Area under Wastelands in Haryana

• Wastelands in India include degraded grasslands, forests and several other land types, and are classified into 23 categories by the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA). The total area under wastelands in Haryana is estimated to be about 2347.05 sq km. accounting for about 5.31% of the total geographic area.

Haryana Forest Development Corporation (HFDC)

• Haryana Forest Development Corporation (HFDC) Limited is a company established in December, 1989 under the Companies Act, 1956 mainly for the promotion and development of tree plantation on non-forest lands by providing suitable price to tree growers for their wood produce. HFDC is also engaged in felling, conversion and sale of trees from earmarked areas of forest lands since 1995-1996.

Main Objectives of HFDC

The main objectives of HFDC as per Memorandum and Articles of Association are as under:

• To assure reasonable prices to the farmers for their standing trees and other forest produce.
• To generate employment opportunities in rural areas.
• To increase financial status of farming and labour community.
• To promote development of forest based and allied industries.
• To stabilise timber and fuel wood prices in open market.
• To protect the forest producer from exploitation of the middlemen and safeguard the interest of the consumers by undertaking proper and scientific exploitation of the forest resources of the state and if necessary outside it, in order to obtain maximum financial return thereof.
• To transfer related technology to farmers.
• Tree felling and wood extraction from government, forests earmarked to the Haryana Forest Development Corporation Limited, development of forests and raising plantations.

Joint Forest Management (JFM)

• Joint Forest Management (JFM) Programme is an endeavour to fulfill the forestry related needs and aspirations of the local people from the adjoining government forests with their active participation in protection and maintenance of these forests. The Forest Department is undertaking those forestry interventions in these areas, which synchronise with the local felt needs to the maximum.
• Joint Forest Management in Haryana was started in the year 1972, but government notification in this regard was issued in 1990 after Government of India resolution dated 1^st June, 1990. At present, more than 1000 Village Forest Committees are participating in the management of degraded government forests and common land plantations.

Main Objectives of Joint Forest Management

• Existing forests and forest lands should be fully protected. Forest and vegetal cover should be rapidly increased on hill slopes of Shivaliks and Aravallis, in catchments of rivers, rivulets and water reservoirs on semi-arid and arid tracts and on all available wastelands.
• Soil and water conservation measures should be undertaken and water should be harvested by constructing earthen dams and sub-surface dams to meet the basic water requirements of the people living in and around forests.
• National parks, sanctuaries and other protected areas should be well protected for conservation of biodiversity.
• Agro-forestry and afforestation of non-forest lands should be promoted for increasing wood production.
• Fuelwood continues to be the predominant source of energy in rural areas. The programme of afforestation should, therefore, be strengthened with emphasis on augmenting fuelwood production to meet the requirement of rural people.
• Medicinal plants and other Non-Wood Forest Product (NWFP) should be protected, improved and their production enhanced.
• Degraded natural forests near villages should be taken up for Joint Forest Management with village institutions on sharing basis, following the provisions of approved working plan of the forest area.

Haryana Community Forestry Project (HCFP)

• Haryana Community Forestry Project (HCFP) co-funded by the Government of Haryana and the European Commission, was implemented in 338 villages in 11 districts of Haryana with the objective of conserving and rejuvenating natural resources, main through Forestry Development, with the active participation of communities, especially women.

Afforestation Programmes

• To achieve the State Forest Policy objective, it is a state imperative to take up intensive afforestation programmes for bringing about maximum possible areas, whether forest or non-forest land, under tree cover. To increase green cover in the state, it is necessary to encourage the planting of trees alongside roads, railway lines, canals, rivers, rivulets and streams and other unutilised lands under Central Government and corporate, institutional or private ownership. Green belts should be raised in urban/industrial areas as well as in arid tracts. Such a programme, will help to check erosion and desertification as well as improve industrial and urban environment.
• In order to increase the forest and tree cover, HFDC has undertaken massive afforestation programme on government lands, institutional lands, Panchayat lands, common lands and other wastelands to bring more and more area under tree cover. HFDC undertakes plantations on an average 21000 hectare area on annual basis. Approximately, 60% of the plantation is outside the government forest.
• Saplings are also distributed to farmers, other government departments, institutions, schools, village Panchayats, etc for planting in their lands. Due to large scale plantation initiated by Forest Department on non-forest land i.e., community lands, Panchayat lands, institutional lands, private wastelands, etc as well as adoption of tree farming by farmers on their holding the tree cover of the state has increased to 7.13% as per the State of Forests Report published by Forest Survey of India, Dehradun in 2005. Department has set a goal to achieve 10% of forest and tree cover by 2010. This goal can be achieved only when a major thrust is given to agro-forestry and afforestation on lands outside the notified forest areas.

