Restoration Ecotechnology for Mine Rehabiltation

Suitable techniques are very important for restoring mined area. The formation of biotopes by spontaneous vegetation development is essential for eco-development. Afforestation and the ecological dynamics of spoil site forest are of very high silvicultural importance and must be taken into account when creating and managing reclamation forest. The removal of topsoil, stock piling and revegetation techniques for restoration of mining sites is very important. Several techniques include reliance on natural forest vegetation, mixed commercial species planting of mostly exotic timber trees. Direct sowing with native early successional tree species and mixed native species planting is on least risk of failure and favorable for enhancing succession to start. The revegetion methods for the strong acidic coal spoil observed plants of Ficus formosana; Rhus chinensis Festuea arundinacia and Axonopus affinis used as pioneer plants for the restoration of strongly acidic mine spoil. Control burning of rehabilitation sites has the potential to increase the establishment of native species in rehabilitated. For maintaining fertility of land 15 cm topsoil should be stripped and respired on the rehabilitated pits at a sallower depth to maximize the establishment and seedling emergence via soil seed bank. Tree seedlings should be planted in a partially stabilized mine spoil area for amelioration affect on soil. Allowing natural process to rehabilitate the walls of abandoned quarries are the recruitment of an uncommon but native component of biodiversity reduced initial cost and also reduced long term maintenance cost. It is recommended that quarries should not be rehabilitated by back filling of exposed quarry walls. Site preparation and management for rehabilitation of mined sites include weed control, soil ripping to 500 mm and stock proof fencing. Maiden cut should be made after initial 1-year establishment period to facilitate coppicing in newly grown trees. Mixing the mine spoil with black soil, fly ash and gypsum at the iron ore overburden results in better seedling growth. The detoxification of the mine spoils by surface application of limestone with or without fertilizer to facilitate colonization by woody species is suitable practice. Different measures for rehabilitation of mined areas and over burden have been tested and models developed through scientific research. Site preparation, tree species trials, planting methods moisture conservation methods in mine spoil help in developing successful restoration. Soil and water conservation measures in mine spoil areas are important before going for plantation. The conservation measures included trench mound planting, control of gullying by erecting gabion structures and providing vegetative checks are important. Mining sites could be revegetated only after reclamation measures. In opencast coal mining areas soil and plants should be taken as independently for the formation and maintenance of healthy forest. The success of biorestoration of surface mined lands derelict by surface mined lands which depends on assessment of site specific problems, selection of appropriate plant species to ensure revival of the ecosystem and application of suitable practice for the site. Direct seedling and planting seedlings are suitable methods for establishing different mine sites. The emphasis of restoring conservation values on rehabilitated mines, direct seedling is preferred method of establishment which creates a natural distribution of trees. Different techniques and choice of tree species developed for forest regeneration on barren lands and mined out sites. The biological reclamation with herbs grasses in the initial stage followed by shrubs and trees resulted in thick vegetation. Improvement and sustained stable productive plant communities. Suitable practical way to establish a productive plantation is form nursery development at site.

