Bhakta Karki

Abstract

Nepal is rich in biological flora and fauna. Studies have found that 700 species of medicinal plants and 200 species of aromatic plants are available in Nepal. High value forest plant species including non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and medicinal and aromatic plant species (MAPs) are traditionally and critically associated with the majority of the rural Nepalese livelihood. Hence, the contribution of NTFPs and MAPs appears as nearly 50% of the average annual household income of 470,000 households that involve revenue of approximately US $ 850,000 for the government of Nepal. However, due to climate change and intense human pressure on forest resources, the suitable habitat is being destroyed and species such as Taxus baccata, Swertia chirayita, Nardostschys jatamasi, etc. are on the verge of extinction. Consequently, the Government of Nepal has developed various plans, programs and policies for the conservation of such species. However, with lack of proper research, policies for habitat conservation and low levels of awareness at community level, illegal poaching and haphazard collection of high value forest plant species are occurring on a large scale. Similarly, habitat size of the forest plant species are decreasing as forested land is being converted into agricultural and grazing land.

Key Words: High Value Forest Plant Species, Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Species (MAPs), Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), Nepal.

Impacts of Climate Change on Livelihood of the People in Nepal: Issues and Concerns

1.0 Rationale

Nepal is a small landlocked mountainous country. Agriculture is the main stay of the economy. About 80% of the total population depends on the forest for the daily fuel wood supply and support for agricultural activities. About 6,000 rivers and streams have made Nepal as one of the richest countries in the world in terms of fresh water resources.

Various studies and stories in the newspapers have revealed that many people in the country are facing hunger due to prolonged droughts, freak precipitation and frequent floods. Not only the livelihood of the people who depend on the agricultural production, but also the very livelihood of the people who depend on the tourism industry, one of the largest livelihood earners, is in danger due to continuous melting of snow loosing majestic beauty of the snow clad peaks. Thus, Nepal which heavily depends on agriculture and tourism to sustain its economy has been facing a serious threat due to accelerated climate change phenomena.

“Changing weather patterns have dramatically affected crop production in Nepal, leaving farmers unable to properly feed themselves and pushing them into debt, Oxfam GB said in a report released in Katmandu” (Oxfam GB, Nepal 2009[1]). More than 3.4 million people in Nepal are estimated requiring food assistance because food stocks in farming communities will last only a few months, it warned (ibid).

The report also reveals that Nepal is likely to suffer more frequent droughts because of climate change. River levels will decline due to the reduced rainfall and glacial retreat, making it harder to irrigate crops and provide water for livestock.  The impacts of these are disproportionate and uneven– the poor and the marginalised communities (e.g., women, Dalit and janajati) are hardest hit compared to the rich and better off ones living in the urban centres.

Various anthropogenic activities are responsible for altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere. There is a rising trend of temperature impacting the environment whose symptoms are seen mainly in agriculture, water resource, forest biodiversity and health of people and other living beings[2].

Nepal signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Nepal ratified the convention on 2nd May in 1994, and this convention came into force on 31st July in 1994. Nepal as a party to the convention has obligations to fulfill as stipulated in the text of the convention.

Nepal being one of the poorest least developed countries (LDCs) in the world, is now on the frontline of bearing the brunt of climate change due to its diverse topography, fragile eco-system and extreme poverty making it vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, despite, having one of the lowest emission rates in the world of 0.025% of the total global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The planet is warming at faster rate. The temperature is increasing by 0.60 Celsius in average. In case of Nepal, the temperature is increasing by 0.120 in Himalayan region and 0.060 in Tarai region (Oxfam, 2009).

The recent changes in the weather patterns in Nepal are attributed to climate change which caused an increase in temperature extremes, more intense rainfall other than the main seasons and increased unpredictability in weather patterns including drier winters and delays in the summer monsoons that have completely affected the people’s livelihoods. Most of the people who suffered from the climate change are rural poor, marginalized and socially excluded people from tropic (lowland) to the alpine (highland) ecological zones.  Few people are feeling and reacting about the impact of climate change, however, most of them are still unknown about it. With the lack of awareness, adequate capacity and appropriate coping mechanisms, climate change has become one of the main problems of the people.

