The ecologically-sensitive state Uttarakhand is although endowed with rich flora and fauna but there is increase in pressure on its natural ecosystem from the past decades. The state ranks sixth in terms of recorded forest area in percentage and its forest cover with rich biodiversity is considered its major wealth. Ranikhet which is the cantontment town located in the Almora district of Uttarakhand was our main study site which also holds an array of biodiversity. Most of the area in Ranikhet comes under the reserved forest area and is surrounded by Betalghat block towards south, Bhikiyasain block towards west, Dwarahat block towards north and Hawlbag block towards east. In order to determine various causes that influence species richness and distribution and affect their regeneration potential, a survey was being done with the local communities residing in this area.
The main aim behind conducting this survey was to gather information related to major problems that led to the decline of the major forest species, to know the alteration in the plant life history, to examine the extent of dependence of local communities in the forest for the procurement of forest resources and also to know the forest department interventions towards protecting and conserving the forest. The survey was carried out by filling of the questionnaire comprised of three sections namely demographic information, assessing dependence on forest and forest related awareness by personally interacting with local people.
Through this survey, it was observed and identified that Forest fires are the most common and deadly cause for the loss of forest in this region. This massive forest fire during summer results in depletion of groundwater table also and causes severe water crisis in this hill area. This is because the fissures through which rainwater percolates have been blocked with ash as a result the groundwater does not get recharged. Moreover, due to rapid urbanization the number of oak trees in the Almora region has declined. It sounds more devastating when you are aware of the fact that the natural oak forest is alone responsible for retaining around 31% of rainwater.
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According to the locals, though any sort of procurement from the cantt. managed forest area is prohibited by the forest department but the procurement of fuelwood and fodder and cutting of trees for commercial purpose are being done secretly by the tribal or local communities residing in the forest. The government also finds it a bit difficult to manage the forest due to limited capacity of forest department and burgeoning human population around the protected areas.
In an attempt to balance the ecosystem and to reduce the effect of deforestation, time to time manual transplantation or afforestation is being done by the Forest department here. While, deforestation cannot be avoided completely, adapting practices such as clear cutting and selective cutting is also taken into account. To protect against the forest fire, the forest officials take precautions and implement necessary steps by making fire lanes, clearing out dry leaves of the trees and by also having the provision of firewatcher. For water conservation, locally evolved rain water harvesting technique such as Khal khampi is also practiced.
