Not
to be published/broadcast before
24th August, 2009
Having done a commendable work in
the preservation and protection of
precious forest wealth, Himachal
Pradesh has now come up with a novel
afforestation scheme known as "Sanjha
Van-Sanjivani Van", which is a
community driven programme. The
scheme envisages a massive
plantation of medicinal plants.
The
scheme has also been launched
recently by the state government
with people's participation. Each
and every household has motivated to
plant at least one medicinal plant
in his or her premises. The main aim
of the programme is to draw the
attention of people towards the
degradation of environment and also
consequences, besides protecting
fragile eco-system by planting trees
with active involvement of the
people and to make Himachal Pradesh
a Herbal State.
Forests play a vital role in
maintaining ecological balance and
in socio-economic development of the
country. They are not only an
important source of subsistence
employment, revenue earnings and raw
material for various industries but
also help in maintaining the fragile
eco-system. Himachal Pradesh has a
vast reserve of forest wealth of
total economic value of about Rs.
one lakh crore which is needed to be
protected and preserved. Since the
flora of the state consists of
around 3500 species of plants out of
which about 800 species are rich in
medicinal value whereas 165 species
are collected for commercial
purposes. The state is the largest
supplier of chilgoza, kuth,
dioscoria, dhoop, picrorrhiza,
valeriana and ephedra in the
country.
More than one-crore
medicinal plants will be planted
with the help of 525 Joint Forest
Management Committees (JFMCs) under
the scheme. These committees would
plant herbal plants on 2500 hectare
of area under different
afforestation components in the
state during this financial year. On
maturity of these plants 75 per cent
of the income generated will go to
the committee while the remaining 25
per cent will be given to the
Panchayat.
To make this
programme a complete success the
Himachal Pradesh State Forest
Development Corporation will
assist the JFMCs for developing
skills for handling the medicinal
plant produce including marketing.
The State Medicinal Plant Board has
recently signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with Patanjali Yog
Peeth Haridwar for marketing of
medicinal plants and herbs.
According to 2001
Census, Himachal Pradesh has a
population of 6.07 million, of which
90 percent resides in rural areas.
For rural households Non-Wood Forest
Products (NWFP) is an important
source of supplementary income and
therefore its sustainability and
management are crucial to rural
livelihoods. Medicinal and aromatic
plants constitute an important
aspect of non-wood forest products
management.
The medicinal and
aromatic plants in the state are
able to provide 80 percent raw
material to the herb based industry
in the country and can earn huge
profits if they can be exported. An
advantage with medicinal plants and
herbs is that they can be grown with
minimum efforts and that too as a
cash crop.
It is a fact that
no permanent natural resource
management can be established
without the active support and
participation of local communities.
Himachal Pradesh Government has
given conservation and development
of forests top priority. New
initiatives have been taken to
promote sustainable forest
management through people's
participation.
Himachal Pradesh has
potential of becoming world's most
suitable land for high quality herbs
and "Sanjha Van- Sanjivani Van" will
help in fulfilling this dream
besides providing additional income
to the communities and increase
forest cover in the state.