Therefore, Nepal is likely to be the worst sufferer of and most vulnerable to the climate crisis because she grossly lacks capacity to cope with and recover from the negative impacts caused by climatic aberrations of different forms and magnitude.

In this context, Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN) is going to organize a day-long interaction programme (seminar) on the “Impacts of Climate Change on Livelihood of the People in Nepal: Issues and Concerns” as mentioned below. Organization of such events is expected to increase the level of awareness, inculcate shared understanding among different players and stakeholders, develop suitable strategies and plans to cope with the negative impacts of climate change, particularly targeting the vulnerable people and communities, among others. Not only this, such forums participated by different agencies from the government, non-government and civil society would also provide an interface and help building synergy to fight against our common enemy –the climate change owing to global warming, to our best abilities .

2.0 Objective

The overall objective of this seminar is to interact and get an update on the relevant information about the works on climate change, its impacts on livelihood and intervention strategies for mitigation and adaptation endeavours in Nepal.

3.0 Methodology

• Roundtable interaction/discussions and sharing with different government agencies, national and international organizations, civil society, academia and research institutes
• Presentation of case studies and research papers
• Brain storming on the issues and concerns

4.0 Date and Venue

Date: Monday, 08 Mangsir 2066 (23 November 2009)

Time: 10-16 hours

Venue: RRN Conference Room, 288 Gairidhara Marg, Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Nepal

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[1] Oxfam GB, Nepal, 2009. Report – Even the Himalayas have stopped smiling. Climate change, poverty and adaptation in Nepal  http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=Even+the+Himalayas+have+stopped+smiling.+Climate+change%2C+poverty+and+adaptation+in+Nepal.+&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

[2] http://www.climate-change.me.uk/html/climate_change___nepal.html, downloaded 10 Nov 2009

Dear All FYI.. Bhakta  One-week Training Course  Designing Green Landscapes to Provide Multiple Services   4th January 2010 to 8th  January 2010

Presented by Dr. Klaus v. Gadow (Germany), Dr. Vindhya P. Tewari and other Scientists of IWST, Bangalore

Dr. Klaus von Gadow is professor of Forest Management at the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Georg-August-University in Göttingen, Germany and an extra-ordinary Professor at the Department of Forest and Wood Science, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He retired from regular duties in Göttingen on 30^th September 2006, but continues to be active in research. His special interests include tree modelling and sustainable use of forested landscapes.

Dr. V.P. Tewari is Scientist-F at the Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore. His special interests include Forest Mensuration, especially modelling growth and yield in forest plantations.

Introduction

Virtually all green landscapes are utilized by humans and many are subject to some kind of planned management. People harvest trees to utilize the timber, fruits or leaves and to improve the growing conditions of the remaining ones; they change the species composition to attain some desirable structure and adapt rotation ages to improve the runoff from water catchments. Thus, the dynamics of a forest ecosystem is not only determined by natural processes, but to a considerable extent by human interference.

Forested landscapes provide many services. They are important carbon sinks and play a significant role in the climate system. Wood is the dominant source of renewable energy in rural households and is being increasingly used as a source of energy with a potential to substitute fossil fuels. The requirements for forest services are manifold and they are not constant over time.

About the Course

The course presents the latest thinking in adaptive management for forest ecosystems. The presentations will introduce some of the most important tools which enable landowners to estimate tree mortality, tree growth and yield, to evaluate their options, identify optimum solutions and monitor harvest events. These tools will be applied to specific examples of even-aged plantations and uneven-aged natural forests. The planned course extends over a period of one week. The tentative outline of the course programme is as follows:

 

 

Course Participants

The course is aimed at forestry professionals & researchers, professors and senior students of forestry, geography, agriculture, ecology and related disciplines. The number of participants in the batch is limited to 30. Digital lecture notes and software will be provided. A limited number of computer sites can be made available by the Institute, however, it is recommended that participants bring their own laptops.

