Toward Sustainable Use of Forest Resource:

Connecting Forest Ecology to Village Economy

In this study, findings of a forest ecological survey was linked to the mode of customary use of the forest. The study identifies the major drivers of forest decimation and the current trend of forest depletion. This would enable us to draft a mitigation strategy in the FINAL report, based on quantitative data about biomass flow from the forest into the villages.

The ecological implications of the forest species composition, diversity, stem density, crop height and species abundance ranking data are discussed in detail, which will be helpful in devising a long term planning for sustainable forest management. Our on-site data of seedling regeneration, though based on a single season, provides a strong database for indication of the regeneration potential of the forest patches under study.

We have assessed the status of the forest ecosystem – in terms of species diversity and abundances, and their overall contribution to production of biomass that is relevant to the REDD+ objective of carbon sequestration assessment. Based on our empirical estimation of stem biomass, we derived the branch and root biomass, using standard dendrometric procedures. Finally, we have undertaken an additional task of quantifying the total carbon content in the tree wood biomass in the forest areas under study.

This report records the signs and the pattern of biomass removal from the forest, the factors that elicit deforestation, and the management implications of the findings. In the final section we have suggested sustainable methods of harvest for each item of NTFP. The recommendations would likely both enrich the forest species composition and strengthen the CFM regime.