“Eco-Restoration: Issues and possiblities in Mandla district”

Presented by Ishan Agrawal

Foundation for Ecological Security

100 villages,more than 8000 households, 2000 hectares of commons being protected in Mandla

Mandla District:

l Tribal community, forest and poverty

Issues in Mandla

Current fallowDeciduous forest

Double / trippleKharif only

Other wastelandScrub/Deg. forest

ScrublandWater bodies

0.0000

50000.0000

100000.0000

150000.0000

200000.0000

250000.0000

2004-052011-122013-14

Under story 3:Lantana camara (Bara masi /Lantana)

Forest floor dominating by some Invasive species

Under story 4: Parthenium hysterophorus (Gazar ghass)

Open area adjacent to forest block

l Ecological Security is the foundation for sustainable developmentl Commons – as they are the physical, institutional and political spaces of

the poorl Conservation and poverty alleviation go hand in hand

Leanings of FES

Understanding landscape

We take advantage of working on natural features, we start eco restoration processes by identifying contiguous stretch of land - may be catchment of a small river, macro watersheds, range of hills or a social cohesive unit.

Grazing land

Reserve Forest

Water Body

Farming Lands

Watershed Boundary

Village Settlement

Ecosystems within ecosystems

PanchayatPanchayat

Village Boundary

Vulnerability analysis helps unfold discussion with communities on degradation issues.

I. High canopy cover maintained through:- Conservation

IV. Management measures aimed regulating grazing, restricting forest fire, improving soil moisture regime for rejuvenating plant life and expression of bio diversity.

III. Open scrubs on medium slopes improved through:-Natural Regeneration, Rules and regulation, Protection

V. Disputed degraded forest land addressed through Policy level advocacy and village level actions.

II. Agricultural land: Improving benefits due to catchement protection, improving ecological services for agriculture, Improvement in production within resource limits

Sacred groves

Forest fringes

A private forest of a Baiga of kapot behra Forest village

Interventions planned in current cropping pattern

Forest commons

Grid locking, maize+vegetables: plantation on bunds, acceptability for diverse species; Focus on women farmers;

Improving area under pulses and oilseeds; low ecological footprint crops;

land treatment of uplands along with input support and silt application in uplands; en-bloc but diverse plantations on private uplands possible

Minimise soil loss, plantation on bunds;

Conservation planning by communities and lantana eradication wherever possible

Restoration in commons

A patch of revenue wasteland, re-vegetated by villagers with cut and carry systems for grasses

Kanharikalan, Bichiya: A patch without community protection in 2010

Kanharikalan, Bichiya: A patch with community protection in 2013

New Common Pool resources

Reviving drains and streams and developing new water bodies through institutional strengthening, integrated watershed planning at micro level. Introduce processes which help upstream village are shared benefits that generally go to only downstream villages.

Exploring eco-tourism, organic agriculture, aggregation and backyard poultry as ways to improve livelihood portfolio with minimum ecological footprint

Thank You