Venue, Registration and Accommodation

The course will be presented at the Institute of Wood Science and Technology, 18^th Cross, Malleswaram, Bangalore 560 003. The weather in Jodhpur during January is normally pleasant, temperature ranging between 18^o-20^oC during day times. Nights may be colder requiring woolen clothing. The course fee is as follows:

Participants	Rs. 7, 500
Students	Rs. 5, 000

The course fee includes lodging & boarding. The participants will be accommodated in the IWST Guest house and Scientist Hostel. Good hotels including star accommodations are also available in the city. The participants interested to stay in the hotels have to bear the cost. Registration for the course closes on 15^th October, 2009. Course fee should be sent through demand draft drawn in favour of Director, IWST payable at Bangalore. Outstation cheque will not be accepted.

For further information please contact Director, IWST (email: dir_iwst@icfre.org) and Dr. V.P. Tewari (email: vptewari@icfre.org, vptewari@yahoo.com)

The issue of climate change has become one of the serious threats to the living entities and the effects have shown throughout the globe.  In our context, Nepal counts as one of the vulnerable country due to its poor and fragile landscape structure. The changing weather patterns, including an increase in extreme temperature, more intense rainfall and increased unpredictability have dramatically been reducing human life expectancy, agriculture products and natural resources. More than 2 million people living in 41 out of 75 districts have been suffering from severe food crisis, malnutrition and other health related complications.  As a result, Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN), implemented various programs such as Food Security and Livelihoods Promotion for the Poor (FSLP), Disaster Preparedness and Sustainable Development  (DPSDP), Relief and Rehabilitation Support Program to the Flood Victims, Public Health and Basic Livelihood Support (PHABLeS) Project, Health and Sanitation Promotion Project, Food Aid and Social Rehabilitation in Nepal (FAASRIN) Programme, Peace Building from Below, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme, Sustainable Rural Livelihood Programme (SRLP), and Rural Community Infrastructure and Livelihood Support Program (RCILSP) in more than 33 districts of the nations. The districts are so called vulnerable in terms natural disaster such as floods, landslides, disease and drought. Therefore, RRN planned to support the disaster affected people providing various means of livelihood alternatives. Moreover, the organization has been emphasizing on software packages such as raise awareness program on disaster preparedness, disaster risk management, natural resource management, and agriculture intensification program to strengthen the community people to cope with such crisis. RRN’s programme interventions are focused on the reduction of future vulnerability through eradicating poverty, empowering community people and social transformation. In such a way RRN has managed to reach 700,000 poor families providing such benefits. It has been working together with poor women, peasants, vulnerable communities and traditional occupational castes to provide a basic livelihood alternative to mitigate with the unpredictable future crisis.

Abstract

This paper describes the role of Rudrakshya (Elaeocarpus sphacrius), a wild fruit plant product, for rapid economic change of rural people in Arun Valley, Sankhuwasava district of Nepal. Arun Valley which ranges from 324m to 8481m (Mount Makalu), less developed and geographically isolated; however rich in biodiversity. The area includes a territory of great of great bio-diversity extending from tropical climate in the south (457m-1200m) to temperate ecosystem in the north (above 3000m). Similarly the valley’s climatic condition is favorable for the growth of high value Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) and Medicinal and Aromatic Plant species (MAPs) such as Yarsagumba (Cordyceps Sinensis), Alaichi (Cardamom Spp.), and Rudrakshya (Elaeocarpus sphacrius). Total 160 NTFP species are found in this area. Most of the people in this area are engaged in NTFPs collection and plantation in private land as well as community forest. NTFPs are the major source of household economy and it has significant impact on their livelihood. Major agricultural products such as, maize, millet, rice, and barley are possible in this area. However, the changing climatic condition (drought, disease, landslides, and floods) has completely loosed the agricultural productivity.

During the period of crisis, the growing green business of Rudrakshya has proven as an alternative source of income for livelihood subsistence. Khandbari Municipality 12, 13, Wana and Syabun VDCs has shown abundance of Rudrakshya framing. Normally, 5-6 years old Rudrakshya plant can produce 5-8 kg Rudrakshya and one matured tree can produce 30-40kg of Rudrakshya. The price of Rudrakshya is fixed by its faced and shapes. The face starts from 2 to 27 (recently found) where 1 faced Rudrakshya is priceless and impossible to get. Usually, 5 faced Rudrakshya are highly grow and available. The 5 faced Rudrakshya sold Rs. 15-20 per kg. The Rudrakshy price normally exceeds from 14 faced. The study found that the 27 faced Rudrakshya was sold in Rs. 3 million and 21 faced was sold in Rs. 1.8 million in the district..  In the year 2008 and 2009 the total Rudrakshya business was done approximately Rs. 8 crore and Rs. 10 corer, respectively which were almost highest cost business among all the plant products.