Forest Policy, 2006

• To promote sustainable development of forest resources in the state, Haryana Government has framed its own Forest Policy in 2006. The policy has fixed the goal of achieving 10% forest and tree cover by 2010 and eventually 20% in the state.

The basic objectives that govern the State Forest Policy, 2006 of Haryana are:

• Afforestation for maintenance of environmental stability and restoration of ecological balance affected by serious depletion of forests, woodlands and water.
• Conserving biodiversity in natural forests of the state, containing genetic resource base of the rare species.
• Development and protection of habitat in protected areas.
• Conservation and development of water resources in forests.
• Checking the denudation of forests.
• Increasing the productivity of forests to meet the essential needs of people on sustainable basis, by using genetically superior seedlings and better management practices .
• Checking soil erosion in the catchments of the rivers, rivulets and reservoirs for soil and water conservation.
• Checking the extension of sand dunes in the semi-arid areas of the state to save the infrastructure in that region.
• Reclamation of salt effected areas irrespective of the ownership by afforestation techniques.
• Increasing tree cover in the state through afforestation and social forestry programmes on wastelands.
• Production of industrial wood from non-forest lands by promoting agro-forestry.
• Encouraging efficient utilisation of forest produce and also promoting wood substitutes.
• Creating a massive people’s movement with the involvement of women and school children, for achieving these objectives and to minimise pressure on natural forests.
• Institution building at village level for Joint Forest Management and participation in forestry activities.
• Formation of self help groups, particularly of women for their empowerment through forestry based and other income generation activities. Conservation and development of medicinal plants. Development of eco-tourism.
• Development of timber markets for stabilising the prices of forest produce.

Agro-Forestry

• It is an area wherein, Haryana has taken long strides. This is the only way in which the states can increase their area under green cover. The Forest Department has been distributing tree seedlings to the farmers and other tree growers free of cost-to promote agro-forestry. In the recent past, more than 2 crore seedlings are distributed every year.

Advantage of Agro-Forestry

• Agro forestry is the most economical, sustainable and stable alternative for ecological security of land production system. Whereas, the average productivity of plantations in forest and wastelands is approximately 4 to 5 cubic metre per hectare per year, agro-forestry plantations in irrigated land ensure average productivity of 10 to 15 cubic metre per hectare per year at a relatively low input cost. Thus, by all aspects, agro-forestry is a cheap, profitable and stable alternative. However, there are still problems associated with species suitability, marketing, policy issues and industrialisation for which there is a great necessity for discussion and deliberation.

Benefit to Wood Based Industries

• Agro-forestry has enabled the forest deficient state of Haryana to support a large number of wood based industries based on farm grown wood. The town of Yamunanagar has virtually become the national centre of plywood and veneer industry.
• Our policy of not putting any restriction on felling of trees from private areas and not having any restrictions on transit of wood has also helped expand the timber trade and wood based industries. Our endeavour is to create conditions, so that wood based industries and agro-forestry activity can further grow simultaneously.

Awareness Programmes

• Forest Conservation Programmes cannot succeed without willing support and cooperation of the people. It is, therefore, essential to make people conscious of the value of trees, biodiversity and nature. Farmers and interested people should be trained in Van Chetna and Krishi Gyan Kendra’s to ensure optimum use of their land and water resources.
• Short-term extension courses and lectures should be organised to educate farmers. For this purpose, it is essential that suitable programmes be propagated through mass media, audio-visual aids and the extension machinery by strengthening existing resources with government organisations.
• For education on nursery techniques, agro-forestry and marketing, Van Chetna and Krishi Gyan Kendra’s in some of the key places have been established by the Forest Department. These should be extended to more villages. Village Forest Committees should be given training and be exposed to success stories in the country. Village Forest Committees should be constituted in all villages with the help of Panchayats.
• Spots should be identified in natural forests to develop eco-tourism, for the exposure of nature and its bounties to the people especially school children, without disturbing ecology of the area.

