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Monday, November 20, 2006
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When Ryan Mottesheard met Kim Ki-Duk
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When Ryan Mottesheard met Kim Ki-Duk
When I met Kim Ki-Duk to talk about his new film "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" I didn't quite expect him to be so... well, normal. I don't know what exactly I expected of the Korean enfant terrible, but after seeing his movies, I didn't think it would be the soft-spoken, courteous, humble, youthful-looking gentleman who sat across from me and thanked me for being familiar with his earlier work (as if I was doing him a favor). After all, this is a guy who, with 2001's "Bad Guy," raised the ire of feminist critics in his native Korea with his sympathetic portrait of a pimp who enslaves a young student into prostitution. The same guy whose international breakthrough, "The Isle," concerns a murderer, a mute woman, and some very interesting uses for fish hooks.
But then, there's nothing predictable about Kim. When he, very reluctantly, talks about movies, he offers that he feels the most kinship with American doc-shock jock Michael Moore, despite the fact that Kim's subtle, abstract films about modern-day Koreans who lives on society's fringes is (to me anyway) the polar opposite of Moore's sledgehammer technique. Maybe it's Moore's blue-collar background that Kim admires, as Kim himself tends to flaunt his lack of formal education on his sleeve. A high-school dropout, Kim worked in factories from the ages of 16-20, then spent five years in the Korean military before moving to France to peddle his paintings on the streets. Only after returning to Seoul did he think about film as a career and even then, it was with an autodidacticism that more closely recalls silent-era pioneers of a hundred years ago than the media-saturated generation that he belongs to.
In any case, Kim's latest, "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" (which opens today from Sony Pictures Classics), represents a huge step forward in Kim\'s body of work. While not entirely abandoning his earlier visual and thematic preoccupations, "Spring, Summer..." is more transcendent, it stays with you longer. Much of this has to do with its stunning formal beauty. But it also has to do with the fact that Kim he has moved beyond the facile sex-and-violence Molotov that he, at times, has used as a crutch.
indieWIRE spoke with Kim about moving into new territory, his controversial past films, and his place in the current red-hot Korean film industry.
indieWIRE: "Spring, Summer..." is widely seen as a departure for you, or at least the beginning of a new stage in your career. Would you agree with this?
Kim Ki-duk: I agree that this film is different. In my other films there has been a lot of brutality and cruelty and anger inside them. But with "Spring, Summer...," I also wanted to show the healing powers of forgiveness and tolerance.
iW: What made you move in that direction?
Kim: I don't know. I think that's the important thing, that I have no idea. When I first visited Jusan Pond (the setting for "Spring, Summer..."), I scratched out a few ideas on paper. But I made this film without a script.
iW: Location is very important in all of your films and here it's the floating monastery on Juson Pond. How did you find this place or did you already know it and devise a story around it?
Kim: Initially, I didn't imagine a floating temple on the water and had never seen one. At first I wanted to build a temple in the mountains, but I was unable to find a suitable place. I kept thinking of a way around this and then finally, I happened upon Juson Pond. Korea has lots of beautiful scenery but Juson Pond is a very unique place since it has 300-year-old trees growing out of the water. And I felt like this would be an interesting challenge, to build a floating temple, which was built from scratch.
iW: Is the temple still there?
Kim: No, it was destroyed. But I hope it still exists in people's minds after seeing the movie.
iW: What relationship do you think a specific location plays within your films?
Kim: I think that location and space are the most important aspect of all of my films. Only after finding a location do I think about the story or about casting an actor. I travel all over Korea to find a particular place and then once I find it, I go about making my film.
iW: You've often been labeled a provocateur or an enfant terrible. What do you think of these claims?
Kim: I understand why people call me a provocateur, but I think this is simply because they see me as an outsider. If they really look at me and my films, they can see that there's something more than that. I am very interested in human beings and I always try to look at diverse human beings with a different perspective. If people really look, they can see my other ideas.
iW: Yet several of your earlier films have been quite controversial, "Bad Guy" in particular. Have you ever consciously courted controversy?
