Conservation With Communities in The Biodiversity Hotspots of India 1

for a living planet
Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India
March 2005
Forests & Biodiversity Conservation Programme WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE - INDIA
172-B, Lodi Estate, New Delhi - 110 003 Tel : 91-11-51504785 / 87, Fax : 91-11-51504779 / 95 E-mail : forests@wwfindia.net Visit us at : www.wwfindia.org
Project Team
WWF-India Secretariat Mr. P.K. Sen (Director) Mr. Sudipto Chatterjee Dr. Rajeev Semwal Ms. Gitika Goswami Maharashtra State Office Dr. J.C. Punetha Kerala State Office Ms. Sudha Soni Mr. Siva Kumar Gujarat State Office Dr. Jayesh Bhatt Mr. Vijay Mane Arunachl Pradesh Field Office Mr. Pijush Kumar Dutta Dr. D. Saikia Mr. Govinda Pangging
for a living planet
CONSERVATION WITH COMMUNITIES IN THE BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS OF INDIA
With support from Ford Foundation - US and World Wild Life Fund - US
March 2005
Forests & Biodiversity Conservation Programme WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE-INDIA
172-B, Lodi Estate, New Delhi - 110 003, Tel : 91-11-51504785 / 87, Fax : 91-11-51504779 / 95 E-mail : forests@wwfindia.net, Visit us at : www.wwfindia.org
CONTENTS
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 7 1. An Introduction to Participatory Forestry in India and the Case Studies 1.1 2. The Case Studies : ............................................................................................ 11
Description of the study sites & data analysis 2.1 Western Ghats Gujarat Case Study 1. Analysing reasons for intentional / accidental forest fires in Dangs region, Gujarat ................................................................................................. 12 Case Study 2. An assessment of Sustainable Forest Management by developing Criteria and Indicators : An exercise at village Kunbar in Rajpipla Forest Division, South Gujarat .................................................................. 28 Maharashtra Case Study 3. Cultivation of medicinal plants and establishment of a market linkage with participation of the local community at village Ahwati in Nasik district of Maharashtra ................................................................... 35 Case Study 4. Evaluation of ongoing Joint Forest Management (JFM) by using criteria and indicators developed by local communities at village Ahwati in Nasik District ............................................................................................... 45 Kerala Case Study 5. Strengthening the capacity of the Vana Samraksana Samithies (VSS) in South Western Ghats - Villages Pottamavu & Vanchiyode .................................................................................................................... 49 2.2 Eastern Himalaya Arunachal Pradesh Feasibility of Introducing Group Certification for Swertia chirayita in Western Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalaya .................................................... 68
Acknowledgements
We place in record our gratitude towards the funding support from Ford Foundation, US and support and guidence from Dr. Stephen Kelleher and Dr. Tom Erdmann, WWF-US. Thanks are due to the Forest Officials of the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh who helped us in collecting the information on forest related issues. We are grateful to the support we have received from M.S. College Vadodara, Gujarat, Agarkhar Research Institute, Pune and State Forest Research Institute, Itanagar. Sincere thanks are also due to all the villagers in the project locations with whom we have interacted during our study. We thank them profusely for their time, information shared and guidance provided.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The community forestry project of WWF-India dates back to mid nineties. At the inception WWF-India interected with the Forest Department and local communities to better understand the Joint Forest Management (JFM) processes and success stories and also worked as an interface between the local communities and the FD. The objective was initially to make people aware about the benefits of JFM and provide a platform to bring the views and perceptions of the local people to the Forest Department. WWF-India initiated work in three states in the Western Ghats, viz., Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala in 2001. In the year 2002, WWF-India implemented a pilot project, on assessment of JFM at village Ahwati in Maharashtra. Kunbar in Gujarat and Vanchiyode in Kerala. This was an opportunity to develop a deeper insight into status of JFM and challenges ahead in these states. Experiences gained by the programme helped in implementation of the present project during 20032005 in the biodiversity hotspots. These hotpots are areas of high biological diversity high endemism and under high anthropogenic pressures. Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas are two hotspots in India (Norman Myers 1988, 1990). The following sections discuss in detail the case studies in the abovementioned states. All the case studies have the potential to link with Joint Forest Management as a followup of this programme. A brief account of the case studies follows :
Better practices for Raab cultivation in Dangs Forests of Gujarat

Of the many known causes of forest fires in India, slash and burn agriculture practiced in the vicinity of forests is one. Raab cultivation, a form of shifting cultivation practiced by the tribal communities like the Bhils and Konkans in the Dangs Forests between the fertile plains of south Gujarat and rugged plateau of western Maharashtra, could also be a possible cause of forest fires in the region. Raab farming is reported to be more intensive in the Dangs district. Malki lands (ownership of which has been conferred to the tribals of the region by the government), where Raab is mostly practiced, is at present under immense pressure. Once described as sea of forests during the colonial period, Malki lands today appear as heavily lopped forests, rendering the trees to extreme physiological stress and at times beyond the capacity to rejuvenate. Historically, Dangs has been a region of civil unrest particularly during the British rule. In 1970 the question of conferring occupancy rights to Dangis for the lands on lease being cultivated by them in the protected forests of Dangs district was under consideration. The government after careful consideration directed that the land be placed at the disposal of the revenue department for conferring occupancy to the Dangis. This was however subject to certain conditions
specified in the state governments resolution in February 1992. The occupancy rights would be given only to the Dangis and not to outsiders who may have obtained leases of certain lands in Dangs. Occupancy rights were given only in respect of those lands, which were actually leased to Dangis and in their natural possession as on January 1, 1970. The reserved trees on these lands continue to vest with the forest department but the cultivators are entitled to lop them for the purpose of cultivation. However, the responsibility of cutting the trees from the reserve forests, rests with the state forest department for revenue generation through auctions. The Forest Department, Government of Gujarat has been making attempts to motivate the farmers to switch over to better agricultural practices, for example, the use of vermin-composts in the fields has been suggested visa-vis the use of burnt litter. Timber auction has created lot of awareness and there has been a realization within the community that fires in the forest subsequently decrease the value of timber. It does not fetch the requisite price at the forest deposit and results in a loss to the tribals. The Forests and Biodiversity Programme of WWF-India undertook an initiative, to understand the compulsions behind cultivation of nagli (millet) and rice through the traditional methods. Socioeconomic surveys were conducted in the villages Enginepada, Bhujad, Chikhla, Devdiyavan, Masli, Khatar, Dhulda, Bandhpada, Mahal, Dhongiamba, Bardipada, Sajupada, Hadaol, Lahnkasad, Girmal, Goundha, Devan Tembrun and Jamlapada. Efforts were taken to encourage farmers to undertake cultivation through better practices. The challenge was to overcome the mindset that cultivation of nagli and rice is not possible without Raab cultivation. An experiment cum demonstration was undertaken involving the cultivation of nagli and rice without practicing Raab burning.
Forest Protection in Maharashtra and Gujarat

WWF-India associated with rural communities in northern parts of Nasik district of Maharashtra Rajpipla forest division of Gujarat with strong willingness for forest protection. The area is inhabited by tribals and nontribals who are dependent on agriculture as a main source of livelihood. The rainshadow portions of the region are almost devoid of vegetation and most of the forests have been destroyed by earlier generations. Demand for fuelwood, timber and fodder might have been the major factors responsible for decreasing the forest vegetation. A large percentage of population reared goat and sheep for their sustenance till a few years back. Realising the adverse impact of deforestation, the villagers accepted the establishment of Joint Forest Management (JFM) initiated by Governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The concept of JFM has taken the shape of a movement within the last couple of years. WWFIndia associated itself with this movement around three years back by playing a role of catalyst between the government and village community. Initially, WWF-India was restricted to monitoring and evaluation of the concept by organising training programmes/ workshops for testing criteria & indicators. It also used its expertise in the area of public awareness and educational techniques in the field of nature conservation. An idea, of setting up a model project in the cultivation of medicinal plants for economic benefits and environmental awareness of the villagers, was initiated in one of the successful project sites called Ahwati in Nashik district. The project was initiated previous year with cultivation of ten medicinal plant species. The purpose was to reduce pressure on natural forests for economic gains, to make use of the extra portions of land lying with villagers (non-
agricultural and degraded land), to reduce loss of certain species as a result of extensive use of land under agriculture. The project motivated the neighbourhood villages as well. The public awareness programmes, launched by WWF-India jointly with JFM active supporters, has resulted in the formation of new committees in a number of villages. From a meager number of a dozen JFM Committees till about two years back, today there are more than 150 villages working under the JFM movement in Satana and Kalvan, two sub-divisions of the district. Today villagers talk about the greening of their barren hills in most of the forums.
promoting links between the two different types of VSS. This has given origin to the development of a concept of inter & intra VSS coordination that could prove fruitful and effective in enhancing the effectiveness of sustainable utilization of natural resources and in turn forest management.
Feasibility of Group Certification of Swertia chirayita in Eastern Himalaya

The state of Arunachal Pradesh harbours a rich stock of high valued medicinal plants like Taxus wallichiana, Acorus sp, Picrorhiza kurroa, Swertia chirayita etc. Local communities of the state with otherwise limited scopes of livelihood are engaged in the trade of these plants. Most of the Swertia chirayita marketed from the state is harvested in West Kameng district. The whole process of marketing involves many players at different levels such as agents from pharmaceutical companies, retailers from Assam, local contractors, local subcontractors and harvesters. Marketing of Swertia chirayita is a seasonal occupation for the local villagers. The process starts from September and continues till February every year. In September, traders from Assam contact the local villagers and place orders as per the demand in the pharmaceutical companies. The collection of the species is presently banned by the state government. However there were reports of harvest of the species from the wild. An effort was made to explore the possibility of introducing cultivation of Swertia chirayita and organize the farmers for group certification using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) principles.
Capacity building of Forest Protection committees in Kerala

Forests constitute about 9% of the land area in Kerala. Although its almost ten years since the Joint Forest Management programme was initiated in Kerala it was strongly felt that the Forest Protection Committees (Vana Samrakshana Samithies) in Kerala needs strengthening through capacity building. The present project focused on Capacity Building of Vana Samrakshana Samithies at villages Vanchiyode and Pottamava w.r.t. to natural resource management. After an analysis of the NTFP usage in the villages, extensive training programmes were organized for their sustainable management. While implementing the core programme there were many occasions in which the two VSS had a chance to share their experiences and problems related not only to NTFP management but also issues related to administration. It helped in the common sharing of ideas and
1. An Introduction to Participatory Forestry in India and the Case Studies

Participatory Forestry in India is widely known as Joint Forest Management where protection and management of forests is jointly undertaken by Forest Department and the local communities. Joint Forest Management (JFM), a programme of peoples participation in forestry had been initiated from a small village Arabari in Midnapore district of West Bengal in 1972. The objective was to involve the local communities in protecting the forests by sharing the benefits accruing from resources collected from the forest. Similar exercises had been undertaken in Sukhomajri village in Haryana. The success of the programme in these two states led the policy makers to rethink and reorient its emphasis from revenue generation to conservation and form a participatory approach to forest management. However, JFM was formally initiated in June 1990 after receiving an endorsement from the government of India on the JFM system. Certain guidelines like formation of Village Forest Committee (VFC) or Village Forest Protection Committee (VFPC) and the role and functions of these committees were framed. All the state governments were advised to provide a formal framework for implementation of JFM. Twenty-three states in India have till date formally initiated JFM by constituting FPCs. At present there are 63,618 FPCs through out the country managing an area of more than 14 million ha (RUFFOR and MoEF, 2002). Among all the states, Orrisa has the highest average area
under one FPC (597 ha/VFC) and Uttar Pradesh has the lowest area of about 4.69 ha. (Rabindranath, Murali & Malhotra, 2000). West Bengal has the largest JFM programme in India of 53.81% of forest area of the state. Remote Sensing assessments have clearly indicated the improvement of crown cover in some parts of the country due to protection and management of the forests. Micro level studies in some states have shown an improvement in productivity and diversity of vegetation and an increase in income accruing to FPCs from Non timber Forest Produces. Large financial support have been received for the programme from different funding agencies like World Bank, OECF-Japan, DFID-UK, and SIDA Sweden, EEC and UNDP. The ultimate goal of the JFM programme is to initiate participatory forestry which can ultimately lead to a wider role, responsibility and authority for the rural communities in decision making, infrastructure sharing and financial management. The approach in the present study has been to work with the Forest Protection Committees. Although this has been possible in the states of Maharashtra and Kerala, our work remained confined to the local farmers in Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh where the Forest Protection Committies could be involved only in the future projects by WWF-India. Much of the effort in these states have been to analyse the reasons for unsustainable and destructive natural resource practices. A brief background to project initiation under the Ford US grant is follows :
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1.1 The Case Studies :

