edit this page Timber ban and its effect on the Himalayan rural women and rural energy
L’interdiction de prélever du bois et ses effets sur l’énergie et les femmes de l’Himalaya
Pour les populations tribales de l’Himalaya, l’interdit gouvernemental de prélever du bois a brusquement tari leur source de revenu. En effet la forêt leur fournissait non seulement le combustible mais aussi des aliments ainsi que des produits utilisés dans la médecine traditionnelle. La nouvelle législation a exacerbé les conditions de vie des populations qui éprouvent beaucoup de difficultés à s’ajuster au nouveau système. |
Degradation of mountain environments is a global phenomenon and the Himalayas represent one of the most endangered areas. The primary demands on the forest are precious; they include food, fuel wood, and other subsistence requirements (like timber, charcoal, resin, etc.). To protect these assets, on December 12 1996, the Supreme Court of India passed its momentous judgment with respect to the cutting of trees in Jammu and Kashmir and Tamilnadu. Later, when the extent of deforestation everywhere was recognised, this judgement was extended to include the northeastern and other Himalayan states. Over-exploitation of forests has severe environmental consequences and in this context, the judgement banning the felling of trees and all wood based activities to conserve the country’s declining forest is a welcome decision. But it has a far-reaching impact especially on the tribal peoples of the Himalayas. Tribal people are communities whose social, cultural and economic conditions distinguish them from other sections of the national community and whose status is regulated wholly or partially by their own customs or traditions or by special laws or regulations.
It is estimated that as many as 90% of households in some developing countries, rely on biomass fuels for cooking and sometimes heating. In mountain environments, agricultural residues are scarce, biomass fuels come mainly from forests as fuel wood, discarded logs, twigs, etc. Hill people have always depended on forest for meeting their energy needs. But in a changing world, especially after the ban, the poor people of the Himalayan region are finding it difficult to adjust to their present situation.
[top] [end]Changing forest cover Due to over exploitation of forest assets, the Himalayan forests are failing to recover, leading to desertification (Figure 1). It was reported (Ives, et. al. 1989) that forest areas with crown cover of over 60% in the Central Himalayas accounts for only 4.4% of the whole area. Without any effective management, much of the Himachal Pradesh state in India has been heavily deforested, causing severe erosion. The Kashmir Valley also has been heavily cut down, allegedly due to cheap logging contracts awarded by corrupt bureaucrats.  Figure 1: Over-exploitation of forest assets has led to desertification |
It is debatable whether collection of fuelwood leads to deforestation or not. Moench and Bandyopadhyay (1986) conducted a comparative survey in Himalayan villages of the types of forest cover and land use, with the total village biomass consumption. From this, they estimated that, while total biomass productivity exceeds human consumption by a wide margin, there is a progressive loss in forest cover.
[top] [end]Effect of the ban on Himalayan women For the tribal population of the Himalayan states, especially in the northeast, the ban (and its continuing operation) has caused untold misery. For indigenous communities, the forest has been an important source of livelihood, providing them not only with fuel, fodder, and timber but also food, fruit, and medicine. For thousands of years, the tribal people have lived in close association with the forest, and always considered it as an intimate companion. For poor tribal peoples, forest is equivalent to life. Many farmers used to sell trees from their forests, not only to buy seeds and fertilisers, but also to invest in houses or other assets. Rural farmers had successfully integrated timber into their agricultural economy.  Figure 2: Hauling back a day’s supply of biomass |
But a growing population and declining forest productivity has had a disastrous impact of forest sustainability. Low agricultural productivity, low incomes, low standards of living, and lack of proper infrastructure have resulted in population migration. Men moving away from the community in search of work has increased the workload on women. The womenfolk go to high pastures with the livestock, where they manage animal and plant resources. They walk further and further to collect biomass fuel, until a critical threshold is reached when more than two mandays (actually, womendays!) per week per family are needed to obtain the necessary supplies of biomass fuel. In many places, village forests have become so degraded that a woman has to spend up to several hours on a barefoot trek to haul back a day’s supply of fodder or biomass fuel weighing more than she does (Figure 2). Table 1 represents the plight of tribal women.  Table 1: Distances women have to trek to obtain fodder and biomass fuel* |
One of the traditional roles of hill men was timber-cutting and collection. Now they are not allowed to do this task, the burden of collecting residues or kerosene has shifted to the hill women, who are already overloaded with work. Every week women from remote villages have to undertake a long trip from their village to get kerosene for their kitchens. This in turn affects the nutritional intake of the families, as many households have been forced to replace meat and stews, which take a long time to cook, with dry foods, in order to save kerosene. Sometimes they eat only one meal per day; some hapless hill-dwelling women are pushed into road construction, a task they had previously avoided. As the availability of male labour is high, they can be exploited and there is a big possibility of getting harassed by their male colleagues.
[top] [end]Effect of the ban in the northeastern Himalayan states It is reported that the timber ban has had a disastrous effect on access to rural energy in the northeastern Himalayan states. Poor north-eastern Himalayan people are finding it difficult to meet their energy needs. Before the ban, wood energy was freely available to them from the abundant forest resources. Now they mainly depend on crop residues (which are scarce), and on kerosene, which is still costlier to them. Sometimes kerosene is unavailable and even when it is available, they have to travel long distances to get it. This sometimes leads to illegal felling and deforestation.
[top] [end]Successful fuel subsidies On the other hand our research has found that the situation of Himachal, Uttaranchal, or Uttar Pradesh is quite different. Though these are wood-rich Himalayan states, the state governments are following some popular measures. Subsidies on LPG and kerosene have made them available on a large scale. Most of the villages near the main roads are well-supplied with LPG, where a good network and road conditions have made LPG available. Remote villages are not so fortunate and illegal felling and deforestation still continues there.
[top] [end]Inappropriate technological solutions A series of measures was introduced to save wood fuel and increase energy efficiency.
Passive solar energy devices, metal and ceramic wood burning stoves, ‘micro’ and ‘mini’ hydroelectric projects, and wind generators have been proposed to the village people as part of an overall energy-conservation package. But, still people favour the traditional way of cooking and space heating. Even where subsidised LPG is available, people prefer a fuel mix to meet their energy needs. Most of the study houses use LPG, kerosene, and biomass as a source of energy.
Traditionally, hill women cook on an open hearth (Figure 3) in a room which is used for living, sleeping and cooking. Since there is no chimney, the house is filled with wood-smoke. By western standards, the method is highly inefficient and injurious to health because of the high concentration of health-damaging particulates within the houses. However, the open fire provides a cosy atmosphere to the dwellers. It seems that among some of the more traditional families, there is resistance to improved cook stoves.
Claims have been made that smoke-reduction has resulted in an unacceptable increase in infestations of biting insects, loss of the preserving effects of the smoke on roof timbers, and an increase in termites and other boring insects. This has led to extra timber being required for rebuilding and repairing houses. Though improved cook stoves have a constant steady heat with a steady draw, it takes some time for them to reach their cooking temperature – whereas hill women require quick hot fires for their daily meals. Again it is often argued that improved stoves requires split logs whereas the traditional open hearth consumes easily-available twigs and small broken pieces. So it is not surprising that a large number of improved stoves are found dumped as scrap by mountain people.  Figure 3: Women traditionally cook over open fires |
For these reasons, most of the improved cookstove programmes have failed miserably. To a poor hill woman, they have little relevance. She is not bothered about the indoor air environment or fuel efficiency. She is little bothered to buy LPG or any other costly fuels. She requires quick meals with an affordable fuel, and to use that fuel she is prepared to endure any hardships. So the timber ban has certainly made these peoples' lives much worse. We, the authors, think these facts should be considered when energy policies affect rural women.
[top] [end]The real forest exploiters Four years have gone by since the judgment was passed, but the Supreme Court has yet to recognise the real exploiters of the forests. The hill people themselves are really sensitive to forest sustainability and are the last ones to destroy the forest. Businessmen, with lease-holds on the forest, and who can appreciate only the needs of industry, are responsible for the indiscriminate cutting down of the forests. While the Supreme Court order has imposed severe restrictions on the cutting of trees by local communities, it has exempted contractors and companies that supply timber to government department and ministries. The Supreme Court is sensitive to the needs of industry, but it has failed to recognise the needs of local people. It is sad that still we are following the colonial legacy of revenue generation and centralization of resources.
[top] [end]What should the Supreme Court or the Government do now? Paradoxically the Supreme Court has failed to acknowledge the tribal people's right to forest, which is their source of sustenance. In its enthusiasm to protect the environment, it has failed to comprehend the effect of its judgment. Excluding the people most affected by the judgement from any developmental policy is bound to be futile. The policy ignores the indigenous systems and especially it ignores women. Indigenous systems, in which women play a vital role, favour sustainability. Women have a vast knowledge and skills in resource use. They are particularly knowledgeable about seed varieties and storing techniques. Again, depriving the poor from using fuel wood undermines their capacity for existence. There are Van Panchayats in every Himalayan village, who are democratically elected/selected village bodies, which look after forests and the demands of specific village households. These bodies also permit/award a specific number of trees to each village household for particular requirements. ‘Van Panchayats’ are therefore the true guardians of the Himalayan forests. If the right of the forest is restored on them, then the energy problems experienced by poor hill peoples, and the plight of hill women will be alleviated.
- Moench, M. and Bandyopadhyay, J. (1986) ‘People forest interaction: a neglected parameter in Himalayan forest management’, Mountain Research and Development 6(1): 3–16.
- Nongbri, T (2001) ‘Timber ban in NorthEast: Effect on livelihood and gender’, Economic and Political Weekly May 26: 1893–1900.
- Bjonnes, I.-M. (1986) ‘Mountain hazard perception and risk-avoiding strategies among the Sheppas of Khumbu Himal, Nepal’, Mountain Research and Development 6(4):277–92.
- Reid, H. F., Smith, K. R. and Sherchand, B. (1986) ‘Exposure to indoor smoke from traditional and improved cookstoves: comparisons among rural Nepali women’, Mountain Research and Development 6(4): 293–304.
- Pandey, G. C. (1986) 'Educational investment: need for change in policy' Southern Economist 24: 13–17.
- Ives, J. D. and Messerli, B. (1989) 'The Himalayan dilemma: reconciling development and conservation', The United Nations University and Routledge.
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[top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 47: Household energy and enterprise  . |
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