Community Structure and Composition

There is some generalization that competition for nutrient alone is primary factor that control species composition in plant communities. The modification in composition and distribution of plant species on limestone and granite soil as a results of improvement in soil properties has been reported. Similar results of modifications in community stability with enrichment of organic matter were observed on reclaimed phosphatic mine spoils. Richness, diversity and evenness of vegetation upon rehabilitation of gypsum mine spoiled lands in the Indian arid zone. They found that two perennial species increased in richness with time. It was concluded that natural succession process was accelerated by rehabilitation providing stability to the habitat. Existing plant communities in Eastern coalfield areas to describe the vegetation type quantitatively in terms of species frequency, structure density and distribution. They found that agricultural land were dominated by rice waster lands acieballatus, herbs (Argerbob maxicana and Andrographis paniculata & shurbs Lantana camara and forests dominated by Bassica latifolia, Madhuca longifolia, Shorea robusta & Azadiracta indica. Forest ecosystem on mine spoil in central Germany found a strong relation existed between mined land site conditions and tree species composition development and productivity. The restoration of tropical moist forest on bauxite mined lands in the Brazilian Amazon. They evaluated forest structure and composition in 9 to 12 year old stands establish on bauxite mined land using four different restoration techniques following initial site preparation and top soil replacement. Vegetation mapping on 15 dumps of the Thuringia mining areas using Brann Blanquet technique. He founded that the plant communities are dominated by Robina pseudoacecia, Populus sps and Betula sps. The vegetation dynamics of cliff faces in abandoned limestone quarries in southern Ontario, Canada. It was found that the quarry walls had the strongest influence on vegetation community composition and abundance. During the first 70 year after abandonment, species richness was high and variable, community composition was also extremely variable during this period. The final form of the vegetation community on the vertical cliff was similar to the naturally occurring community on neighboring areas. 12-year-old rehabilitation mined area was found that the vegetation present in those areas showed species composition, which was similar between seed store and the vegetation. There was a large difference in the densities with which species occuring at much higher densities in the topsoil. After 17 years, regeneration of mined sites at tomago, Austalia is subsequently slower and the mined site had not returned to the vegetation structure of the predisturbed state. Under story height and the amount of vegetation on mined sites have not achieved the levels in the original forest, although canopy cover did seem to have reached pre-distrubance state. Cho An analysis of Raunkiacr plant life forms and composition over a 10-year period following various restoration treatments of mined low in Korea Republic. No of species and species diversity index tender to increase for the first a years but the indices tended to decrease on sites 11 year after restoration. The community structure of vegetation and biomass production in an ecologically restored rock-phosphate mine after ten yeas of restoration. They found that the total above ground standing crop biomass was 43-44 tonnes per hectare was mainly contributed by tree species. Soni et al, (1989) studied the succession on one year old (unreclamimed) and 2,3 and 5 years old r4eclamied rock phosphate mine spoils at Maldeota, Dehradun. Relative contribution of herbs and grasses increase with age while contribution of shrubs and trees decreased because dense herbaceous vegetation discouraged the invasion of tree and shrub species and 7 grasses and sedge species invaded the spoils. Diversity of naturally colonized species showed no co-relation with the diversity of planted species. Reclamation of mine spoil in Himalayan moist temperate forest areas helps in achieving richer species diversity as compared to natural forest. In composition of naturally colonizing species in 607 year old bauxite over burdens at Amarkantak and 3 years old cola mine over burden at Dhanpuri, Madhya Pradesh, India planted with difference tree species. Coalmine overburden were comparatively more hospitable than bauxite spoil. Vegetation structure and development of soil on mined lands when once proceeds, changes with age of vegetation. Recent research in a number of tropical countries has shown that tree planting on degraded mined sites can dramatically increase the other wise slow rate of natural forest succession by ameliorating soil and under storey microclimatic conditions and providing habitat for seed dispersing wildlife that can lead to enrichment of floristic diversity. The biological diversity of mine areas increased significantly and was higher than that of the adjoining area after 3 years of reclamation of mined area. Plant communities are often subjected to disturbances and these conditions may facilitate co-existence and maintain high diversity. Revagetating the mined disturbed sites with various species contributes to the full development of ecosystem by encouraging the survival of less aggressive plant species. Argued that the change in species composition could be affected by positive feedback from nutrient cycling in the ecosystem. This positive feedback modifies the environment and makes it more suitable to facilitate invasion and a long-term succession change. Species composition of 49 reclaimed coal strip mines ranging in age from 10 to 70 years and reported that structural characteristic of the vegetation were similar to mature upland forest on the older and favourable sites. Reported that plant community composition changed and species diversity increased with age in coalmines in Madhya Pradesh One of the most obvious features of a biological community is the pattern of relative abundance among the species. A low value of evenness indicated that one or few species are highly dominant, while other are present in very small amounts. A high value of evenness indicates that all the species in the community have rather similar abundance and share the reverse equally. Variation in resource availability has been found to affect the abundance pattern. Species richness increases with increase in phosphorus status in soil. Diversity and floristic composition are highly predictable from environmental and geographical factors.