Kim: I never tried to be controversial. My films have been called provocative but I never meant to be. In the case of "Bad Guy," it wasn't controversial at all for me. I just made the film in as honest a way as I knew how. In "Bad Guy," I wanted to examine this character (a mute, violent pimp) and try and figure out if he is really bad or not. If people accept that there are people out there like "The Bad Guy" then they'll understand the movie. But people who have very strict ideas of morality will hate the film.
iW: You quit giving interviews for a while after the hostile reaction of "Bad Guy" by the Korean press. What is the difference between the Korean audience reaction to your films and the international audience?
Kim: European audiences tend to really like "Bad Guy" and they're not as offended by it as the Korean people were. But the interesting thing in Korea is that female audiences liked the film much more than male audiences, I think because males see themselves in the main character.
iW: How has "Spring, Summer..." been received in Korea?
Kim: I've never had really wide success in Korea. "Spring, Summer..." drew 150,000 spectators (recent Korean blockbuster "Silmido" recently topped 10 million spectators) and my latest film "Samaria" has already drawn 200,000. But I don't think it's really important how many people watch "Spring, Summer...," but rather, WHO watches it. I would rather have fewer people see it and understand it than more people watch without understanding it. Also, I find it interesting that Korean people will see one of my films and get hooked on watching them, despite the fact that they don't like them.
iW: As your films have gotten more well-known, has the broader international audience affected your filmmaking style?
Kim: This is my tenth film but from the beginning, I never thought of my films as "Korean films." I've always had an orientation toward international film, and probably because of this I've been able to develop an international reputation faster than other Korean filmmakers.
iW: The cinema isn't the most logical place for you to have wound up considering your background, as a factory worker and a soldier. What was it that initially drew you to cinema?
Kim: I just woke up one day and realized I would be a filmmaker. It's ironic, but I was able to become a filmmaker specifically because I never had a film education. There are so many people who study so hard to become film directors and maybe this is why they're unable to actually do it. I think a director is someone who films life and the biggest obstacle for film students is that they waste too much studying films and not enough studying life.
iW: Korean cinema has received quite a lot of attention in the last few years, both at home and abroad. Do you feel a certain kinship with any of you contemporaries such as say Chan-wook Park ("JSA," "Old Boy"",1] or Sun-woo Jang ("Lies")?
Kim: I'm very different from those two filmmakers. Maybe at the beginning of my career I was somewhat more involved in that movement, but now, I don't really feel any kinship with other Korean films that are being made.
iW: Why then do you think there has been this resurgence in Korean cinema then? Shucking the global trend, in 2003, eight of the top 10 top grossing films in Korea were domestic films.
Kim: I think there are two main reasons. Firstly, Korea has a long history of government regulation and censorship so we couldn't explore certain subject matters. That was always an obstacle. But now, everything has changed and directors can freely express themselves by making their own unique films. And secondly, Korea has lots of students who have studied film. It's quite a boom right now. But I don't think that Korean cinema is the best cinema in the world... at least not yet. Most of it just copies trends and styles of Hollywood film. Maybe there are one or two directors out there who making a new style of Korean film such as Lee Chang-Dong (2002's "Oasis").
iW: I've read that you have expressed interest in working in Hollywood. Is this true?
Kim: (laughs) Yes, I actually said I would like to remake "Bad Guy" in Hollywood with Brad Pitt as the lead. But I don't think Hollywood is very interested in this idea. I don't really understand why Hollywood studios buy remake rights to Korean films. If they like the film in the first place, why don't they just distribute the Korean version? |
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posted by santhosheditor
8:06 PM
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good...
collect these type of items and post...
it is informative
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Saturday, November 11, 2006
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'Kiss Me Not On The Eyes'
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This is an Interview with Director of
'Kiss Me Not On The Eyes' film,
Jocelyne Saab.
In this interview at Sundance with Indie Wire, Jocelyne Saab talks about her early life in Lebanon and her experience as a film maker. She also talks in great detail about the difficulties she had to overcome in directing this film...
- Please give us information on your background, and what were the circumstances that lead you to become a filmmaker?
