Forest Health and Vitality

(A Term Paper on SFM 601: Sustainable Forest Management)

Submitted By

Shrawan Giri

M.Sc. Forestry

(2076-2078)

Roll No.:- 37

[email protected]

Submitted To

Faculty of Forestry

Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU)

Hetauda, Nepal
 Table of Contents
Contents
Abstract..........................................................................................................................................iii

1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................1

2. Objectives....................................................................................................................................2

3. Methodology................................................................................................................................2

4. Literature Review........................................................................................................................3

4.1 Forest Resources and People's Dependency on it..................................................................3

4.2 Forest Health and Vitality......................................................................................................4

4.3 Disturbance affecting forest health and vitality.....................................................................4

5. Findings and Discussion..............................................................................................................6

5.1 Variable of Forest Health and Vitality...................................................................................6

5.2 Disturbance affecting Forest Health and Vitality in Nepal....................................................7

5.3 Information availability on Forest Disturbance at Global level.............................................8

6. Conclusions................................................................................................................................10

References......................................................................................................................................11

ii
 Abstract
Forest health essentially describes the capacity of forest to maintain and preserve constantly
high quality supply of environment products and services. In the utilitarian approach, forest
health and vitality is defined in terms of a forest's capacity to satisfy human needs whereas the
ecological approach considers resilience, recurrence and persistence of a forest and all
biological processes involved in it. Forest health and vitality is a very important part of the
sustainable forest management system. The continuous supply of multiple goods and services
largely depends on the health and vitality of the forest. The variables of forest health and vitality
were forest fire, insects, diseases, illegal logging, encroachment, overharvesting, unsustainable
management practices, pollution, alien invasive species and other disturbances including wind,
snow, ice, flood, storm, drought and damages by animals. In Nepal, the largest part of forest was
disturbed by grazing whereas the smallest part of forest was disturbed by plant diseases.
Information on the area of forest affected by fire and insects were available for 80% and 60% of
the total forest area at global level. Information on diseases and other disturbances were
sporadic. The area affected annually for each type of disturbance was usually less than 1% of
the forest area of the reporting countries, although the affected area in individual country could
be much more.

Keywords: - Forest, Health, Vitality, Disturbance

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1. Introduction
Forest forms an integral part of life on Earth and provide a range of benefits at local,
national and global level. In Nepal, forest is an important component of livelihood of majority of
people particularly living in the rural areas. Moreover, forest provide several ecosystem services
including provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. Considering such multiple
roles of forest, the world has focused on the effective management of the forest resources. It is
realized that the continuous supply of multiple goods and services largely depends on the health
and vitality of the forest (DoF, 2017).

Forest health and vitality is a very important part of the sustainable forest management
system. This concept, however, lacks universal meaning, because it comprises subjective
judgments as a result of differing socio-economic and ecological viewpoints that have yield a
variety of indicators used to measure forest health (Ferretti, 1997; Stone & Mohammed, 2017).
In the utilitarian approach, forest health and vitality is defined in terms of a forest's capacity to
satisfy human needs whereas the ecological approach considers resilience, recurrence and
persistence of a forest and all biological processes involved in it (DoF, 2017). Nevertheless, both
approaches are not competing, but are complementary to each other. In essence, they emphasize
a sustainable delivery of forest goods and services without deteriorating its quality. Most
scientists agree, however, that forest health essentially describes the capacity of forest to
maintain and preserve constantly high quality supply of environment products and services
(Coyle & Megalos, 2016).

Healthy forests are essential for sustainable forest management, yet forests, like other
ecosystems, are subjected to a number of threats and disturbances that can cause tree mortality or
reduce their ability to provide a full range of goods and services (www.fao.org). The causes of
the negative impacts on forest health and vitality vary from place to place and the magnitude and
duration of the impacts are not easy to assess (Xulu et al., 2019). Forest experience plenty of
natural and anthropogenic disturbances such as fire, extreme weather, harse climate, illegal
felling, grazing and encroachment as well as the rampant competition from weeds and alien
invasive species and infestation of various insects, pests and pathogens (FAO, 2010). These
disturbances lead to poor forest health and vitality, which can exert moderate to devastating

1
negative impacts. The complexity and interrelationship of these disturbances and their impact on
the health and vitality of forest are difficult to unravel.

The maintenance of forest health and vitality is dependent upon the ability of the
ecosystem's functions and processes to recover from or to adopt to disturbance
(www.ucdavis.edu). While many disturbance and stress events are natural components of forest
ecosystem, some may overwhelm ecosystem functions, fundamentally altering their patterns and
processes and reducing ecological function. Decline in forest ecosystem health and vitality may
have significant economic and ecological consequences for society including a loss of forest
benefits and the degradation of environment quality. Information gained on impacts of biotic and
abiotic processes and agents may inform management strategies to minimize and mitigate risk.
The maintenance of forest ecosystem health and vitality is the foundation of the sustainable
forest management.

2. Objectives
General Objective

 To assess information on the status of forest health and vitality.

Specific Objective

 To determine the variables of forest health and vitality.

 To determine the status of disturbance affecting forest health and vitality in Nepal.
 To assess the information availability on forest disturbance at global level.

3. Methodology
This term paper is completely based on secondary data, for which different books, published and
unpublished literatures, reports, articles were reviewed covering a range of topics published by
different authors, government office such as Department of Forest.

2
4. Literature Review
4.1 Forest Resources and People's Dependency on it
Forest is an integral part of life on earth and provide a wide range of benefits at local, national
and global levels. Forest is an important component of the livelihood of majority of people
particularly living in the rural areas. Notwithstanding accelerated agricultural and economic
advancement, in the developing countries forest resources persist in performing an essential role
in rural livelihoods. In most of the developing countries, forest have a significant role in the
livelihood of local people by providing the essential forest products such as food, fodder, timber,
fuel wood, fire wood and medicine. The rural households also generate cash income and meet
their subsistence need by using forest products (Angelsen et al., 2014; Mukul et al., 2016).
Moreover, forest provide several ecosystem services including provisioning, regulating,
supporting and cultural services. Throughout the world, more than 2 billion people depend on
forest resources for their livelihoods and to meet their primary energy demands (IPBES, 2019).

Globally, empirical evidence has assessed the dimension of forest dependency from the whole
household livelihood pattern. In the rural area of developing countries, people greatly depend on
forests and associated resources to meet their daily needs, e.g. up to 30% in Malawi (Fisher,
2004); up to 39% in western Ethiopia (Mamo et al., 2007); 40% in Zimbabwe (Cavendish, 2000)
and up to 38.82% in Myanmar (Wen et al., 2017). Forest dependency level of people of lower
Mustang of Nepal assessed by Rayamajhi et al., (2012) recorded that an average of 22% of total
annual household income derived forest resources. These studies explained the vital contribution
of forest resources and services in the livelihood of the people of the world. Nonetheless the
contribution of forests on livelihood, people dependence on forest is a multifaceted aspect, and
its importance as a source of livelihood deviates geographically, across communities and
overtime (Bwalya, 2013).

Considering such multiple roles of forest, Government of Nepal has focused on the effective
management of forest resources under its various programs. Government of Nepal realizes that
the continuous supply of multiple goods and services largely depends on the health and condition
of the forests.

3
4.2 Forest Health and Vitality
Forest health and vitality is a very important part of the sustainable forest management system. It
has become an increasingly important concept for Sustainable forest management. This concept,
however, lacks universal meaning, because it comprises subjective judgments as a result of
differing socio-economic and ecological viewpoints that have yield a variety of indicators used
to measure forest health (Ferretti, 1997; Stone & Mohammed, 2017). In the utilitarian approach,
forest health and vitality is defined in terms of a forest's capacity to satisfy human needs whereas
the ecological approach considers resilience, recurrence and persistence of a forest and all
biological processes involved in it (DoF, 2017). Nevertheless, both approaches are not
competing, but are complementary to each other. In essence, they emphasize a sustainable
delivery of forest goods and services without deteriorating its quality. Most scientists agree,
however, that forest health essentially describes the capacity of forest to maintain and preserve
constantly high quality supply of environment products and services (Coyle & Megalos, 2016).

4.3 Disturbance affecting forest health and vitality

Healthy forests are essential for sustainable forest management, yet forests, like other
ecosystems, are subjected to a number of threats and disturbances that can cause tree mortality or
reduce their ability to provide a full range of goods and services (www.fao.org). The causes of
the negative impacts on forest health and vitality vary from place to place and the magnitude and
duration of the impacts are not easy to assess ((Xulu et al., 2019). Causes include, but are not
limited to, fire, insects and diseases, overexploitation of wood and non-wood forest products,
poor harvesting practices, poor management, uncontrolled grazing, invasive species, air pollution
and extreme climatic events (e.g. drought, frost, storms and floods). The complexity and
interrelationship of these factors and their impact on the health and vitality of forests are difficult
to unravel. Indirect impacts may be far reaching and include social, economic and environmental
dimensions.

In recent years, there has been increasing attention on the susceptibility of forests to various
damaging agents that may be regulated by climate (FAO 2010) and these are expected to grow
with global warming and climate change (Bentz et al., 2010). Factors such as insects and disease
outbreaks, alien species invasion and fragmentation warrant particular concern (Tkacz et al.,

4
2008) as they have been reported to cause substantial forest deterioration where they occur.
These factors, if not properly monitored, could have devastating effects in the forestry sector,
particularly for those markets dependent on timber and its allied products. More recently,
concerns over these forest-disturbing agents have led to increased collaborative research by
foresters, government and academic institutions, a practice that is widely used to address the
decline in forest health.

The forest resource assessment of Nepal (2010-2014) collected data related to the extent and
severity of various forest disturbances, including grazing, forest fire and tree cutting (DoF,
2014). However, information related to forest pests and pathogens were not captured. There is a
clear gap on comprehensive understanding on the various issues and status of forest pests and
pathogens in the national scenario. General observations show that infestation of insect pests and
pathogens is a serious problem in Nepal, particularly in plantation and forest nurseries.

5
5. Findings and Discussion
5.1 Variable of Forest Health and Vitality
Global Forest Resource Assessment (2005) focuses on the following variables, which to some
extent are quantifiable and for which many countries records incidence and extent:

 Forest fires;
 Insects and Diseases;
 Other disturbances (including wind, snow, ice, flood, tropical storms, drought and
damages by animals.

Forest fires: - Fire is a major disturbance factor that has both beneficial and detrimental effects.
Some forest ecosystems are adapted to fire and depend on it to retain their vigor and reproductive
capacity. However, fire often gets out of control and destroys forest vegetation and biomass,
which in turn results in considerable soil erosion by wind and water. The damage extends to
other landscapes and livelihoods as well, and results in haze pollution and deposited pollutants.
Forest fires pose a serious threat to peoples’ lives and to the sustainable use of natural resources.
Both uncontrolled expansion of agricultural land and the increased use of forests for recreational
purposes and tourism increase the risk of forest fires. Thus, the presence or absence of forest fire
determine the heath and condition of forest and is considered as determining variable.

Insects and diseases: - Pests are defined as any species, strain or biotype of plant, animal or
pathogenic agent that injures plants or plant products. Pest outbreaks can contribute directly or
indirectly to economic and environmental losses. While insects and diseases are integral
components of forests and often fulfil important functions, sporadic outbreaks can have adverse
effects on tree growth and survival, yield and quality of wood and non-wood forest products,
wildlife habitat and the recreational, scenic and cultural value of forests. The lack of effective
quarantine measures, increased international trade in agricultural and forest products, exchange
of plant materials and long-range air travel have introduced pathogens and insects into new
environments, leading, in some places, to significant forest damage.

6
Other disturbances: - Climatic events such as drought, wind, snow, ice and floods have always
influenced forest ecosystems. However, global climate change, primarily the result of human
activities, is reportedly making forest ecosystems more prone to damage by altering the
frequency, intensity and timing of fire events, hurricanes, ice storms, and insect and disease
outbreaks. The number of catastrophic climatic events over the past decade seems to go well
beyond what could be considered normal meteorological oscillation (ECOSOC, 2003). Climate-
related shifts in the range of pest species, many of which are forest-dependent, can further
exacerbate abiotic impacts on forest health.

Several variables were not included in FRA 2005 owing to lack of quantitative information in
most countries: illegal logging, encroachment, overharvesting and other unsustainable
management practices, pollution and the impact of invasive plant species.

5.2 Disturbance affecting Forest Health and Vitality in Nepal

Forest experience plenty of natural and anthropogenic disturbances such as fire, extreme
weather, harse climate, illegal felling, grazing and encroachment as well as the rampant
competition from weeds and alien invasive species and infestation of various insects, pests and
pathogens in Nepal (FAO, 2010). These disturbances lead to poor forest health and vitality,
which can exert moderate to devastating negative impacts.
Nearly two-thirds of the total forest area in the country was affected by grazing. Tree cutting,
bush cutting, lathra cutting, lopping and forest fire were also common. Other anthropogenic
disturbances, such as bark removal from the base of a tree, snaring, foot trails, forest roads, etc.
were observed in about one-quarter (DoF, 2014).

In Nepal, the largest part of the forest was affected by the grazing i.e. 67.42% of the total forest
area whereas the smallest part of the forest was affected by the plant diseases i.e. 1.22% of the
total forest area. Similarly, the percentage of forest area disturbed or affected by tree cutting,
lathra cutting, looping, forest fire, bush cutting and litter collection were 40.18, 35.09, 31.17,
27.75, 20.35 and 19.83 respectively. In the same way, 17.90, 8.95, 6.37, 4.64, 3.48 and 3.09 were
the percentage of forest area affected by landslide, wind, encroachment, resin tapping, insect
attack and plant parasite respectively.

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 Disturbance Occurance in Forest of Neapl
Grazing 67.42%

Tree Cutting 40.18%

Lathra Cutting 35.09%

Looping 31.17%

Forest Fire 27.75%

Bush Cutting 20.35%

Litter Collection 19.83%

Landslide 17.90%

Wind, Strom, Hail 8.95%

Encroachment 6.37%

Resin Tapping 4.64%

Insect Attack 3.48%

Plant Parasite 3.09%

Plant Disease 1.22%

Other Disturbance 23.12%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%

Column2

Source: - DoF, 2014

5.3 Information availability on Forest Disturbance at Global level

Globally, information on forest and other wooded land disturbances is relatively sparse and the
data-collection basis for disturbances is highly variable. Although information on forest fires is
available for 80 percent of the total forest area for the period 1998-2002, it is missing from many
African countries. Information on the area of forest significantly affected by insects is available
for more than 60 percent of the total forest area, while information on diseases and other

8
disturbances is sporadic. Many of the small island countries and dependent territories have not
provided information for this theme.

The overall conclusion drawn from the data supplied for FRA 2005 is that the area affected
annually for each type of disturbance is usually less than 1 percent of the forest area of the
reporting countries, although the affected area in individual countries can be much higher. Total
reported area for all disturbance types for 2000 was 104 million hectares or 3.2 percent of the
forest area of the reporting countries. However, it should be noted that information was missing
from a large number of countries – particularly on area affected by disturbances other than fire –
so the actual area is likely to be significantly larger.

Information Availability- Forest Health and Vitality

Area of forest affected by other disturbances

Area of forest affected by diseases

Variables

Area of forest affected by insects

Area of forest affected by fire

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Percentage of total Forest Area

Information available for all years Information available for latest year
Information not available for latest year

Source: - FAO. 2012

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6. Conclusions
 The variables of forest health and vitality were forest fire, insects, diseases, illegal logging,
encroachment, overharvesting, unsustainable management practices, pollution, alien
invasive species and other disturbances including wind, snow, ice, flood, storm, drought and
damages by animals.
 In Nepal, the largest part of forest was disturbed by grazing i.e. 67.42% of the total forest
area whereas the smallest part of forest was disturbed by plant diseases i.e. 1.22% of the
total forest area.
 Information on the area of forest affected by fire and insects were available for 80% and
60% of the total forest area at global level.
 Information on diseases and other disturbances were sporadic.
 The area affected annually for each type of disturbance was usually less than 1% of the
forest area of the reporting countries, although the affected area in individual country could
be much more.

10
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