The household survey was conducted on July-August, 2009 in above mentioned 4 major Village Development Committees (VDCs) including Rudrakshya grower, collector, and trader. The research found that each household domesticated more than 25 Rudrakshya plant and gained average income Rs. 120,000.00 per season which was comparatively higher than the income from agriculture products. The study also found that the income from selling Rudrakshya is comparatively higher than agriculture products.  Therefore people are interested to grow Rudrakshya plant in their agriculture lands as a major source of income.

Key Words: Rudrakshya, NTFPs, Potentiality analysis, Livelihood subsistence, Arun Valley, Sankhuwasava district, Nepal

Role of Sustainable Rural Livelihood program (SRLP) in nature conservation and community development in Arun Valley, Sankhhuwasava district, Nepal

 Sustainable Rural Livelihood Program (SRLP) has been running since 2001, in nine major and vulnerable Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Arun Valley, Sankhuwasava district which are  rich  in biological flora and fauna based on its availability. The project is co-financed by European Commission, ADA,  HORIZONT3000 and Austrian NGO successfully running under Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN). SRLP has aimed to achieve poverty reduction and improved quality of life of socially excluded and marginalized people in a gender sensitive and environmentally sustainable way in a remote VDCs of Arun Valley.

The districts ranges from 324m to 8463m (Mount Makalu) above mean sea level. Of the total area of the district, almost 65% is covered by forest, pasture and shrub lands. Forest alone covers an area of 35% of the total area. More than two thirds of the total forest area belongs to sub alpine to alpine agro-climatic zone that favors the growth of high value NTFPs like Cordyceps sinensis (Yarsaghumba). Sankhuwasava is a diverse district in terms of the availability of natural resources. There are some of the most spectacular natural areas in the district, manifested by the immense contrast in altitude and ecology within a small landmass. The district includes a territory of great bio-diversity extending from tropical climate in the south (457m-1200m) to temperate ecosystem in the north (above 3000m). This is the reason why a total of 160 NTFPs species are found in this districts.

 Various groups and ethnic caste are living in the district. The Majority of the population consists of relatively advantageed and disadvantaged groups(63%) followed by Brahmin/Chhetri (27%), and others (10%). SRLP entertain working with such diverse group/community to fulfill its objective where it has set five major components  a. enhanced level of awareness, education and level of education b. Increased level of income c. Improved overall health condition d. Infrastructure development e. Institutionalization of self help groups (SHGs). The each components and its activities has clearly proven beneficial to the community people since its implementation phase. The major 9 working VDCs (Wana, Jaljala, Syabun, Dhupu, Barhabise, Sitalpati, Diding, Matsepokhari and Num) were precisly selected developing some criteria and indicator on vulerability, living condition, resource availability and community structure (ethnicity). The selected VDCs are highly diverse interms of caste and ethnicity, highly probable to increase agricultural productivity and abundance of natural resources (flora and fauna). Community people livelihood dependency on agriculture products are insignificant comparing to NTFPs, MAPs and some other cash crops contribution. People are getting less income from agric. products where selling Alaichi, Chiraito, Yarsagumba, and other medicinal plant products as well as Rudrakshya are incomparable.

Moreover, changing environmental conditions have been affecting rural livelihood, agricultural productivity, and forest plant species in Arun Valley, Sankhuwasava district. Consequently, SRLP has been emphasizing on its coping strategies to mitigate the problem through nature conservation and community development in its working areas. Establishment of nursery of rare and endangered plant species, establishment of innovative cardamom dryer, support to establish NTFPs based enterprises are the works towards nature conservation. Similarly, Construction of irrigation canals, drinking water supply schemes, spring protection, construction of community building, school building, road and bridge, and support of small animals are the hardware part of community development work. Despite of these works, SRLP has been conducting vocational training on agriculture, forest and environment related issues to make community people aware.