I was born and raised in Beirut in the '50s, the golden age of a Lebanon in "dolce vita mode." I started my career hosting a pop music program on the national Lebanese radio that I called "Marsipulami got blue eyes" and from there moved on to become a newsreader for television. When the notorious Lebanese civil war took place , I started working on various independent documentaries until I landed the job of second unit director on Volker Schlondorff's movie on the Lebanese civil war, "Circle of Deceit" in 1981. I continued covering the events of the war as a reporter and filmmaker until I lost everything I had in Beirut, material and not: friends, family, house. I then moved to Paris, France and continued, while being based there, my coverage of conflicts in the Arab world and the Middle East.Today I live between Paris and Cairo where I wrote, directed and produced the feature film selected for Sundance, "Kiss Me Not on the Eyes" (original title "Dunia"). I learned everything I know about filmmaking on the field. I wrote and directed all of my films, except my first feature film "A Suspended Life," written by Gerard Brach. I studied economics in college, even for my graduate studies, but in parallel, I built a "film culture" due to watching as many films as possible, from the American classics, to the nouvelle vague.Having reported and witnessed some of the most violent conflicts of the second half of the twentieth century I became extremely concerned with human rights, a theme that I carried with me through my fiction work, and which remains the focus of my latest fiction feature.
- Where did the initial idea for your film come from?
About seven years ago, I conducted a study on youth sexuality in Egypt. The idea came to me through similar studies conducted in France and I initially thought that my findings would make a good basis for a three-hour documentary on the topic. As my research progressed though, the findings became harrowing by Arab cultural and moral standards, so much so, that the person in charge of typing the findings refused to do so. Actually it was pretty "out there" by any standard, so I realized that it was impossible to get any of the people interviewed to disclose this information for the camera.I [then] let it go. I left Egypt for Vietnam, and shot a documentary called "The Lady from Saigon." Yet, as I was sitting there one day, one particular anecdote came back to me... I could not forget this girl, what she talked about and how, framing her head with her hands, the source of many of her pleasures. And I remembered a quote from one of the 14th century Arab poets, "Pleasure is a small death." And I started revisiting these texts, that praised freedom, love and their politics as a way of being, a way of dying, a cultural heritage that we seem to have forgotten.This led to a new perspective, a potential fiction from all these witness accounts. The stories surrounding FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) and its repercussion on the sex life, and sensuality of women , was my second starting point, and I conducted fresh research with the help of international organizations about the [topic] itself and its related traumatic effects. [Combined with a lot of other] research down the line (concerning the architecture of Cairo, Arab poetry and dance), and the script was awarded the special jury prize for best screenplay at the annual screenplay competition organized by the French National Cinema Centre.
- What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in either developing the project or making the movie?
The challenges in making my film... Where to begin..? The struggles and difficulties surrounding the making of "Kiss Me Not on the Eyes" were unfortunately of epic proportions. It would take pages and pages just to headline each one of them. Suffice it to say though that my main challenges were: To obtain permission to shoot the film on location in Cairo, Egypt as the censorship body fought the scenario fiercely... Considering it to be pornographic. [After the] permission was obtained, the next challenge was to set up production, which usually is quite a task, and being weighed down by such controversy only made it harder.Then came finding actors, who had to be convinced of assuming responsibilities for their roles. It was a long and hard process as all [the actors were] concerned about their reputation and also their safety. Once casting [was completed], the challenge of having them work in an acting methodology that steers away from the melodramatic school that [dominates] Egyptian cinema is deserving of a headline itself.Then came post-production. When the controversy first arose before the shoot, our Arab backers walked out on us with all the money [earmarked] for post-production. Finishing the film was only possible due to the help of many people and institutions who believed in the potential and importance of the work.Today, a new wave of violence and controversy is surrounding the film, [in which] polarized Egyptian public opinion [is resulting in] a love or hate stance and propelling debates concerning freedom of speech and FGM into the public sphere. This whole frenzy culminated with an article recently condemning me to death for tarnishing Egypt's reputation.
- Tell us about the moment you found out that you were accepted into Sundance.
