Strategy for Sustainable Afforestation

We are living in an era of dwindling natural resources and environmental deterioration. Global biodiversity is being lost at accelerating rate. Urbanization, industrialization and other human activities have resulted in deforestation and pollution causing great threat to the environment. It contains many interesting and valuable plants from scientific point of view, apart from the economically important ones. Now the realization has come all over the world that survival of mankind is not possible without forests, which is an important ecosystem of our planet earth. Forests with their myriad of flora and fauna are rich sources of gene pool. So conservation biologists have increased efforts to understand its decline and encourage its conservation. Genetic conservation started with biosphere reserves, sanctuaries and national parks all over the world as a part of the conservation strategy. The importance of preserving diversity is to maintain ecological balance, economic use of species and genetic material for evolving new varieties in agriculture, horticulture, veterinary and medical fields, proper maintenance of life system, preserve aesthetic and religious values, know the socio-economic value of a particular area and to preserve its culture and nature. This necessitates making inventory of diversity of the country and the monitoring. The proximate causes of biodiversity loss may be anthropological, biological, social, economic or political, but because of their direct and indirect benefit we cannot afford to loose the biological diversity. Soil evaluation 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 forms. All the factors affect 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. Geological studies have special importance in forestry where tree growth lasts over a long period and depends to a large extent on the minerals as a source of nutrients in the soil. The knowledge of mineralogical behavior of soils at good natural sites and at degraded sites opens at possibilities of optimal management inputs to augment production of the biomass from good site as well as from degraded site after suitable amelioration. In the present intensified programme of raising large scale plantation, especially of fast growing species, the fertility potential depends largely on the mineralogical composition of the soil. The underlying parent material plays a vital role in determining the success or other-wise of the plantations especially over a number of rotations in a given year. Geological studies have been helpful in understanding the ecological status of forest growth and in investigating the various problems like deterioration in growth, quality, loss of vigor, mortality etc. in forest crops often caused by nutrient deficiency and other soil factors, some of which are related to mineralogical composition. Diagnostic support to determine the interrelationship between geology, soil and vegetation and worked out potential productivity of soil as a useful tool for sustainable management of degradated sites. Soil is being enriched through nutrient contribution from minerals. Such evaluation helpful for the managers and land users to have a thorough knowledge about the content and nature of minerals present in the soil in diagnosing the fertility status and other soil-plant-parent material relationship in forestry. It is useful to work out proper requirement of nutrients for a particular species for a sustainable activity on such sites. In order to implement and enhance the potential use of soil mineralogical evaluation, some guidelines are proposed for eco-rehabilitation of natural forest sites as well as degraded land. A detailed soil and vegetation survey should be carried out and site matched species as per mineralogical studies should be identified and planted. A comprehensive study of different geological parameters of the sites should be conducted. Mineralogical evaluation should be carried out occurring under different conditions of soil, climate and geology to bring out suitable remedial measures for sustainable afforestation.

Ecological Conservation in Doon-Mussoorie Mining Impacted Area

Mining for the extraction of the rich mineral resource of the Himalayan region has been going on since long. In view of the fact that Himalayas are rich in mineral resources and the fact that exploitation of these minerals brings revenue to the otherwise poor hill states, there has been continuous pressure from industrial sector of the country for these minerals. Limestone, phasphorite, gypsum magnetite and coal especially have been exploited most. The single most important mineral, which has been extensively mined in all regions of Himalaya, is limestone. Next to limestone in order of importance, number of leases and production is phosphate. In Uttaranchal hills limestone mining started much earlier but has now come down considerably after the intervention of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in 1985. Mining affects the environment in vary diverse ways depending on the type of mining are excavated and ore over burden ratio etc. the resultant environment is not suitable directly for any productive use be it agriculture, forestry, pasture, recreation etc. Environmental amelioration of such degraded sites is a challenging task. In the past mining, particularly open cast mining caused the destruction of land resources, pollution of streams, contamination of ground water aquifers and other environmental problems. Due to lack of regulations and concern for the environment mining industry have left millions of hectares of unreclamied abandoned mine lands all over the world and same us true of India also. It has been correctly stated that only war caused more destruction to the environment than surface mining. Doon-Mussoorie hill which was known for the its rich resource like limestone, marble, gypsum and rock phosphate has experienced vast environmental problems due to reckless quarrying of mineral from these areas. The total of 6719.81 ha of land is impacted by mining activities. Due to increasing ecological awareness; reclamation projects stress is given to local species but in some cases depending upon site, climate and dump characteristics. Moreover, rehabilitation of mined land is site specific; the unique properties of each mine determine the degree of vegetation establishment within the constraint of local climate. Evaluation of species is primarily concerned with survival followed by growth, but initial selection should include effective soil stabilization, soil improvement and case of propagation. For early cover primary colonizing species tend to be used. Local species may require less long-term maintenance and provide compatibility with surroundings landscape. Thus achievement of self-sustaining vegetation cover can be approached through selection and planting of native species. Surface mining plays an important role in impacting the biodiversity of area in most of the sites. Regeneration of such sites takes a long time and the changes are very unpredictable. Restoration of mining disturbed sites however, accelerates the process by initializing the vegetative growth on these sites. Evaluation a biological diversity from conservation point of view in disturbed areas focuses on measuring richness and not more complex indices of heterogeneity. More frequently the number of species in certain and vegetation types are measured but occasionally biotic features are used. Peculiarity and availability of propagules determine the pattern of floristic diversity and succession, still resource availability is also an important factor affecting the species diversity and succession. The main objective of restoration would be satisfied when importance is given on surface stabilization, long term landuse planning, ecosystem approach and adopting sustainable development strategy for the degraded ecosystem.