The project has developed 70 SHGs and formed 9 cooperative merging these groups in 9 working VDCs. A total of 11,000 men and women from socially excluded and marginalized groups from 1800 families are directly benefiting from project activities.  

 Arun Valley is renown for biological flora and fauna where RRN/SRLP has shown keen interest for its sustainable management, conservation and utilization. Changing environmental conditions and changing mode of development has completely changed the community people livelihood and which seems quite dramatic in case of Arun Valley. Drought, disease infestation, late monsoon or heavy rainfall caused heavy loss of human-wildlife population and agricultural productivity.

Near of the Lukla Airport, a lake has been created within last 3 decades, Funuratna Sherpa, a Nepali Youth said to AFP. The Youth runs a cyber cafe for the tourists at the Lukla, most nearest city of Mount Everest. Refering his grandfather experiences, Funuratna said that 50 years ago, there was no lake. But it has created day by day due to melting graciers within last 3 decades due to increasing tempreture.

He heard a forcasts from scientists that Imja glaciers turn about 70 meters per year and it creats lake in near of Dengbouch villege.

Funuratna fears that oneday his home in Dengbouch will go under water due to melting glaciers if tempreture rises in future.

 Funuratna spreads the fear to us also. because our major river Padma and Brahmaputra comes from Himalayas. If the glaciers melts and if we can not stop it, then we will go under flood water while we also hearing the forecast of scientists that the coastal belt of Bangladesh will go under water for climate change due to rising tempreture.

 So, we need to stop it. Yes, from Now! But how? Environmental activists and scientists asks the rich countries to  take measure to reduce greenhouse gas emission, major factor for climate change, 45 percent by 2020 and 95 percent 2050. But it seems that the global leaders hardly hear this cry, they are just crying for adaptation.

Adaptation means technolology transfer; technology transfer means another business opportunity. How funny! the diplomacy on climate change.

 In November of this year, the UN conference of parties (COP) is going to conduct its 15th conference to set a long term goals to tackle down climate change. Environmental activists are spending busy time to prepare the draft outline of COP-15. But would we win the diplomacy of rich countries?

 To meet environmental challenge, most countries, back in 1992, joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The objective of UNFCCC is to stabilise the atmospheric content of greenhouse gases at a level that prevents dangerous human-made climate change. The convention is a “framework convention.” This means that it is a comprehensive tool for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but contains no binding obligations to reduce them.

 Fear comes from it. Bearing all fear as losser, we should remind the rich countries that climate change does not create threat only for poor countries, rather it creates threat for human civilisation. So, if human civilisation destroys, then all diplomacy of yours will be defeated in a second. So, change we need, but the climate. This is the message.

Living on edge of fragile and changing environment

There is always a great debate on who is causing a global warming and who is suffering most of its consequences. Actually, the emission ratio of global warming causing substances varies country by country, remarkably and the impacts of climate change fall disproportionately on the world’s poor.

Developing countries are being painted as the real threat to global warming and if everyone in a developing country adopted Australian life style the planet will quickly become more fragile and uninhabitable. Climate model projections indicate that average global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 C during the 21st century. Though, United States and Australia are often criticized for having a disproportionate contribution towards the destruction of the environment where Australia has the world’s highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions at 26.7 tones per year this is 25 per cent worse than the United States. According to WHO 150,000 people currently die every year as consequences of climate change. A staggering 182 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone could die of disease directly attributable to climate change by the end of the century.

Well, knowingly or unknowingly, we are damaging our environment beyond repair by burning copious amounts of hydrocarbons into our atmosphere. According to Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth”, global warming is melting the ice shelf and global sea levels could rise by over 20 feet. Looking at the global temperature data and it’s correlation to greenhouse gas emissions, I believe there is indisputable evidence that burning hydrocarbons is responsible for most of the global warming that is wreaking havoc on our weather systems.

Sounds scary, but that’s the fact. Global Warming, as we think, we know about it, doesn’t exist. And I am not the only one trying to make people open up their eyes and see the truth. But these facts are genuine, sophisticated using scientific/technical jargons that seem beyond the understanding of common people.