The community forestry project of WWF-India was initiated in 1997. At the time of its inception WWF-India started interacting with the Forest Department and local communities to understand the JFM process and also worked as an interface between the local communities and the FD. The objective was not only to disseminate the benefits of JFM among the local communities but to also work as a platform to bring the views and perceptions of the local people to the Forest Department and to implement the programme in a sustainable way. With support from International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED), UK a series of workshops were organized in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kerala in Western Ghats in India during 2001-2002. In 2002, WWF-India implemented a small project on the assessment of a SFM at village Ahwati in Maharashtra by developing Criteria and Indicators
based on the local communities under the aegis of the World BankWWF Alliance. The objective of the study was to gain a greater insight into the benefits of JFM for the communities. While working with the communities it was realized that the same exercise could also be replicated in other areas where JFM is being practised successfully. Under the Ford US grant a project was designed to work with the communities on different issues of community forestry in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh during 2003-2005. These hotpots are areas of high biological diversity, high endemism and under high anthropogenic pressures. Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas are two hotspots in India (Norman Myers 1988, 1990). The following sections discuss in detail, the case studies in the abovementioned states. All the case studies have the potential to link with Joint Forest Management as a followup of this programme.
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2. Description of the study sites & data analysis 2.1 Western Ghats Gujarat
Case Study 1. Analysing reasons for intentional / accidental forest fires in Dangs region, Gujarat Introduction
The Dangs district in Gujarat is located between 20 0 3340 and 21 0 510 N Latitudes and 73 0 2758 and 73 0 5636 E Longitudes. The total geographical area of the district is 1,764 sq. kms. In the east it is bounded by the Dhule district of Maharashtra, in the west by Valsad, in the north by Surat district both of Gujarat while in the south by the
Nasik district of Maharashtra. Of the total geographical area, dense forest constitutes 1,008 sq.kms, degraded forest 500 sq.kms, thorn scrub (open forest) 2 sq.km and 184 sq. kms under protected area category. At present in Dangs 58,758 ha is under Malki land (private land) category, 22,000 ha as protected forest and 84,000 ha as reserve forests. The total population of the district is 1, 86,729. There are 311 villages covering 8.9 % of the total land area of the Dangs. (Census data, 2001) The Sahyadri Hills occupy the eastern part of the Dangs district while the western portion descends into the plains of Gujarat. The district also forms the northernmost limit of the Western Ghats ecoregion. Barring a few high hills in the east and south, most of the area is made up of a series of flat-topped low hills. The elevation of these hills varies from 105 m in the west to 1,317 m above mean sea level (amsl) on the eastern border. However, most of the area
Map : Project Locations in Dangs District, Gujarat
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lies between 300 m and 700 m amsl. There are four distinct river valleys viz., Gira, Purna, Khapri and Ambika rivers in the area that emerge in the hills of the Western Ghats and flow towards the west (Wohra, 1991). Almost all the annual rainfall occurs between June and September. The average annual rainfall in the district is about 2,000 mm and the west receives more rains than the east. May is the hottest month when the mean daily maximum temperature soars up to 40 0 C while December is the coldest month in the district. Minimum temperatures are usually well above freezing, and frost is not usual (Patel, 1971). The forests of the Dangs belong to the subgroup South Indian moist deciduous forest, and within this are more specifically classified as moist teak forests (Champion and Seth, 1968). According to the classification followed by Puri et. al., (1983) these forests are classified as deciduous teak forest types which are intermediate between dry and moist categories. They are named as the Tectona-Terminalia-Adina-Anogeissus series. The forests are known to be the richest in Gujarat and contain many invaluable timber species as well as medicinally important species (presently Dangs occupy about 30% of the forest area of Gujarat and generate 50% of its forest revenue and flora of Dangs is richest in Gujarat). Teak (Tectona grandis) is the most dominant species in Dangs and occurs throughout the area. Authentic information about the original inhabitants of Dangs prior to the early 18th century is scanty. However, it is clear that the original inhabitants of the Dangs were the Bhils. This is predominantly an adibasi region with tribals of Bhil, Gamit, Konkanas (kunbi) and Varlies who are called Dangis. The recorded history of Dangs is 400 years old and was first referred by Sir John Hawkins, a British traveller in 1608. According to him Bhils were the rulers of the region and practiced
shifting (slash and burn) agriculture. Although there is no record available on exactly when the Konkanas entered the Dangs, it has been inferred that they were called by the Bhils in order to cultivate their lands (Patel, 1971). The Konkanas migrated here from the coastal areas of Maharashtra like Konkan. According to an oral tradition, the community migrated north as a result of the famine of 1396-1408 that devastated the Konkan region (Hardin 1998). The Konkanas used to practice settled cultivation known as raab. During the early 18th century, the Dangs was ruled by small principalities presided by four Bhil chiefs and ten Naiks. The Konkanas were required to cultivate the lands of these chiefs and Naiks in lieu of tribute (Patel, 1971). Until the late 18th century, slash and burn agricultural system prevailed in the Dangs which was sustainable as the population was small and the shifting agricultural cycle i.e. fallow period between two successive cropping must have been longer. However, by 1891, there were already records to show that the Konkanas were practicing some form of settled agriculture in the Dangs. This usually consisted of lopping the trees within the agricultural field and around the area to be cultivated rather than cutting or burning entire trees (Lucas, 1892). As mentioned earlier, this form of cultivation is known as Raab. The forest history of the Dangs over the past two centuries has been tumultuous. It has been one of defeat and loss of land and livelihood for the local communities. But at the same time, it has also been a history of struggle by the local people of the Dangs against the scheme that farming is detrimental to the forest. The British took over the forests in Dangs from the Surat merchants in 1867 alleging that the Bhils were being exploited. Gradually the British unfolded their original plan and curtailed the rights of Dangi chiefs. In 1889 the forests were divided into reserves and protected categories
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and 1902 onwards rules were strictly enforced to prohibit cultivation in the former category, which constituted about 50% of the total forest cover in the Dangs. Good timber was harvested from the prime locations. A subsequent aerial survey revealed that the existing forests in the Dangs with good conservation values are very patchy. The largest contiguous forest areas are located in the northern and western parts of the districts. Good forests are relegated to the steeper slopes where the plain areas are largely under cultivation (Worah, 1991). In the late 19th century, about 66 per cent of the Dangs land were classed as available for cultivation. Just after independence by 1956-57 the figures diminished to 54 per cent. During the 1960s, the Gujarat government conducted a survey of the Dangs, aiming to give land occupancy deeds to the local inhabitants. According to this survey, 79,913 hectares were classified as farmland, which represented 45 per cent of the total area. In 1970, land deeds were given on condition that forest department would continue to own trees on the land and that the occupants could only lop branches for Raab cultivation. No forest produce could be taken from reserved forest, which now constituted about 50 percent of the Dangs area. Thus, it was observed that land under cultivation decreased substantially over the years. With the gradual acceptance of the idea that without the support of local communities protection of forests would remain a far cry, the forest department relinquished its right in 1997 over trees growing in the cultivated or Malki lands in favour of the cultivators. At present 58,758 ha is under Malki land category, 22,000 ha as protected forests, 84,000 ha as reserve forests (figures based on land records, and personal interviews with forest officers in Dangs). However, it is still too early to conclude whether this change will impact the forest cover and socio-economy of the Dangis.
Geology and Soil

The word Dangs stands for mountainous terrain and also includes the bamboo forest, the principal plant species of the region. Dangs is covered by Deccan Lava flows as horizontally bedded sheets. Hence flat topped hills are common in the area which is characteristic of the trappean country. At places, the trap contains iron and traces of feldspar and hornblende, producing the red, sharp gravel covering many hillsides (Khanchandani 1970). The soil in the valleys is mostly black cotton soils composed mainly of clay mineral. The texture is clay loam and the soil is fertile. It contains high amounts of alumina, lime and magnesia, with a variable amount of low nitrogen and phosphorus. On the slopes of the hill is red soil, which is light and porous and contains no soluble salt (Patel, 1971). The agricultural soils are mildly acidic to neutral with the pH value ranging from 6.7 to 7 and moderately rich in organic Carbon (based on recent analysis by WWF-India in July, 2004).
Raab - The Traditional Agricultural Practice

Raab is an age-old agricultural practice of the Dangis the tribal people living in the Dangs. It is a kind of simultaneous agroforestry practice where the naturally growing teak, Terminalia, Lagerstromia etc. trees are maintained in different densities within and around the Raab fields. These trees of various species are lopped, generally after every 2 years, to obtain the biomass required for burning. at designated plot with in the larger one used for raising nursery of crops like Eleusine coracana (nagli), Oryza sativa (rice), Panicum meliaceum (vari), and occasionally maize and pulses. In addition to the lopped biomass from the trees, leaf litter is also collected from the Protected Forests and occasionally from the Reserve Forests. The amount of biomass burnt (locally known as adar)
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depends on the size of nursery, availability of labour within the household for its collection from the forest, and type of crop being grown in the nursery. On an average, in a plot of 50 sq. m 700kg -1000kg of biomass is burned. The unlocked elements from the burned biomass pool are the source of readily available nutrients for the crops for which the nursery is prepared. The general belief of the farmer is that the robust seedlings grown in this manner provide higher yields than those which are raised in the nurseries where biomass is not burned. This can be corroborated from the study done by Worah (1991). Once the seedlings attain the desired growth (40-60 cm height), these are transplanted into the larger plots. No further inputs are required except occasional weeding after transplantation of crop seedlings. The soil fertility of the bigger agricultural plot is maintained by shifting the location of the nursery (where biomass is burned) every year in such a fashion that practically
every chunk of land within the Raab fields becomes the nursery bed after 5-7 years. The forest trees growing within the Raab fields also help maintain the fertility of soil over the years by pumping out nutrients from deeper soil layers to the surface, litter fall albeit smaller amount due to lopping of these trees and fine roots turn over etc (Semwal et. al., 2002). In the distant past the Bhils used to practice shifting agriculture, in this region, which over the years due to socio-economic and ownership changes, forest utilization policies, got transformed into settled agriculture known as Raab. In this form of cultivation burning of biomass played an important role in the maintenance of soil fertility and good crop yields. This form of agriculture is promoted by the Konkanas another tribal group who moved into Dangs in the 13th century from the Konkan region of Maharashtra due to famine conditions in Konkan at the time (Mark Poffenberger 1998).
Degraded Forests in Dangs
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Dried biomas spread over nursery bed
The official announcement from the forest department in 1997 that the trees are also the property of the Malki land owner, and the farmer is entitled to sell the timber to improve the household income, had positive implications. Many farmers are now planting economically important trees on the Malki lands. On experimental basis a policy has been framed to provide support for replanting trees. Farmers are given free seedlings of various tree species and financial support of Rs 500 per year per ha for the next 15 years. The initial plant density should be 2000 tree seedlings /ha with the prescribed species composition of 1500 individuals teak and rest 500 miscellaneous as per the preference of the individual farmer. The financial support is provided only if the seedlings show at least 60% survival after plantation. During our field visit it was observed that many farmers started planting teak seedlings in the Malki lands and Raab fields. The impact of the policy shift from dual management of forest
trees by forest department and communities to vesting all rights with the farmers may yield good results. On the one hand, this may lead to increased tree density in the Malki and Raab fields, and an improvement in the economic conditions of the inhabitants of Dangs. However it is too early to conclude on the impacts of this policy change. As far as Raab agriculture is concerned there is no sharp distinction as to the choice of crop planted on the slopes or flat land. However, rice is generally grown on flatter areas. In the present scenario when population has risen from a mere 18,000 in late 19 th century to over 1,88,000 in 2001 the pressure on the available land is increasing and intensive agriculture is being practiced. Fallowing of Raab plots is no more in vogue as a result of which soil erosion will become a major problem in future. Leaf litter and lopped biomass called adar from the forest is piled up on a
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Biomas burning in nursery bed
small plot of land and burned. After which seeds of millet and cereals are sown. Once the rains start, the area around the plot is ploughed and the germinated crop seedlings with an average height of 40-60 cms are transplanted to the prepared land. Weeding is carried out periodically, and the crops are harvested after the monsoons in October. The Dangs, with its abundant supply of forest biomass is well suited for such agriculture. As a rule, an area was cultivated only for two or three years. After this the soil was left fallow and a fresh patch of land was sought. Further details on Raab cultivation are provided in subsequent paragraphs. As far as Raab cultivation and the starting of forest fires in Dangs is concerned, generally all care is taken
during biomass burning by the farmers. However, as per the preliminary survey incidences of accidental forest fires are higher in areas where Raab cultivation is practiced as compared to the areas where the practice is gradually being abandoned (Near Purna Wildlife Sanctuary).
The objectives of the case study