Challenges in Natural Forest Regeneration in Mine Rehabilitation

Natural regeneration of secondary forests on degraded lands is uncertain process impeded by combination of factors including human pressure, recurrent of fires persistence of dominant grasses and other non-woody species, unfavorable non-woody species, unfavourable microclimate conditions, soil infertility exhaustion of soil seed banks and root stock and low rate of seed input from surrounding forest. Several hundreds years are required for the plant community to reach stage of successional stability. Mixed native species has improved the fertility status and productive capacity of phosphate mine spoil and favored biological invasion of various natural invader. Natural invasion of trees into revegetated sites can be affected by the types of plant species already growing at the site as well as by resources availability. Ecologists have shown that resource competition alleopathy and facilitation have important effect on plant community organization. The natural revegetation by trees was a complex process controlled primarily by dispersal mechanism of tree species. The mined sites pre-vegetated produced by various types of mining may have intrinsic value because they represent perturbation dependent plant communities of early successional status. Plots planted with early sucessional species characteristic of particular region are more conducive to the entry of other species. Sometimes eucalyptus tree contribute higher input on different mine spoils, the large areas of ground surface beneath eucalyptus remains completely bore ground or limited extent vegetation. The use of legumes in seed mixtures for long-term supply of nitrogen is necessary for the colonization and development of low maintenance vegetation cover on mine disturbed sites. The vegetation of limestone dolomite quarries appears to have features of both primary and secondary succession, which was relatively rapid in limestone mines. Natural invasion by various plant species takes place with the age of spoil. The predominance of legumes on revegetated mine sites suggested that there is an advantage in colonizing legumes on spoils especially low in available nitrogen. The older mined sites are considerably less sucessionally advanced that those sites having spoiled with relatively more silt and clay. During restoration of surface of mines globally ultimate objective of reclamation is to create diverse and stable ecosystem so initial reclamation should be designed to stabiles habitat for natural succession.

Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility for Community Development

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) looks combination of corporate, social and responsibility but it is more than the words used in addressing the CSR. Due to name as CSR common mass think it is a corporate thinking for tackling environmental, social and government problems. In principal CSR is community development program which engage l people around business as stakeholder. Philip Kotler and Nancy Lee defined CSR as “A commitment to improve community well being through discretionary business practices and contributions of corporate resources”. CSR is continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to social and economical development while improving the quality of life of the workforce, their families and the local community around them. CSR is multi layered concept that can differentiate into four interrelated aspects economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities. In new paradigm of globalization, the economic development and liberalization of economic policies is priority in developing countries to compete with developed countries. This is being increasingly realized that principles of shared governance benefit both the economy and the business. This is not only help in ensuring long term growth of business but also provide sustainable development. CSR also helps in lowering cost of economics resources through local and regional development of area. The concept of good governance through ethical business suggests holistic approach both as tool for wealth creation and as useful means for social and sustainable development. In market oriented economic structure corporate sector is the prime mover of economic growth. Employees, community, suppliers and shareholders today are redefining the role of corporate taking into account the corporate in the broader responsibility towards society. Environment apart economic performance which evaluated whether companies are conducting their role in socially responsible manner or not. CSR is a business imperative which pursued as voluntary business initiative or for legal compliance reasons. CSR is link to sustainable development and way to manage businesses. There is understanding that businesses invest money in society so they the one who will decide upon the modus operandi of the CSR initiative but it is not true. CSR activities are combination of mandate of different stakeholders needs must be considered within the local context and culture for implementation of any program and activity. Budgets are only part of resources planning for development which need well accompanied by people for successful CSR plan. The competition among different business is increasing day by day due to consequence of cross border trade, multinational enterprises and global supply chains.

Significance of Soil, Biological and Mineralogical Studies for Sustainable Afforestation in Himalaya

