number of others. In the global forestry sector considerable interest is shown in the dry land forests. There are several reasons for this. People of dry lands greatly rely on all sorts of forest products, that is, both timber and non-timber products, just to survive. The governments also use forest products of these areas as a source of earning. Therefore, sustainable forest management (SFM) has remained at the forefront of forestry discussions globally for several decades and is an important concept both for the forestry and forest product sectors.

The world’s dry lands are fragile ecosystems due to harsh climatic conditions and growing human pressures. Yet, they constitute some of the world’s largest land reserves and provide a wide range of goods and services which are fundamental to the livelihoods of millions of people. The semi arid and arid regions are situated in the tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world and they account for almost 30% of the world’s total area and around 20% of the total population (Sivakumar, Das & Brunini, 2005). According to the World Atlas of Desertification (UNEP, 1992), dry lands have a ratio of average annual precipitation (P) to potential evapotranspiration (PET) of less than 0.65. In fact, according to the report of Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in 1993, dry lands are categorized into hyper arid, arid, semi arid and dry sub humid zones not only on the basis of P/PET ratio but also on the basis of rainfall (in mm.). Thus, when P/PET ratio is less than 0.05 and rainfall is less than 200 mm, the dry land is referred to as Hyper arid. Again when P/PET ratio lies between 0.05 to 0.20 with rainfall less than 200 mm. in winter and 400 mm. in summer, it is considered as arid zone. The next categorization is Semi arid zone for which P/PET ratio lies between 0.20 and 0.50 with rainfall less than 200-500 mm. in winter and less than 400-600 mm. in summer. Finally, when P/PET ratio lies between 0.50 and 0.65 with rainfall less than 500-700 mm. in winter and less than 600-800 mm. in summer, it is referred to as Dry sub humid zone. On the basis of FAO statistics, the percentage share of arid and semi arid categories combined together are the highest among the total dry land areas of the world.

In India, arid and semi arid zones are characterized by low to medium mean annual rainfall coupled with high coefficient of variability, large amplitude of fluctuations of temperature, strong wind regions and high potential evaporation. The average annual rainfall of these regions varies between 150 mm and 500 mm along with a coefficient of variation as high as 60% to 70%. The distribution of rainfall is also very erratic¹.

The concept of 'forest dependency' is highly problematic. Although it is possible to refer loosely to any people who rely on forest products for their livelihood as being to some extent 'forest dependent'. In this work we concentrate on people who are more or less directly reliant on forests for livelihood purposes. It is useful to identify three broad types of people-forest relationships:

Firstly, people who live inside forests often live as hunter-gatherers or shifting cultivators, and who are heavily dependent on forests for their livelihood primarily on a subsistence basis. People in this category are often indigenous peoples or people from minority ethnic groups. They are, thus, usually outside both the political and economic mainstream.

Secondly, people who live near forests, usually involved in agriculture outside the forest, who regularly use forest products (timber, fuel wood, bush foods, medicinal plants etc) partly for their own subsistence purposes and partly for income generation. For those involved in agriculture, nutrient supplements from forests are often of critical importance to productivity. Such supplements can be in the form of mulch from leaves gathered in the forest. Another source of nutrient supplement is forest grazing by livestock which converts nutrients from forest biomass into manure.