CHANDIGARH : There are five villages under gram panchayat Seichu in Pangi region of Himachal Pardesh which have prohibited entry in their forest of Himalayan Birch, also known as Betula Utilis or Bhojpatra for its conservation. This birch trees, native to the Himalaya, grow at the elevations up to 4,500 meter. Its broad leaves are heavily lopped for fodder and fuel and other parts for medicinal use as it is known for its anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant and anti-HIV properties.

Bhag Singh, pradhan told TOI, “Mahila Mandal of our villages decided to conserve the birch jungle as the habitat is deteriorating due to over exploitation. The ban has been imposed on entry and usage of any part of the trees for a period of two years to permit the forest to regenerate and grow naturally. All the villagers will abide by the decision because apart from the strictness it entails, we all understand that it is essential for us to save these precious trees for our future generation.”

The villagers follow quite an interesting ritual. “One of the villager guards the forest from morning till evening and erects a flag at a top point to send the signal that he is on his duty. He returns with flag at 6 in the evening. Next day, somebody else who has been assigned the duty goes there with his flag. This way, we watch and guard our forest for three months from June to August. After that it begins to snow,” said Singh, who also works as tailor.

He said that instead of chopping trees for fuel, the villagers wait for the logs to come down with the melted snow of glaciers in the summer. This wood is then accumulated for few days and then distributed among the villagers.

In many villages of Pangi, local people form their own council known as 'Praja Mandal' which has representatives from each family. Abhishek Kumar, United Nations volunteer in Pangi, said, “Prajamandal of Sural valley has prohibited entry of villagers into Batola forest to protect the bio-resources for a year. The regulations of Prajamandal is very stringent , where on violation for third time, the offender is ostracized from the society. Therefore, Praja Mandal system is working wonderfully in the conservation of forests in Pangi. ”

