By Pushp K Jain
A sweeping programme of tree felling to deal with an epidemic of sal
borer beetle has outraged conservationists, who say nature may be
better equipped to deal with the crisis than human beings are.
New Delhi, India: An infestation of borer beetles has prompted the
felling of some three quarters of a million sal trees in the Indian state of
Madhya Pradesh, in spite of protests from conservationists and the
intervention of the Indian government.
Some three million trees have been affected by the sal borer
(Hoplocerambyx spinicornis) and the state government - alarmed by
the extent of the infestation - fell back on a law to control the beetle that
came into force 70 years ago, when attitudes were very different from
the present concern for conservation.
Modern ways of controlling the sal borer are being researched in many
forest research institutions, but this latest epidemic shows that foresters
and scientists have failed, according to A P Dwivedi, a senior official of
the state's forest conservation service.
The state government decided that the only way to control the infestation
was to fell most of the affected trees, and it was supported by an expert
committee for sal borer affected areas appointed by the national Ministry
of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
But the committee's approval in December 1997 caused an outcry from
conservationists, especially when it became clear that there was a plan
to fell affected sal trees in protected areas such as the Kanha Tiger
Reserve. WWF-India, the national organization of the World Wide Fund
For Nature, strongly advised against felling in the wildlife reserves.
Such criticism brought a halt to felling in mid-January this year and a
special task force, with a wildlife subcommittee, was established to
review the situation. The task force, however, could not reach a
consensus over cutting down trees that may still be alive. The wildlife
group felt there should be no felling or large-scale salvaging of infested
and dead sal trees in the reserves, fearing that such action might lead to
ecological disturbances.
Yet in February the MoEF, without consulting the steering committee,
issued a notification virtually allowing the state government to continue
felling. On the crucial issue of stocking the infested timber far away from
the sal forests, the notification left loopholes stating "felled material
should preferably be located at least five kilometres away from the sal
forest".
This served merely to inflame the controversy, and the Indian Supreme
Court stepped in to order a halt to the felling. It later permitted the
cutting down of dead trees only and ordered proper re-marking of affected
trees. The state government complied, but the expert committee
supervising the operation reported that the affected area was too large
for the operation to be carried out properly.
Part of the problem is that felling trees is only a first step in
controlling the borer. It is vital that logs are stored well away from the forests and that
stumps are burned and debris disposed of before the onset of the
monsoon, so that no food is left for the beetles. It is currently estimated
that about a quarter of the material left by felling remains in the forests
and there are doubts over whether the government can complete its
operations before the monsoon.
At the same time, critics point out that a previous epidemic, between 1923
and 1928, affected seven million trees yet only about 5 per cent were
felled. The government's policy in the present crisis would mean that, of
the three million affected trees, about 30 per cent would have been felled
in just one year.
Some officials who favour felling wonder what will happen if affected
trees are not removed, many fearing that entire sal forests could be
wiped out. But experts believe such pessimism is unwarranted, saying
sal forests long ago learned to live with the borer and will continue to
survive so long as human intervention does not upset the balance. It has
even been suggested that 1-2 per cent of trees categorised as dead may
recover, and there are already reports of partial or complete recovery in
some of the trees re-marked as dead.
Only nature can tell whether the percentage of recovering trees will be
high enough to save the forests, but if the axe is not put aside to give
nature that chance, we shall never know.
*Pushp K Jain is a freelance journalist based in New Delhi, India.
fficer with WWF-Brazil