Forest Planning Concept

96

wood

production

^{will bereduced. However, successwill}

largely depend

^on the involve¬

mentof local

people

^{in the}

planning

^and

implementation

of the forest programs, and in theprogress ^of

confidence-building

^{between foresters}and farmers.

Integrating

^cattle

grazing

^{intobroadleafforest}management^is

complex

and goes

beyond

the forester's domainas it involvesmanagement^of

forests,

pastures, ^{cattle and}

people.

Foresters need the

support

of veterinarians and pasture

agronomists

^to

plan

programs of pasture^{and cattle breed}

improvement. Co-operation

between farmers and herders is nec¬

essary^to

plan

^and

implement

^forest managementprograms which ^are sensitive tolocal needs, and which would

ultimately bring

about sustainablemanagementof broadleaffor¬

ests.Thiscallsforanew

approach:

^aforest

planning

system^thatencourages

co-operation

between

pasture agronomists,

veterinarians,foresters and local

people

who will draw sup¬

port

^{from one anotherto}manage the broadleaf forests.

users,so thatbroadleafforest management^{can be}

planned meticulously

^{to achievetheir}

long

^term

goals.

^Anew

planning

systemⁱⁿbroadleaf forestsis

required

^forthe

following

reasons;

• Broadleaf forests

support

^{a wide}

variety

^{ofuses and theseare often in} conflict with each other. For

example,

^{foresterssee the}

goal

^{of timber}

production

^as

being

^moreim¬

portant

^thancattle

grazing,

^{whereas the}

opposite

^{is true}for veterinarians and herders.

Recently,

^{inforestareaswhere}

logging operations

^have

begun,

^cattle are seen as anob¬

stacletoforestmanagement. ^Amanagement

strategy

^of

limiting

^cattlewas

implement¬

ed

by fencing

^{in the}

regeneration

^{areas and forest}

plantation.

^This

purely

^technical

solution had very little ^success in

preventing

^cattlefrom

grazing

ⁱⁿ

regenerating

^forest

areas; instead it

only

^{causedresentment}among herders ^and farmers. There is aneed fora

planning

^{forumtodiscussthe}

objectives

and activities offorest management^with the stakeholders and local

people,

^{so that}differencesand

conflicts,

^ifany

exist,

^canbe

negotiated

^orresolved.

• As well as a sourceof

timber,

^{the rural}

population

^looks upon broadleafforests as a sourceof

forage,

^{firewood,non-woodforest}

products

^andasa

necessity

^{forwatercon¬}

servation. Their main need isnot

usually

timber, yet this is what forest

planners

^have

concentratedon. In the

study

^{area,where the}

majority

^of

people depend

^{oncattle fora}

livelihood, grazing

in forests isoneof themost

important

^forestuses.Earlier evidence

(Wangchuk

^et

al.,

^1995andGibson,

1991)

^andthepresent

study

^{show that local}

people

aredissatisfied with forest

development

programs,because theirneeds and

aspirations

arenotreflected inthem. As a

result,

sustainable forestmanagement ^{is notachieved.}

Involving

^local

people

^atthe

appropriate planning

level would

help

^{to define}

appropri¬

ate

goals

for broadleaf forestmanagement, which would inturn resultin

forestry

pro¬

grams thatbenefitlocal

people.

•

Forage

^{resources in}

Tsamdrogs

and broadleaf forests are

declining

ⁱⁿ

quantity

^and

quality

^dueto

increasing

^numbersof

grazing

^{cattle. In orderto}relieve pressure^on for¬

ests, ^the

productivity

^of

Tsamdrogs

ⁱⁿbroadleaf forests mustbe

improved,

^{and the}

numberofcattlemustbereduced. Theseprograms^havetobe

planned

and co-ordinated with other RNR sub-sectors

(e.g.

^animal

husbandry, pasture)

^at

Dzongkhag

^and

Geog level,

^as

they

^{need the}

expertise

^ofpasture

agronomists

and veterinarians.

• The present

study

^showsthat

browsing

^oftree

seedlings

^and

damage

^to

larger

^{trees are}

becoming

^{evidentin thoseareas}where thereare

large

herds of cattle. It is

unlikely

^that

cattle

rearing

^will

disappear

from broadleaf forests inthefuture.To ensurethat

grazing

coexistswith wood

production, banning

^or

regulating grazing periodically

ⁱⁿ

prime

forests and certain

degraded

forests is essentialto restoreforest ecosystems.

