A Study of Fuel Wood Extraction on the Fringes of Southern Boundary of Corbett National Park – Establish Why the Community Involvement is Important for Sustainable Forest Management

Abstract

Forests play a vital role in maintaining the ecological balance and considered as an important source of carbon sequestration. India is 10th most forested country in the world with 21.34% of its geographical area under forest cover. But at the same time this fact cannot be overlooked that India has been declared as second most populous country of the world with over 1.21 billion people as per the census figures of 2011. One source project India as world’s most populous country by 2025. With this rate of increase of human population has induced lots of pressures on available natural resources of the country in terms of illicit felling, fuel wood and fodder extraction, timber, NTFPs etc. This anthropogenic pressure depletes the natural resources, degrade the carbon stock, decrease the carbon sequestration rate, enhance the carbon di oxide concentration in the environment etc. A socio economic questionnaire survey in ten villages was carried out on the highly sensitive southern boundary of Corbett National Park to find out the quantum and impact of fuel wood extraction on the park. The study resulted that the villages around the buffer zone exert more pressure in terms of fuel wood extraction. The study reveals the urgency to tackle the issue by involving community in sustainable management of forests and generating livelihood opportunities for them to reduce the magnitude of their dependence on nearby forest.