Social Forestry [F.S.T 01] Explanation By Student Help.

Social Forestry [F.S.T 01] Explanation By Student Help.

·         Social forestry (Definition) means the management and protection of forest and afforestation of barren and deforested lands with the purpose of helping environmental, social and rural development.

·         The term, social forestry, was first used in 1976 by The National Commission on Agriculture, Government of India.

·         It was then that India embarked upon the social forestry project with the aim of taking the pressure off currently existing forests by planting trees on all unused and fallow land.

·         Social forestry is basically for the people by the people and of the people approach. it is therefore a democratic approach of forest conservation and usage.

Social forestry programme

·         The Indian government is trying to increase forest areas that are close to human settlement and have been degraded over the years due to human activities needed to be afforested. Trees were to be planted in and around agricultural fields.

·         Plantation of trees along railway lines and roadsides, and river and canal banks were carried out.

·         They were planted in village common land, government wasteland, and Panchayat land.

·         Social forestry scheme was initiated in India to increase fuel availability in rural areas and to prevent soil erosion.

·         This programme was a failure because of the lack of governance. It is important to know that social forestry includes maximum utilization of land for several purposes.

Involvement of common people

·         Social forestry also aims at raising plantations by the common man so as to meet the growing demand for timber, fuel wood, fodder, etc., thereby reducing pressure on traditional forest areas.

·         This concept of village forests to meet the needs of the rural people is not new.

·         It has existed through the centuries all over the country, but it is now being given a new character.

·         With the introduction of this scheme, the government formally recognised 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.

Need of social forestry

·         This need for a social forestry scheme was felt as India has a dominant rural population that still depends largely on fuel wood and other biomass for their cooking and heating.

·         This demand for fuel wood will not come down but the area under forest will reduce further due to the growing population and increasing human activities.

·         Yet the government managed the projects for five years then gave them over to the village panchayats (village council) to manage for themselves and generate products or revenue as they saw fit.



Explanattion In Hindi at
https://ignounotesbystudenthelp.blogspot.com/2019/09/fst-01-class2-on-social-forestry-in.html