Importance of Sustainable Mining for Environment Conservation

Opencast mining leaving behind a barren area devoid of any vegetation, soil, fauna and eroded slopes consisting of overburden material and water with heavy sediments load. From unplanned mining operation huge amount of waste product have been dumped in adjacent areas and excavated sites had been left behind. These areas are completely devoid of vegetation and soil, so associated with various environmental problem, such as loss of forest and agricultural land, extinction of natural flora and fauna, problems of erosion and sliding, siltation of river depriving local inhabitants from getting their day to day needs of fuel, fodder, and timber etc. Unscientific and reckless exploitation of mineral deposits without any thought for consequential environmental effect became a matter of concern and produce an opposition that besides improving many legislations and regulations for further leases brought the operation to complete halt. Restoration of disturbed areas by mining is now a legal requirement. Renewals of degraded resources, land, air, water, vegetation are named differently as reclamation, restoration or rehabilitation. Reclamation refers to a new use of land following a scientific and systematic method. Restoration refers to creation original topographic and vegetative condition and restoring the previous land-use by following measures that are ecologically sound. Rehabilitation is similar to restoration to improve the visual nature of the site by improving soil, vegetation and microclimate. Reclamation of mined disturbed areas should be based on sound ecological principles which implies that the reclaimed area must acquire the properties at least to level, which existed before mining had commenced. Biological restoration and reclamation is more than mere plantation of trees. It should start with grasses for early green cover and later on should be followed by shrubs and trees. In all plantation work preference should be given to the local species is neither the first nor the last use of land, it is necessary that the entire land is reclaimed after mining for beneficial use, bearing in mind the losses that our countries is sustaining on account of continuing degradation of land resources are of staggering dimensions and constitute one Surface mining is grave threats to environment and agrarian economic progress. As the nature takes over a century to make the top soil and devastating the land is pressing socio-economic problem concerning future generation. Better planning of reclamation system to bring back abandoned land to beneficial use in short period is important part of mine plan now. Planning for post mining land-use enables the mining operation to be coordinated with concurrent land restoration works. Reclamation and afforestation involve works in operational aspects and large volume of landscape aspect. The establishment of vegetation on abandoned and active mine sites as well as the over burden heaps is rather difficult because of altered pH, lack of organic matter and moisture, coarse rock fragments and many other adverse biological and chemical factors. Consequently the plants may not find it congenital to grow on those areas, which lack good soil, favorable nutrients and water retention capacity. Plants species which can grow in harsh environment have to be selected for rehabilitation. It has been proved by several ecologists that natural reclamation is slow which force to imply artificial restoration for accelerating rapid ecosystem development. Soil performs the vital function in sustaining biological diversity and productivity so reclamation of soil should be given importance along with selection of species for reclamation. Mine spoils are deficient in nitrogen and phosphorus and some requires lime to enhance plant growth so reclamation technique for these affected sites consists of several steps, each of them playing an important role. Usually the measures taken can be categorized into two types, the mechanical and the biological. Mechanical measures are applied on the basis of topography and the quantum of measures that includes erection of structures like toe wall, gabion check dam and drop structures are important for controlling erosion, conserving soil particle and helping the vegetation to grow. Plant species which can grow in adverse environment and provide a basis for ecological restoration have to be selected only after thoroughly investigating the ecology, growth behavior and socio-economic values of various plans. Mine spoil can be used for establishment of perennial vegetation, cultivated crops, ponds over the entire area. Temporary vegetation is used to stabilize the surface until perennial vegetation can be established to hold the soil against water and wind erosion. Sustainable mining practices significantly contribute in environment conservation if used timely for people and environment.