Climate change is directly threatening life and livelihoods of developing countries people even if low emission rate. Eighty per cent of developing countries, including India and Brazil, are well below this sustainable emission rate. 30 million Chinese already displaced by climate change so, still trying to reduce its emission rate. In Fiji, peoples used to depend on tourism and fisheries form income and now it is completely declined due to bleaching of coral reefs. In Kiribati, two islands have already been evacuated due to rising sea levels.

In addition, around 75 per cent of the world’s poor people (around 200 million) reside in rural areas and depend heavily on natural ecosystem for their livelihoods. People are entirely depends on forest for food, medicine and shelter. Such dependency may create conflict with protecting biodiversity values of a given forest areas. Changing climatic scenario endow both opportunity and threat to engage in conservation and sustainable use of forests that might otherwise be lost. Then after, the question arises on the capacity of nature. The world’s population is being increased hopelessly seems like one day there will be one and only human species ruling all over the world. The world invaded by global recession and downturn. People around the world are being jobless. Multinational companies are at the verge of collapse. Inequalities between rich and the poorest between and within the countries are extended by orders of magnitude, out of proportion to anything experienced before. Poor is being poorer and the increasing pressure on natural resources degrading environment, the resources of our planet are being depleted-irreversibly, resulting in greater human and environmental insecurities. And for our kind information, nature is alerting us through the gift of desertification, deforestation, water scarcity and extinction of rare and endangered species taking place.

Climate change is a global problem, and yet each one of us has the power to make a difference. Now, the time is indoors, we all have to seriously think that how we can save our fragile earth. We already messed up our planet and now the earth is crying for our help. If our tiny effort and even a small changes in daily behavior can help to make better planet for us as well as for our future generations, then why not to practice it. We have to change the way we live because time is not on our side. The clock is ticking and cannot be turned back better we rethink the way we misused or misbehaved with the planet. Environmental friendly living practices are the best approach to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by billions of pounds and which helps to keep our environment safe. Household appliances (Refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, dryers, dishwashers air conditioners, TV, Computer, etc), many of which are referred to as ‘white goods’, account for the majority of household energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. By choosing these appliances carefully and with the environment in mind we can save money and reduce our environmental impact without compromising lifestyle. We should avoid buying appliances which we don’t really need; we have to maintain these appliances carefully and do not leave appliances on standby. Switch off the lights when you don’t need them. It reduces electric bills and conserve environment.

When we buy something, we should think that we are buying environmentally friendly products which can be recycled or can be decomposed and should say no to plastic or paper bags. The plastic bags we use but for a few minutes can last for as long as 15 to 1,000 years in the environment. Don’t get a new plastic bag each time of shopping. Last but not least, another very best practice to keep earth safe is walking instead using private vehicles, if the distance is short or using by-cycle or public transportation reduces CO2 emissions.

Such eco-friendly practices obviously reduce the emissions of anthropogenic substances and save us to be climate refugees. I am the earth. You are the earth. The Earth is dying. You and I are murderers (Ymber Delecto). So, do not blow it, good planets are hard to find.

Hi friendzzz

Sorry for late posting. Actually when i was back from the AFEC-X course, immediately i had to visit my field office which is near at boarder of Tibet. That was the reason which made me unable to visit the AFEC-X blog. I am back to Kathmandu. I am gonna post something new and exciting things from the Himalayan Kingdom. In addition, i still have lots of stories to share with you guyz what i faced while coming back from Kunming.hehehe….