The practice of Raab is detrimental to forests of Dangs - The objective of the case study was to analyse the reasons for intentional/ accidental forest fire in Dangs region, Gujarat and explore agricultural practices that would permit cultivation of millets without the practice of Raab cultivation.
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Heavy silt in flowing water - an indicator of soil erosion
Approach
A preliminary survey was undertaken to meet the local community and forest officials to select villages for the study. A total number of 18 villages were selected for collecting the information of the accidental and incidental forest fire in the Dangs district of Gujarat. The selection was based on one village from each range so that distribution of villages in the district would cover the whole district.
The other criteria for selecting the villages was community eagerness to work with WWF-India and a composition of socio-economically backward classes. The areas where other organizations were active were not included within the study area. A detailed socio-economic study was carried out in three villages of Purna Wildlife Sanctuary and Vansda National Park.
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Socio economic status of the selected villages around Purna Wildlife Sanctuary and around Vansda National Park
The general health condition of the people here is not very good. There is only one hospital in the district, which is located at Ahwa, nearly at the centre of the district. Some of the villages are located more than 12 kms from Ahwa. People are totally dependent on forests for fuel wood and fodder. The consumption of fuel wood in each family varies from 200 - 250 kg/ month. Grazing is allowed in the forest, which is very detrimental for the new shoots. Grass is abundant in the forests up to the month of November and after that the land slowly turnes completely barren Dangs at a glance 1. 2. 3. Total land area Total Malki Land Total Forest Land Protected Forest Reserve Forest
during the months of February & March. There are three metal roads which traverses through the district along north-south and east-west and connects Surat and Nausari districts with the neighbouring state Maharashtra. Every village has an approach road of 1 km from one of these metal roads. The roads within the village are mostly kachha. Every village has drinking water facility, where for a population of 700 to 800 there are four tube wells and three dug wells. Electricity has yet not reached some of the villages. But the district headquarter is electrified. Irrigation facilities are also not available here and the crops are essentially rainfed. Water of river Purna and Khapri are used to irrigate the fields. The socio economic status of Dangs is summarised in the table below :
1764 sq. km 588 sq. km 220 sq. km 580 sq. km 160 sq. km 24 sq. km 1, 86,729 93,974 92,755 70 311 46,711 415
4.
Protected Areas Purna Wildlife Sanctuary Vansda National Park Total Population (2001) Male Female No. of Gram Panchayats No. of Villages No. of Students No. of Primary Schools
5.
6. 7. 8. 9.
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Contd... 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. No. of Teachers No. of Secondary Schools No. of High Schools No. of College No. of Farmers Total Agricultural Labourers No. of Small Scale Industries Agricultural Crops Cereals Pulses Vegetables Fruit Cash crop 1344 18 4 1 53,356 26,582 1,022 Paddy, maize, Finger millet (nagli), vari, hog millet (tuwar), Black gaur, Pigeon Pea, Brinjal, gaur, cucumber, Banana, watermelon, Mango Ground nut, cashew nut
(Source: Jilla Parisad, Dangs & Land Revenue Office, Dangs, July 2004, Census 2001)
Selection of villages for study

There are a total of 311 villages covering 8.9 % of the total land area of the district Dangs. Two protected areas viz., Purna Wildlife Sanctuary and eastern part of Vansda National Park are located within the district. Out of 26 villages 18 villages were selected for the study in and around Purna Wildlife Sanctuary from the five ranges of the sanctuary where Raab is practiced. There are six villages in and around Vansda National Park; Tekpada, Kilad, Navtad, Kevdi, Kala-Amba and Kayai. Among these six villages, Kilad, Kala-Amba and Kayai are located within the National Park and rest are located on the periphery of the National Park. Three-fourth of the Vansda NP falls in Nausari district while one-fourth falls in Dangs district. The selection of the villages for socio-economic survey was made in consultation with the forest department. A description of the socio-economic status of the villages is as follows: Majority of the people are engaged in agriculture for 8 months that is from March to harvesting of crops during (end of October to early November) and during the remaining months the
younger members of the family generally migrate to neighbouring districts i.e., in Surat to work in the sugarcane industry. For cultivating paddy, nagli and vari the Dangis follow the typical agro-forestry system called Raab.
The Practice of Raab

For a raab /adar plot of 40-50 sq. m generally 10 baskets of dry leaf litter of nearly 250 kg (25x10kg) and 10 bundles of lopped branches of 250 kg (10 x 25 kg) (pers com.) are required which shows that for one raab plot the biomass burnt every year is 500 kg. A lopping cycle of 2-5 years is maintained. The height of the dry biomass on the adar/raab plot is nearly 1-1.5 ft. The raab plot is rotated within the whole field for maintaining soil fertility. In such a small plot 500 gms of seeds of nagli or rice is generally grown. The small plot can be referred as the nursery bed. For preparing the nagli nursery sloping land is preferred. The sprouted seedlings are then transplanted into the prepared field of 1.62 ha. Two or three such adar/raab plots are prepared for seedlings of nagli, rice or vari. The number of raab plots depends on the total agricultural land available for transplanting.
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Eleusine coracana seedings in nursery
Collection of dry biomass starts from mid March and continues up to mid April. Just before the first shower of every year the biomass is burnt. Extra care is generally taken during burning of biomass. The biomass is burnt from the four corners to prevent escape of fire. The fire is also swept by lopped branches of trees from the four sides of the plot. At the end of burning the ash is covered by soil. With the very first shower, the seeds of the previous year are spread over the plot. With the nagli and rice in the nursery bed pulses also are grown to maintain the nutrient balance of the soil. The seedlings are transplanted to the prepared field when they attain a height of 1.5 to 2ft in the nursery bed. No fertilizer or pesticides are used after transplantation of the seedlings. Very few families use dry cow dung in the raab beds before burning. After transplantation weeding is done periodically. Harvesting starts at the end of October and lasts till mid
November. The average yield of the nagli (finger millet) varies from 400450 kg / ha, paddy varies from 600700 kg / ha and vari (hog millet) 300400 kg / ha. For a family of 4-5 members the amount is generally consumed through out the year in absence of other livelihood opportunities.
The Local Economy

Generally the landholdings are too small to permit sale of surplus food grains. The market price of nagli is Rs. 3-4 / kg, and rice is 6-8 / kg. The cattle population in Dangs is 1,78,744, among them cows are 66,650, buffaloes are 18,799 and rest comprise poultry. In some villages like Jamlapada, and Lankasad people have started contributing milk for dairy development. The wild animals, which were plenty have now substantially reduced. The only wildlife available in forests at present are wild boars, leopard, squirrel, rabbit etc. One of the
21
reasons for the non availability of fauna may be due to the food habits of the tribals. The tribals may even burn a whole tree for catching prey such as squirrel. The overall economic condition is not very good, most of the houses are kachha. The basic source of livelihood is agriculture and very few people are employed as temporary workers in sugarcane industry in Surat and Nausari districts. Some people are engaged in bamboo handicrafts as bamboo is found in huge quantities in the area.
A detailed socio economic survey was carried out in three villages in Dangs district. Two of these villages viz., Diwan Tembrun and Jamlapada are situated within Purna Wildlife Sanctuary and one village Tekpada is located in the southern boundary of Vansda National Park. The experimental plots to cultivate the finger millet and paddy without burning the biomass was selected from these villages. The survey was undertaken to understand the character of the social fabric in the villages. The findings for the three villages are summarised as follows :
Demographic scenario of the three villages viz., Diwan Tembrun, Jamlapada and Tekpada is given in the table
Diwan Tembrun 1. Total Population Male Female 2. 3 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. House hold size Total No. of Households Sex Ratio Sex Ratio for Children (0-6 years) Total no. of literate Literacy rate Total Worker Cultivator Total Agricultural Land Per capita agricultural land Crop grown 838 427 411 5.0 166 963 1044 465 71.1 % 470 323 300.29ha 0.35 ha Finger millet, Hog millet, paddy and pulses 400-450Kg/ha 600-700 kg/ha 300-400 kg/ha Jamlapada 1016 513 503 6.0 169 981 939 434 52.5 % 522 330 131.30 ha 0.13 ha Finger millet, Hog millet, paddy and pulses 400-450Kg/ha 600-700 kg/ha 300-400 kg/ha 500 230 270 5.0 100 1174 1333 275 66.1 % 302 142 Not Available Not Available Finger millet, Hog millet, paddy and pulses 400-450Kg/ha 600-700 kg/ha 300-400 kg/ha Tekpada
13.
Productivity* of Finger millet Paddy Vari/hog millet
*The productivity is based on interviews with 5-6 farmers of each village and also the primary school headmaster of Jamlapada village
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Diwan Tembrun
The village is located in the central part of the district. (20 0 50.326 N and 73 044.544 E) and the altitude is 578 m above MSL. The demographic data of the village is given in the above table on page 22. Out of the total cultivated land of 300.29 ha, the reserved forest area is 47.55 ha, protected forest is 3.34 ha and gochor land is 1.23 ha (District Land Records, Survey Office, Dangs). Per capita landholding size is 0.35 ha. The principal crops are like the other areas of Dangs and include finger millet, paddy and hog millet. The vegetables grown in the village are brinjal, tomato, etc, and pulses like tuwar, adad and oil seeds like ground nut and kharsani. The yield of the crops varied from 400-450 kg/ha for finger millet, 600-700 kg/ha paddy and vari (hog millet) 300-400 kg/ha. The Bhil families do not have the cattle whereas the Kunbis rear cattle. The average cattle per family for the Kunbis are three (two buffalos and one cow) which they use for ploughing purposes. The village is electrified, there is a pucca approach road, a primary school with classes from 1 st to 7 th
standard. The total strength of students is 235 of which 118 are boys and 117 girls. There is no health centre in the village; the only health centre is located at Ahwa, the district headquarters, which is about 17 kms from the village. For drinking water people used the water of wells and hand pumps. There are 14 hand pumps and two dug wells in the village. For fuel wood, fodder and cultivation of crops the inhabitants of Dangs are heavily dependent on forests. The distance of the village from the forest is nearly two km. The fuel wood consumption per family is 2400 kg per year. The collection of fuel wood is generally made during October to May every year. For Raab burning in one plot the amount of dry biomass collected is 20 baskets of leaf litter (20 x 25 kg) and 10 bundles of lopped branches of 250 kg which show that one plot requires 750 kg biomass to be burnt. A marginal farmer prepares at least two plots one for finger millet and one for paddy. The number of Raab plots depends on the landholding size of the farmer. If a farmer can prepare two raab plots of 45-50 sq m then the biomass consumption pattern of one family can be shown as per the graph below.
Biomass consumed every year by one household for domestic use and raab* Biomass Used (in Kg)
3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0
Fuel wood for cooking Leaf litter for Raab Lopped branches for raab
Type of biomass
* On an average one family prepares two raab plots of 40-50 sq m area.
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Jamlapada
Village Jamlapada is located near Diwan Tembrun. The entire population belong to tribal communities of Bhil, Kunbi and Worlies. Demographic data is available in the table on page 22. Average land holding per family is two-three acres (ha) and average cattle holding per family is three. Two families who have migrated here from Sourastra are engaged in making bricks. Labour can earn Rs. 4,0005,000 per year through agriculture or small scale industries. The total cultivated land in the village is 131.30 ha, reserved forest is 2.30 ha, protected forests are 4.13 ha and gochor land is 2.51 ha. (District land records, Dangs). The village is electrified, has a veterinary hospital but villagers have to travel 70 kms for the nearest health centre. One post office is situated in the village Gouri, which is 2 kms from the village. Recently a milk dairy has been made operational in the village. Cows costing Rs 17,000 have been financed and provided by the village bank to each of the twenty families. Every family have to contribute a minimum 6.5 litres of milk every day to the dairy. There is an arrangement for the collection of milk twice a day. The families are given Rs. 700 per month for fodder. The bank loan is to be repaid collectively by the beneficiary families. Village Garbi, near village Jamlapada witnessed a forest fire this year during Raab burning. Five huts were completely burnt when the unattended fire escaped to cause damage to the adjacent settlements and the forests.
Tekpada
Tekpada is located at the southern boundary of the Vansda National Park at 20 0 45.122 N and 73 0 27.242 E. It is a small village with around 100 households. A few of the villagers work in a cottage industry on bamboo handicrafts. The average land holding per family is around four acres. All the families practice raab cultivation, for which they have to go to forests at a distance of five kms from the village for collection of biomass. Generally the women collect the dry leaf litter in the forests in baskets and the males bring the bundle of lopped branches of trees. The weight of the basket with the dry biomass is about 25 kg. 10 such baskets of dry leaf litter is required for one raab plot (average 40 sq. m). Other than nagli, rice and vari, villagers grow vegetables like ridge gourd, black gourd, brinjal, tomato, custard apple, some have two three cashew nut trees, for oil seeds they grow ground nut which replenished soil nitrogen. Fruit trees like mango, jackfruit, jamun also grow in the village. The villagers depend on their own agricultural produce; they seldom buy these from the market. Generally any fertilizer or pesticide is not used in the fields. The villagers collect the NTFPs from the forests, viz., Mahua (Madhuca indica), Safed Musli (Chlorophyton boriviilianum) and Kali Musli. Safed and Kali Musli fetches them Rs. 1000 and Rs. 800 per kg respectively. There is no health centre in the village. The village is not electrified as well. Some of the families use biogas for both cooking and lighting purposes. The approach road of the village is kachha. There is only one primary school in the village with classes upto the 3 rd standard. Hand pumps are the source for drinking water.
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A pilot experiment on Cultivation of finger millet (nagli) without raab burning

To demonstrate the possibility of introducing a better agricultural practice, an experiment was designed to cultivate millet without raab burning at Dangs. Two plots one of 2,400 sq m at village Tekpada and another one of 250 sq m at village Diwan Tembrun were selected for experiment. As it was against traditional practice, it was difficult to overcome the prevailing mindset. Finally two farmers from the villages agreed to undertake the cultivation without raab burning providing suitable compensation for the anticipated loss in crop yield. The plots were monitored time to time by the project team. The havesting of the plot was undertaken in November 2004 and a comparison was made between the experimental plot and the adjacent raab plot in the two villages. The findings are given on page 26.
Comparative analysis shows that the number of flowering spikes, length of spikes and average plant length of plot with raab are more then the plot without raab in both the cases. The difference however was not significent although its premature to draw conclusions. Experiments at a greater scale need to be undertaken. The results of the aforesaid was encouraging and has opened up avenues to motivate farmers to practice cultivation without the biomass burning.
Observation
4 random quardats each of 1x 1 meter were laid in the field. Readings of 15 plants were noted for data analysis. A total of 60 plant readings were recorded to find the average length of plant, average length of spike, number of spikes on each plant. Plants in the experimental plots showed similar growth pattern. Weeding was not been done in both the fields. Fertilizer was applied in the plot at Tekpada.
Soil sampling in the experimental plot at Tekpada
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Data Collection for Comparision of Crop Yield

