Afforestation is the effort to plant trees in barren lands to create a forest. It is important because it helps check the overuse of natural resources by providing an alternate source pool.
What is Afforestation?
Afforestation is the method of planting trees, or sowing seeds, for the period of a barren land barren of any treed to make a forest. It is the process of specifically planting native trees into a forest that features a reducing number of trees into a forest that features a reducing number of trees. Reforestation is increasing the amount of trees in an existing forest. Afforestation is the creation of an additional or replacement forest.
Our earth has been continually trying to cope with how human beings use natural resources, clear forest lands, cut trees, and contaminate the air, land, and water. The industrial revolution, population bursts, and pollution create stable damage to the earth, and the result is global warming and climate change. In such situations, something that can help extend the life of the plant and its living organisms is the growth of natural resources and the reduction of exploitation of these resources.
Many human beings satisfy their commercial needs by planting trees and creating forests without destroying existing ones. Many countries’ governments and non-government agencies have propagated afforestation as a means to prevent the over-misuse of nature.
Importance of Afforestation
In today’s scenario, commercial purposes are the main reason for the huge importance. In a natural forest or woodland, the trees are heterogeneous. Owing to the sensitivity to over-usage and slow growth, these forests can’t be used constantly for commercial purposes like wood products. The process of planting trees in empty lands helps promote the fast spread of specific types of trees for the wood industry.
With the increasing demand for wood fuels and building materials, this process helps to meet these demands without cutting down the natural forests. Deforestation can lead to the reduction of trees in water catchments and riverside zones. Afforestation ensures that the trees and plants that hold the soil in these sensitive areas remain protected.
Many countries have introduced the practice of planting trees along with crops in croplands. The benefits of this practice is tree agroforestry.
(i) It supplies timber, fruit, and fodder for cattle apart from crop production
(ii) It prevents soil erosion
(iii) It shields crops from excessive wind and sun damage
On unfertile land or in depleted forests, planting trees always provides environmental benefits.Trees help check the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide; large-scale afforestation can control the issues caused by to burning of fossil fuels industrialization and then forth.
Read more about Atmosphere
Objectives of Afforestation
Increase the production of timber.
Increase biodiversity
To increase the production of fuel and the little(small) timber.
Improvement of wetland-ecosystem
To promote ecosystem-based adaptation.
Moderation of micro-climate.
Soil conservation.
Protection of catchment of rivers.
Increasing natural beauty of landscape
Advantages of Afforestation
It increases greenery.
It reduces desertification.
Afforestation brings rain at the proper time.
It reduces the pollution level.
It minimises the effect of soil erosion.
Afforestation helps to control the acid rain.
People preserve wildlife.
Rains are the main obvious.
We can control floods to some extent.
It minimises the effects of drought and global warming.
Oxygen is necessary for our life.
Trees absorb carbon dioxide and give us oxygen instead.
Trees fight the menace of air pollution and thus save us from epidemics.
It cause rainfall which is necessary for agriculture and vegetation.
Trees supply us with food, fruits, flowers, fuel, wood, resin, lac, etc.
Read more about Pollution
Afforestation process in India
China and India have led to increasing the Earth’s greenery over the past 20 years. In 1950 around 40.48 million hectares were covered by forest. In 1980 it increased to 67.47 million hectares and in 2006 it had been found to be 69 million hectares. 23% of India is roofed by forest. In 2018, the entire forest and tree cover in India increased to 24.39% or 8, 02,088 km.
The biophysical criteria group the forests of India into 5 major categories and 16 types, making up the total forest classification. In South India and other smaller groups, 38% of the forest is categorized as subtropical dry deciduous, and 30% is categorized as tropical moist deciduous for afforestation. Only local species are plante in a neighbourhood. Trees bearing fruits are prefer wherever possible thanks to their function as a food source.
Afforestation Processing
In 2019, Indians Planted 220 Million trees during a single day in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. On Thursday, 29 August 2019, the Prime Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi released 47, 436 crores (over 6.6 USD) to varied states for compulsory afforestation activities. The funds are often use for the treatment of catchment areas, assisted natural generation, forest management, wildlife protection and management, relocation of villages from protected areas, managing human-wildlife conflicts, training and awareness generation, the availability of wood-saving devices and allied activities. Increasing the tree cover would help create additional carbon sink to satisfy the nation’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by the year 2030- a part of India’s efforts to combat global climate change.