Predicting the Uncertain Future of Tropical Forest species in a data Vacuum

Tropical regions are rich in biological flora and fauna. Many researches have been done in the field of tropical forest ecosystem. People are presenting their views on degrading situation of tropical forest based on their findings. However, no-one has come across or predict the exact realities, infact what is going on around tropical regions. Observing the increasing trend of human populations and their excessive pressure on forestry, it was predicted that humans in rural settings contribute most to deforestation of extant tropical forests and deforestation and habitat loss are expected to lead to an extinction crisis among tropical forest species. However, “Trends such as slowing population growth and intense urbanization give reason to hope that deforestation will slow, regeneration will accelerate, and mass extinction of tropical forest species will be avoided,” (S.J. Wright). Studies suggest that deforestation rates will decrease as population growth slows, and a much larger area will continue to be forested than previous. It is the truth that Tropical forests diminished during repeated Pleistocene glacial events in Africa and more recently in selected areas that supported large prehistoric human populations. Despite many caveats, the projections for forest cover provide hope that many tropical forest species will be able to survive the current wave of deforestation and human population growth. Consequently, it can be believed that creative strategies to preserve tropical biodiversity might include policies to improve conditions in tropical urban settings to encourage urbanization and preemptive conservation efforts in countries with large areas of extant forest and large projected rates of future human population growth. In addition that land-use history interacts with natural forces to influence the severity of disturbance events and the rate and nature of recovery processes in tropical forests. Although we are far from an integrated view of forest recovery processes, some generalizations can be made. Despite evidence of rapid forest recovery following large-scale deforestation, many degraded areas of today’s tropics will require human assistance to recover forest structure, species composition, and species interactions typical of mature tropical forests.

Similarly, it is complicated to predicate the relationships between rural and urban population growth and the scenario of deforestation. Even though, the general assumption produced for the ecological value that primary secondary and degraded forest can be treated as equally. Secondary forests play a crucial role in tropical forest landscapes providing a suitable habitat for many species and the necessary haven for species currently restricted to small patches of native habitat, there the role of degraded and secondary forest are pivotal. Contradictorily, naturally regenerating forests in the tropics depends on old growth forest and which has a high biological value. However, the existing studies provide an important service in identifying secondary forests as being more favorable for conservation than many other land-use options (e.g., agriculture, plantations), although the fact that they are often undervalued has frequently resulted in over-exploitation or conversion. So, the many more scientific papers were assessed to find out the role of secondary forest for the conservation of tropical forest species which have stated the importance of regenerating lands for tropical forest species. The evidences are not clear, shows a poor and weak sampling design, no inter-study comparison, and flaws in data analysis and interpretation which always create the differences or gap between primary and secondary forest for biodiversity conservation.

In focusing on the importance recovery and species richness that species composition recovers much more slowly, where mature-forest species can still be absent from secondary forests. If this pattern is generally true, then secondary forests will not provide a reliable and effective safety net for the many tropical forest species ,and areas of the world that are undergoing rapid loss of primary habitat will permanently lose many species. The value of secondary forests for the conservation of tropical forest species highlights the importance of an objective evaluation of the current status of our knowledge. Although the analysis indicates that species richness and composition exhibit limited recovery where the conclusions were made based on fewer unreplicated studies.

In the long-term degraded and the potential forest could attain a structure and species composition similar to primary forest if we protect from further disturbances. First most species have a small range sizes relative to the mean range size, increasing their probability of extinction by chance alone (Gatson1994) and second species with small ranges also tend to be scarce within those range (Brawon 1984), so the probability of extinction is increased on two counts. Most of these areas of co-occurrence of species with small range are disproportionately threatened by human activity (Cincotta et al.2000). Species are being extinct from biogeographically distinctive hotspots due to habitat loss. The main reason is secondary forest are highly heterogeneous, heavily degraded, isolated by hostile matrix habitat and poorly connected to regenerating forests where forest fires, alien species, pathogens and hunting further eroding the biodiversity value. Changing land use pattern causing heavy soil erosion and nutrient depletion may inhabit in natural regeneration due to abandoned after intensive agriculture.

Therefore, tropical forests are currently facing different kinds of threat from multiple factors including land-use change on a massive scale, habitat loss, wildfires, and hunting. So, the urgency is needed to know the conservation value of secondary forest. Secondary forests are more favorable for all the prospective like species coexistences to agriculture point of view. However, prediction about the conservation value of tropical forest secondary forests for most species still lacking a scientific data.

References:

S.J.Wright. 2006. The future of tropical forests. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and H.C. Muller-Landau, University of Minnesota, in Biotropica online.

Brawon, J. H. 1984. On the relationship between abundance and disturbance of species. The American Naturalist 124:255-297.

Cincotta, P.R., J. Wisnewski, and R. Engelman. 2000. Human population in the biodiversity hotspots. Nature 404:990-992.

Gatson, K.J. 1994. Rarity. Chapman and hall, London.