Annex 3: Summary of papers presented during the workshop

Presentation 1:

Dr. C.B.S. Dutt (NRSA) made a presentation on “Remote sensing based non-forest timber resource assessment.”

In the presentation various methods for assessing TOF were highlighted which are given as under:

¨ Complete enumeration of TOF
¨ Estimation through aerial photo interpretation
¨ Multi-stage sampling
¨ Remote sensing stratified segment sampling
¨ Stratified random sampling
¨ Stratified systematic sampling
¨ Multistage segment sampling

He highlighted the effectiveness of every method and their utility along with level of accuracy and cost effectiveness. The aggregation was explained through statistical equation and cumulative estimation with the help of icon distribution curve.

The cost and time involved in the exercise along with the accuracy level for estimation of TOF for a district was discussed. The presenter informed the house that the cost would be roughly Rs.10-12 lakhs per district. The comparative cost involved in carrying out the exercise manually was also given a thought. The issue of the getting industrial finance to meet the exorbitant cost was discussed. This would ultimately lead to less dependency on forest resources. The issue of sensitivity involved in the data and its collection through remote sensing was highlighted.

Presentation 2:

Shri Anup Kumar (FSI) presented his paper titled “Tree resources outside forest.”

It included the following objectives:

¨ Assess extent of plantation raised under different forest schemes by different agencies and individuals
¨ Estimate growing stock and species wise number of trees available in TOF

The presentation described the definition of TOF and elaborated the tree resources in the non-forested area which are as under:

1. Farm forestry
2. Village woodlots
3. Block plantation
4. Road side plantation
5. Ponds side plantation
6. Railway side plantation
7. Canal side plantation
8. Others

The presentation further highlighted the zone wise division of the study area. The study area was divided into:

¨ Agro-climatic zone (First stage strata),
¨ Districts (Second stage strata), and
¨ Villages (Sampling Units).

Estimation of the sample size for the study area was done by mean and standard deviation methods.

The examples of Rajasthan, M.P vis-a-vis TOF assessment were discussed. It was agreed that the time consumed in carrying out the exercise would be too high. The need of technical expertise for the collection of data was emphasized as also the issue of collecting the information for district level. Rajesh Kumar, FSI, informed that their study was based on different agro-climatic zones and more accurate at State level. It was informed that total of 219 villages was covered and trees of more than 10cm diameter were counted in the FSI study. In reply to a question asked by Director, IIFM, it was informed that field team consists of 4 people and taken 6-8 months (depending upon the size/area of the village) time to cover one village. On an average the field team counted 800 trees per day in the FSI study.