The National Working Plan Code—2023 was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on June 17, 2023 on the occasion of the ‘World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought’, organised by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE). The code is meant for the scientific management of forests and the evolution of new approaches to make use of forest resources in such a way that the citizens of the country get various benefits from them, such as economic, social, cultural, and spiritual benefits.
Therefore, the Government of India needs to prevent soil erosion; regulate the formation of dunes; preserve natural heritage; prevent wearing away of catchment areas; let the environment remain stable; enhance forest and tree cover with the help of people; and make forests more productive.
The code is in alignment with international criteria and indicators for managing forest sustainably.
Understanding the National Working Plan Code
The National Working Plan Code (NWPC) refers to a set of guidelines that facilitates the management of forests scientifically in the country. The Government of India followed this code for the first time in 2004. In 2014, it was amended as per the requirement. By bringing consistency and setting the benchmark, the code greatly helped create the working plan for scientifically managing various forest divisions in the country.
The NWPC includes the Indian Forest Management Standard (IFMS), which leads to consistency in management, considering the varied forest ecosystems in India. The IFMS consists of eight broad guidelines, which apply to all Indian states and union territories. The guidelines can be measured and act as an important landmark in the forest management practices of India. They have been derived from the Bhopal-India Process (1998), which is one of the nine global initiatives on Criteria and Indicators approach for sustainably managing the wilderness.
These guidelines lay stress on the:
- conservation of soil and water;
- increment of socio-economic and cultural benefits from forests;
- forest productivity and usage of forest resources;
- effectiveness of policy; and
- status of forest cover and its extent.
Scientific and Sustainable Management of Forest
In India, forest management is done using a scientific system, which is also followed in few other countries of the world.
The scientific management of forest refers to a method in which scientific principles and techniques are used for managing forests sustainably. In this method, required data is gathered; research is conducted; and evidence-based practices are followed so that forests can remain productive and be maintained for a long period of time.
Features of sustainable forest management Some of the key features of sustainable forest management are as follows:
- Under sustainable forest management, forests are able to provide goods and services for both present and future generations. It also aids in sustainable development of communities.
- It includes different aspects of the conservation and utilisation of forests, such as legal, administrative, environmental, social, economic, and technical aspects.
- It involves human intervention in various forms, such as maintaining and conserving forest ecosystems and their roles, and promoting the growth of economically or socially valuable species (or group of species) for enhancing the productivity of forests.
Standards for sustainable forest management The sustainable forest management comprises the following eight standards:
- Conserving biodiversity One of the major objectives of sustainable forest management is to care for, conserve as well as increase biodiversity in the country particularly the wildlife conservation.
- Increasing productivity of forests It is also aimed at increasing the productivity of forest resources so that they can be sustainably utilised.
- Conserving soil and water resources It focuses on conserving soil and water resources available in the forest ecosystems.
- Maintaining and increasing tree and forest cover It lays emphasis on maintaining and spreading the tree and forest cover, thereby increasing its extent.
- Optimally utilising forest resources It encourages the use of forest resources efficiently and responsibly so that they can be utilised optimally.
- Enhancing forest health, vitality, and regeneration It highlights the maintenance and improvement of forest health, vitality, and regeneration using adequate and suitable measures.
- Enhancing socio-economic and cultural advantages It also emphasises the maintenance and increment of socio-economic and cultural advantages obtained from forests.
- Ensuring the efficacy of institutional framework It ensures that the institutional framework, laws, and policies associated with forest management are effective and up to the mark.
Key Provisions of the Code
(i) It acts as a benchmark for state forest departments while devising the working plan for various forested regions of the country.
(ii) It adopts the basics of forest management planning and includes the principles of sustainable forest management.
(iii) According to the 2023 NWPC, the state forest departments are required to collect data regularly and update the principal database. Consequently, all the forests in the country will be regularly managed.
(iv) Besides, the forest departments will be able to compare the management practices that they follow with the ones prescribed in the working plans.
Advantages of the Scientific Management of Forests
Some of the advantages of this Code are as follows:
- Apart from fulfilling the people’s needs, such as food, fuel, and forest produce and being beneficial for the nation, this method ensures the maintenance of forests for a long term.
- The scientific management of forest enables us to obtain sustainable forest management, which involves using and maintaining forests in such a way that their environmental, social, and economic values are preserved for future generations. It aims at maintaining a balance between conserving forest resources and meeting the increasing demand for forest produce.
- Under the scientific management of forests, several ongoing problems, like poverty, impact of climate change, and forests improvement may be tackled along with maintaining the ecological balance and preserving biodiversity.
- In this method, the impact of logging is reduced. This impact can be selective logging, timber waste, providing safer animal habitats, harvesting forest produce on time, etc. As a result, the environmental impact on forests and soil is also reduced.
Conclusion
There has been a continuous evolution in the field of scientific forest management in India and the world. Novel approaches and advanced technologies are being developed, and innovations in this field are constantly taking place. It is the need of the hour that state forest departments should also evolve to fulfil the varied requirements of forest management. The NWPC-2023 is expected to encourage regular and comprehensive forest management practices throughout the country.
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