The Hindu : Front Page : People's efforts increase green cover in Namakkal

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Monday, Jun 06, 2011
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People's efforts increase green cover in Namakkal

M.K. Ananth

Most preferred:Silver Oak tress grown in private lands in Kolli Hills through the Tree Cultivation in Private Lands scheme.

Namakkal: Over the last four years tree cultivation on lands other than forest areas in this district has picked up commendably through the Tree Cultivation in Private Lands (TCPL) project, says District Forest Officer Ashish Kumar Srivastava. He told The Hindu that through this project nearly 11.31 lakh seedlings of commercially valuable trees have been planted on an area of 2,800 hectares in that period.

This is about 5.2 percent of Namakkal's total forest cover, Mr. Srivastava said and added that the department in planning to plant about 4.25 lakh seedlings on an area of 850 hectares in 2011-12. Planting under TCPL is done on lands that are not cultivable due to various reasons such as labour shortage, infertile lands and lack of adequate water.

Noting that the forest, agriculture and horticulture departments alone cannot increase the green cover of the country, he lauded the involvement of public in improving the tree cover in private lands (non forest lands).

He pointed out that the district's forest cover is only 16.14 percent – 551 square kilometres of the district's total land area of 3,413 sq. km. While the National Forest Policy (1988) states that the forest cover should be 33.33 percent, the cover in Namakkal is much less than the 21.6 percent cover in India and 17.6 percent in Tamil Nadu, the DFO said.

Lesser forest cover in this district is primarily due to the dry climate, he said and added that people here should opt for seedlings that can adapt to these conditions. At this juncture he noted that through TCPL the varieties of trees are chosen by the farmers and thereby it becomes a win-win situation as they get money when the trees are cut down.

It also helps the forest department achieve the goal of increasing the green cover, which should be doubled in the district to achieve the NFP's targeted 33 percent green cover, the Mr. Srivastava said. The most preferred tree in hilly regions in Silver Oak while Teak is the most preferred one in the plains, he noted. He pointed out that the average success rate for the planted saplings is 90 to 95 percent in the Kolli Hills – where a third of the seedlings have been planted – and around 70 to 75 percent in the plains.

The success depends on interest taken by farmers to grow the seedlings during the first year, he added.

“Awareness among the people on need to plant and conserve trees has increased so much that from a time when we asked people to plant seedlings they are now approaching us seeking seedlings,” he noted.

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