Bhubaneswar: To protest the dense forest areas and its biodiversity, the State Government has initiated steps to execute Soil Moisture Conservation (SMC) intervention in 35 selected Forest, Wildlife Divisions of the State.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) has decided to prepare Detailed Project Report (DPR) for carrying out comprehensive SMC works in selected forest blocks of 35 Forest/Wildlife Divisions of the State in saturation mode under CAMPA.
Sources said that PCCF & HoFF Debidutta Biswal will be regularly monitoring the program implementation, which is required and beneficial for forest areas protection.
Forest is not only home of nearly 80 Percent global terrestrial biodiversity but also performs numerous functions such as collection and filtration of rainwater, sediments and other pollutants, protecting watersheds and conserving soil and moisture.
Due to continuous biotic pressure and erratic rainfall, the forest ecosystem is under threat of degradation for which the rain water in course of precipitation is just drained out instantly causing massive soil erosion, river and nallas remain dry for a longer period, sources said.
To curb this problem, suitable Soil Moisture Conservation (SMC) intervention in forest areas is highly required.
The objective is to capture maximum rain water in the forest area, reduce surface runoff, increase percolation of rain water and recharge the ground water.
This will augment the biodiversity; restore degraded forest and better farming in low lands. Climate change can also be addressed to some extent by improving rain water management in forest areas and ensuring perennial flow in rivers and nallas, they said.
One year program to be made for each selected forest block in the wildlife divisions. The SMC works will start simultaneously in all forest blocks during the last quarter of this financial year.
The main conservation activities to be encapsulated for catchment/drainage area development adhering ridge to valley approach Vis-a-Vis prevention of catchment area degradation for enriching the ground water recharge and soil moisture conservation.
The DPR is to be prepared after detailed study through application of technology followed by field verification in the forest areas of the divisions.