Therefore, grazing regulating plans

^{mustbe formulated} in co-ordination with

pasture/range

^ex¬

perts and herders.

In viewoftheabove arguments, ^{twolevels of}

planning

^are

proposed: Dzongkhag

^forest

planning

^atthe

Dzongkhag

^{level and}

Geog

^forest

planning

^at

Geog

^{level, or the forest} management^unit

(FMU). Dzongkhag

^forest

planning

will co-ordinate

regional

^forestuse

at

Dzongkhag

level while the

Geog

^forest

planning

^will

integrate

the needs of local

people

atthe

FMU/Geog

^level

(Figure 5.2).

^Thetwo

proposed planning

^{levelswi 11}operate^within the

existing organization

^{structureof theRNR}sectors atthe

Dzongkhag

administration.T

Planning

will be co-ordinated

by

^{the forest}

planner

^{at the center}

(FSD)

and the relevant Divisional Forest Officer

(DFO)

^{in the}

region.

^Government

policies

and directives relat¬

ing

^to forests will be the basis of the

planning

process ^{and will}

safeguard

national inter-

98

ests.The

Ministry

^of

Agriculture ^(MoA)

and its sub-sectorsatthecenterwill be consulted for

policy

advice whenever the need arises. The

responsibility

^{of final}

approval

^of

Dzongkhag

^forest

plans

^{and the forest}management

plans

^for

FMU/Geogs

^{will restwith}

the

Ministry

^of

Agriculture.

Dzongkhag

Administration

Geog^orForest Management

Unit(FMU)

Dzongkhag^ForestPlanning

MoA

(FSD)

Divisional ForestOfficer

_Geog^ForestPlanning

-DivisionalForest Officer

-Forest Planner

Figure^{5.2 The two}proposedlevels of forestplanning.

5.5

Dzongkhag Forestry Planning

5.5.1

Objectives

The

goal

^of

Dzongkhag

^forest

planning

^{is to}

plan

^andco-ordinate the relevant activities ofthe RNR sub-sectors

(e.g. agriculture, irrigation,

livestock and

forestry)

^{andothersec¬}

tors

(energy, industry etc.)

which interface with broadleaf forestmanagement^{in the}

Dzongkhag, through

discussions in

meetings.

^The interests ofall

participating

^{sectors in}

the

Dzongkhag

^{will be}

sought

^{outand if}

required, appropriate

action will be

planned.

Broadly,

^atthis level of

planning,

^forestuses and activities which aremost

important

^to

theindividual

Geog/forest

^{areacould bediscussed}

(e.g. grazing,

^wood

production,

^water¬

shed

protection,

^local

consumption

^ofwood, fuel wood and non-wood forest

products).

Should there beaconflict of

interests,

^eitherwhere forestuse orthe

implementation

^meth¬

od ofthe

proposed

activities among ^thesub-sectors is concerned, these willbe resolved

or a

compromise

will be reached

through dialogue. Any

^unresolvedissues, which need

policy

attention will be submittedto thegovernment

(MoA)

^forconsideration. Further¬

more, discussion and

planning

^{will take}

place,

^{onhow and}

by

^whomthe

agreed programs/

activities shouldbe undertaken and

implemented

^{in the}

subsequent

lower level

planning.

For

example,

^the

expertise

of the animal

husbandry

sub-sector in relationtoforest

grazing

and

Tsamdrogs

^{will be}

sought

^when

planning grazing

management ^atthe

Geog

^forest

planning

^level.

5.5.2 Contents

The

Dzongkhag

^forest

plan

^will

give

^an overview of landuse patterns, socio-economic conditionsand

forestry

^{situationsin the}

Dzongkhag.

^Itwould include the interests of RNR sub-sectors andothersectors outsidethe RNR in broadleafforestmanagement. ^{It would} also deal with the

job responsibilities

^ofall

participating

stakeholders in the

subsequent planning

^leveland

implementation.

^The

suggested

^{contents of the}

Dzongkhag

^forest

plan

areillustratedin theTable5.4:

1. DESCRIPTIONOF THE DZONGKHAG

No documento Cattle grazing - an integral part of broadleaf forest management planning in Bhutan (páginas 97-100)