Expert flags flaws in compensatory afforestation policy
The existing policy of approving tree-felling at a project site and approving compensatory afforestation elsewhere came in for criticism by a tree expert, here on Sunday.
S. Natesh, a botanist who retired as a senior advisor in the Department of Biotechnology, government of India, said that the practice was scientifically flawed, though it is promoted by the Forest Department of various States and even the courts approve it.
Raising serious concerns about the practice, Dr. Natesh, who is also the author of 'Iconic Trees of India', questioned the logic behind felling fully grown, decades-old trees in the name of development and attempting to offset the damage by planting saplings elsewhere.
'A tree that is 80 or 100 years old cannot simply be replaced by planting ten or even a hundred saplings,' said Dr. Natesh. The ecological value, carbon sequestration capacity, and biodiversity support provided by such old trees are incalculable. To derive the same benefit as that of the trees that are felled, the saplings have to mature into trees, provided they survive, he added.
He also criticised the practice of compensating for tree loss in one location by afforesting a distant area, calling it a flawed strategy that fails to address local ecological imbalances. His remarks are significant in view of the Forest Department's plan to plant 400 saplings for the 40 trees felled on the Hyder Ali Road. But the Forest Department authorities have stated that not all saplings will be planted in one area due to space constraints.
The issue is of immediate significance to Mysuru as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has sought clearance for the diversion of 137.5 acres of forest for the Mysuru-Kushalnagar highway.
In all, 691 trees will be felled in Mysuru district, but the compensatory afforestation will take place in Bhutanala village in the Vijayapura district. Conservation activist Giridhar Kulkarni has questioned such a practice and written to the authorities, pointing out that compensatory afforestation far away from the project site will not address local ecological degradation or compensate for the immediate environmental loss caused by the felling of mature trees.
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