ESSAY FODDER—the hindu
CLEARANCES WITH NO SENSE OF CONSERVATION
LINEAR INFRA PROJECTS: WHY IS IT A THREAT?
Linear infrastructure projects — roads, trains and power lines that make long intrusions into forests and stretch ribbonlike over thousands of kilometres — are the new threat to our forests, in addition to submergence by dams or clearing for mining and agriculture.
Roads and power lines support economic growth and other needs such as mobility and delivery of services, and are vital in a developing country. But they also bring a host of associated problems that affect natural ecosystems and rural and tribal communities.
HABITAT FRAGMENTATION:
They cause habitat fragmentation. Wildlife species avoid roads, as they become wider and busier, and the roads effectively form barriers separating forest areas. Expansion projects and the four-laning of highways affect wildlife corridors — for instance, National Highway 7 slices crucial corridor forests between Pench and Kanha Tiger Reserves in Central India.
THREAT IN THE MOUNTAINS:
In mountains, roads may lead to severe forest destruction, landslides, and erosion, as seen everyday during road construction in many parts of the Himalayas and the Western Ghats. A 2006 study noted that on steep hillsides, roads may increase landslides and surface erosion fluxes by ten to over hundred times as compared to undisturbed forests. Along hill roads in forests, natural vegetation often helps stabilise slopes and mitigate landslides. Road construction, dumping of debris, and slashing of roadside native plants, when carried out in a manner insensitive to terrain and local ecology, destroys natural cover, and increases erosion and weed proliferation.
10 ANIMALS/ DAY—KILLED:
Millions of animals, too, are killed along roads due to collisions with vehicles. Indian field research studies have documented that the spectrum of wildlife killed or injured ranges from small invertebrates, frogs, and reptile species — many found nowhere else in the world — to birds and large mammals such as deer, leopard, tiger, and elephant. Estimates from a few studies put it at around 10 animals killed per kilometre per day, but numbers could be higher, as injured animals are overlooked and many kills go undocumented.
LIVE WIRE:
Power lines also kill unknown numbers of wildlife everyday. Poachers draw live wires to kill animals such as rhino and deer, while accidental electrocution kills many species from birds such as Sarus cranes and flamingos to elephants and bison. Railways, too, take their toll, gaining attention only when large animals such as elephants are killed along the tracks. The daily death of wildlife shows that linear projects are undertaken with scant attention to conservation needs.
THE EDGE EFFECT:
Sadly, linear intrusions affect areas much larger than the actual area set aside for the project, because of negative ‘edge effects’ that diffuse to varying distances on either side. Each kilometre of road may affect at least 10 ha of adjoining habitat. In Bandipur Tiger Reserve, a 2009 study found that tree deaths are two and a half times higher along roads than in forest interiors. Similarly, wildlife populations and behaviour are affected up to a kilometre or more in the adjoining landscape. Even for species attracted to the vicinity of roads — reptiles that come to bask or deer and monkeys that come to feed — roads act as ‘ecological traps’, literally drawing them to their death. In 2009, a comprehensive scientific review of the effect of roads and traffic on animals found that negative effects were five times higher than positive ones. With trees and forests cut, tree-living animals are forced to cross roads or use electric wires to cross canopy gaps, leading to a double jeopardy of electrocution and road kill.
NORMS DILUTION:
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has been gradually diluting the norms for such projects. It has, for instance, recently permitted Central agencies executing linear projects in forests to cut trees after ‘in-principle’ or first stage approval under the Forest Conservation Act of 1980; that is, with just an approval from a Divisional Forest Officer, without waiting for second stage clearance related to compensatory afforestation and related procedures.
If linear infrastructure can be scientifically informed, ecologically sensitive, and well designed, it can promote economic development and safeguard the habitat as well.
[SO LINEAR INFRAS ARE NEEDED FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND FASTER MOBILITY, BUT THESE PROJECTS MUST BE SCIENTIFICALLY DESIGNED WITH ADEQUATE MEASURES AND RESEARCH FOR CONSERVATION.]