Importance of Silvopastoral System for Sustainable Agriculture

Agroforestry is sustainable agricultural practice which provides optimum benefits to people, livestock and crops. The sustainability of natural ecosystems is also improved when it support wildlife and called silvopastoral system. Agroforestry is low-input integration of tree species into agriculture crops. For agricultural based economies where population pressure is high there implementation of silvopastoral system adds value in conserving and utilizing land for maximum benefits. Marginal lands to wildlife habitats are critical for wildlife and preservation of watersheds. Deforestation practice leads not only to loss of the forest resource but to the loss of the soil resource through erosion, damage to watersheds and amplify twirl of paucity for the poor people around globe. Silvopastoralism focuses on the production of livestock and tree products in one integrated pasture system. Silvopasture is important activity when it is economical to run a single species, cattle, under a monoculture in a large silvopastoral operation. On small farms, in the tropics diversification of animal and plant species is the most efficient utilization of the resource and provides a variety of products. Realizing the importance of silvopasture management for meeting the biomass requirement research work was initiated during the sixties at various institutions in India. The results obtained during the past three decades indicate that fodder and fuel wood production could be increased several folds from the existing levels through proper management of wastelands. The mean annual production of 8-10 t/ha was possible from various tree-grass combinations, comprising 4.5 to 5 t/ha of fodder from grasses, 1.5 to 2 t/ha of leaf fodder from tree lopping and 2 to 2.5 t/ha of fuel wood from the lopped branches. In the Shiwalik foothills of Punjab, the fodder production increased by 267 percent from the wastelands through proper management approaches, which increased the milk production by 213 percent. Lopping is fairly common in various silvipastoral plots in fact lopping is a powerful management tool for controlling crown spread, inducing light penetration and aiding recovery from injury. Frequent and excessive lopping of tree result in rapid drain of stored plant food reserves, leading to reduction in growth of tree girth and production of leaf biomass. Multi purpose trees and shrubs provide more than one significant benefit to land use system in which it grows. The common uses of trees species are wood, fodder, green manure, fruits and chemicals for medicines. Some of the trees could be nitrogen fixing with symbiotic association with Nitrogen fixing bacteria or fungi. There are more than 640 tree species which are known to fix nitrogen. Multipurpose trees are selected for plantation in wastelands so that these can take care of multivariate aspects. Grazing management is important aspect of silvopasture utilization and its maintenance. Grazing pressure rank to the communities on the basis of factors of above ground net primary production removed by various herbivores. The higher the grazing pressure higher is the rank. Overgrazing causes severe damage it eliminate valuable tree seedlings, creates deformities in trees due to repeated browsing and lopping, compaction of soil, acceleration of runoff and erosion, etc. Silvopasture system is more economical from second year onwards and started to give higher returns over variable costs. Silvopasture system promises employment to rural youth in the activities of animal husbandry, collection, processing, and manufacturing of value added products from trees and grasses. Apart from direct economic benefits, it also add the recreational and aesthetic value.

Ecological Competition for Successful Rehabilitation

Planting in degraded mine spoil can dramatically increase the rate of natural forest succession which would otherwise slow, by ameliorating soil, upgrading microclimate condition, and providing habitat for seed dispersing wildlife that can lead for a progressive enrichment of floristic diversity. The choice of species in re-vegetating mined areas is challenging in tropical forest. It has been universally accepted that grasses and legumes should form the essential and obvious choice in all the sites. Shrub planting will have special consideration for all planting areas. The need is quick coverage of affected area with tough and high resistance species. It has been accepted that establishment and maintenance of vegetation is an integral part of restoration of mined sites. Monitoring of the vegetation has not received priority and is generally considered far less exciting. In fact monitoring of restored areas is important to ascertain the impact on ecosystem components. Restored mine spoil thus requires biological monitoring to estimate the pace of development. It has also been suggested that continued monitoring of rehabilitated site may show a faster return to the pre disturbance site. Various changes taking place during ecosystem development and assessment about different indices of growth and vigor. Biological monitoring of the site can be done by collecting information about community structure and composition. Community as a social unit and as a natural aggregation of plants, which is the product of definite conditions, present, and past and it can exist when these conditions are fulfilled. Presence of particular community has existed at a site affects its species richness. Newly developed community may contain only a few species and the number increased as more species invade and established. This may take several years for a full community to develop in a new pool. The importance of the age of a single or new community is different from that of the age of the general community type. The diversity in the general community type often depends on the co-evolution of the organisms, while the diversity of a particular community is primarily due to the immigration of and colonization by existing species. An analysis of life forms and composition in reclaimed mine lands indicated that number of species and species diversity index tended to increase for the first nine years after restoration and it was also found that vegetation recovery rate was higher on the reclaimed sites than on un-reclaimed sites. Competition between species in a community may alter species richness. The harshness of the environment in some mining habitats, erosion, deforestation areas alter the relative competitive ability of the species, giving species which are well adopted to such environments the chance to survive there. In some situations for harshness of environment, may prevent invasion by one vigorous species, which could increase the diversity. For individual communities there are many factors which can the number of species presents. Some of the influences on a community are external ones, the biotic effect of the habitat. Other influences will come from within the community; the individual present will themselves affect species the diversity. One theory says that longer the community type has existed; the more species will have had the opportunity to join the community. The overall structure of the community will be determined by a combination of several features such as physical environment, community size and longevity of the species present. The community may be stable or unstable with high or low primary productivity and may change seasonally.