I was busy preparing for the premiere of the film in Egypt at the Cairo International Film Festival. I woke up this one fateful morning and sat on the balcony of a friend's houseboat where I stay during my Cairo trips. I was sipping my coffee and staring at the Nile. The sun was shinning, and that instant coffee just tasted better, as I was asking myself, 'why is everything so hard?'I had been working on this film for over five years now, and every moment had been a struggle. I put an end to my reverie and dragged myself back to the computer screen. I started by checking my mail, and I opened the letter addressed to me by Sundance's Caroline Libresco informing me of my selection. I stared at the screen in disbelief and after a few seconds of utter shock I started banging on the table and screaming. My excitement was beyond words. I was being fought by everyone for daring to dream and realizing this film, and all of a sudden, the best thing that could ever happen to me, happened -- professional recognition by the beacon festival of independent cinema.My friend came running, asking if I was okay and I could not speak, instead I started banging on the table again simulating the percussion music of my film. I closed the email and kept this a secret for three days. I needed to savor it alone for a while -- to allow it to heal some of the wounds the fight for this film had inflicted upon me. Then I shared it with my crew who had long supported me and believed in this film. Their joy was out of this world. Our efforts and the love that went into making this movie were finally recognized.
- What do you hope to get out of the festival, what are your own goals for the experience?
I want to watch all the movies. To be honest this is what excites me most about the prospect of being invited to the festival... the chance to screen and listen to all the experiences of the other filmmakers that found their way into the Sundance family. I am also dying to meet Robert Redford in person. He's always been a favorite of mine. Of course I do hope that my own movie will be well-received, and sold and distributed internationally -- an Arab movie breaking into the international market for its artistic and cinematic value. Maybe the graceful look I carry from the east, beyond the veil of cliches that usually stigmatizes the occidental point-of-view, will allow the orient to be restored in its just and rightful place and value. But all said and done, I still want to watch all the movies and meet everyone above everything else.
- What is your definition of independent film?
An independent film is an audiovisual creative process that escapes the norms and boundaries imposed by the industry aspect of filmmaking. It is a film that gets funding from various sources, enough to have it exist, but never to impose any creative decisions. And this is what I tried to achieve with "Kiss Me Not on the Eyes"-- primarily, creative freedom and choice. Of course it wasn't easy
- If you were given $10 million to be used for moviemaking, how would you spend it?
Ten million dollars in the Arab world... That would be five movies if I took my latest film as the bar. In the states, ten million is a pretty tight budget though... from what I hear at least. I would have to find the right story for it. But ultimately, with such money I would love to write and direct a modern, highly stylized and political musical, based on the paradigms of Western and Arabic musicals -- modernized, combined, with artists from both worlds singing together.
- What are one or two of your New Years resolutions?
My New Year's resolution is two fold. One of which is a bit unrealistic, but they do not call them resolutions for nothing. I want to finish a film in 18-months. A brand new one written and directed [by me] but certainly not produced. And, I want to be surrounded by an excellent crew. I already have the core of it and I wish to [maintain] that feeling of creative bonding.
- What are some of your favorite films, and why? What is your top ten list for 2005?
Some of my favorite films : Robert Altman's "Shortcuts" because I love its narrative lines and character constructions, this feeling of having to surrender to his world to "get it " ; Kim ki duk's "The Isle" is a masterpiece of love and death ; "La regle du jeu" by Renoir. I love how he perceives a film as a work-in-progress until the last minute; "In the Mood for Love" by Wong Kar-wai for the sensuality [and] his use of movement and repetition [and] the music the colors, I just love this film. "Seven Samurai" is my favorite epic."L'eclise" by Antonioni. For few people have been able to put in images like he has a metapysical feeling of alienation ; Fellini's " La dolce vita " for his portrayal of a Mediterranean lust for life; Kieslowsky's "Thou shall not Kill. Godard... anything by Godard. Don't ask why he just does it for me. [And], "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" is the most entertaining and aesthetically fulfilling film I have seen recently.
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posted by santhosheditor
11:32 PM
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this is the first time i heared about Jocelyne Saab...
now i like her..
i wish to see her filims also..
