Indian Wildlife Club Forum

Considering overall condition of climate change and absence of planning of sectoral integration and tackling of all type of lands simultaneously, the NRAA has developed an innovative project on “simultaneous treatment of fringe forests and adjoining non-forestlands for conservation of water, biodiversity, sustainability of JFM and poverty alleviation” in consultation with the Ministry of Environment & Forests and the State Forest Departments. The proposed scheme endeavours to enhance synergies of all land type of lands in an integrated and sequential manner. The treatment of forests and non-forestland (Ridge to Valley Approach) on 50:50 ratio with site specific variations based on the availability of both land use and involvement of the communities in the management and development of natural resources is the main plank of the strategy. The scheme endeavours for water harvesting and moisture conservation, biomass production through plantation of indigenous grasses and multipurpose tree species, and augmenting income & providing livelihoods to the villagers through Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Eco-tourism, Fishery, Horticulture, promotion & development of natural resource based micro & medium enterprises (e.g. NTFPs, Seri-culture, etc.). The strengthening of JFM and other alternative institutions is an important corner stone of the programme. Underutilized, unutilized natural resources will be productively and efficiently harnessed for need based production systems to enhance the productivity of bio-productive systems. The successful implementation of scheme will result enhanced land productivity, better livelihood opportunities, improved water availability, equity in resource sharing and enhanced income generation which will ultimately lead to all round prosperity in the rainfed areas with minimized social conflicts.

The scheme will cover 132 distress prone districts belonging to 16 states of the country and is expected to treat 1.4 million ha degraded land with a financial input of Rs 2,24,779 crores during 2011 and 2016. The scheme will be implemented by the MoEF through SFDAs/FDAs. The following activities are proposed to be taken up under scheme.

1.      Survey of fringe forest areas for planning of activities.

2.      Community mobilization and formation of community groups.

a)     Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs)

b)     Self Help Groups (SHGs)

c)      Watershed Committees/User Groups

d)     Others

3.      Entry point activities and micro-planning support.

4.      Work components (civil structures).

A) Soil and moisture conservation work.

a)     Gully plugs

b)     Contour and graded bunds / contour trenches

c)      Bench terracing

d)     Field bunding

e)     Others

B)  Water harvesting structures

a)     Water bodies

b)     Nallah bandh

c)      Check dam/stop dams/dice dams

d)     Percolation tank/ water retention tanks

e)     Weirs

f) Others

5.      Afforestation and pasture development

a)   Vegitative barriers.

b)   Farm-forestry/ agro-forestry.

c)   Community land development.

d)   Plantation of multipurpose fruits, timber, fodder, fiber and fuelwood species.

e)   Plantation of indigenous grasses.

f)     Non timber forest produce / medicinal plants.

g)   After care particularly against fire/ grazing.

h)  Others

6.      Livelihood through animal husbandry activities

a)      Breed improvement/ induction of animals

b)      Artificial insemination coverage

c)       Fodder bank establishment

d)      Dry forage enrichment / enriched feed blocks

e)      Health coverage/ livestock immunization

f)       Establishing producer societies

g)      Value addition/ market linkages

7.      Indigenous fish culture

a)      Fish hatcheries establishment

b)      Promotion of Integrated fish farming systems

c)       Value addition/ market linkages

8.      Promotion of natural resource based micro & medium enterprises/ skill development/ value addition.

9.      Capacity building.

10. Technology transfer/ demonstration, etc.

The scheme in nut shell will be an excellent tool to mitigate climate change. The NRAA in collaboration with the six State Forest Departments have already launched Pilot Projects of this scheme. The details of treatment activities to be undertaken during next two financial years under the programme are summarized in the following table.

The highlights of the pilot projects programme are as follows; 

1.      Integrated land based activities of Water, Forests, Agriculture, Rural Development, Micro & Medium Enterprises, etc. in the project area.

2.      Area specific Watershed and Watershed Plus based treatment approach.

3.      Regeneration and/ or plantation of indigenous grasses, medicinal herbs/shrubs, fruit and fodder yielding shrubs and multipurpose trees.

4.      In situ moisture conservation through development of water harvesting and water conservation structures.

5.      Livelihood generation through promotion of natural raw material based Micro & Medium Enterprises specifically animal husbandry, fishery, eco-tourism, etc.

6.      Increased employment opportunities through value addition and developing market linkages for natural resource based products specifically NTFPs.

7.      Farmer’s typology centric with emphasis on marginal & small farmers, landless & assetless, and women.

8.      Convergence of resources, activities and programs.

9.      Participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and follow up.

10. Enhancement of overall land productivity, employment potential and livelihoods on sustained basis.

11. Capacity building at project/cluster level.

12. Coverage of different types of rainfed agro-ecology/typology through proper selection of clusters in the domain of interest.