By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 23 Mar: On the second day of the International Workshop on “Enhancing Ecosystem Services by Improving Forest Quality & Productivity and SLEM Knowledge Dissemination” at ICFRE, here, thirteen forestry related topics were presented by the speakers from India, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and Myanmar in two sessions.
In the session on Nursery Management and Plantation Techniques for Productivity Enhancement, presentations were given by experts from India, Thailand and Malaysia. For enhancing productivity, emphasis was on nursery and plantation techniques and the need for easy availability of quality planting material. ICFRE has released 69 clones/varieties of tree species such as Eucalyptus, Casuarina, Poplar, Dalbergia, Melia and other indigenous tree species. These can be used for eco-restoration, plantation and in agro-forestry. It was stressed that mosaic of clone cultivation would help in maintaining the genetic base. The speaker from Thailand discussed the opportunities for short rotation teak farming and stated that the gestation period of teak can be reduced from 40 years to 6 years. Potential of Shorea roxburghii in rehabilitation of degraded areas as a case study was presented by a speaker from FRI, Malaysia.
In the session on Forest Land Restoration Techniques for Improving Forest Quality and Productivity, an expert from FRI, Malaysia, discussed the success in land restoration by using a pioneer species, Macaranga tanarius. The representative from IUCN spoke about the initiatives taken to meet the 2030 Bonn Challenge by using innovative tools such as Restoration of Opportunities Optimisation Tool (ROOT) for assessment of ecosystem trade off and the impact of eco-restoration. The success story of forest restoration efforts through community forestry in Nepal along with the role of government in financing mechanism for mountain landscape restoration was stressed by speakers from Nepal. The role of ecosystem based adaptation in rejuvenating landscapes to transform rural India, and core model supported by different forest and best practices for eco-restoration in Gujarat was presented. The speaker from Myanmar stated the opportunities in sustainable land and ecosystem management showcasing a mangrove ecosystem. Role of eco-budgeting in restoring forest ecosystem services and the needs for its value assessment was explained through a case study from Karnataka.
