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Social Forestry

Objectives of Social Forestry

• Enhancing agricultural resilience against the impacts of diverse climate-related factors is a top priority.
• Increasing the availability of firewood for household needs, small timber for rural housing, livestock fodder, and local minor forest products is crucial.
• Beautifying the natural scenery and establishing recreational forests to benefit both rural and urban communities is essential.
• Offering job opportunities to unskilled laborers is a key objective.
• Implementing land rehabilitation initiatives is a significant goal.
• Elevating the standard of living and overall quality of life for residents in both rural and urban areas is a primary focus.

Types of Social Forestry

Farm forestry

• Presently, social forestry initiatives are being implemented in nearly all countries, encompassing both commercial and non-commercial farm forestry approaches.
• There is a strong emphasis on encouraging individual farmers to plant trees on their own land to fulfill their family's domestic requirements. This practice is already prevalent in many regions.
• Most of today's social forestry projects primarily focus on non-commercial farm forestry.
• Farmers do not always cultivate trees solely for the purpose of obtaining fuelwood. Often, their motivations are non-economic. They may plant trees to provide shade for agricultural crops, act as windbreaks, aid in soil conservation, or reclaim wasteland.

Urban Forestry

• Urban forestry pertains to the cultivation and care of trees found on both privately and publicly owned lands situated in and around urban areas, with the aim of enhancing the urban environment.
• Urban forestry encompasses the oversight of individual trees as well as clusters of trees. It's not limited to planted trees alone.
• In urban settings, some trees may have grown naturally, although, in a land-scarce environment, they are unlikely to thrive unless they are purposefully nurtured and supervised.
• Urban forestry also involves the management of wooded areas located on the outskirts of urban areas.

Rural Forestry

• Community Forestry:
  • Community forestry entails the cultivation of trees on communal land, rather than on privately owned land, as seen in farm forestry. All these initiatives are geared toward benefiting the entire community rather than individuals.
  • The government is responsible for providing seedlings and fertilizers, but the community bears the duty of safeguarding the trees.
  • In some cases, some individuals exploit this system by selling timber for personal short-term gain, as common land, accessible to all, is susceptible to abuse.
• Agroforestry:
  • Agroforestry is a land-use system that integrates trees and shrubs into agricultural and rural landscapes to enhance productivity, profitability, diversity, and ecosystem sustainability.
  • It's a dynamic, ecologically-based approach to managing natural resources, incorporating woody perennials into farms and rural areas to diversify production, sustain resources, and foster social institutions.
  • Agroforestry combines forestry with:
    • The production of multiple yields while protecting the resource base.
    • A focus on utilizing various indigenous trees and shrubs.
    • Particular suitability for regions with limited inputs and delicate ecosystems.
    • Involvement of socio-cultural values to a greater extent than in many other land-use systems.
    • A greater degree of structural and functional complexity compared to monoculture.

Benefits of Social Forestry

• Enhanced Biodiversity: Promotion of greater variety in the natural world.
• Carbon Sequestration by Trees: Trees serving as carbon reservoirs, aiding in carbon elimination.
• Soil Preservation: Maintenance and safeguarding of soil quality.
• Health Benefits: Positive impacts on well-being.
• Community Enhancement: Enrichment of the local population.
• Noise Mitigation: Reduction in disruptive noise levels.
• Energy Conservation and Decreased Atmospheric Temperatures: Reduced energy consumption and a drop in overall air temperatures.
• Improved Air Quality: Enhancement of atmospheric conditions.
• Societal Advantages: Benefits for the welfare of society.

Agroforestry

Agroforestry is the interaction of agriculture and trees, including the agricultural use of trees.

Advantages of Agroforestry

• Absentee landowners engage in agroforestry to maintain ownership of the land and boost their earnings.
• They use agroforestry to oversee agricultural properties even when family labor is unavailable.
• Agroforestry helps ensure more effective land utilization.
• It creates job opportunities.
• Agroforestry aids in the preservation of soil moisture.
• It fulfills the demands for fuelwood, livestock feed, and timber.
• Agroforestry safeguards arable land from erosion caused by wind and water.

Benefits of Agroforestry System

• Environmental Advantages:
  • Lessening the burden on natural forests.
  • Enhanced nutrient recycling facilitated by deep-rooted trees on the premises.
  • Enhanced safeguarding of ecological systems.
  • Decreased surface run-off, nutrient seepage, and soil erosion thanks to tree roots and stems obstructing these processes.
  • Enhanced soil structure through the continuous integration of organic matter from decomposed litter.
• Economic Gains:
  • Augmented yields of food, fuelwood, livestock fodder, fertilizer, and timber.
  • Diminished occurrences of complete crop failure, a common issue in single-crop or monoculture systems.
  • Heightened farm income levels owing to improved and sustained productivity.
• Social Advantages:
  • Enhanced rural living standards through sustained employment and increased income.
  • Improved nutrition and health resulting from a higher quality and variety of food products.
  • Stabilization and enhancement of communities by eliminating the necessity to relocate farming activities.

Adverse effect of Agroforestry

• Farmers tend to favor market-oriented trees that can harm the ecosystem. Instead of Poplar and Eucalyptus, it's recommended that farmers opt for planting Neem, Mahua, Arjun, and Acacia.
• Trees meant for fuelwood and fodder are often overlooked.
• Exotic tree varieties have a high demand for soil moisture and water, which can have a detrimental impact on the local groundwater table.
• Agroforestry land can become unproductive as the tree roots grow so dense that their removal requires intensive labor.
• Trees can serve as habitats for numerous pests and diseases, which can negatively affect crops.
• In fields where trees are planted, the productivity per unit area tends to decrease.