Village: Tekpada, Vansda N.P Parameters Field Size (Sq. Meter) Seeds (Gram) Manure Used (Kgs.) a. Organic b. Inorganic Insecticides Used (Ltr.) Weeding Disease Average length of plant (inch) Avg. Length of Spikes (inch) No. Of Flowering Spikes Plant Density (No. of plants/quadrat) 1x1 meter Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total yield (Kgs.) Village: Diwan Tembrun, Purna WLS Parameters Field Size (Sq. Meter) Seeds (Gram) Manure Used (Kgs.) c. Organic d. Inorganic Insecticides Used (Ltr.) Weeding Disease Average length of plant (inch) Avg. Length of Spikes (inch) No. Of Flowering Spikes Plant Density (No. of plants/Quadrat) 1x1 meter Q/1 Q/2 Q/3 Q/4 Total yield (Kgs.) Not used Not done Observed 37.7 4.7 12 23 24 23 25 35 Kg. Not used Not done Observed 28.3 3.8 7 15 17 22 22 30 Kg. Not done Observed 38.2 4.1 11 21 27 29 23 80 Kg. Not done Observed 29.7 3.1 10 28 29 20 31 65 Kg. Date of Harvest: 5.11.04 Experiment Plot With raab 3300 sq. ft Approx 250 Not used Without raab 2700 sq ft. Approx 250 Not used With raab 1800 sq feet 300 approx. 0.5 Urea Date of Harvest: 5.11.04 Experiment Plot Without raab 2400 sq feet. Approx 500 approx. 0.5 Urea
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Conclusion
Raab cultivation is a traditional practice of Dangis to earn livelihood, which was sustainable when the population pressure was low and natural recuperation of soil fertility was facilitated by the long fallow phases. In the changed scenario, modification is needed in the traditional practices to make them sustainable and economically remunerative at the same time. As stated above, tree ownership will provide the farmer additional economic benefits in future but to make it more sustainable the tree and crop component should be managed in such a way that it gives equal consideration to both (crops and trees) components of this traditional agroforestry practice. In this situation suitable lopping regime should be worked out so that tree vigor can be maintained and the yield of annual crops is also optimized. Legumes
such as groundnut and pulses could be cultivated with millets and traditional cereals to maintain soil fertility, and for biomass needed for burning, alley cropping could be promoted. Long term studies are needed to suggest modification for this simultaneous agroforestry of the Dangs. Integrated study on villageagriculture-forest and socio economy interlinkages could provide answers to make the existing practices sustainable.
Future Plans
It is now envisaged to involve stakeholders like the Agricultural University at Nausari to promote better agricultural practices that would discourage Raab. The project would explore involving the institution of Joint Forest Management and the Forest Protection Committees for the aforesaid purpose and restoration of degraded forests of the Dangs.
Experimental plot in Village Dewan Tembrun
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Case Study 2. An assessment of Sustainable Forest Management by Developing Criteria and Indicators : An exercise at village Kunbar in Rajpipla Forest Division, South Gujarat Introduction
Gujarat has a long tradition of successful cooperative movements. Peoples participation in forest resource management was introduced soon after the independence. Joint Forest Management was adopted in Gujarat through a Government resolution of 1991. This was superceded by a more comprehensive resolution of 1994, which was modified in March 2002.
31.757 E) falls under Rajpipla East Forest Division (Surapara range, round Khaidipada, beat Kaliyabhut) in Narmada district (taluka Deriapada) of Gujarat, which is about 90 km SE of Baroda city. Joint Forest Management (JFM) was introduced in the village in 1992-93 with 11 office bearers and 150 members, one from each family. Out of the total forest area of 188 ha only 50 ha land had been taken for first phase of plantation and 55,000 saplings of teak, khair and bamboo were planted with active participation of the villagers. In the second phase an additional 30 ha land was undertaken for plantation and in this way the whole forestland was covered under plantation where fruit trees were also planted along with wood lots. In the current year villagers have planted some fruit trees in their own land and also in the village grazing land (15.75 ha) [Profiles of JFM village Kunbar, published by FD in 1998] under the funding support of local panchayat.
Ecological setting of the village

Village Kunbar (21 0 35.420 N, 73 0
Map : Kunbar Village in Narmada District, Gujarat
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The forests of the area are dry deciduous with some patches of moist deciduous. The dominating tree species are bamboo, teak (Tectona grandis), shisam (Dalbergia sisoo), khair (Acacia catectu), dhavdo (Anogeissus latifolia) and kadam (Anthocaphalus indica). The other indigenous tree species available in the forest are Pterocarpus marsupium, Bauhinia racemosa, Butea monosperma, Cassia fistula, Prosopis juliflora, Eucalyptus sp., Gmelina arborea, Termenelia arjuna, Cassia auriculata, Emblica officinalis. In the early 1970s the area was covered by dense forest where leopard, hyena, peacock, tiger, wild boar were easily sighted.
agricultural crops grown in the village include cereals like makai, jowar and wheat, pulses like tuar (Cajanus cajan), vegetables like onion, brinjal, papri (Dolichos lablab) and cash crops like ground nut and cotton. The overall economic condition of the villagers is weak with only two families having pucca houses.Around 145 families fall under BPL (Below Poverty Line) category. Only 12 persons from the village are employed in government departments, out of which six are teachers, four are employed in forest department and two are in the police force, one is studying veterinary science in Anand. There is only one secondary school in the village where two teachers have been employed from the village itself. Almost all children have the access to education. For higher education students have to go to Deriapada, 7 kms from the village. Women actively participate in all JFM related activities. They work as labourer in the fields within and outside the village. After the monsoons they are engaged in
Objective
The study was undertaken for assessment of the Sustainable Forest Management in the village by developing criteria and indicators by the local communities. The objective of the study was to get a greater insight into the JFM programme in the village and how beneficial it has been for the communities. The criteria and the respective indicators were developed through a meetings where all the JFM committee members, local villagers, forest officials, women, teachers and students participated.
Socio-economic status of the village

The total population of the village is 1,216 consisting of 205 families who all belong to the tribal community (census 2001). The total revenue land of the village is 210.23 ha. The population of men is 609, while of women is 607. The villagers are mostly agricultural labourers by profession although half of them have own land of about 2-3 acres (0.8 to 1.2 ha). The number of big farmers are 11, small, 19, marginal around 23, while the rest are landless who make the livelihood by working on others land in and around the village. The
Teak Plantations raised at village Kunbar
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Training on monitoring and evaluation
weeding where they get Rs. 20 and one meal per day. Around 50 women are employed in the Forest Department nursery where they get Rs. 80 per person per day. Women played a substantial role in the formation of Forest Protection Committee (FPC) in the village and a seat is reserved for them in the committee. The Sarpanch (Village head) of three villages viz., Nighat, Kunbar & Koyliyavav are women. The FPC maintains a bank account where penalty amounts for forest offences are deposited. The account presently hold a balance of Rs.15,000. The penalty for illegal felling or theft is different in day and night, during day time it is Rs. 50/and during night and festivals time it is Rs. 150/- and the cost of the tree. In most of the cases the logs are seized from the accused. The Forest Department constructed a borewell in 2000 after initiation of JFM. A watershed development
project of Rs. 2,55,000 was undertaken in the village in 1996-97 by FD where villagers donated three days labour (shramadan). The pond created in the project was for providing drinking water to the cattle of 13 neighbouring villages and the wild animals. Fish cultivation was experimented by the villagers in the pond, which was later abandoned. The cattle population of the village is 831, out of which 259 are cows, 36 buffaloes, 80 bullocks, and 456 goats. This indicates that each family has an average of four cattle. Inspite of the ban on grazing from the forests and existence of a gochor (grazing) land people are dependent on the forests to feed their cattle. Fuelwood is also extracted from the forest. Project Activity: To develop Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management by the local communities. Village Kunbar, is being projected by the forest department, as a model
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village and people better understand the sprit of JFM. With improved protection and restoration of forests, Kunbar was ideal for the assessment of success of JFM. An attempt was made by WWF- India to develop Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management by the local communities in the village. The objective of the study was to document the perspective changes, after JFM was introduced and how the community could validate the differences. The indicators are the parameter of changes visible within the social and economic status of the villagers. Four types of criteria were decided in the meeting; Ecological, Economic, Institutional and Social. For each criteria the villagers spelt out indicators of their own.
which helps to meet irrigation needs of 20 families especially during the lean season. The water table is reported to be at 80 feet in the agricultural fields and 40 feet in the villages. v) Watershed Development: A watershed development project was undertaken in the year 1996-97 when one member of each family donated labour for three days. The check dam was constructed under the funding support of Forest Department. The pond was used for drinking water of cattle and wild animals and also was used for pisiculture. The check dam was damaged during last monsoon due to heavy rainfall. Forest Fires: No forest fires were reported during the last three years which indicates that sincere efforts are underway for protecting forests. Availability of the medicinal plant species: The medicinal plants species which are available and widely used by the villagers are Pterocarpus marsupium (uses for diabetes), Butea monosperma (leave used for healing wounds), Cassia auriculata (uses for cuts and bleeding), Erythrina indica (for fever), Lania coromandelica (for skin diseases), Corcorus sp. (for mouth ulcers), Notonia grandiflora (for jaundice). Most of these were not available in the early nineties.
vi)
Ecological Criteria
The indicators for the criteria were i) Improvement of Forests: There has been perceptible increase in Forest cover due to afforestation and plantation activities. Availability of Fodder: The area covered by grass has also increased which could fulfill the fodder requirement of not only the village but also of two-three neighbouring villages as well. Increase in wildlife: The wild animals like peacock, hyena, wildcat, spotted deer, rabbit which had completely disappeared are again visible now a days. Crop damage by wild animals is still not reported in the village. Availability of Groundwater: The intervention of Forest Department in commissioning a bore well for irrigation has encouraged the villagers to dig more wells. In the last four years 20 additional wells have been dug in the private land, vii)
ii)
iii)
Economic Criteria
The indicators for the economic criteria were: i) Increase in saving capacity: The members of the SHG are all women. The SHG was formed in 1994-1995 where initial membership was Rs. 11/per family. The SHG has saved Rs. 76,000 till date in the bank. Loans are provided to the
iv)
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individual families in agricultural sectors from the account with 2% annual interest rate. Men borrow money to buy hybrid BT cotton seeds @ Rs. 2,400/- per quintal. ii) Food Security: Due to the availability of water in the lean seasons the villagers could grow three crops (makai, jowar and wheat), vegetables and pulses which fulfills their food requirement round the year. They are now in a position to sell the vegetables in the market and generate an income of Rs 300-400 per year. Employment opportunities in and outside the village: 12 persons from the village are employed in the government departments, of which six are teachers, two are in the police force and four in the forest department. Fifty village women are employed in the forest department nursery from where they earn Rs. 80 per day during the plantation period. Round the year villagers are engaged in agricultural fields either for cultivation of crops or weeding. Landless farmers work in the fields of others both within and outside the village. People also find employment working as teachers, veterinary doctors, drivers etc. Management of FPC funds: A bank account is operated by the FPC where the penalty received from the illegal felling or grazing in the forest are deposited. In the year 1996-97 communities received Rs. 18,000 from fish cultivation in the pond. The savings in the bank account is presently Rs. 15,000. Loans are provided to the individual families from the account at 1% annual interest rate. Income from other source: Very few people in the village
are employed in the government sector, the rest are farmers either cultivating their own land or that owned by others. Micro enterprise is yet to start in the village. The villagers cannot provide milk for the dairy as according to a veterinary student of the village the milch animals are of poor quality both in regard to yield as well as quality of milk. vi) Improved infrastructure within the village: The approach road of the village was constructed in 2002 using panchayat funds. The road within the village is still kachha. A room in the school building was constructed last year and the school has been upgraded to a secondary one from a primary school. Availability of NTFPs: The villagers have been given the rights to collect Minor Forest Produces tendu leaves (bidi leaves, Diospyros melanoxylon) are collected by the village women from the forest. They earn Rs. 50 from every bundle of 100 tendu leaves.
iii)
vii)
Institutional Criteria
The institutional criteria spelt out by the villagers were: i) Gender equality and women participation in FPC: Women are actively involved in the activities under JFM. At the time of formation of the FPC one seat was reserved for women. The sarpanch of the village is also a woman who voices the demand of the village at the district level. The Self Held Group (SHG) is completely run by women in the village. The bank account of the SHG provides loan to the agricultural sector for buying hybrid seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. Women also play an important role in decisions
iv)
v)
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taken on forest offences but they seldom take part in decisions on land disputes or other criminal offences. ii) FPC acts like a platform for developmental activity in the village: The developmental activities so far undertaken include the construction of school building, roads, watershed project etc. The penalty for forest offences is decided by FPC. Fuel wood distribution in the village: The inhabitants of the village are mostly dependent on the forest for fuelwood and fodder. Selective lopping of trees are done under the guidance of Forest Department. The total collected material is equally divided into 205 bundles. Then through the lottery system the bundles are distributed among the families. An area has been allotted for grazing in the forestland (15.75 ha). Villagers collect the grass from the forest and practice stall-feeding. In the current year villagers have undertaken plantation in the grazing land with panchayat funds. Villagers have also started using agro waste for fuel in the houses. Relationship with the Forest Department: The lopping of trees is undertaken with the approval of the Forest Department. Forest beat guards join on almost every festival of the village. Formal meeting with the Forest Department is organised every three months. Villagers interact frequently with FD officials during plantations. ii)
economic conditions thefts of wood from forests were reported but there has been a decline in the number of offences in the past few years. Access to education and interest for education: There is one secondary school in the village up to 7 th standard where all children of the village are admitted. Some children now have passed from the village school and admitted to the high school in Deriapada. There is a strong awareness on importance of education in the village. Land required for construction of rooms of school building was easily provided by a family on the request of the FPC in lieu of (gochar) land. This reflects the change in the attitude of the villagers towards education, development, unity and cooperation. Unity in Forest protection: After the formation of FPC certain rules and regulations were formulated for the protection of plantations like ban on grazing in forests and the felling of trees. These rules are strictly followed by the villagers. Joint protection of forests led to decline in incidences of forest fires. Eradication of social evils: The intake of liquor has totally stopped in the village and the criminal cases against the villagers have practically not been reported in the past 13 years. Improvement on Health Condition: There have been no reports of skin and water borne diseases during the past five years. The overall health condition has improved which is a reflection on the quality of food and nutrients intake.
iii)
iii)
iv)
iv)
v)
Social Criteria
Indicators for the social criteria were : i) Change in Social behavior of the villagers: Due to poor
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Conclusion and Recommendations

