BALANGIR: Large-scale deforestation along with poor development has affected the traditional practices and livelihood of tribals in Balangir district.
Apart from agriculture, forest ecosystem constitutes an important source of livelihood for the tribal communities. But the fast depleting forest cover has posed a threat to the vital means of their sustenance. They are abandoning their ancestral villages and migrating in search of livelihood.
A large part of the region, which had an unending stretch of lush green forest less than 50 years back, has now been converted into barren land mass.
Though Forest department claims that the district has 23 per cent of its total geographical area under forest cover, a 1989 study using satellite data had put the figure at 12 per cent which has now come down to single digit due to massive deforestation.
Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) play a major role in the local livelihood. Tribals of Gudvela, Bangomunda, Turekela, Khaprakhol and Saintala blocks depend on forests which provide multiple benefits in terms of food, fibre, fodder and firewood for them.
NTFPs such as fruits, flowers, roots, shoots and seeds are the main sources of food for the tribals. The major NTFPs like mahua flower, tol, kusum, char seed, wild tulsi, kendu leaves and others, which are major sources of income for tribals, are vanishing from the forests.
While plantation drives have failed to increase forest cover due to various reasons, indiscriminate felling of trees is continuing unabatedly.
A lot of people can be seen transporting loads of wood from forests on their heads. This apart, mafia transporting wood in trains is a regular affair in Balangir and Nuapada districts.
Social activist Hemanta Panda said forest cover is shrinking at an alarming rate in Western Odisha with tribals and forest dwellers staring at uncertainty over their livelihood.
Moreover, forest loss is a major factor contributing to climate change and rise in temperature of the region, he added and stressed on promotion of community forestry.
Balangir Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sameer Satpathy, however, said between 2015 and 2017, 161 sq km forest cover has been added in the district.
There are a lot of causes of forest depletion and the department is making all-out efforts to protect the green cover, he added.
Traditional practice
NTFPs play a major role in the local livelihood of Gudvela, Bangomunda, Turekela, Khaprakhol and Saintala blocks. Tribals depend on forests which provide multiple benefits in terms of food, fibre, fodder and firewood for them.
NTFPs such as fruits, flowers, roots, shoots and seeds are the main sources of food for the tribals.
The major NTFPs like mahua flower, tol, kusum, char seed, wild tulsi, kendu leaves and others, which are major sources of income for tribals, are vanishing from the forests.