Conservation issues of sourcing of timber from the Terai Arc landscape and relevance of forest certification as a conservation tool: a study in the Pilibhit forest region
Student name: Ms Maitreyi Sur
Guide: Dr Neeraj Khera
Year of completion: 2008
Host Organisation: TERI University and World Wild Fund for Nature, Delhi
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr T.R. Manoharan
Abstract: India is one of the largest producers of tropical timber and caters the demand for large scale infrastructural development in the country. With the current rate of increase in demand for timber, India is soon likely to face severe shortage in the domestic market. Increasing demands has put undue pressures on the current reserves of Indian forests. With the demand for timber likely to increase from 58 million cubic meters in 2005 to 153 million cubic meters in 2020, conservation measures other than the usual command and control techniques is necessary to safeguard the forests in India from the pressures of unsustainable logging. In this regard forest certification devised to encourage the sustainable management of forests has recently received considerable attention. The Terai arc landscape (TAL), spread over an area of 30,000 sq km is one of the priority areas recognized for conservation. However the landscape is under tremendous pressure. The conservation threats due to logging of timber/ wood from the TAL is possibly one of the major reasons for the degradation of the forests of the landscape. This study therefore attempts to account for conservation threats on the landscape due to sourcing of timber by undertaking a case study in the Pilibhit forest division and surrounding areas located in the central part of the TAL. The study also builds up a supply chain of timber originating from the study area to facilitate a market based analysis. Questionnaire surveys, interviews, consultations and participant observation helped in building up matrix of the major concerns of the stakeholders of the supply chain and feasibility of forest certification at each step. Conservation issues due to sourcing of timber are one of the most relevant problems facing the forests of India. With the Committee on Forest Certification already constituted by the Government of India, baseline studies like these can serve as guidelines for initiatives taken in the near future.