A great awareness has been generated in the village on protection of forests and forest related issues. The initiation of JFM with the active cooperation of the Forest Department has changed the social and institutional life of the villagers to a great extent. The unity among the villagers was the key of success of JFM in Kunbar. The availability of the irrigation has facilitated working on the agricultural field. An increasing awareness of the importance of education has inspired the villagers to upgrade the school. However, a lot more needs to be done for improvement of the livelihood of the villagers. The different alternatives discussed in the meeting for improving the economy of the village are: Land leveling could be done in the village as the area is an undulating one for suitable horticultural species. A village road should be constructed for the overall betterment of the village. An alternative of tree poles is needed for construction of houses. Pillars made of bricks and cemented by mud could be a possible solution.
The village dairy could be upgraded by providing loan for buying of good quality livestock and proper care of cattle. Fish culture could be reintroduced once the water tanks are repaired. People could be trained to prepare and market bamboo based handicrafts. Cultivation of medicinal plants along with the proper market linkages could provide alternative livelihood for the villagers. Plantation of NWFP shrubs like custard apple (Annona sqamosa), bidi leaves are required for better economic returns. Bee keeping, poultry and duckery could be some new initiatives.
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Maharashtra
Case Study 3. Cultivation of medicinal plants and establishment of a market linkage with participation of the local community at village Ahwati in Nasik district of Maharashtra Introduction
As a part of the community forestry project under the Ford-US grant WWF-India undertook a project for conservation of degraded forests in Maharashtra. Playing a catalytic role, the organisation joined the movement of villagers in Nasik district on conservation related issues. It included encouraging them to protect the surrounding forest areas around their villages, spread awareness and reduce pressure on natural forests
and find alternate means of livelihood, particularly for those mainly dependant on forests. One such project was undertaken in a village called Ahwati in Satana Taluka of East Forest Division of Nasik in Maharashtra. During earlier visits, it was observed that a number of plant species with medicinal properties are there in the region, giving a clue that the area has a potential for cultivation of some of these species. On inquiring further from the locals, it was learnt that this region was decades earlier frequent by medicinal herbs collectors. With the reduction in natural forests and due to other biotic pressures distribution of such species is restricted to a few limited pockets. As a small effort to encourage locals for undertaking cultivation of medicinal and economically important species, the project was undertaken on 4 ha of land in village Ahwati. The criteria followed for selection were that the species:
Map : Ahwati Village in Nashik District, Maharashtra
35
and resulted in multiplication of JFM Committees, awareness generation about conservation and initiation of action towards the reduction of pressure on natural resources. The project also aimed at attracting the attention of villagers towards proper land utilization. It is observed that most of the farmers make use of good quality land only neglecting the fallow land.
Implementation at site
The JFM Committee in Village Ahwati
Are suitable for cultivation in a rain shadow or low-rainfall area like Ahwati Have a history of growing in and around project site and are/were in use in traditional medicine Do not need specialized kind of techniques for cultivation like setting up of Glass House, irrigation or regular manuring etc. Hardy in nature and do not need much post plantation care like manuring, mulching, pest control etc. Could be easily marketed in natural form without involving processing etc. Could be used locally in day to day life and have been in traditional use. Could attract the attention of other farmers particularly that of the younger generation and act as model farm for others.
WWF-India began its implementation plan in the rainy season of 2003. Mr. Motha Bhau Bhamre, a progressive farmer of the village, came forward by offering a piece of land. Ahwati village has been one of the pioneers in working for the protection of degraded forests. After having made a general agreement and understanding about the use of land and work plan, WWF-India started implementing the project. Considerations for the selection of the site were that the land was: Well protected from all the sides Equipped with the irrigation system fed by an open-well dug within the plot. Proximity to the protected forests where JFM project has been carried out. Having same kind of agroclimatic conditions similar to the adjoining forests, which would help in long run for transplantation of the species. The plot is located within the close proximity of the village which will be helpful in carrying out training and orientation programmes, voluntary labour work (shramdaan) etc.
WWF-India organized interactions with villagers, decision-makers, academicians and social workers on subject related matters. The interactions helped to develop a cordial relationship with the villagers
Services of trained and experienced medicinal plant cultivators were utilized for achieving desired results. A supervisor and garden labourers
36
were deployed for regular work and land development, removal of weeds and plantation work. The fallow land was tilled thoroughly and a proper layout for various species was planned. Since the area was far from human settlement, it was decided to develop it in such a fashion that it needed minimum of security and post plantation care. The plotting and layout is the key for success of any plantation involving multiple species. This principle was followed for selection of type species for cultivation at Ahwati. The names of the species and their specific characteristics are provided in the following table : SN 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Scientific Name Aloe vera Emblica officinalis Asperagus racemosa Cymbopogon sps. Bryophyllum sps. Convolvulus sps. Caesalpinia cristata Adhatoda vasica Withania somnifera Aegle marmelos Boerhaavia diffusa
planting material cost remains the same. It has led to severe resentment among farmers who had taken commercial cultivation of Musli on large scale particularly in adjoining parts of Madhya Pradesh. Another consideration while selecting what was to be cultivated was that the cultivation cost of the plants particularly the planting material cost should not be very high. Out of the list of plants to be cultivated, the first nine species are part of the project proposal whereas the last two species have been selected on the basis of local requests and suitability of the species for the region particularly. The Local Name Korphad Amla Satavari Lemon Grass Panphuti Shankhpuspi Sagargota Adulsa Aswagandha Bel Punarnava Special Character of the plant Small succulent plant Medium sized tree A bushy climber A perennial grass A succulent A seasonal creeping herb A moderate sized thorny bush An evergreen moderate bush Bush Moderate sized tree Seasonal crawling plant
Initially, it was planned to cultivate Chlorophytum sps. (Musli) also but due to conflicting views it was decided to drop the plant from our list. The planting material of Musli is quite costly and the produce is not giving proper returns to the farmers. Initially the roots of Musli fetched a price of Rs.1,500 Rs 2,000 a kg, during its peak, against the planting material cost of Rs.300/- per kg. In the last one year or so, the buyers have rejected cultivated Musli to the extent that the prices have fallen to Rs.200-Rs.300/- a kg whereas the
Preparation of land for cultivation of medicinal plants
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villagers are very keen to carry out plantation of Bel (Aegle marmelos) tree as the leaves provide very good return due to its offering to the Lord Shiva on various occasions and the fruits are used for medicinal purposes. Another factor, which went in favour of Bel plantation, is its hardy nature and ability to withstand unfavourable weather conditions. Selection of Punarnava (Boerhaavia diffusa) is due to its growing use in traditional medicine and ayurvedic preparations in recent times and abundant distribution of the plant material in the vicinity. By cultivating the plant in large scale, the villagers can gain good returns. Most of the farmers can take up commercial plantation of this species once they know its potential. The sample plot was levelled and dressed-up using machinery and with the help of labourers. After a thorough tilling and removal of rank vegetation, plotting was done by identifying suitable sites for different species. The water retention quality, land contours and protection from natural predators were taken into account before starting the work at site. Cultivation techniques used for different plants are given with details of material used, plantation techniques applied and observations made.
A species wise list giving details of the medicinal value, ecological significance and other salient features is given below.
Species Description
Caesalpinia cristata: Known as Sagargota, this plant is found abundantly in the forest areas and open scrubland around the project site. The main purpose of selecting this species is to make farmers aware about the various benefits of cultivating this plant. 1. The plant could be used as a very good hedge due to its fast growth, presence of thorns on the body including seed coat and leaves. The seeds of the plants are non-edible, strong and could survive long duration in adverse conditions after dispersal. Due to medicinal properties the seeds in demand and cost around Rs. 80-120 per kg in Mumbai. Used as wormicide and purgative for infants in Ayurvedic preparations. Chances of survival and revival are very high in nature due to ability to survive in severe drought and fluctuating climatic conditions. The decrease in sheep rearing and goat farming will help fast revival of this unique plant that could act as best fencing material for farmlands.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Cymbopogon (Citronella) sps: The Lemon Grass was suggested for cultivation due to its medicinal properties, ecological significance and easy cultivation. The plant is ideal to grow on bunds and dividers between two agricultural plots, which remain covered with grass. Cultivating lemon grass on such pieces of land will help farmers check soil erosion, and get benefited by selling leaves on regular intervals in
Post plantation care
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the market. The plant is very much in demand for its aromatic fragrance and widely used as herbal tea. Emblica officinalis: Commonly known as Amla, the gooseberry plant is ideal for the forest and agricultural areas. The plant could provide not just better returns to the farmers from their agricultural fields but as well help in the restoration of the ecological balance. It seems the plant was found in abundance in the region earlier. Farmers have also shown a great interest in undertaking the cultivation of plant and besides our pilot project site, the plant has been demanded by farmers of other regions. A large number of plants have also been introduced in the forest area to attract wildlife in future and help local nomads to collect fruits from wild. Aegle marmelos: Aegle marmelos (Bel) can survive in drier conditions and has immense ecological value in nature. The plant fetches very good returns on the sale of its products like leaves, fruits etc. Leaves of the plant are used for special offering to Lord Shiva by the Hindus on various occasions. The water and rind of the fruit is used as medicine for curing certain gastrointestinal problems. A large number of saplings have been taken by the farmers from the adjoining villages, besides the project site. Like Amla, this plant has also been introduced in large quantity in the forest. Adhatoda vasica : Locally known as Adulsa, the plant has been considered due to its great utility as medicine against cold and cough in Maharashtra and Gujarat. It has been estimated that thousands of small scale ayurvedic and pharmaceutical companies have been using this plant to make a popular cough syrup known as adulsa. The plant is useful in ecological terms as it survives well in extreme adverse climatic conditions and is not destroyed by cattle and sheep. The plant can grow on degraded land without much care
and whole plant is used for medicine. The plant leaves are used as household medicine by locals during cold and cough in winter months. Introduction in the area will certainly help in restoring this highly valuable medicinal plant back to nature in the region. Withania somnifera : Ashwagadha has been selected for its high medicinal properties, and availability in the wild locally and its highly remunerative returns. The best quality Ashwagadha (with low fibre content) comes from the adjoining regions of Madhya Pradesh. This plant also known as Indian Zing seng for its aphrodisiac properties and grows well in the adjoining scrubland. The lack of knowledge and information about the benefits of this plant may have not encouraged the farmers for undertaking such cultivation. We expect good result derived from this plant, as the soil conditions of Madhya Pradesh, the major supplier of Ashwagandha and present project site resemble each other. Aloe vera : Locally known as Korphad, the plant is gaining popularity among the farmers due to its high demand in cosmetics and medicines in recent years. Aloe vera is ideal for this region due to its nature to grow well in semi-arid conditions. The plant can be used by the farmers as a marker, divider hedge between two plots or along the bunds. It can be used for curing cold and cough, gastrointestinal ailments and increasing lactation. The presence of other succulents in the region is one of the regions for adopting this plant. Boerhaavia diffusa: The Punarnava plant is seen growing wild on the scrublands in the region. The main purpose of introducing this plant on farmers land is to ensure regular availability to the users. It has been observed that the plant starts wilting after two three months from the day the rainy season is over and resurfaces itself on the advent of the next rainy season. Due to its diuretic
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Aloe Vera in cultivation in project location
quality the demand for plant is growing and cultivation seems the only viable option for maintaining regular supply of fresh material to the ayurvedic practitioners. Asparagus racemosa: Satavari is the local name of Asparagus which is famous for its medicinal properties and food value. The new offshoots are used for making soup etc. of high nutritious value by most of the quality restaurants and hotels, thereby providing better returns to the suppliers. The plant is used by ayurvedic practitioners for various purposes and always remains in short supply. The scrubland habitat and rocky mountainous terrain seems very ideal for adopting large-scale cultivation of Asparagus. The proximity to the countrys large towns like Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad and Nasik could help farmers to get good returns on their produce. This will also help to reduce pressure on the destruction of the Asparagus plant in nature, particularly in Himalayan
region where Asparagus grows well on rocky beds and terrains. Convolvulus sps. : Shankhpuspi or Convovulus is a high demand plant growing in wild. The plant is a seasonal herb that survives for a duration of about a month or so during late rainy season or early autumn. The plant spreads on scrubland, which has high murrum content in it. The forest and adjoining degraded land forms an ideal habitat for the growth of Convovulus in this region. The plant is used as nervine tonic and memory enricher by many of the ayurvedic manufacturers. The short supply and seasonal nature of plants is responsible for use of a lot of fake plants as substitute to Shankhpuspi. Through the effort of cultivation of Shankhpuspi the top soil of the land on which it is cultivated can be protected. Bryophyllum sps: Known locally as Panphuti, the plant is a succulent growing well both on dry and humid
40
conditions. The juicy leaves are being used in traditional medicines for dissolving stones, curing liver and spleen ailments etc. It is a rapid vegetative multiplier. Training and orientation programmes are being conducted simultaneously with cultivation. The Project team visited other villages in the surrounding area for attending JFM meetings and to address public gatherings to propagate the concept. Training is being imparted to villagers at site on raising of saplings through nursery development work. The motivation of rural youth has been a learning experience. A group of students from local college, known as College Kumars had come forward volunteering themselves for plantation and post-plantation care works. The College Kumars had agreed to work on two days a week basis during which they will be provided with basic meal. Closer interaction with villagers helped in getting their views on the subject and also to inculcate interest in their mind. A workshop was organised in the initial months, attended by large number of villagers and students. Similar types of interactions were arranged in different locations during the year for propagating the concept. The large demand of villagers for Citronella planting material has been met from the sample plot raised at the site during the year. This acts as a barometer for popularity of the concept.
A large number of plants could be used locally by the villagers in crude forms as vegetable medicine or fruits. It will help to reduce the dependence on other precious resources like water, electricity etc. as most of the plants can grow in hard/difficult conditions prevailing in the region. It will help to generate awareness on conservation of medicinal plants towards medicinal plants amongst locals particularly within the farmers who could help preventing destruction of such species from the wild. It will also act as a model project for other farmers of the region who would undertake
Benefits Expected from the Project

