The understanding of the “disturbances” (mainly fire, insects and diseases) is essential to develop appropriate management regimes to contain them and their impact on health and vitality of “Forest” and “Other Wooded lands”.
A. Global Classification and Definitions (FRA 2005)
Forest Fire |
An unplanned fire in the “Forest” and or “Other Wooded Land”, whether it broke out inside or outside the “Forest” or the “Other Wooded Land”. |
Forest Insect |
A forest insect is an animal belonging to the class Hexapoda with its habitat in “Forest” and “Other Wooded Land”. |
Forest Disease |
A condition caused by living organisms or environmental changes that impairs the normal functions of tree or Forest. |
Source: FAO. 2004. Terms and Definition FRA-2005. FRA Working paper 73. Rome
B. National Data Sources
(1) Area affected by Fire
Forestry Statistics complied and published by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) Dehradun is the main source of basic information. It present information by individual States and Union Territories in India . The period of the annual reporting is from April 1st to March 31st of next year. It covers first nine months of the starting year and next 3 months of ending year, therefore information has been dealt as belonging to the starting year. For example, the period 1st April 96 to 31st March 1997 is nationally denoted as 1996-97 and contains 9 months of 1996 and only 3 months of 1997 therefore the information has been treated as for 1996. The following publications have been used for archiving National Data:
- For 1988 to 1993: Forestry Statistics, India, 1988-95. 1997. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, Uttaranchal, India.
- For 1994 &1995: Forestry Statistics, India, 1996. 1998. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, Uttaranchal, India.
- For 1996 & 1997: Forestry Statistics, India, 2000. 2002. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, Uttaranchal, India.
- In addition to this report submitted by Government of India to Global Fire Monitoring Center and IFFN and published in IFFN No. 26, January, 2002 indicates the annual level of fires to be around 3.7 million hectares. This figure has been used as an estimate of forest fire during 2000.
- Bahuguna, V. K. 2002. “Fire Situation in India” in IFFN No. 26, 2002. Report submitted by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India to Global Fire Monitoring Centre and International Forest Fire News . (www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/iffn/country/in/in_5.htm).
(2) Area affected by Insects and diseases
More than 21 major insect pests affect forest resources but no statistics is available on area affected by insects. Figures are available mostly at local level or in some national report of paper presented at conferences. Following sources of information available on the internet have been used to provide some information on the subject.
- Sharma et al. 2000. 2000. Dalbergia Sissoo in India. In Proceedings of the Sub-Regional Seminar “Die-Back of Sissoo (Dalbergia Sissoo).
- Annual Report 2000-2001. 2001. Annual Report 2000-2001, Ministry Of Environment and Forests, Government of India. (Mentions about Sal borer problem).
C. National Classification and Definitions
The Forest Survey of India defines forest fire as under. The definition is totally compatible with FRA 2005 definition.
Forest Fire |
Any fire on forest land which is not used as a tool in forest production or management in accordance with an approved plan. |
There is no definition for area affected by insects or diseases.
D. National Data
(1) Area Affected by Forest Fires
The national reporting on “forest fire” is not done on the basis of crown cover classification into “forest” and “Other wooded land” rather it is done for the legal classification i.e. “forest land”).
Year |
Forest Land/Area Affected by forest fires in million hectares | |||||
1985 |
1987 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
2000 | |
Forest Area Affected |
0.986 |
1.034 |
1.450 |
0.100 |
0.072 |
3.700 |
Note:
1. The above figures present reported information and may and may not capture all the forest fires in the country.
2. Figures for 1985, 1987, 1996 and 1997 come from Forestry Statistics, ICFRE, figure for 1995 come from FSI and figure for 2000 come from IFFN 26, 2002.
(2) Area Affected by Insects and Diseases
The national paper presented on the “Dalbergia Sissoo in India” mentions that Dalbergia sissoo is diseased over an area of 8400 square kilometres of Gangetic plains in north of Bihar (one of the States of India) alone. With very conservative estimate of one percent of this figure spanning forest land leads to an estimate of about 8,400 hectares of area affected by one disease and that too in part of one of the states of India.
Similarly, the “Annual Reports” of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government India indicate mortality of millions of trees of Shorea robusta due to a stem borer insect (Hoplocerambyx spinicornis). This alone will cover more than 1000 ha of forest land. Since no area figure is reported hence most conservative estimate of 1000 ha of Shorea forest affected by this insect has been made for the year 2000.
E. Calibration
This step is not considered necessary
F. Estimation and Forecasting
The figure for area affected by fire during 1990 has been derived through regression estimate using data of 1985, 1987 and 1995. The figure for 1990 comes to 1.205 million hectares.
G. Reclassification into FRA 2005 Classes
Reclassification of national data on forest fire is not necessary as the national and FRA 2005 definitions match with each other.
H. National Information for FRA 2005 Global Tables
Table: Input for Global Reporting Table
Disturbances
|
Average Annual Area Affected "000"hectares | |||
Forests |
Other Wooded lands | |||
1990 |
2000 |
1990 |
2000 | |
Forest Fires |
1205.000 |
3700.000 |
Added in Forests |
Added in Forests |
Forest Insects |
NA |
1.000 |
Added in Forests |
Added in Forests |
Forest Diseases |
NA |
8.400 |
Added in Forests |
Added in Forests |
Note:
1. The figure for fire in 1990 is based on past levels of fire damage and for figure for 2000 is from IFFN No 26, 2002
2. Figure for insect affected areas indicates reported part of the mortality of millions of trees of Shorea robusta in Madhya Pradesh from Sal borer.
3. The figures indicates part of reported mortality of Dalbergia sisso trees in Bihar State of India mentioned in a presentation in a sub-regional seminar organised by FAO at Kathmandu, April 2000. Assuming one percent of the affected area falls in forest.