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Tuesday, November 07, 2006
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Kerala targets 20 pc increase in
foreign tourist arrivals Thiruvananthapuram: With the State all decked up to welcome travellers from all over the world, Kerala Tourism aims at a 20 percent increase in foreign tourist arrivals in this season. The domestic tourist arrivals are expected to increase by 5 pc this season. The Government is laying special emphasis on infrastructure development, said Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Minister for Tourism. Apart from encouraging big investments in the hotel sector, small and medium investments and home stays are also promoted to cater to the increasing demands.  An unprecedented increase has been registered in arrivals to the Malabar region. Last year, Wayanad registered around 196 pc increase in the arrival of foreign tourists. Kerala Tourism hopes to get Rs. 100000 million revenue from the sector. Investments to the tune of Rs. 10000 million are also expected in the sector. Special emphasis has been given to the Malabar region in various international campaigns. The nodal centres of the Malabar Tourism Development Project are Bekal, Kannur, Thalasserry, Kozhikode, Nilambur and Wayanad. Other prominent attractions include the Bekal Fort, inland water bodies of Kannur, Dharmadom Island, Muzhuppilangad beach, Sandbanks of Vadakara, Thusharagiri waterfalls, Beypore, Nilambur, Hydel tourism at Banasura Sagar dam and Beenachi eco-park in Wayanad. Beach destinations including Kovalam, Bekal, Meenkunnu, Payyambalam, Muzhuppilangad, Kappad and Beypore are expected to attract large number of tourists. Hilly regions including Muthanga, Tholpetty, Peruvannamoozhy, Aaralam, Pythalmala and Ranipuram have also been promoted. A pilgrim tourism circuit connecting Thirunelly, Kottiyoor, Parassinikkadavu, Thodeekulam Temple, Malik Dinar Mosque, St. John’s Church, Rajarajeswary Temple and Odayil Mosque has also been set up. The state tourism sector is poised to get a major boost with hotel infrastructure projects of various groups are nearing completion in different parts of the state. Though some of the big names in the industry are already in business in the state, many more like the Holiday Inn, Crown Plaza, Ramada, Banyan Tree, Preferred have come up with mega projects. Prominent Indian players like the Taj, Hinduja and Ind Royal have also initiated projects. |
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posted by santhosheditor
9:03 PM
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Friday, November 03, 2006
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our forest
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Forests a Different Approach
It deserves to be considered as anecosystem and an insurance of agriculture.It is high time that we clear theambiguities existing in matters likedefinition, control, management,conservation and future.There is no simple agreed definition of"forest" due to varying climatic, social,economic and historic conditions. Thesituation is complicated by the fact that formany governments "forest" denotes a legalclassification of areas that may or may notactually have tree cover. I do not find adefinition of forest in The Kerala Forest Act,1961. The Supreme Court (1996) held thatthe word "forest" must be understoodaccording to the dictionary meaning .
However, the FAO definition is mainlyfollowed in global treatments of forest. Thisdefinition covers ecosystems that areapproachdominated by trees (defined as perennialwoody plants taller than 5 meters atmaturity), when the tree crown cover (orequivalent stocking level) exceeds 10% andthe area is larger than 0.5 hectares. The termincludes forest used for production,protection, multiple use, or conservation, aswell as forest stands on agricultural lands(such as windbreaks and shelterbelts of treeswith a width of more than 20 meters) andplantations of different types.
It also includesboth naturally regulating and plantedforests. The term excludes stands of treesestablished primarily for agriculturalproduction, such as fruit tree plantations,and trees planted in agroforestry systems(but rubber and cork oak stands areincluded). Billions of trees outside the forestin cities, along roads and rivers, on farms,and so on are not included in the twocategories just described. The threshold of10% is crucial in this definition.The total area of global forests isestimated at 4356 million hectares or aboutADifferent30% of the world's land area. India has arecorded forest area of 76.52 millionhectares or 23.28% of the country'sgeographical area.
The forests of Kerala stateForests13August 2006 KERALA CALLINGand used sustainably to fulfill social,economic, ecological, cultural and spiritualneeds of present and future generations".The services provided by forests includeprovisioning, regulating, cultural andsupporting services. The major classes offorest services are dealt with here.
BiodiversityForests are an important repository ofterrestrial biodiversity, across three importantdimensions: structural diversity (such asareas of forests, natural and protected forests,species mixtures and age structure),compositional diversity (numbers of totalfloral/faunal species, for example, andendangered species), and functional diversity( the impact of major processes and naturaland human induced disturbances).Tropical forests cover less than 10%of Earth's land area but harbor between 50%and 90% of Earth's terrestrial species. Othertypes of forests are not as species-rich astropical ones but are relatively species-richecosystems within their own contexts.