It will help make use of degraded, unutilized land, lying idle. The economic benefits are good since the species selected are not very new to farmers and seed material is also easily available.
School children were involved in medicinal plants cultivation
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similar projects of economically important nature in their specific regions. Students of the area can get benefited in terms of knowledge and opt for a suitable plant-based career. It will help in maintaining a relationship between WWFIndia and villagers, particularly from those villages where JFM is being implemented. It is heartening to note that JFM has become a movement today by spreading its wings in more than 150 villages within a short span of three years from a modest number of approximate 30. The governments efforts in this regard are commendable. WWF-India can consider setting up of similar projects covering fodder species, fuel wood and timber species, species for
crafts and cottage industry in other villages depending on edaphic factors and geoclimatic conditions. The project gives an idea of working jointly and sets new kind of examples. All the villages, if they form a co-operative body (Maharashtra is famous for its co-operative movement) a number of satellite projects can be set-up with their joint efforts of same nature. Such involvement of villagers in undertaking cultivation projects in different locations can help in maintaining the bio-diversity of the region, which is otherwise getting affected due to large scale conversion of land for agriculture.
Medicinal plants in the project area at the end of project period
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Conclusion & Recommendations

Based on the work carried out at the site, it has been observed that certain species out of the selected ones have shown very encouraging results whereas a few others, despite being local species could not give similar kind of results on cultivation. Their growth is better in wild and effort should be made to increase the population density of such plants in wild, protection of their habitats, spreading awareness about their use, etc. So recommendations are as follows: 1. Farmers should be encouraged to undertake cultivation of the following species on large scale a. Emblica officinalis (Amla). As an intercrop in their orchards along the margins of plots and fallow land. b. Aloe vera (Korphad). Along the boundaries of agricultural fields around roadsides and village pathways on marginal and degraded land. c. Caesalpinia cristata (Sagargota). Along the boundaries of the village as a strong hedge on ravines, and along the nallas. d. Cymbopogon sps. (Lemon grass). Along the irrigation channels to act as a soil binder, on slopes of terraced plots, on the margins of horticultural plots and around residential areas on fallow land. e. Asparagus racemosa (Satavari). On degraded, sloppy or community land, on agricultural plots on a mass scale along the margins of horticultural plots.
f. Adhatoda vasica (Adulsa). Along the community land and village boundary as hedge plant, around residential locations and horticultural plots. g. Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha). On degraded community land, along the hedges of private agri-horticultural plots. h. Aegle marmelos (Bel). On open degraded community land around religious places, community land and residential locations. Well to do farmers can also think of undertaking mass cultivation as horticulture. Due to a long gestation period the yield is expected only after 6-7 years. 2. The following species are not very ideal for plantation due to their presence in the wild and difficulties faced in cultivation under controlled conditions. a. Convovulus sps. (Shankhpuspi) b. Boerhaavia diffusa (Punarnava or Common Hogweed) c. Bryophyllum sp. (Panphuti) 3. Consultations among JFM committees and villagers should be held before undertaking any plantation activity by individual farmers or villagers in groups to avoid duplication or mass multiplication of similar works, resulting in a glut of a particular plant. Well-organized marketing strategies under the cooperative umbrella may help farmers get better returns and protect them from greedy middlemen.
4.
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5.
Efforts could be made for setting up a small scale processing units for extraction of certain secondary products or by-poducts from plants. Rich farmers can come forward to support such efforts. Publicity given via media and local residents travelling outside the village can promote the efforts of the villagers. Certain cottage industries like juice and pickle making, powdering and packaging of herbs could be set up by women groups belonging to the tribal and non-tribals as well.
6.
7.
region to opt for cultivation of medicinal plants but as well help in marketing the produce. Keeping in mind the location of the project site, we have decided to identify some of the major centres for herbal trading like Nasik, Pune, Mumbai, Valsad, Surat and Indore. These are traditionally known places for consumption and utilization of herbal products. The criteria adopted for determining the survey technique was also based on the locations. The following considerations were taken into account before gathering information: i) ii) The nature and availability of the product Cyclic fluctuations in the demand / supply ratio, consumption pattern and prices
Market Survey of Medicinal Plants cultivated at Ahwati

The first question asked by the villagers of Ahwati and adjoining areas working on JFM project was related to the marketing of their produce. The queries include, why the cultivation of these species, who will buy them, how to process the product, marketing techniques, the prevailing market rates and the storage of raw material in adverse conditions. The villagers who are used to grow mostly agri-horticultural crops know the difficulty of marketing their produce and about the methods to overcome such situations. They do not want to deviate from the traditional crops they grow due to fear of passing through uncontrollable experiences of the stages associated with difficulties in the market like dealing with the middle man, recovery of the sales proceeds, etc. We thought it prudent to have a general survey for arriving at answers to some of the basic problems associated with the subject. It will not only enable us to convince the villagers from this
It was decided not to go to any chemical analysis of the product mainly due to the following reasons: 1. The users of the raw material and traders still believe in the traditional methods of material identification, quality checking and pricing. Non-availability of scientific data available with the consumers. Due to a strong belief on the existing system of determining the prices. So far the buyers had been dealing with the suppliers/collectors mostly coming from rural areas with their produce collected from the wild. Most of the plant products are used in ayurvedic system of medicine, which works on the basis of symptoms and their causative.
2.
3.
4.
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Case Study 4. Evaluation of ongoing Joint Forest Management (JFM) by using criteria and indicators developed by local communities at village Ahwati in Nasik District Introduction
Joint Forest Management has become popular concept in various parts of the country. Under the scheme the villagers come together and join hands with the State Government, particularly with the Forest Department and share the responsibility of protection of forests around their locality. Generally a village unit forms a JFM Committee with all the residents of the village as its members. The local forest officer, mostly Range Forest Officer (RFO) acts as the co-ordinator between Government and local community. He also works as Chairman of the village level JFM Committee which is formed in consultation with the villagers and which have an approval of Divisional Forest Officer (DFO). Divisional Forest Officer is the main functionary for a particular forest division.
Evaluation exercise in village Ahwati

In Nasik District of Maharashtra villagers have opted for JFM in a big way which is evident from the fact that within a span of four years the number of JFM committees have exceeded 200 from just 25 initially. The reasons for this popularity could be many but one cannot deny the fact that most of the villagers are today enthusiastic about conservation work and know the need of such activity. Most of the villagers in the region are in the business of agriculture, which is directly dependent on water. The increase in output in recent years from agriculture has prompted most of the farmers to undertake the profession
in a more scientific way by adopting more advance and remunerative technologies like drip irrigation, organic farming, cultivation of vegetables during unusual season and marketing of their produce accordingly. Education has also played a major role in spreading awareness about the sustainable and judicious use of water and natural resources. Villagers have started realising the importance of forests and vegetation in water retention, soil conservation and temperature regulation in the region. Sometime the incentives given by the forest department at the time of forming JFM Committee like providing drinking water, construction of a Community Hall, laying of concrete roads, repair of school buildings play determining role for formation of JFM Committee in a village. A healthy competitive feeling amongst the villages has also helped in expansion of JFM movement in the region. Ahwati is one such village, which has set example for others in the field of forest protection, equitable use of natural resources and eradication of social evils. With the extension of JFM formation in the adjoining areas the pressure on government officials have increased in last few years. With the same staff strength and financial resources, the department has to cater to the needs of many times more new entrants. WWF-India got involved in the movement about four years back when it came to know about the good work being done under JFM. Some of the WWF-India officials from Delhi and Mumbai visited the site to get first hand information on the concept and its implementation. The experience was so encouraging that the organisation felt it prudent to be associated with the villagers movement in whatever little way it was possible. One such activity included involvement in evaluation of the outcome of JFM using criteria indicators. A special format was used to record the findings from the site. While applying the format it was observed that many of the aspects
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could not get revealed in our first effort. So it was deided to repeat the exercise in future in different locations using modified versions of the format coupled with personal interactions with the villagers. The locations were selected from distant places not having similar kinds of geographic and social conditions. The three sites selected for application of criteria and indicators (C/I) were Ahwati, Ratir and Chinchwah. Ahwati was selected for three reasons One because it was a pioneer in this field, second because the earlier pilot exercise was done here under the aegis of the World Bank-WWF Alliance and third a project on medicinal plants cultivation was undertaken in this village (previous case study). Ratir was selected because of a variety of reasons including conflict amongst the villagers over the use of forest particularly the grazing of large number of sheep and goats reared by the villagers. Chinchwah is a village where the community forests have been regenerated so well that wildlife has started inhabiting the site. A large number of black bucks, barking deers roam freely the open grasslands of Chinchwah through out the year. The vegetation type of Chinchwah also differs from other parts of the district. The approach towards development of C/I was similar to one developed in village Kunbar in Gujarat (This report). For true analysis and revelations people from different segments of society in each of C/I meetings were invited. In the first meeting college students were involved who had been given a task of carrying out a project independently on studying the status of local resources within their particular regions. A joint interaction session was organised by involving people of student community, village community and from management i.e. the office bearers of JFM and government officials. Similar experiments were done in two other sessions by involving people from
different groups. The point wise analysis of C/I format reveal the facts as under: Ecological things have improved since the inception of JFM particularly in the area of species regeneration and forest cover, biodiversity, increasing biomas and retention of soil humus and longevity of water cycle. Economic the economy of the villagers, particularly activities related to agriculture have improved. On account of an increase in cultivable area, availability of more water, better yield and self-dependence for finance. The non-agricultural population benefited in the process by way of creation of more labour jobs, marketing activities, transportation works, etc. The common man from poor strata of society benefited due to availability of plenty of food locally. Forests produce increased mainly in the area of grass, fodder and fruit species like custard apple, etc. Not much effort has been made to tap the potential of grasslands development and increase in fodder volume. New avenues of employment have been created only in agriculture or related field but the increase in money accumulation through agriculture might result into creation of new employment opportunities by the local entrepreneur. Institutional JFM has definitely helped in bringing individuals and different communities with similar interests together. Collective decision making, open and active participation, gender equality, conflict management and representation at higher level are routine and normal activity in most of the villages within the region. Social JFM has made two kinds of impact on the social sector within the community. Despite the claims made by pro JFM one can see the rift between sheep grazers, goat rearers and agricultural farmers, the former
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two being on one side conflicting with others. The respect that the leadership of JFM commands within the society has helped to act as a motivating factor for lesser-known interested young people. In many cases despite hidden resentment within their heart, it is observed that sheep and goat rearers also join their rivals in protection of forests from forest fires and poachers.
more group of villagers. 6. The value addition idea for various products for harnessing better price realization and sustainable use of resources profounded by WWF-India was appreciated by most of the participants. Some of the villagers agreed to exchange their views, technology and plant and other material with each other for maintaining equilibrium within society. Villagers were willing to contribute towards forest regeneration and ecodevelopment funds if the need arose. The suggestion given to them was to get united and form a taluka or regional level body in the line of farmers cooperative society. Members also agreed to prepare a checklist of progressive farmers belonging to different villages so that in case of any emergency requests for financial support they would be able to help them in accordance with their capability. Many of the JFM members were perturbed about the nonserious attitude of government officials, especially against the complaints lodged by them for legal grazing and grass cutting. The divide between two types of opinion holders i) work in harmonious manner with the graziers and try to convince them through motivation and inspiration and ii) deal with the graziers firmly by taking stern action against them and complaining to the administration, is evident in the region. Despite all the differences within forest protectors and destroyers, a desire to find a long term permanent solution prevails in the minds of both the groups.
7.
Some of the salient features of the outcome of the workshops and interactive sessions held in different locations
It was observed that the participants, mostly affiliated to the institution of JFM were enthusiastic with the responsibility they have undertaken. A great amount of cooperation could be seen among the villagers towards protection of forest wealth in different villages and both independently and jointly. Some of the main points brought out in the workshop include: 1. Most of the villagers had a major problem of protecting the forest from cattle and sheep grazers. Although the efforts of forest department were appreciated they were however, found inadequate as far protection is concerned. Villagers wanted funds for watch keeping and security of their protected areas. Villagers are keen to make maximum use of their resources by marketing them through proper network channels and in a more professional manner. Villagers appreciate the effort of coordinating agencies like WWF-India, Forest Department and District Administration as these agencies act as a connecting link between two or
8.
9.
2.
3.
4.
5.
10.
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11.
A regular and constant interaction with the villagers representing all the groups will certainly help to create a conducive environment for forest protection through JFM. As mentioned the main interest of the farmers is to enhance the agro-horticultural potential of the land, there is increasing pressure on the land and other natural resources through conversion of non-agricultural land into agricultural plots. The results are : a. Rapid growth in the area under cultivation. b. Increase in number of open wells and water holes. c. Reduction in diversity of plants in nature in a village. d. Impact of chemicals and pesticides used in agriculture on faunal diversity particularly the minor and invertebrate species.
Assessment and Recommendation