The Maharashtra government planted almost 20,000,000 saplings within the entire state and can pledge to plant another 30,000,000 next year. Consistent with The Telegraph, the Indian government has attributed $6.2 billion for tree-planting so as to extend “forestation in line with agreements made at the Paris global climate change summit in 2015.’ The Indian government has also passed the CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) law, which can allow about 40 thousand crores rupees (almost $6 Billion) will attend Indian states for planting trees.
Current efforts
In the central hardwood forest region of the US, increasing numbers of landowners are converting cropland slightly into a forest. We are reducing the pressure on the use of existing hardwood species in the forest, such as black cherry, walnut, and northern red oak.
In South Africa, about 0.5% per cent of the land is roofed with Indigenous forests and 1.1% per cent by forests formed by total commercial afforestation (TCA) and containing trees like black wattle, pine, gum trees, and so forth. This has helped provide wood to be used for mining timber, paper pulp, charcoal, poles, and other commercial uses.
The advantage of planting tree species, like pine, is it helps check infections the trees are predisposed to in their native country and climate, thus providing higher production. Under better growth and higher yields due to better afforestation of these alien species, south Africa can produce and export close to two million tons of wood and wood products.
The Chinese government has set aside nearly US$300 billion for afforestation projects in China. To combat erosion in central and western China, the government has already started the method of converting farmland back to woodland.
The Indian Government is taking measures to save the environment.
Wildlife Protection Act of 1972
Workshop on Growing and Planting Fruit Trees Organically
Indian Forest Act of 1927
Poster Drawing Competition
Planting held at the hands of the Children
Together We Grow: Plant a Tree
‘Goa to move towards green tourism’
Traditional ways to protect trees
Revolutions held:
Chipko movement
Green Belt movement
Navdanya Movement
Kenyan land takeover
Belief Behind Trees
Hindus worship the tree
Some shrubs hold special significance in various rituals.
Manusmrti gives distinct plants.
Promoting Afforestation
The Promotion of Afforestation are often broadly categorized into three parts:-
Personal Promotion: Integrated into Religion, the cooperation of Saints and Prophets is required.
Advertisement and Publicity supported Creativity: Creating Mass Awareness through Radio/TV, Drama, Folk Dances/Songs, etc.
Service Promotion: Incentives to Individuals, Institutions, Subsidies, Lucrative Incentives to Individuals, and Institutional Motivators.
Facts about afforestation
• There are about three trillion trees on the earth and they play a serious role in producing the oxygen we all breathe. But twice as many existed before the beginning of human civilisation.
• Today, 10 billion more trees are hampering than are planted per annum. This destruction may be a significant contributor to the carbon emissions that are driving the climate crisis.
• Forests are a crucial and rich habitat for wildlife – unfortunately, the razing of forests could also be a serious contributor to biodiversity losses.
• Tropical rainforests host 50% of known terrestrial species on only 6% of the world’s land.
Disadvantages of Afforestation
If not properly managed, afforestation may result in a reduction of local biodiversity, the modification of particular biomes, the introduction of non-native and potentially invasive species, reduced streamflow and lost revenue from agriculture. Local species may not find an equivalent habitat if native grasslands are converted to forests. Unmanaged reforestation efforts can result in monocultures that lack plant diversity and offer fewer habitat types for forest inhabitants.
Reforestation
What does reforestation mean?
Reforestation is the process of planting trees in a forest where the number of trees has been decreasing.
Why is reforestation important?
“Forests have already removed nearly one-third of human-produced CO2 emissions from the atmosphere. Through sustainable forest management, they might remove far more.”
Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stands of trees in a neighbourhood where there was no previous tree cover.
The difference between afforestation and reforestation
Although both are driving towards an identical if not equivalent goal, afforestation isn’t equivalent to reforestation. Afforestation is the planting or adding of trees in a neighbourhood where there was never a forest or plantation. This is often a way to make a replacement forest. Reforestation is the replanting of trees in a neighbourhood where there was once a forest which was destroyed or damaged. This is often a way to bring back or improve the forest that was previously there.
Conclusion
Afforesting refers to a positive effort in curbing the over-use and destruction of natural forests. If done with proper planning and at suitable sites, it can become a commercially visible solution for many human needs without harming the equilibrium of nature.
In dryland regions, suitable species are fast-growing as well as roost and drought -resistant It depends on site composition massive afforestation has a meaningful influence on global climate and on mitigating the increased C02 concentration in the atmosphere.
Many NG/NGOs directly engage in programs of afforestation to make forests, increase carbon capture and sequestration, and help to anthropogenically improve biodiversity.
So it is time for policymakers to sit and think seriously about this issue. We have to make new plans and strategies to overcome the problem.
The rules forbid cutting trees.