INTEGRATED TREE PLANTATION IN RURAL VILLAGES

Nature is God’s most beautiful creation. It felicitates the growth, development, and
nourishment of all its creatures. Numerous popular stories throughout the world reflect a
firmly-rooted belief in an intimate connection between a human being and a tree, plant,
or flower. The evolutionary history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living
and fossil organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to the present.

The Hindu mythology very precisely reveals that people in their third quarter of life used to
go to the forest, leaving the family at home, to get associated with the Mother-Nature,
especially with trees. There has been a strong belief that in close association with trees, the
fabric of human life gets inculcated with the culture of donation and sacrifice, like the trees.
In many parts of the world, travelers have observed the custom of hanging objects upon
trees to establish some relationship between themselves and the tree. Throughout Europe,
trees are known as sites of pilgrimages, ritual ambulation, and the recital of (Christian)
prayers. Wreaths, ribbons, or rags are suspended from winning favor for sick humans or
livestock, or merely for good luck. Popular belief associates the sites with healing,
bewitching, or mere wishing.

The world tree, with its branches reaching up into the sky, and roots deep into the Earth,
can be seen to dwell in three worlds – a link between heaven, the Earth, and the
underworld, uniting above and below. This great tree acts as an axis Mundi, supporting or holding up the cosmos and providing a link between the heavens, Earth, and the
underworld.

The World Tree

ROLE OF TREES:
The plants and trees play a very vital role in sustaining life and ecosystem on Earth and,
therefore, the importance of tree plantation must be understood. They inhale carbon
dioxide and exhale the life-giving oxygen. Plants and trees also provide food, fuel, wood,
flowers, and many other essential items. They are also a natural source of food and habitat
for birds and wildlife and play a significant role in the ecosystem. Trees also absorb other
harmful gases from the atmosphere, thus, making the air pure and fresh. Trees greatly
benefit the people living around them by having a positive impact on mental health and
wellbeing, reducing stress, and encouraging outdoor exercise. This is in addition to the
benefits they will receive from the improved environmental quality and enhanced amenity,
which comes with planted areas. There are numerous benefits that a Tree-Plantation
project brings to the community:

The social forestry schemes can be categorized into the following group

FARM FORESTRY:
In Farm forestry or agroforestry, trees are grown on farmland for commercial and non-
commercial purposes. Farmers are encouraged to plant trees on their farmland to meet
their domestic needs. A tradition of growing trees on farmland already existed in many
areas and was the main thrust of most of Indias social forestry projects. In addition to providing fuelwood, farmers often grow trees to provide shade for crops, as wind shelters, for soil conservation, or to recover wasteland.

COMMUNITY FORESTRY:
The government provides seedlings and fertilizer to the community, which is then
responsible for nurturing and protecting the plants on community land. This provides for the community rather than individuals. Fast-growing Eucalyptus has been planted on a large scale. Some communities manage these plantations sensibly and in a sustainable manner for the continual benefit, while others sell the mature timber for a one-time capital divestment.

EXTENSION FORESTRY:
Planting of trees on the sides of roads, canals, and railways, along with planting on
wastelands, is known as extension forestry, increasing the boundaries of forests. This has
created wood lots in the common village lands, government wastelands, and panchayat lands.

AGROFORESTRY:
In agroforestry, silvicultural practices are combined with crops like legumes, along with
orchard farming and livestock ranching on the same piece of land. It is defined as a
sustainable land-use system that maintains or increases the total yield by combining food
crop with forest tree and livestock ranching on the same unit of land, using management
practices that consider the social and cultural characteristics of the local people and the
economic and ecological condition of the area.

An ‘integrated tree plantation’ approach combining indigenous livelihoods and industrial
wood products may be implemented in the rural area. There may be three alternative land-
use scenarios and costs and benefits of each land-use type:

1. Based on the current land-use.
2. Based on the integrated tree plantation system with incentives and government
regulations.
3. Based on a financially optimal land-use distribution.

The scenarios had different kinds of effects on villages varying concerning their possibilities
for land-use intensification. In villages with extensive land use, the establishment of tree
plantations without any land-use regulations increased the potential economic return on
land, resulting in the conversion of natural and human-made semi-natural forests. In villages with more sedentary agriculture, the plantation scheme did not create pressures towards remaining forests, even in the case of financially optimal land-use distribution. Incentives, restrictions, or regulations aiming at conserving natural and semi-natural forests are needed to ensure the conservation of biodiversity and long-term improvements in local livelihoods.

The tree plantations can be combined with other land-use practices, like:

1. Nursery Development and reproduction.
2. Rainwater Harvesting.
3. Development of the water body.
4. Amusement activities.
5. Social Activities.

Across the world, companies with a wide range of business models are making money from
planting trees. In India, the existence of common grazing lands is widespread, especially in
the villages. Communal forestry has been most successful in many countries where socio-
economic homogeneity has been greatest. In the appropriate circumstances, and with
effective support from governments, forestry services, and local organizations, very
substantial community tree planting achievements can be made for the uplifting of the
socio-economic condition of the people living in the rural area. The outcome of an
integrated tree plantation project may be amazing if blended with a Public Awareness
Generation Program.