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FOREST MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
DEFINITION AND SCOPE:
Forest Management is defined in the Glossary of Technical Terms as the practical
application of the scientific, technical and economic principles of forestry (BCFT). The
term is variously defined by different authors, embodying, in essence, the same essential
ingredients. Some of these are reproduced below:
(i) “Forest Management is that branch of forestry whose function is the
organization of a forest property of management and maintenance, by ordering in
time and places the various operations necessary for the conservation, protection
and improvement of the forest on the one hand, and the controlled harvesting of
the forest on the other.”
(ii) “Forest Management is the application of business methods and technical
forestry principles to the operation of a forest property” (SAF)
The above definitions highlight the varied nature of the subject which is
concerned with the task of “building up, putting in order and keeping in order a forest
business”. Forest management, by implication, is not a basic subject in itself; it is the
practical application of science, technology and economics to a forest estate for the
achievement of certain objectives – mainly production of wood – timber and industrial
raw material, and other forest products such as resin, gum, tan bark, etc. It is based on the
knowledge of a number of basic subjects / sciences, such as Siliviculture, Ecology,
Geology, Pedology, Botony, Mensuration, Pathology, Economics, and Finance etc. In
addition, a forester needs the practical experience gained from observations in the field,
results of past treatments given to a forest and deductions there from.
Management of forests broadly involves three main tasks viz,
(i) Control of composition and structure of the growing stock,
(ii) Harvesting and marketing of forest produce, and
(iii) Administration of forest property and personnel.
It is , unlike any other commercial enterprise, complication; as forests,
particularly the State-owned as most of the forests are in India (95.8%), are managed for
a multiplicity of purpose – productive, protective, climatic, wildlife, recreational and bil-
aesthetic, with one use dominant, viz., most often the production of wood. Though the
forest land can be managed simultaneously for several uses, however, in some cases, uses
are incompatible with one another; e.g., grazing is not compatible with timber production,
environmental conservation and recreational use. In each case, priorities are laid down by
the owner - the State or the private owner as the case may be, and the management is
oriented to achieve the prescribed objectives. In the forests dedicated primarily to
recreational and bio-aesthetic use, and conservation of ecology and environment, grazing,
fellings, timber extraction and even hunting may have to the suspended.
Productive and protective functions of the forests cannot be bifurcated. As a
matter of fact, scientifically managed forests perform both these, simultaneously;
productive forests do protect and protective forests do produce – the distinction between
the two is of degree rather of kind - a matter of emphasis of the primary function of the
forest that the management aims at. It is, therefore, essential that forest resources are
maintained in a state of maximum production, consistent with their subsidiary or even the
other main functions. Forests have to be managed in such a way so as to provide
maximum benefits to maximum people and for all time, ensuring that the soil produces
most and deteriorates least under their treatment.
Scope of Forest Management:
Management of Forests, as that of any other enterprise, involves a process of
making and implementing policy decisions to achieve the objectives of the owner. These
decisions involve, in turn, a plan of action. Planning is the responsibility of the States and
the Centre in case of State-owned forests, broad principles for which are embodied in the
National and the State Forest Policies. Detailed plans are prepared by Forest Managers at
the professional level, and executed by the technician level staff. Forest Manager has to
constantly manage the growing stock to achieve given objects of management; in this
process he has to decide: how much, when where and how to cut.
Scope of Forest Management is very extensive; it encompasses broadly, the
following main activities:
A. Control of Growing Stock, its Structure and Composition:
i. Site adaptation
ii. Choice of species
iii. Manipulation of stands
iv. Harvesting the produce
v. Regeneration
vi. Protection.
B. Distribution and Marketing of produce:
i. Transportation and communication.
ii. logging Plan
iii. Marketing data
iv. Sale of produce
v. Revenue
C. Administration of Forest Property:
i. Forest organization
ii. Management of Personnel
iii. Monitoring and control or works
iv. Labour management and welfare
v. Financial control and economy efficiency
vi. Fulfillment of social obligations
vii. Record for present and future reference.
MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE FORESTS VIS–A–VIS PUBLIC FORESTS:
A private owner of a small forest estate seldom looks beyond the immediate gains
from sales of trees, as and when required to meet his financial obligations, or when the
market rates are high. He is not much concerned with sustained production for the
posterity or for the indirect benefits which the forest bestows. However, there are some
exceptions; some of the princely States protected and conserved their forest estates
zealously, though mainly for wild life and shikar. Now with the abolition of Zamindari
and merger of the princely States, most of the Indian forests (95.8%) are under the State
ownership which have to be managed not only for production of tangible or the material
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