Considerable information on forest relatedbiodiversity has become available over thepast decade.Two-thirds of 136 ecologically distinctterrestrial regions identified as outstandingexamples of biodiversity are located in forestregions, according to WWF. SimilarlyBirdlife International identified 218 areascontaining 2 or more species of birds withrestricted ranges. 83% of these 281 areasoccur in forests. Of 234 centers of plantdiversity identified by IUCN and WWF,Over 45000 species ofplants are found inIndia. The vascularflora, which form theconspicuousvegetation coveritself comprise about15000 species. Aspecial feature ofIndia's forests is theoccurrence of bambooas under storey totrees. In total 133species of bamboooccur.
There are 350species of mammals,1200 species of birds,and more than 20000species of insects.with different natural vegetation types, coveran area of 769900 hecatres, in addition toabout 186200 hectares of forest plantations.Services provided by forests are many.The 1992 UN Forest Principles identifiedthe multifunctional and multiservicepurpose of the world's forests: " Forestresources and forest lands shall be managed14KERALA CALLING August 2006more than 70% are found in forests.India is rich in biodiversity at all levels –the gene, the species, and the ecosystem.India is one of the 12 mega biodiversitycountries in the world.
In India over 45000 species of plantsoccur. The vascular flora, which form theconspicuous vegetation cover itselfcomprises about 15000 species. A specialfeature of India's forests is the occurrence ofbamboo as under storey to trees. In total133 species of bamboo occur. There are 350species of mammals, 1200 species of birds,and more than 20000 species of insects.The major forest types represented inKerala include the dry deciduous, semievergreen,evergreen and shola forests.Within these four major forest types areseveral sub-types, forest plantation crops liketea, plantations of timber and pulp woodspecies like teak, eucalyptus, acacias, pinesetc. engaging an area of 186200 hectares.There are more than 4500 wild species offlowering plants of which above 1500 taxaare endemic. There is also equally rich faunalwealth.
There are 102 species of mammals,476 species of birds, 169 species of reptiles,89 species of amphibians and 202 speciesof freshwater fishes.Forest decline threatens biodiversity atall levels. IUCN estimates that 12.5 % ofthe world's species of plants, 44% of birds,57% of amphibians, 87% of reptiles, and75% of mammals are threatened by declineof forests.The World List of Threatened Trees(Oldfield et al 1998) indicates that morethan 8000 tree species (9% of the total) arecurrently threatened with extinction.It is difficult to say with precision theextent to which forest habitat loss results inpopulation or species extinction, because ourknowledge of forest biodiversity is soincomplete. Nonethless, it is clear thatdeforestation, particularly in the tropics, ishaving extremely negative impacts onbiodiversity.
In the state of Kerala and elsewhere thedriving forces behind decline in biodiversityhave been identified to be conversion of forest areas for non-forestrypurposes, encroachments and other illegaloccupations, tourism and pilgrimage, invasion of exotic weeds, poor regeneration of indigenous species, pollution by pesticides/insecticides/fertilizers, natural calamities and over-exploitation.
Soil and Water ProtectionIn many regions, forest is a majorstabilizing component of natural landscapes,providing protection of soil and water,house-holds, and fields and reducing orpreventing floods and landslides. Levelsof soil erosion in the tropics may be 10 -20 times higher on areas cleared of forests,due to construction of roads, and loglandings during mechanical logging, thanin undisturbed natural forests, and this isparticularly the case in mountainous andother areas characterized by fragile soils.Regulation of hydrological cycles andprocesses is one of the important servicesprovided by forests at large scales. Globally,forests' hydrological functions have beenclaimed to include increasing precipitationand decreasing evaporation; regulating thetotal and redistribution of surface andbelowground runoff; smoothing out theseasonal course of river discharges; increasingtotal river runoff; protecting landscapesagainst soil erosion and landslides, inparticular in mountains; preventing andmitigating the consequences of floods;maintaining water quality; protecting riverbanks against destruction; and preventingsiltation of reservoirs.
It is unfortunate thatmany of our development agencies totallyignore this service by forest ecosystems.Fiber, Fuel, and NonwoodForest ProductsWood is currently the most economicallyimportant forest product. During 1996-2000, about 3.3 billion cubic meters ofwood were harvested annually from theworld's forests, and round-woodproduction has steadily increased byapproximately 0.8% per year.Fuel wood meets about 7% of energydemand worldwide, including about 15%in developing countries and 2% in industrialcountries. Globally, about 1.8 billion cubicmeters of wood is used annually for fuel.Wood fuel constitutes about 80% of thetotal in developing countries , where aboutone third of the total forest plantations wereestablished primarily for that purpose. Morethan 60% of these plantations are in Asiaand 25% in Latin America.Non-wood forest products (NWFP)include a tremendous diversity of items -some of which enter formal markets, butmany that do not.
They can be classified ina number of broad number of categoriesaccording to their end use; edible products,fodder for domestic animals, medicines,perfumes and cosmetics, colorants,ornamentals, utensils, handicrafts, andconstruction materials, and exudates likegums, resins, and latex. Overall, they playan important role in the daily life and wellbeingof hundreds of millions of peopleworld wide as well as in the nationaleconomies of many countries.NWFP are extensively extracted fromIndian forests and their role in rural andforest economies is immense. However, thelong term ecological sustainability of NWEPextraction with respect to resource15August 2006 KERALA CALLINGpopulations, dependent animal species andecosystem functioning has remained largelyunexamined. There is a glaring scarcity ofsystematic research on ecological aspects ofNWFP extraction in India. From a fewavailable studies, it appears that speciesdiffer in their responses to harvestdepending on the plant part extracted,natural history attributes and harvestingtechniques.
However, regeneration andpopulation densities of some NWFP speciesare reported to be adversely affected byextraction. Such adverse effects are due to acombination of harvests, damagingharvesting practices and accompanyinganthropogenic disturbances. The availableliterature also indicates a disturbing trendof ecosystem simplification due to intensiveforest use, including extraction of NWFP,which may gradually lead to the weedingout of valuable plant species from Indianforests.
Carbon SequestrationForests play an important role in theglobal carbon cycle and consequently inregulating the global climate system. Twomain features of forests define this role. First,the world's forests accumulate a major partof the planet's terrestrial ecosystem carbon.Second, forests and wetlands are the twomajor land cover classes that are able toprovide long-term sequestration of carbon.Accumulation of carbon in wood and soilsresults in a more significant share of totalnet primary productivity being stored inthe long term than in other land cover classesand can represent as much as 10 – 15% ofnet primary productivity.Deforestation in the tropics has thegreatest impact on the carbon cycle of anyland use and land cover change. It is reportedthat land use change (mostly deforestation)is the source of 1.6 +/ - 0.8 billion tons ofcarbon per year.Recently disturbed and regeneratedforests usually lose carbon from both soiland remnant vegetation, whereas matureundisturbed forests maintain an overallneutral carbon balance. 
The rate of carbonsequestration depends upon age, site quality,species composition, and the style of forestmanagement.Sociocultural Values andServicesForests are highly valued for a host ofsocial, cultural, and spiritual reasons. Forestsand people have co-developed, with peopleshaping the physical nature of most forests(including those we today consider"natural") and the forest, in turn, exerting apowerfull influence over human culturesand spiritual beliefs. For many indigenousand traditional societies, forests are sacredand sometimes supernatural places, linkedto both religious beliefs and the very identityof some communities and peoples. Thewidespread existence of "sacred groves" inmany societies is a physical manifestationof this spiritual role and has contributed toforest conservation.
Forests provide spiritual and recreationalservices to millions of people through forestrelatedtourism. Nature-based tourism hasincreased more rapidly than the generaltourism market, evolving from a nichemarket to a mainstream element of globaltourism.Drivers of Change in ForestEcosystemsChanges in forest conditions are theresult of interactions among many factors –social, ecological, economic, climatic, andbiophysical. Rapid population growth,political instability, market forces,institutional strengths and weakness, naturaland human induced disturbances, andmany other factors, may be important.16KERALA CALLING August 2006K.P. Ouseph, IFSThe biggest challenge NatureConservation has been confronting isthe disparity between environmentalconservation & economic development and theremedy lies more in policy matters thantechnical.
