Dwindling green gold cover of Kashmir valley

Jammu and Kashmir is bestowed with many natural resources like dense green forests, perennial rivers and lakes, mineral resources and fertile soils which form the bedrock of both its economy and ecology. The lush green forests make the valley very beautiful and attractive and are source of attraction to the visitors of the outside. A lot of people draw their employment from the forests in terms of agriculture, tourism etc. But the same activities that provide revenue, employment, residence, food and recreation to the people become a threat to the forests. The green gold of Kashmir valley has been dwindling at a high pace for the past many years despite innumerable benefits. The Forest Survey of India in 2017 has recorded forest area of Jammu and Kashmir to be 2,023,041 hectares (20,230.41 km2) consisting 19.95 percent of its present geographical area and 2.62 percent of country’s forest cover, with 18 percent very dense, 39 percent moderately dense and 43 percent open forests. However, over the last few decades, the intense developmental activities have left behind highly fragmented and non-contiguous forests of the extremely serene Kashmir valley. The forests of the valley which are the source of food, fibres, medicines, useful products, livelihood and sustenance, provide ecological services, maintenance ecological balance, preserve the vibrant and fragile ecosystem etc are dwindling day by day due to various reasons. Unscrupulous elements so called Modern men have become so greedy that they want to use these forests for their own sake without caring for their own future generations. The greedy men are destroying their own existence and their environment, thus creating grave problems for the coming generations. By destroying our forests, we are actually destroying the beautiful picture of the valley that has been created and gifted by the Almighty Allah. Thousands of prized deodar, Fur and kail trees are cut down by forest smugglers and looters at a very high pace turning valleys dense forests into an open and barren field. The Jammu and Kashmir government is also adding to this deforestation of green gold to more extent as it approved few proposals to chop down thousands of trees in the valley. Thick forests in Kashmir were axed to pave the way for transmission lines, needed to import more power to the power-deficit Valley. More proposals of the government are under considerations that can axe forests of Kashmir further. Thus, Instead of conserving and protecting the forests, the Jammu and Kashmir government is adding to deforestation rate. An illegal trade for timber, population explosion, hunger for land grab, unplanned development activities, complex set of approach at depots enforce people to get timber on illegal ways, absence of effective institutional mechanism, laxity of some forest officials, lack of implementation of stringent forest laws are also adding to the forest deforestation. The climate change and global warming are further contributing factors of deforestation in the form of forest fires.
The forests which add to beauty to many tourist places are now becoming repulsion for tourists and common people due to illegal cutting .If an unabated dwindling goes on the same pace , I think, within few years, the valley will be almost devoid of forest cover that can have serious consequences within the valley like climate change, drying up of perennial rivers, sillting up of rivers, soil erosions, flash floods, loss of biodiversity, forest products and habitat of wild animals results increased man animal conflicts, loss of employments associated with forests directly or indirectly etc. The conservation efforts in Kashmir have been going on in Forests for long, the growth of hotels, industries, and households near the forests have also been simultaneous. Thus, the conservation efforts have failed to make much impact because the encroachment of forest lands has also grown in equal measures. The foremost remedy lies in restricting any increase in the settlements in and around the forests. In this perspective, the government’s proactive approach is essential because the government can implement strictly the Jammu and Kashmir forest conservation and protection laws and prohibit forest deforestation and encroachments and restriction on the construction activities affecting the forests. The already settled population in and around the forest areas should be relocated and rehabilitated outside the forest periphery. However the same can be also controlled by several other ways like identification of forest smugglers and looters by the concerned department, one who is involved in forest smuggling should be booked and fined under stringent forest laws, corrupt officials should get hand shake from the the department, complete watch and vigil of forest areas by special forest protection forces, availability of timber at government depots for people and people should get it by simple approach, education and awareness among people regarding importance of forests, and protection of whistleblowers for forest conservation and protection. Besides, involvement of other stakeholders like the civil society and the NGO’s in protecting and preserving the green gold asset can prove the very fruitful. Let’s pledge to save our forests which are lungs of the mother earth.
(The author is a Teacher at Boys Higher Secondary School Beerwah in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district. Views are his own)
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