The Himalaya is the greatest and the youngest of all mountain systems which extend with a smooth sweep from northwest to southeast of about 2500 km and its width ranges between 250 to 300 km.The Himalaya consists of four longitudinal belts separated by faults. Its geological and topographical characters are strikingly different. To the north of the plains is Siwalik belt whose width ranges from 10 to 50 km and altitude exceeds 900m. The next known is Lesser Himalayan zone with width ranging between 60 to 80 km and average height rises to 3000 m the third belt is the Great Himalaya comprising of high snow capped peaks. This zone consists of lower alpine zone upto 4800 m and upper snow bound zone usually above 5000 m. Finally the Trans-Himalayan zone with width ranging upto 40km and containing the valley of the rivers rising behind the Great Himalaya. The Siwalik and Lesser Himalaya are two different geological units having variations in their age. The lesser Himalaya refers to the litho-tectonic province which is demarcated to the south by Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and separated to the north by the Main Central Thrust (MCT). It predominantly consists of Proterozoic-Cambrain shelf to shallow marine sequences disposed in two main belts viz. The inner carbonate belt and the outer Krol belt. Mussoorie forest division of Garhwal Himalaya has been attracting the attention of soil scientists, ecologist and geologists from all over the world since the early part of nineteenth century because it is confluence of all the rock formation resulting in different soil and vegetation types. The Garhwal Himalaya is a mass of intricate folding and faulting and composed of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Its borders touch Tibet in the north, Himachal in the west, the plains of Uttar Pradesh in the south and Kumaon in the east. The mineralogical studies have special importance in forestry research. Soil is one of the most important factors for tree growth which is mainly governed by weathering and climatic conditions. The soil is formed from the rocks by weathering process. The rate of growth and type of species depend upon the mineral composition of soil and parent rock. The study of soil has become important due to worldwide problem of conserving biological diversity. Although soil is formed by the result of weathering of parent rock, effect of climate, topography, plants, animals and age of land. All the factors effect the formation of the soil in several ways. The close relationship between geology, soil and vegetation is clearly visible by the effect shown by parent material and strong biological activity on soil formation and characteristics. Geology and soil are the controlling factors in the local distribution of vegetation particularly in regions where mean annual rainfall is under 2000 mm and their detailed investigation is necessary in order to study their effect on the forest of the area dealt with. The Mussoorie forest division of Garhwal Himalaya experiences lot of damage due to deforestation, overgrazing, fire, road building and mining activities. The basic needs of common man in the forest are fuel, fodder, food, housing and manure from the field. Fodder and fuel are still considered as free resources available in Himalayan region, so forests are exploited wherever they are available without caring their ecological and environmental effect on future generation .The ecological consequences of excessive run-off causes land slides, degradation and dryness in the area. For sustainable management of forest vegetation in the area, soil, geology and biota are important factors. Scientific investigation may be helpful in improving and regenerating degraded hills by protection of slopes through raising vegetation suited to parent material and soil.

Kalmegh & Shatawar (Andrographis paniculata Nees.) : Medicinal Plants for Successful Agroforestry

Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata Nees.) and Shatawar (Asparagus racemosus Willid,) are two important and common medicinal plant which are suitable for different agromediculture system. Kalmegh belonging to the family Acanthaceae is one of the nineteen species of the genus Andrographis, which is indigenous to India and has been used in Indian system of medicine since time immemorial. The fresh and dried leaves of Kalmegh and juice extracted from the herb are official drugs in Indian Pharmacopoeia. It grows wild as an under shrub in tropical, moist, deciduous forests. The plant is found in the plains throughout India and Sri Lanka. In India, it is distributed in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Kalmegh is an annual herbaceous or shrubby decumbent or erect plant, 0.3-1.0 meter high. The branches are sharply quadrangular, often narrowly winged towards the apical region. The flowers are small in solitary panicles with rose coloured corolla, which is hairy externally. The seeds are numerous, yellowish-brown and glabrous. Kalmegh is a hardy plant and can be grown on variety of soils. However sandy loam soil rich in organic matter is good for its growth and yield. Under natural conditions, this crop is found growing abundantly in moist, shady places and sometimes dry forests also. It can be easily propagated either by seeds or cuttings. Seeds start germinating in about 8-10 days and transplanted into main field when they are 45-50 days old. The crop is ready for harvest after about 90-120 days of sowing, when the plants start flowering. At this stage, they are harvested by cutting the plants at the base, leaving 10-15 centimeter of the stem for regeneration. Totally 2-3 harvests can be made in a year. The average yield is 2-2.5 tonnes per hectare of dry herb. Shatavari or shatawar (Asparagus racemosus Willid,) belonging to family liliaceae is a woody climber. It is found throughout India, in areas upto 1400 meter elevation and also common in shade and tropical climate, leaves are reduced to cladodes, which are curved terete, spreading in tufts of 2-6. Flowers are in racemes and whitish to creamish in colour. Fruit is berry, which is globose and usually red when ripe. Seeds are 2-6 and black in colour, it generally flowers during July – December. Shatavari can be easily propagated by seeds and division of roots. It can be grown on variety of soil but it prefers sandy well drained soil. Seedlings should be planted preferably on ridges with a spacing of 30x30 cm. Harvesting of roots can be done from 24 to 51 months after date of planting. The roots are sweet, bitter, cooling, emollient, nervine tonic, constipating, ophthalmic, anodyne, galactagogue, aphrodisiac, diuretic, rejuvenating, antispasmodic and tonic. They are used in nervous disorders, inflammations, vitiated conditions of vata and pitta and general debility etc. The drug is one amongst the ten foetus promoting drugs as described in Charakasamhita. The drug has been placed amongst Varundigana in Astanghradaya. These drugs alleviate, kapha, obesity, dyspepsia, stiffness of legs, headache, abdominal tumor and abscess.

