Kerala Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine addresses a buffer zone evaluation assembly on the Idukki Collectorate on January 3, 2023. Photo: Special Arrangement
The demarcation of a 1-km buffer zone across the protected forests in Kerala on the direction of the Supreme Court has raised severe issues in society. While the creation and upkeep of buffer zone round ecologically delicate areas are thought of important, the exercise is commonly beset by a paucity of dependable ground-level knowledge. In its particular report on Climate Change and Land- Summary for Policy Makers (2019), the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) harassed on bettering sustainable land administration ‘by increasing the availability and accessibility of data’ and termed it one of many near-term actions to deal with the problem of local weather change and adaptation. However, micro-level land use statistics in Kerala, or for that matter of the complete nation, is usually conjectural with marginal floor enter.
According to official statistics, Kerala has 11,525 km2, or 29.7% of its whole geographical space beneath forest cowl. The class of dense and degraded forest accounts for 78.7% of the whole forest space. The remainder of the world is allotted for forest plantations, leased to different division or used to accommodate different non-forest actions. Protected forests cowl 26.6% of the whole forest space and a 1-km buffer zone is proposed round these protected forest areas. Due to the dominance of tree crops and plantations like rubber, there are technical limitations in isolating pure forest vegetation utilizing satellite tv for pc photographs at a finer scale. This is obvious from the report of the Forest Survey of India (2021), in accordance with which Kerala has 21,253km2 or 54.7% of the whole space beneath forest. The distinction in figures has arisen due to the inclusion of plantations.
The mismatch between the world beneath forest and the world beneath precise pure vegetation cowl was highlighted within the early 1980s when the Centre for Earth Science Studies introduced out a report on deforestation in Kerala. Forest areas are getting used for varied non-forestry functions, together with the growth of human settlements, resulting in the fragmentation of forest patches. The forest-settlement boundary is pushed deep into the Western Ghats, exposing trails of wildlife motion, and aggravating human-wildlife conflicts. In 2021, there have been cases of 8,107 human-wildlife conflicts.
Fixing the boundary between pure forest vegetation and humanised panorama is important. It warrants an in depth land use survey on a cadastral scale on the plot stage. Participation of native individuals is crucial. Such an exercise was first tried within the U.Ok. the place college students offered the majority of the manpower. The whole nation was lined by means of plot level-land use survey from 1928 to 1932 beneath the management of Sir Dudley Stamp of Department of Geography, London School of Economics. This survey vastly improved the land use statistics of U.Ok. The identical exercise was repeated within the 1960s.
Kerala experimented with plot-level land use documentation in 1975. However, being a departmental exercise, the information weren’t assimilated to the specified stage.
In 1991, the Centre for Earth Science Studies, in collaboration with the Kerala State Land Use Board, and the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad launched participatory panchayat useful resource mapping within the State. The programme envisaged land use and asset mapping on a cadastral scale by skilled native volunteers. Subject specialists have been concerned in mapping land and water assets and assimilating the information by means of environmental appraisal. All the panchayats within the State have been lined.
Specific necessities
In the current context of buffer zone mapping, the requirement is restricted. Land use and asset survey are needed for 115 panchayats bordering the protected forests. It shouldn’t be attainable for the federal government division to finish the duty in an affordable time-frame. Drawing from previous experiences, native panchayat and residents could be mobilised to undertake the programme. Students from faculties and faculties, together with academics could be concerned. Scientific institutes and departments could also be mandated to increase technical help. The whole database might be on a digital platform and be made obtainable to the general public. This might maybe assist in a giant manner in resolving conflicts. Similar workout routines might be required to protect the ecosystem. The possession of the maps and native motion should relaxation with the native inhabitants.
The creator is a (Retd) Scientist, Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram
