See the article below by
@JasjeevGandhiok for
@htTweets
The Delhi Forest Department's proposal to green 10 acres of Central Ridge using Miyawaki plantations to address low survival rates of traditional methods raises the following serious ecological and economic concerns.
Economic Disparity
At Rs.1.25 crores per hectare, which is app 10 to 12 times the standard departmental costs of ₹8–10 lakh/hectare, this high outlay for intensive irrigation and soil enrichment is hard to justify when funds could restore far larger areas via site-specific ecology.
Structural Flaws
Miyawaki emphasises rapid growth over ecosystem health; ultra-high inputs of organic manure and profuse watering create high-density planting, forcing weak, pole-like trees competing for light. Central Ridge's Aravalli ecosystem thrives on natural hardiness—artificial mulching/watering risks creating intervention-dependent "forests."
A true forest requires horizontal and vertical space for natural processes, including the recruitment of native grasses, shrubs, and the movement of local wildlife.
Further, packing 100,000–150,000 saplings into a restricted area creates an impenetrable thicket. While this may provide high carbon sequestration metrics on paper, it suppresses the complex, multi-layered biodiversity inherent to the Delhi Ridge
While the MoEFCC may support Miyawaki-style projects in small-scale urban pockets—often under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives—the method lacks formal national policy endorsement for sensitive ecological zones. Implementing this without rigorous, zone-specific research across India’s diverse eco-climatic regions is premature
Restoration Priority
In the meantime lets accord priority and practice restoration by referencing native ecosystems, removing invasives like Prosopis juliflora, and using moderate-density planting to let abused ridges heal naturally.
#Miyawaki #forest #trees #restoration