Ecological Refugees of Tehri Dam and their Problems

Annually, the lives and livelihoods of nearly ten million people across the globe are affected by forced displacement from the dam construction and many infrastructure project sites. Hydroelectric dam projects have an enormous potential to provide electricity, to increase agricultural productivity through irrigation, and to control flooding, all with the goal of improving people’s well-being. The construction of Tehri dam started in 1972 and completed in the year 2002. The dam was expected to generate 2400 megawatts of electricity with the capacity to irrigate a quarter million hectares of land. Despite the anticipated benefits, more than 125 villages and one town, Tehri, involving a total of approximately 100,000 people who are mostly peasants, have to resettled due to construction activities and water impoundment. Tehri Dam is situated in the highly active Central Himalayan Seismic Zone. It is designed to withstand earthquakes of up to 7.2 on the Richter scale although experts predict that earthquakes of magnitude 8.5 or more could strike this region. If the dam were to burst, several major towns downstream of the dam with a total population of over half a million people could be wiped out Landslides are common on the steep slopes above Tehri’s reservoir. Although land acquisition started in 1979, resettlement of affected people is far from complete. There is no master plan for rehabilitation nor even a clear estimate of the number of people affected. Construction of a dam affects people in many ways, from displacing them because of water impoundment to creating new habitats around the dam, water reservoir, and irrigation canals. The existing resettlement policies around the world have primarily focused on the issues of land and housing compensation and, to some extent, providing basic amenities for project-affected people but not considering the other socio-economic factors. The economy in this region is primarily agrarian, with approximately 85% of the adult population practicing intensive agriculture. Although most are farmers, only 10.3% of the land in the region is arable, and soil fertility is significantly greater along the narrow river valley due to alluvial soil deposits. The remaining cultivatable land consists mostly of narrow strips on hilly slopes and is used for dry terrace cultivation. More than 90 % of arable land is used for food grains. Animal husbandry is also an important economic activity and, in most cases, supplements agricultural produce. The availability and accessibility of forest land and grazing grounds determines the number of livestock and other animals. Though goats and sheep are the main herding animals, most people keep cows, oxen, and buffaloes for milk and plowing and chickens for eggs and meat. Other economic activities include horticulture, forestry, and cottage industries. These resettlers were forcibly displaced from their mountain homes to the plains in the foothills of the Himalayas. This forest land had never been inhabited by humans and is poorly developed with unhygienic conditions, including an inadequate sewage system and polluted drinking water. In addition, the region’s hot and humid climate makes this area a fertile breeding ground for various vectors of parasitic agents. Construction of a dam affects people in many ways, from displacing them because of water impoundment to creating new habitats around the dam, water reservoir, and irrigation canals. The existing resettlement policies around the world have primarily focused on the issues of land and housing compensation and, to some extent, providing basic amenities for project-affected people but not considering the other socio-economic factors. The economy in this region is primarily agrarian, with approximately 85% of the adult population practicing intensive agriculture. Although most are farmers, only 10.3% of the land in the region is arable, and soil fertility is significantly greater along the narrow river valley due to alluvial soil deposits. The remaining cultivatable land consists mostly of narrow strips on hilly slopes and is used for dry terrace cultivation. More than 90 % of arable land is used for food grains. Animal husbandry is also an important economic activity and, in most cases, supplements agricultural produce. The availability and accessibility of forest land and grazing grounds determines the number of livestock and other animals. Though goats and sheep are the main herding animals, most people keep cows, oxen, and buffaloes for milk and plowing and chickens for eggs and meat. Other economic activities include horticulture, forestry, and cottage industries.