QUESTIONS that most urban people ask about villagers are these: Do rural people know about ecology? What do they know of forestry? This is despite the fact that a celebrated forest conversation movement like Chipko had its roots in rural social milieu of Uttarakhand Himalaya.
Gerald D Berreman, who carried out comprehensive studies in the Uttarakhand Himalaya including the Chipko movement, has mentioned in one of his studies that by the very nature of its broad-based, grassroots support, realistic goals, democratic policies and participatory methods, idealism and responsiveness to issues formulated in the context of regional traditions, the Chipko movement sustained confidence among the people of the Uttarakhand Himalaya(mostly rural) and pride in their culture.
This point is that rural people have accumulated real knowledge about their environment over generations through forbearance and sustained struggles. They know and understand their environment and thereby feel responsible to protect it. The chronicled history of the forest movements in several parts of the world speaks volumes for this. Historians know that such movements were ignited primarily as peasants’ initiatives against commercial forestry.
Like Chipko which began in 1972, all forest movements have been joint efforts, utilising non-violent direct action to prevent the destruction of their environment. Undoubtedly, forests are one area which constitute an important part of the integrated rural development. Not only does the symbiotic relationship between humans and the forests need to be recognised by the prevailing laws, there is also a need for people’s recognition as a part of the forest commune.
How are forests an integral part of rural life and how do they affect the life of people in villages? Obviously, a forest is a major element in the upkeep of the economic, cultural and spiritual life of a village. Rajiv Vora of the Gandhi Peace Foundation goes a step ahead by describing forests to be a component of village life as they provide security to the villages as well. The organic and co-operative relationship should also be maintained and villages need to be equipped with legislative and administrative powers.
Unfortunately, the so-called development activities have caused depletion of the forests, erosion of the soil, drying up of the water sources, preemption of the firewood, fodder and building materials, and destruction of much of the viable agricultural land and pasture.
Deforestation at a fast pace has been widely recognized as India’s most pressing environmental problem. The eminent environmentalist. Sunderlal Bahuguna, was right in his thinking that soil, water and clean air — uniquely offered by forests –were surely more valuable than resin, timber and foreign exchange. There were times when two-thirds of the earth’s landmass were covered with dense forests.
Dreadfully, now the forest cover is less than 16 percent of the land. The main reason for this mass destruction of forests has been human pressure on forests and their thoughtless use. According to a study by the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), of the 8,080 million hectare of forests in the world 8,000 years ago, only 3,044 million hectares remain today. Tropical forests are continuing to be destroyed at a rate of 17 million hectare per year and there are similar losses in forests of several countries.
Unscientific systems like jhum (shifting) cultivation have also claimed large forest covers. In the north-eastern India, jhum cultivation has destroyed large forest areas. The fact remains that even after several decades of Chipko movement in India, the rural masses have not seen any sincere effort being made to protect forests. There are no takers for Bahuguna’s adage that forests are not just woods, they are home to many herbs, shrubs, medicinal plants, and wild life as well.
There are people who have dedicated themselves to the cause of rural development through scientific and sustainable use of forest resources. Activists like Dr BD Sharma (Bastar, MP) and Pandurang Hedge (Uttar Kannada, Karnataka) also tried to transform the village life.
In some remote parts of Uttarakhand, women have taken the lead in maintainingthe symbiotic relationship between human life and nature. A women’s organisation likeMaiti has successfully motivated women to plant at least one sapling at the time of their marriage and later take care of it. Similarly, the Uttarakhand van Panchayat Sangharsh Samiti has realised that forests were the basis of rural people’s existence.
The point is that there is an urgent need for bringing about a total shift in the attitude if we wish to increase the forest cover. Also, there is a need for re-defining the concept of people’s involvement in the sense that the local people will have absolute rights over their forests and their resources.
We need to adopt a radically different approach to managing or forests. The real understanding of resources in our tradition and management has been ridiculed and devalued systematically. We have to change it. The motive behind forest conservation will have to be strengthening of agriculture. Also, firewood needs to be replaced by alternative sources of fuel.
A comprehensive national policy can help save forests and trees. The van panchayat system of sustainable forest management, still prevalent in Uttarakhand, can be the answer, besides socio-economic reforms for a more egalitarian society.
