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Depleted forest

3 July 2009

forestFrom the highway, Pemagatshel is all lush, green and dense. But walk into the forest, trees suitable for timber are few and far between, making them dear for the people.

It may look like the result of mismanagement on the part of the local people. It is not. It is the result of a government programme that has gone terribly wrong for which the local people are paying the price.

It all began in the mid 1990s when the Territorial Division of Forest Department took up plantation programme in the dzongkhag, according to reliable sources. According to a farmer, prior to the plantation programme, the entire forest area from Kherigonpa to Tshelingore had been abundant with trees of high value timber.

All the trees in the area were cut down and replaced with new plantations. “We were aware of the consequences but could not question the government,” said a village elder.

Later, it was found out that the programme was initiated to benefit a few officials. After the entire forest had been plundered of its high-value trees, a divisional forest officer, a range officer and an accountant lost their jobs. They were later jailed for embezzling millions of ngultrums from the plantation programme that was a front for fraudulent activities in the late 1990s.

Pemagatshel Ranger Lhakpa Tshering admits that, although the entire stretch of forest area seems to have a moderate forest cover, much of it is devoid of timber value trees. “Since the plantations was undertaken more than a decade back, there has been no fund for clearing under brushes,” he said.

Namgangla, the Dzongkhag Forest Officer, said, “Ever since it took over the plantation from territorial division, the dzongkhag has been doing plantation in small patches depending on the availability of budget.” For this year, the dzongkhag has budget for only two acres of plantation, which has been allocated for avenue plantation near Yongla Gonpa.

Today, trees can be seen only in a few patches of the plantations area that might take a few more decades to benefit the people.

Timber getting scarcer and costlier.

This has driven people much further from road in search of timber which has led to escalation in transportation cost. “I have to pay more than Nu 70 a cubic feet (cft) of timber for carrying alone,” said Darjay Wangdi, a resident of Bartseri village. “I hear this has gone up now.”

Namgay, a retired serviceman, said each year applicants for rural timber have to walk further and further into the forest. “This is a worrying reality for the people here,” he said.

Farmers said sizeable quantities of block-sized timbers were left to rot after the corruption was unearthed.

Elsewhere in the gewogs too, forest cover is reportedly less. This could be attributed to traditional farming practice of shifting cultivation. According to Land Use Planning Project Forest report, Pemagatshel’s forest cover is 53.60 percent, which is below the constitutional requirement of 60 percent forest cover at all times.

By Gyembo Namgyal

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