Riverscape Approach and Forestry Interventions for Ganga River Rejuvenation

Abstract

Rivers have been degraded globally due to various reasons over centuries and limiting their ecological health and value, including Ganga River in India. Riverscape approach can provide relevant information on riverine resources needed in river restoration programmes. We propose a conceptual riverscape model to rejuvenate the holy river Ganga in India through forestry interventions after due consideration of ecological processes, mosaic of landforms, communities and environment within the large landscape of Ganga basin. The select riverscape area includes the area of 5 km and 2 km on either side of the river Ganga and important tributaries, respectively, all along the rivers in five stakeholder states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal in the country. The width of the riverscape was taken from the maximum bank line in recent years on either side of river in the concerned state. However, all micro-watersheds in the hills of Uttarakhand state, being the origin place of river, have been included in riverscape area up to Haridwar. Here riverscape is a mosaic of different land uses viz., natural ecosystems, rural and agricultural ecosystems and built-up urban environment including flood plain and is an ecologically sustained system developed during the last 30 years due to river meandering all along the river. Geospatial modelling and GIS data on land use pattern, soil erosion rates, slope of the topography, etc. were used to classify riverscape area into high, medium and low priority areas to implement forestry interventions in delineated riverscape. Thereafter, forestry interventions were planned and carried out in three identified landscapes viz., Natural (forests), Agriculture (agroforestry), and Urban along with conservation activities. Forestry interventions in delineated riverscape are expected to increase water recharge and decrease the sedimentation load in the Ganga River and its tributaries.