Tree Day, 2014

• In Haryana, tree day will be celebrated every year, on 15th July.
• On the occasion of this day, 21 lakh plants are planted in Haryana.
• On this day, people get the plant free of cost from the nurseries of the forest department and plant them and conserve them.
• Government urged to plant and conserve the plants in the campus of schools, colleges, universities, government sector, side/middle of roads, rural areas, urban areas agricultural fields, industrial area etc.

Forestry Education and Training

• Forestry should be recognised both as a scientific discipline as well as a profession. Agriculture universities and institutions dedicated to the development of forestry. Education should formulate curricular and courses for imparting academic education and promoting post-graduate research and professional excellence keeping in view the manpower needs of the state and the country.
• Taking into account latest developments in forestry and related disciplines, specialised orientation training courses for developing better management skills for in service officials need to be encouraged.
• Government of India is conducting one week training courses in various disciplines for IFS officers every year. These courses are very useful for the development of forestry and human resource. On similar lines, State Forest Service officers and all other officials of the department should be given training in latest developments in forestry and related disciplines.
• The training institutions should be strengthened by equipping with trained personnel and good training material. Village Forest Committees and Non-Governmental Organisations should also be trained regularly at these centres.

Forestry Research

• With increasing recognition of the importance of forests for environmental health, biodiversity and employment, emphasis must be laid on scientific forestry research, necessitating adequate strengthening of the research base as well as new priorities for action. An Agro-Forestry Research Centre should be established to undertake inclusive and extensive research on agro-forestry and farm forestry.

Vegetation

• Little natural vegetation remains in Haryana. Eucalyptus trees are planted along the highways and in wastelands. Shisham trees grow along the roads and canals in the Northern half of the state, while small, spiny Kikar trees and scrub are found in Southern and South-Western Haryana.
• The dominant vegetation in the state comprises of trees like Kikar, Jand, Pipal, Salvadora Neem, Ber, Shisham and also various kinds of weeds and grasses.

National Parks in Haryana

Sultanpur National Park

• It is located at about 50 km from Delhi and 15 km from Gurgaon on Gurgaon-Farukhnagar road is a bird paradise, particularly in the winder months both for local as well as migratory aves. Its sanctuary potential was first recognised by the world famous ornithologist, Mr Peter Jackson, keeping in view its importance and potential, the area covering 1.43 km² acre was declared a bird sanctuary in 1971 and was upgraded to the status of national park in 1991 by Haryana Government.
• The national park has an area of 1.43 km², out of which about 0.85 km² is pondage area and the rest provides habitat for terrestrial birds. Heronries look very beautiful with diverse groups of birds. Of the recorded 250 bird species, 150 are residents or local migratory, while others come from far away Northern regions like Siberia, Europe and Afghanistan. The common species found here are Little Egret, Painted Stork, White Ibis, Little Brown Dove, Indian Crested Lark, Myna, Red Vented Bulbul, Magpie Robin, Weaver Bird etc. Every year, about 90 species of migratory birds arrive here in search of :fling grounds and to pass winter.
• The Education and Interpretation Centre has established a centre here in the memory of  Dr Salim Ali, the internationally acclaimed ornithologist of India which contains his photographs, write-ups and certain of his personal effects.

Kalesar National Park

• It is situated in the foothills of Shivalik ranges. It falls under Yamunanagar, district of Haryana and sharing boundary with three states viz., Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Kalesar National Park is named after the Kalesar (Shiva) temple located in this protected area.
• The whole area is full of biodiversity having dense sal forest, khair forest and patches of grasslands, which supports an amazing variety of plants and animal species. The park was declared as national park on 8th December, 2003, having an area of 46.82 km². At present there are two National Parks in Haryana which are as follows: