SHIMLA: Native insect disturbances affect  a forest area that is almost 45 times as great as that affected by forest  fire, resulting in an economic impact nearly five times as great in Forests, caution scientists.

Dr. Nitin KulKarni, renowned entomologist and Director, Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi, Jharkhand made this point on  "Forest Plants, Tree plantation and Pest Management in Natural Forests" at the inaugural day of the weeklong  training programme for forest officers that started at Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla from today. 

The native forest insects are the greatest forces of change in forest ecosystems. In aggregate, insect disturbances affect an area that is almost 45 times as great as that affected by fire, resulting in an economic impact nearly five times as great, Dr Kulkarni said.

Dr Kulkrani said insects play an important role on the productivity and development of forests. "Therefore, it is very important that the forest managers should have adequate information about  pests and its management".

“Of these natural agents of ecosystem disturbance and change, the bark beetles are the most obvious in their impact, and has the greatest economic importance in the forests”, he said.

The primary reason for this impact is that the beetle is one of a handful of bark beetles that are true predators. In that they must kill their host to successfully reproduce and they often do so in truly spectacular numbers, Dr Kulkarni said.

Mr. Ajay Srivastava, HP Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the chief guest inaugurated the programme in which  22 Indian Forest Service officers  from 13 states of the country would undergo weeklong training course on "Forest-Nursery, Tree Plantation and Pest Management in Natural Forests" at HFRI.

Srivastav said in current scenario, it is extremely necessary for forest managers to be aware of the problems of pests for the development and scientific management of forests.

Srivastav said renowned scientists and academicians will deliver their lectures for the  enhancement of knowledge of the participants, which they will eventually implement in their respective  fields.

He also appreciated the technologies and  achievements developed by the Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla  on pest management  and expressed hope that the Forest Officers will definitely benefit from this training course.

HFRI’s director  Dr. S.S. Samant said the training programme  will mainly focus on forest plants, tree plantation and knowledge of pests damaging natural forests, judicious use of pesticides and management of other environmentally friendly activities.

He also highlighted the effects of climate change on the different types of vegetative diversity, anthropogenic pressures and pest events of the northwestern Himalayan region.

Dr Samant also highlighted the adverse impact on biodiversity from the dangerous impact of chemicals and pesticides on non-target organisms, including pollinators.

Dr. Sandeep Sharma, Scientist and Group Coordinator Research, gave a detailed presentation on the activities of the Institute and informed that  such training programmes are being successfully organized by the Institute for the last 5-6 years.

Scientist and Course Coordinator Dr. Pawan Kumar informed that a scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to train officers of Indian Forest Service (IFS) in various subjects of direct or indirect relevance from time to time.

Under this scheme, officer will able to update knowledge,  skills and change in the approach of management of natural resources, he said.

Dr. Ashwini T. Pawal informed that Institute has made full efforts to conduct this training programme in a proper and systematic manner by arranging senior scientists, academicians and subject matter experts to fulfill the basic objective of this training programme  .

On the first day of the training course, eminent speakers were Prof. (Dr.) T.N. Lakhanpal, Professor Emeritus and Chairman (Retd.), Department of Biosciences, University of Himachal Pradesh, Dr. K.S. Sangha, Principal Entomologist, Punjab Agricultural University and  Prof. (Dr.) Sunita Chandel, Department of Pathology, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan.