HFRI finds way to protect juniper trees in Spiti

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 27

The depleting juniper jungles will find a new lease of life as the Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI) and tribals of the Lahaul valley have found new ways to protect and propagate soft wood species in the cold desert of Spiti and upper Kinnaur in the state.

The HFRI has developed a new technique to protect juniper seeds from insect attacks. On the other hand, tribals in the Lahaul valley have conserved and protected juniper trees on forest land through village cooperatives, revealed HFRI scientists here.

But in the cold desert of Spiti and upper Kinnaur, juniper trees have been pushed to the brink as these are highly prized and its aromatic wood is used in making incense and pencils, besides as fuel wood. You find the defunct stumps of juniper trees in Kaza (Spiti) and in Pooh subdivision of Kinnaur, said HFRI scientists.

“Now we have developed a new technique to raise juniper plants in nurseries and have about 10,000 plants for plantation in the cold desert,” said Dr Pawan Rana, a scientist at HFRI. Earlier, the problem was that insects used to eat up juniper seeds leaving a little scope for regeneration in the wilds. Now the new technique has been developed to protect the seeds and breed plants in the nursery, he added.

“Now we are training forest staff and local stakeholders in the cold desert to propagate juniper plantation in the cold desert,” said Dr Rana. “What is needed is effective disease management of juniper seeds, when the nursery is raised,” added Dr Ashwani Tapwal and Dr Pitamber Negi, scientists at HFRI.

But tribals across the 15,500 ft high Kunzam Pass have shown the way to conserve juniper jungles in the Lahaul valley. They have raised juniper plantations in the area through village cooperatives and self-help groups with good survival rates, Dr Rana said.

HFRI scientists revealed that junipers in Spiti and upper Kinnaur faced extinction saying that juniper leaves are used for making “dhoop” or incense and its soft wood is used for making pencils. “There is no natural regeneration due to insect attacks on juniper seeds,” they added.