How overgrazing is posing threat to forest ecosystem

Srinagar: Unmanaged overgrazing is posing a major challenge to the forest ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.

Forests are integral to the sustainability of primary sectors of agriculture, horticulture, sheep, and animal husbandry, particularly in the hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir where people rely heavily on the forests for wood, fodder, food, and small timber requirements.

However, heavy grazing pressure on the forest areas has resulted in the growth of unpalatable grasses, increased soil erosion, and low productivity.

According to the latest annual administrative report accessed by The Kashmir Monitor, Jammu, and Kashmir recorded 8.80 lakh incidents of grazing in the year 2020-21.

“The forests of Jammu & Kashmir are under tremendous pressure from the huge cattle population including sheep and goats. Around 880989 lakh incidents of grazing were reported during the year 2020-21 and the grazing fee recovered amounted to 9.05 lakh rupees,” the figures revealed.

The report mentioned that grazing of forest areas beyond their carrying capacity results in ecosystem degradation. “The annual fodder requirement of J&K is huge. Whereas availability from different sources viz alpine pastures, forest grazing lands, fallow agricultural lands, private lands, etc is inadequate thereby leaving a steep gap between supply and demand. Consequently, it produces adverse effects in the form of soil erosion, weed infestation, and ultimately further degradation of the forest ecosystem,” it stated.

A senior official of the forest department said to make the matters worse, the animal species that would earlier graze in the low-lying areas are shifting to high altitudes.

Further, there is no concrete government policy to deal with excessive grazing. The forest department is planning to conduct a series of activities to promote rotational grazing, he added.

“Under rotational grazing, the pastures and grazing areas shall be closed temporarily on a rotation basis. The closed areas shall be treated for weed eradication, soil erosion-related problems, soil fertility, and for enrichment through the planting of fodder species,” he said.

Similarly, the other activities, as per the official, include the development of pastures and highland pastures, maintenance of old fodder units, and research and development activities.

“Improvement of highland pastures and grazing lands is essential for enhanced fodder production which ultimately will protect our forest areas against further degradation,” he added.