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CLEARANCES WITH NO SENSE OF CONSERVATION
LINEAR INFRA PROJECTS: WHY IS IT A THREAT?
Linear infrastructure projects — roads, trains and power lines that make long intrusions into forests and stretch ribbonlike over thousands of kilometres — are the new threat to our forests, in addition to submergence by dams or clearing for mining and agriculture.
Roads and power lines support economic growth and other needs such as mobility and delivery of services, and are vital in a developing country. But they also bring a host of associated problems that affect natural ecosystems and rural and tribal communities.
HABITAT FRAGMENTATION:
They cause habitat fragmentation. Wildlife species avoid roads, as they become wider and busier, and the roads effectively form barriers separating forest areas. Expansion projects and the four-laning of highways affect wildlife corridors — for instance, National Highway 7 slices crucial corridor forests between Pench and Kanha Tiger Reserves in Central India.
THREAT IN THE MOUNTAINS:
In mountains, roads may lead to severe forest destruction, landslides, and erosion, as seen everyday during road construction in many parts of the Himalayas and the Western Ghats. A 2006 study noted that on steep hillsides, roads may increase landslides and surface erosion fluxes by ten to over hundred times as compared to undisturbed forests. Along hill roads in forests, natural vegetation often helps stabilise slopes and mitigate landslides. Road construction, dumping of debris, and slashing of roadside native plants, when carried out in a manner insensitive to terrain and local ecology, destroys natural cover, and increases erosion and weed proliferation.
10 ANIMALS/ DAY—KILLED:
Millions of animals, too, are killed along roads due to collisions with vehicles. Indian field research studies have documented that the spectrum of wildlife killed or injured ranges from small invertebrates, frogs, and reptile species — many found nowhere else in the world — to birds and large mammals such as deer, leopard, tiger, and elephant. Estimates from a few studies put it at around 10 animals killed per kilometre per day, but numbers could be higher, as injured animals are overlooked and many kills go undocumented.
LIVE WIRE:
Power lines also kill unknown numbers of wildlife everyday. Poachers draw live wires to kill animals such as rhino and deer, while accidental electrocution kills many species from birds such as Sarus cranes and flamingos to elephants and bison. Railways, too, take their toll, gaining attention only when large animals such as elephants are killed along the tracks. The daily death of wildlife shows that linear projects are undertaken with scant attention to conservation needs.
THE EDGE EFFECT:
Sadly, linear intrusions affect areas much larger than the actual area set aside for the project, because of negative ‘edge effects’ that diffuse to varying distances on either side. Each kilometre of road may affect at least 10 ha of adjoining habitat. In Bandipur Tiger Reserve, a 2009 study found that tree deaths are two and a half times higher along roads than in forest interiors. Similarly, wildlife populations and behaviour are affected up to a kilometre or more in the adjoining landscape. Even for species attracted to the vicinity of roads — reptiles that come to bask or deer and monkeys that come to feed — roads act as ‘ecological traps’, literally drawing them to their death. In 2009, a comprehensive scientific review of the effect of roads and traffic on animals found that negative effects were five times higher than positive ones. With trees and forests cut, tree-living animals are forced to cross roads or use electric wires to cross canopy gaps, leading to a double jeopardy of electrocution and road kill.
NORMS DILUTION:
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has been gradually diluting the norms for such projects. It has, for instance, recently permitted Central agencies executing linear projects in forests to cut trees after ‘in-principle’ or first stage approval under the Forest Conservation Act of 1980; that is, with just an approval from a Divisional Forest Officer, without waiting for second stage clearance related to compensatory afforestation and related procedures.
If linear infrastructure can be scientifically informed, ecologically sensitive, and well designed, it can promote economic development and safeguard the habitat as well.
[SO LINEAR INFRAS ARE NEEDED FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND FASTER MOBILITY, BUT THESE PROJECTS MUST BE SCIENTIFICALLY DESIGNED WITH ADEQUATE MEASURES AND RESEARCH FOR CONSERVATION.]
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