Forest Conservation problems of thestate are also not different. On how thisproblem is handled by the policy makers, willdepend the conservation of what is left of theforests in the state.For ensuring actual conservation of forests,the shortsighted concept of `forests' as reflectedin the records, has to spread outwards to thelands bordering the forests.The desire to protect at least the existingmeager forests on one side and the humanconsideration of how to expel the encroachersand where to provide for them who had builthutments and dwellings years ago, on the otherhand. The assumption that illegal forestencroachers are criminals on one hand andregularising the act of encroaching intogovernment property when thousands arelandless among us. This is unjust and will onlyencourage new encroachments. Delay in theCover StoryBiophysical factors, such as a region's history of landscapetransformation, the highsensitivity of forest soils to machinery used for logging, or forestfires can also playa significant role.
Direct drivers of deforestation are human activities or immediateaction at thelocal level, such as agricultural expansion, that originate fromintended land useand directly affect forest cover. These direct drivers can bebroadly categorized intothose related to agricultural expansion, wood extraction, andinfrastructureextension.Indirect drivers of deforestation are fundamental social processes,such as humanpopulation dynamics or agricultural policies,that underpin thedirect drivers andeither operate at the local level or have an indirect impact fromthe national orglobal level. These indirect drivers fall into five broadcategories: economic, policyand institutional, technological, cultural/sociopolitical, anddemographic.
In summary, while it is possible to identify with some certainitythe factorsunderlying deforestation in a general sense, it is very difficult topinpoint a uniformset of drivers and their relative contributions that can be said toapply generally ata global or even regional level.Human Well-being and ForestsForests supply essential services to human well-being across theworld. Humanforestinteractions manifest themselves in many direct and indirect ways,eachdepending variously on the amount of forest, its condition, and itsdistributionover the landscape.More than 1.7 billion people live in the 40 nations with criticallylow levels offorest cover, (India has 100 million forest dwellers) in many caseshinderingprospects for sustainable development. This will triple by 2025 and13 additionalcountries will experience forest resources scarcity. That is theprediction.
Populationgrowth has drastically shrunkthe forest-to-people ratio from1.2 hectares per capita in1960 to 0.6 hectares atpresent. This is also predictedto decline.The expected decline inper capita availability of forestsin developing countriesgenerates additional problemsfor sustainable development.In many parts of the developing world, direct harvesting of forestproducts byrural families contributes to more than 50% of total consumption andother household needs. This large group of people is particularlyvulnerableto the negative impacts of declining forest cover.Many forest settlements now suffer from unemployment and a lackof basic living conditions; subsistence farming , gathering mushroomsand wild berries and fruits, fishing, and poaching have become majorsources for subsistence in many forest regions.Improving the condition of forests and their contribution to humanwell- being is an important and urgent task, both nationally andinternationally.
Recent history, such as international effortsworking withthe Tropical Forestry Action Plan clearly shows both how difficultit is toachieve sustainable forest management in the contemporary world andthat many problems remain to be solved in order to realize thepotentialbenefits that forests have to offer.The author is former Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of CalicutReference:Agenda 21 An Assessment: 2002: Govt.of India, MoEF.State of Environment Report Kerala 2005: KSCSTE.Ecosystems And Human Well-being, Vol.1 : 2005: Mellennium EcosystemAssessment:Island Press, Washington.
by prof. m.k. prasad
curtasy kerala caling
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posted by santhosheditor
1:27 PM
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Thursday, November 02, 2006
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this happend in god's own country
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posted by santhosheditor
4:30 PM
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but far better than
http://virtualvillage.wesleyan.edu/about/images/about_bihar_bus.jpg
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2010/images/20030523006301101.jpg
Rathish
www.rathishg.com
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its not a pic its life.....
aprcate the photographer..
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kollam nalla effort inganenkilum rakshapedunnenkil rekshapedattu eswro rakshitho........anyway hppy new yaer,,,puthuvalsarthilenkilum nall budhi thonikkaneeeeeeeeeee
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very nice interview