Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Memorial Lecture: II

Darjeeling 3,149 1,109 35.2
6. Assam 78,438 15,842 20.19
7. Arunachal Pradesh 83,74 54,542 65.13
8. Nagaland 16,579 3,531 21.29
9. Meghalaya 22,429 3,305 14.73
10. Manipur 2,327 5309 23.77
11. Tripura 10,406 1,825 17.4
12. Mizoram 21,081 4,279 20.29
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Total 594,361 129,490 21.78
Source: Anonymous, 1991.
At the outset, a distinction has to be made between forests and plantations. The
former are natural and often a mixture with a dominant tree cover, a middle storey of
shrubs and a ground cover of undershrubs and herbs. There is no commercial
objective. Plantations are essentially man-made with some end-use in mind. Both
forests and plantation can be managed for the benefit of mankind. Ideal plantations can
combine both ecological and economic imperatives properly dovetailed for the good, the
benefit and wellbeing of the concerned ecosystems and the communities of human
beings depending on them.
The principal goal of forestry in the Indian context are:
- Affording long-range ecological security for the conservation of climate, water,
soil and biodiversity
- Meeting the needs of goods and services, including firewood, charcoal and
fodder for rural/tribal communities and the urban poor.
- Meeting the wood requirements of the people and industry for timber, pulp, fiber
and silvi-chemicals.
- Amelioration of degraded areas and wastelands so as to enhance the productive
capacity of such derelict lands and to improve aesthetics in general.
- Conservation Forestry
- Agro-forestry
- Industrial Forestry
- Environmental / Revegetation Forestry
Conservation Forestry
This is most relevant to all water regimes/ watersheds/ catchments;
representative forest types, ecosystems and biosphere reserves (located in different
biomes); and centres of diversity, national parks and sanctuaries and fragile
ecosystems. In all these regions, exploitation of wood and non-wood resources should
be normally prohibited, unless warranted on scientific and technical grounds, for
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