Ecological Monitoring and Social Assessment for Sustainable Rehabilitation

Mining of mineral and mankind are intricately interwoven in society today. The world’s economy depends to a great extent on mining. Though mining is attributed as important industry next to agriculture, however environmental problems resulting due to mining activities could not be underestimated. It is essentially important developmental activity, where ecology suffers but this ecological loss could minimize though proper monitoring and assessment for sustainable afforestation. The area of land currently disturbed by mining in the world is estimated approximately 386,000 hectares. For sustainable management of planted forest sites it is important to assess biodiversity which give information on progress of forest development at various stages of trees, shrubs and herbs. It is believed that the restoration of biological diversity use to induce changes at community level and have an advantage to provide much information in a single index. It has been found that abundance, dominance, frequency, density and importance value index changes serve as indicators of habitat rehabilitation. Monitoring of ecological indicators gives guidance for diversity maintenance. The diversity was closely related with community development. The change in diversity due to shift in dominance from year to year has been found to be related to colonization by many accessory plant species. It is observed that increase distance from the mine site support increase in diversity and species richness index values because of less erosion and more availability of nutrients for plant growth. Most of the mining activities have been carried out in the area where the farming and forestry activities form integral part of livelihoods. Due to loss in agricultural cultivated and forest lands people lives in the area loss their livelihoods which impacted their socio-economic status. On other hand developmental activities also create opportunities for employment and development in the area. Socio-economic conditions of the inhabitants of mineral belts have both positive and negative socio-economic implications of mining activities. Mining activities have raised the income of local people and changed the standard of living of common man to a considerable extent.

Land Suitability for Biomass Production and Livelihoods

Soil is the function of geology, climate, time and biotic factors. Soil acquires properties in accordance with the forces which act upon it. Accumulation of debris resulting from weathering of rock and decomposition of organic material help in increasing fertility of soil. Breaking down influences soil formation chemically and physically. This process develops new chemical compounds and provides a new distribution and association of the minerals so that the resultant soil has composition which influences plant growth. Soil chemical properties, nitrogen and phosphorus distribution significantly contribute in good. Soil pH is important to see the soil reaction with environment. Acidic soil pH and soil texture from silty to silty loam in the temperate species is common feature where in tropical forest soil texture found silty loam to silty clay loam. The highest value of exchangeable magnesium (Mg) is also dominant feature of tropical forest. Due to large size of leaves which falls on the ground contribute to organic carbon, exchangeable calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) percent in tropical forest. Soil properties influenced by soil depth in deep weathering profile under tropical forest due to good roots penetration. There is inverse relation of pH and organic carbon content so lower pH in soil has been attributed to the higher organic carbon content, while distribution of organic carbon related with biological activities. Gradual increase in clay content of soil with depth indicate translocation of clay during pedogensis. Increase of silt and clay ratio from lower horizons to the surface soil indicated increased weathering and soil formation. Organic carbon showed a gradual decrease with increasing depth in general soil profile because the organic activities with leaves happen only on the top. Numbers of stems per hectares are not related with soil productivity but basal area of stem is related to soil productivity. Soils in tropical found to contain high level of organic matter, pH, and electrical conductivity, exchangeable Ca, Mg, Na, K and total bases. Land capability is also refer the production capacity of land. Land capability classes are based on type of degradation in the land. Degraded land is having one or more limitations of slope, erosion, stoniness, rockiness, shallow soils, wetness, climate which affect soil production capacity. Least degraded lands have a great potential for producing fodder, fuel, fiber and moderate quality timber by adopting existing technologies for restoration. The technologies could be such as soil and water conservation measures supplemented with proper silvopastoral management, combination of afforestation and grassland development. Increase in forage due to soil erosion control. About 13% land area is under potentially productive wasteland and a substantial part of which can be reclaimed through Silvipasture system. It has been realized that the entire socio-economic fabric of this region rests on proper management of degraded pasturelands. The arid regions also comprises of a variety of plant biomorphs – trees, shrubs, under shrubs, perennial and annual grasses. This heterogeneity ensures better utilization of environmental resources as the biomorphs are of different heights and their root extends to different depths. Optimization of various biomorphs of our ecosystem through their preservation by proper timing of stocking in grazing and felling for firewood.