1. Continuation of mass mobilization programme for maintaining the enthusiasm of villagers. A proper mix of advanced technology and latest achievements in the area of plant material used with regard to the local condition and socio-agricultural status of the region reaped better results from degraded and agricultural land without much change in the use of natural resources. Value addition with herbal formulations and water saving techniques on the locally available species was beneficial for both the farmers and nature. Involvement of local youth in local area resource management along with the elders will help sustainable development of the region.
12.
2.
3.
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Kerala
Case Study 5. Strengthening the capacity of the Vana Samraksana Samithies (VSS) in South Western Ghats - Villages Pottamavu & Vanchiyode Introduction
Kerala has a historical legacy of forest management from as early as the 19th century. Forests constitute about 9% of the land in Kerala, making it one of the greener states in India. The major part of Kerala lies in the south-western ghats one of the biodiversity hot spots of the world. In Kerala, where Participatory Forest Management took some time to find its moorings, the pace has picked up over the years and there are many excellent examples of well-managed
PFM initiatives. More than 400 Forest Protection Committees (Vana Samrakshana Samithies) have been established in the state. VSS's are of two types - (a) Tribal VSS, comprising of tribal population entirely dependent on the forests (b) Fringe Area VSS, where tribals have access to benefits from resources other than forests. Two villages Vanchiyode and Pottamavu near Thiruvananthapuram represent the Tribal and Fringe Area VSS respectively. The NTFPs have played a significant role in the livelihood of local communities dependent on forest resources. Nationally more than 50% of the Forest Revenue and about 70% of Forest Export Revenue comes from NWFP mostly in unprocessed and raw form. In the present project an attempt has been made to strengthen the capacity of two VSS through development of an action plan for NTFPs collection primarily, honey, medicinal plants, bamboo and reeds.
Map : Villages Vanchiyode (Kollam District) and Pottamavu (Thiruvananthapuram Distict), Kerala
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Status of PFM in Kerala as on 31.08.2004

S. No 1 2 3 4 5 Name of Circle North Eastern Central High Range South TOTAL No. of VSSs 82 77 47 45 78 329 Total forest area in the circle 115578.17 188795.49 151498.78 104274.00 241564.70 801711.14 Area covered under JFM (ha) 28464.00 42807.84 57256.80 15413.07 21499.00 165440.71
Source : Department of Forests, Govt. of Kerala
Objectives
The objectives of the project were: 1. Preparation of an Action plan for NTFP collection at Vanchiyode for honey, medicinal plant, bamboo and reeds as measure for strengthening the capacity of the Vana Samrakshana Samithy (VSS) at Vanchiyode and Pottamavu. 2. Strengthen Inter VSS as well as Intra VSS relationship through capacity building initiatives in both types of VSS.
capacity of the VSS to take up the leadership in this direction.
A Background to Participatory Forest Management in Kerala

There has been a paradigm shift in the overall management of forests by the Forest Department (FD) of Kerala. From basically a management mode with emphasis on administering from the top, the overall thinking has slowly started moving towards management by partnership with people. The goals of Participatory Forest Management (PFM) initially faced obstacles due to unwillingness of the FD personnel to give up power and its corollary benefits. With time the government policies on forest management got firm on the adaptation of PFM as the more feasible option towards ensuring sustainability and long term conservation of forests. The process though took time to take root in Kerala, has with the committed efforts of a few forest officials and support of the government progressed on a firm footing and now has 329 Vana Samrakshana Samithies covering a forest area of 165,440 ha under the JFM.
Rationale of the Study

The present project of WWF-India is a follow up of an earlier effort to understanding the status and challenges related to JFM in the state with support from International Institute from Environment and Development (IIED), UK. It was realized that forest protection committees operational under JFM need capacity building. This would not happen unless the issue of livelihood is addressed. The rationale behind undertaking the present project is not only to develop a replicable model for the establishment of better health among the NTFP management institutions but also for strengthening the
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A Description of the Project Locations

The Vana Samrakshana Samithies of the two villages Vanchiyode and Pottamavu were among the first to be established in their respective category in the state.
as 'Hill Men Settlement' whereas the remaining three are settlers from other places who have been living in this area since the last forty-fifty years. Prominent species in the semievergreen and deciduous forest types include: Terminalia paniculata, Dillinea pentagyna, Pterocarpus marsupium, Terminalia crenulata, Mahogany, Anjily, Kadamaram, Percia macrantha, Terminalia bellerica, Vitex altissima, Aporusa lyndlyana, Pathiry, Holygarna arnottiana, Cinnamomum malabariuim, Mangifera indica, Venkotta, Knema attennuta, Carrya arborea. Birds like Malabar grey hornbill, Grey jungle fowl, Hill mynah, Blossom headed parakeet, Blue winged parakeets, and animals like Sambar, Barking deer, Bonnet macaque, Monitor lizard, Porcupine, Malabar flying squirrel, Civet cats etc are found in the forests. The inhabitants are engaged in agriculture, which includes rubber, pepper, banana, tapioca, rice and coconut. In the initial stages the forest area was exploited and the people encroached upon forestland and converted it for agricultural purposes. The forest is being utilized besides for NTFP, for firewood collection, fodder collection, drinking water, wood for building, illicit liquor brewing, poaching and sand mining. The forests here also provide labour to the people in the VSS.
Vanchiyode (A Fringe Area VSS)

Vanchiyode lies 852' and 97 latitude and 7635' and 776' east longitude in the Anchal Range in Punalur Forest Division. The total Punalur Forest Division Reserve Forest consists of an area of 275.55 sq. km. Of this the Vanchiyode Vana Samrakshana Samithy manages 250 ha of forests. The VSS was formed in September 1999. These forests cover the outer foothills of the Western Ghats. As is common in the Western Ghats, the underlying rocks are metamorphic consisting of charnockites and other gneisses. The major type of soil found in most of the areas is red loamy, which is rich in minerals. Alluvial soil is found in riverbanks and valleys. Generally the soils are well drained. The area has a tropical climate. The forests of this area are drained by the tributaries of Kallada and Ithikkara rivers. The streams have narrowed down largely due to the large-scale clearance of forests in the past and in some cases the rivers have even changed course due to silting. Though the area is blessed with adequate rain-fed river system there is an acute shortage of water in the low country during peak summer. The tribes inhabiting Vanchiyode are Kanikkars. There are altogether eleven settlements in Anchal Range of which Vanchiyode is one of them. Vanchiyode project area consists of four enclosures or settlements; Vanchiyode (there is a settlement by that name itself) Kuruvikkadu, Nedumapacha and Venkodu. Of this the Vanchiyode enclosure consists of tribals exclusively and is generally in Forest Department parlance termed
Land use Pattern

Vanchiyode has a total population of 448 persons and 124 families reside in this village. The first micro plan for the VSS was prepared during 1998. A memorandum of understanding between the JFM committee and the forest department was signed on December 29, 1999. The microplan drawn in 1999 for implementation of JFM was not comprehensive enough for undertaking activities. With the
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LAND USE PATTERN

0% 1.63%
5.40%
1.6
4% 2.25%
Forest Rubber Plantations Pepper

72.50%
13%
Paddy Fields
The composition of the membership of Vanchiyode VSS

N a. b. c. d. Place Vanchiyode Venkodu Nedumpacha Kuruvikkadu Families 62 36 15 9 122 Categories Scheduled Tribe Others Scheduled Caste Other Scheduled Caste Others Others Nos. 54 8 20 16 3 12 9 122
Source : Department of Forests, Govt. of Kerala
initiative of the forest department and WWF-India, a new microplan for the period 2003 - 2008 was prepared to overcome the anomalies in of the first microplan. Participatory Rural Appraisal for the same was conducted in September 2003.
Medicinal plant nursery for 5 ha raised
Current Status
1. The number of people visiting the forests for NTFP collection has reduced. Being on the fringe the VSS are attracted to more economically beneficial activities like the modern day business prospects. The NTFP collection is slowly getting centered on the tribals (early settlers). About 20 people collect honey in Vanchiyode who are primarily tribal. The quantity of honey collected has been reducing over the years. In the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 it was 350 kg, 250 kg and 300 kg respectively.
Major Activities of the VSS prior to the implementation of the project:

The road from Sivan Mukku to Vengode was made motorable. Check-dam made in Vanchiyode. Ten wells were dug in the Adivasi area. Arrangements made for the installation of smokeless chulhas in the tribal hamlet. 3. 2.
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4.
The honey collected is sold to private parties outside and not generally to the society formed by the tribals at a cost of Rs. 60 per 50 ml. Few people had received training for bee keeping about thirteen years back from the forest department. Due to mass flowering, about 50 ha of reed plantation was lost. There is scope for dairying as Vanchiyode generates 100 ltrs of milk daily.
5.
6.
7.
The influence of the Tribal Cooperative Society (TCS) in marketing activities is yet another important factor that has resulted in unsustainable collection and degradation of habitat. In earlier times the NTFP's collection had to be carried as a head load to places of marketing. But now with the establishment of marketing agencies like TCS this has changed. They need to supply the materials to the collection centers only. To economize the cost, TCS prefer maximum collection of NTFPs to load the vehicle fully for reducing the carrying expense. This leads to unsustainable collection of NTFP. Initially only the people living in Pottamavu hamlet went for collection within the forests but gradually with the opening of the forest for outsiders and the scheduled caste groups living nearby, all sustainable collection practices were replaced by unsustainable methods and gradually these practices got transferred to the Pottamavu inhabitants as well.
The VSS lies near the Trivandrum Shencottah Road and its proximity to the road is an added incentive for supporting illegal logging and illicit liquor manufacturing. This also gives access to outsiders for entering Vanchiyode for collection of grass, small branches of trees and grazing domestic animals. The community here is heterogeneous in composition and quite affected by the urbanization process. This in turn gives rise to the possibility of exploiting the forests for financial benefits. With an area of 200 ha of forests in and around the inhabited area the chances for the same is very high. The NTFP's collected from the forests were not marketed efficiently and a preliminary discussion indicated that though the VSS was established long back, there was absolute lack of clarity in taking the institution forward. Rise in demand of ayurvedic medicines and forest-related produce for health has directly affected the quantum of collection of NTFP's from the area. This in turn has affected the methods of collection and encouraged unsustainable collection practices leading to a depletion of many plants once considered common in this area. The lure of money has infiltrated in to Pottamavu also.
Pottamavu
Pottamavu comes in the Southern Circle under the Trivandrum Forest division in Kulathupuzha range. This is a tribal hamlet with the boundaries constituted in the east by Pandimotta, south by Kaarumpuram, Adiparamba in Palode range & west by Kadukkida Raod, Irupathadikunnu, Thavalappara and north by Shendurni Wildlife Sanctuary. It is the catchment area for the Kallada river. The tributaries for these rivers are the Sankhili, Vellamalayar, Chinikkalar, Kudukkida, Kunkumala and Idukkumpara rivers. There are more than 12 smaller rivers and several streams arising from these rivers. Pottamavu receives 2700 mm of rainfall. The area gets ample rainfall during June, July and August. The Pottamavu Tribal Vana Samrakshana Samithi established in 2001 has been allotted a total area of 1200 ha for forest conservation as well as for collection of NTFP. They
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Resource Map developed through participatory process in Pottamavu
are a primarily NTFP dependent community. Fifty-six families in the hamlet have been allotted 33 ha of land on right of usage basis. Though they have right of occupancy they are not authorized to sell the land. The right of use the basis land and the forestland has been clearly demarcated using jandas. The people living in this are all forest dependent and make a living out of collection of NTFPs and forestry related work that comes up often related to the plantations. Some of them are also engaged in making products out of reeds and cane besides engaging in regular labour like masonary, tailoring, carpentery, there are some drivers too. Due to uncertainity in employment, as well as the low margin received for the NTFP many of the inhabitants are in debt traps. In the land is that is allotted to them on usage basis (no ownership) the community has raised crops like
tapioca, pepper, banana, yam, ginger, coconut, rubber plantations for which assistance was provided by the rubber board. Cashew plantations are seen in patches in areas adjoining these habitations. Villagers at Pottamavu face difficulties during NTFP collection. They remain at times for more than 10 to 15 days inside the forest during collection time. And to sustain them during this period they carry food, water and other necessary items. The collections are made on seasonal basis as each NTFP had a particular season for collection. For e.g. honey is generally collected between March and April. The process of collection is wrought with danger as they would face wild animals at night. They protect themselves from honey-bee stings which can sometimes be dangerous enough resulting in death even by chewing Maramanjal (Coccineum fenestratum) and exhaling the breath. The smell of maramanjal is said to ward off the honey-bees making it easier for them
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to collect honey. The people generally collect around 5 - 8 kgs from a single beehive and per kg they cost around Rs. 55. Similarly the collectors have to go deep within the forest for collecting 'Kunthirikkam' (Canarium strictum). These are available in the form of wax in the trees. The value of Kunthirikkam is based on its quality. Another very important NTFP is the maramanjal (Coccineum fenestratum). As it is a vine like creeper its harvesting involves a lot of effort. The other major NTFPs like cardamom, poovanathiri and kasturi manjal (Curcuma aromatica) are relatively easy to harvest and hence mostly done by women of the Oooru (hamlet). These NTFPs collected are then supplied to the Tribal Cooperative society which has an office within the hamlet itself. Four watch women at the village entrance keep a record of the quantum of NTFP extracted from the forests. Though there are no serious man animal conflict in this area the hamlet is not free from destruction to crops by wild life attacks mainly by elephants, wild boar and monkeys. This has been a major reason that has discouraged many people from engaging in agriculture in the one acre land which is given to each of them on lease. The land holding varies between one - five acre per family. Even though the government has not handed over ownership of the land to the tribals, each family is given one acre of land on lease where they can cultivate and reap the produce. They mostly cultivate agricultural products like tapioca, banana, pepper, rubber etc. The roads are not maintained well and makes transportation through the area difficult especially during the monsoons. There is bus service from the nearby Palode depot (places where bus services start and end) twice a day. Similarly the hopes of electrification of the houses in the
hamlet also remains unfulfilled even though the electric lines have been drawn till the entrance of the hamlet. It just needs to be extended a little further in to the village to make electricity accessible to the villagers there. It is quite ironical that the villagers hardly show any interest in ensuring that they get electricity even though it has reached the threshold of the hamlet. The most educated person in the village is a tenth grade pass, Ms. Sati having completed the Teachers Training Course. Women in the community were found to be more progressive than their male counterparts. In the past the village received help and support of a MSS church. A selfhelp group 'Stree Shakti' was established here with an initial support of Rs. 6000 by the church. The SHG functioned well in the initial stages but is defunct now. The church is also not in operation at present. Another institution working in the area is the Pottamavu Cooperative Society regionally termed as Pottamavu Sahakarana Sangh or Tribal Cooperative Society (TCS). This tribal cooperative society has been established for buying and selling of NTFPs collected from the forests in Pottamavu. They procure around 11 NTFP products out of the total of 32 NTFPs available here. The headquarters of this federation is at Peroorkada in Trivandrum. There is a school run by DPEP for children above five years up to the 4th standard however, only a few children are presently enrolled. An 'Anganvady' in the village focuses attention on the education and health of both mother and child. People are not conscious of health and sanitation. They suffer from elephantiasis which is not curable, the hamlet does not take too much interest to ward it off for future generations either.
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The VSS at Pottamavu keep records the quantum of NTFPs extracted from their forest
The VSS consists of the Kani tribes, Muslims, the Ezhavas and Nairs. Various members of the VSS are of the opinion that Kani group being a tribal community recives a lot of privileges from the Government. The Kanikkars on the other hand are of the view that they are not party to many of the activities of the VSS. This situation needs to be addressed with earnestness as it could pave the way for a polarization amongst the members.
prepare a new microplan using Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques. The matter was brought to the notice of senior officials of the Forest Department including the Divisional Forest Officer who supported the idea. As Vanchiyode is a Fringe Area VSS, in addition to a location sketch, a Seasonality Calendar and a Labour Calendar was prepared. Unlike Pottamavu the community at Vanchiyode did not depend fully on forest resources for its subsistence. Hence it was necessary to complement the management plans with the labour and seasonal job possibilities in the area. Both the VSS were studied for: 1. 2. 3. The composition of the respective VSS Socio economic conditions NTFP dependency and management
Activities undertaken under the project and impacts at Vanchiyode and Pottamavu
As the existing microplan was insufficient in terms of implementation of various activities and the gaps in information needed to obtain a complete view of the Vanchiyode VSS, it was felt that only a new microplan would be able to help serve the purpose. Hence it was decided to call all the members and
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The composition of the membership of the Vana Samrakshana Samithy as well as the socio-economic conditions and aspirations are different from each other. As these in turn were dependent also on various external compulsions like the extent to which urbanization has influenced the respective VSS, the NTFP management of the area, the literacy level, the willingness to imbibe and accept new ideas and processes, awareness of their rights, responsibilities and duties. Socio-economic surveys were undertaken through a participatory rural appraisal conducted in both the villages. The Executive Committee and General Body meetings of the VSS were organized for collecting information on various aspects like their opinions on various institutions operating in the region and their shortcomings.
time help in forging better links between the members of the community. The women here were encouraged to take initiatives to avail the benefits due to them from government agencies such as Zila Panchayat etc. It was encouraging to note that they were able to raise issues with the Panchayat. A tribal self-help group got funding for raising goats within their area (Stall feeding only). Presently there are four self-help groups viz., Pournami, Kuruvikktadu, Aparna and Vanchiod in Vanchiyode. The SHGs were formed with the initial support of Rs. 3000 per SHG by the Forest Department.
Strengthening Capacity of Management of NTFPs, Honey, Bamboo and Reeds

Past system of collection of NTFPs : The system that was previously followed for the collection of Minor Forest Produce was by contract. In this, the right to collect and remove all Minor Forest Produce items was sold in public auction for each range separately, the period of contract being a year. Through this process the private traders/contractors could employ the tribes to their advantage. The disadvantage of this system was that the contractors took undue profit by selling the produce at the rates fixed by them. The department had no control over the market and actual consumers had to pay exorbitant rates to contractors for the produce they purchased. This system was in vogue till 1979. A new system for selling the produce to Girijan Service Co-operative Societies at negotiable rates was introduced in 1978 as per G. O. (MS) No.99150/FM2/AD/Agri. (Forest Misc.). The rate fixed as per this system was the average price fetched during the last three auctions plus 5%. As per this the right of collection of NTFPs from reserve
Assessment of NTFP's
Through interaction with the Forest Officials and local people, location maps were prepared and a detailed analysis of NTFP Management was undertaken. An inventory of the NTFPs were prepared and all possible information of NTFP collection by the community were compiled through secondary and primary data as well as interviews with the members of the Vana Samrakshana Samithy. Preliminary information of quantum of collection of honey, medicinal plants, bamboo and reeds as well as the locations rich in these NTFPs were identified. Before conducting a detailed market survey a prioritization of species which were in demand for trade was made. Two workshops were held with the women's self-help groups. As the women of the VSS seemed to be better disposed in the PFM activities they were encouraged to take up activities that would assist them to reduce their dependency on the forest for income and at the same
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forests was given to TCS and their members at a concessional rate. This system continued till 1981. Present system of collection and removal of NWFP: The system presently in vogue is to entrust the collection and removal of NWFP to Girijan Co-operative Societies on realization of lease rent. Institutional arrangement for the collection and marketing of NTFP in the State As per an estimation by the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Federation, NTFP worth Rs. 300 lakh per year can be collected from Kerala Forests (Philip Thomas pers comm.) Out of the total number of TCS given exclusive rights from 1978 onwards, only 35% were engaged in collection and marketing of NTFP. TCS collects
the entire produce from the tribals. This is marketed through the Kerala State Federation of SC/ST Development Cooperatives. The price given to the tribal against the produce collected is as per the rates fixed by the NTFP committee constituted for the purpose. The chief conservator of forests is the chairperson of the committee. The committee fixes the price for collection charges of the produce, the procurement value, and sales value of the NTFPs. As per this arrangement, 80% of the revenue is given as collection charges to tribals, 15% as commission to TCS and 5% as overhead charges to SC/ST federation. There are specific roles assigned for the Forest Department, Tribal Department and Cooperative Department in the effective functioning of the federation.
Major species collected as NTFPs are as follows: 1. Chakkarakkolli 2. Jaathi 3. Kacholam 4. Karinochi 5. Kasturi Manjal 6. Kurinji (Gymnema sylvestre) (Myristica sps) (Kaempferia galanga) (Vitex negundo) (Curcuma aromatica) (Strobilanthus sps) 12.Naruneendi 13.Nelli 14.Nilappana (Hemidesmus indicus) (Emblica officinalis) (Curculago sps.)
15.Nila narakam (Naragamia allata) 16.Orila 17.Ramacham 18.Sathavari 19.Valampiri Idampiri 20.Veppu 21.Vayanappoovu (Desmodium gangeticum) (Veteverea sp.) (Asparagus recemosus) (Helicteres isora) (Melia sp.) (Cinnamomum malabarium)
7. Kunthirikkam (Canarium strictum) 8. Kurunthotty 9. Malathangi 10.Maramanjal 11.Moovila (Sida rhombifolia) (Cissampelos sps.) (Coccineum fenestratum) (Pseudarthria viscida)
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The quantum of NTFP extracted from forests in Vanchiyode every year :

SN 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. NTFP Asparagus recemosus Cinnamomum sp (flower) Curcuma aromatica Cyclea peltata Embilica officinalis Gymnema sylvestris Honey Kodithuva Myristica sp Sida rhombifolia Terminalia bellirica Thatching Grass Wild Mango (Mangifera indica) Wild Pepper (Piper sps) Method of collection Plucking and digging from the soil Cutting the branches Plucking and digging out from the soil Plucking and digging out from the soil Plucking using poles and shaking the tree Plucking and digging out from the soil Smoking for extraction of honey inside the hive... Uprooting Plucking ( a very costly item) Uprooting Collecting the fallen seeds, and sometimes plucking it Cutting Plucking by poles Uprooting Quantity 10 kg 25 kg 10 kg 10 kg 50 kg 10 kg 100- 200 kg 5 kg 5 kg 15 Kg 500 kg 4000 bundles 500 Kg 10 Kg
Source : Microplan KFD 2001
Marketing Channel of NTFP

For the medicinal plants and herbs the marketing channel for the SC/ST Federation are the Pharmaceutical Corporation of Kerala Ltd (Ousadhi), other AMMU's (Ayurvedic Medicinal Manufacturer Units) and the open market consisting of regular traders both in and outside Kerala. The trade in medicinal herbs is mostly through private traders in and outside Kerala (68.2%). There are roughly 800 AMMUs in Kerala and their requirements are very high. The right of collection of some specified Minor Forest Products is given to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Co-operative Societies, as a part of welfare measures taken by the Government for the upliftment of these communities. This provides labour and a source of livelihood to the communities, dependent on forests. A meagre annual lease rent is realized from the societies. The main
items collected are medicinal plants, bamboo and reeds and honey : a. Medicinal Plants An interesting feature in the present management process of the medicinal plants scenario is that there is a distinct inclination in reviving some of the traditional conservation practices to preserve and conserve some of the medicinal plants. For e.g. the tribal community do not collect medicinal plants after sunset. Some medicinal plants are harvested only at a specified time as per the traditional knowledge systems. It is pertinent to mention here that many of the medicinal plants, species in Vanchiyode and to a greater extent in Pottamavu are listed as endangered. Some of the endangered species are Padathali (Cyclea peltata), Chakkara kolli (Gymnema sylvestres) Kurinji (Strobilanthus sps). Karinochi (Vitex negundo) Kacholam (Kaempferia
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Gene Pool area in Pottamavu
galanga). Nila narakam (Naragamia allata) Naruneendi (Hemidesmes indicus) Sarpagandhi (Rauvolfia serpentina). Untill recently the tribals were lured by contractors to cut trees and exploit the forest for their own vested interest. But with the JFM practices in place, villagers have come to realize the need to conserve biodiversity. A number of awareness sessions have been conducted by WWF to ensure conservation of medicinal plants. They feel motivated to conserve, sometimes at a loss of economic benefits. For e.g. they have after a workshop on medicinal plants agreed to control the collection of Maramanjal as well as some other plants which they feel are not being replaced by regeneration like they ought to. There are 500 ha of Gene Pool area designated to be protected for conserving the plants for regeneration and further afforestation. Prospects and benefits of a sustainably managed forest have slowly instilled in them a sense of security and a hope for a future. They have realized that although it is a tough burden that they have been
called upon to carry in the name of nature conservation they would love to do it either because they are most suited to do it or because they are used to carrying burdens for others for years now. This is primarily the attitude that is seen in the case of Pottamavu whereas the Vanchiyode segment is more a heterogeneous and only one out of the four group enclosures there constitutes the tribals, the rest being settlers. 25 acres of land have been identified for medicinal plant cultivation and initiated as joint efforts by the VSS in Vanchiyode. Whereas in Pottamavu the available NTFP by itself is more than enough for their management and what is required is proper marketing and utilization plan to ensure its sustainability. At present 120 items of NWFP are allotted free to the societies on advice from the Kerala State Federation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe Development Cooperative Societies. Details of Minor Produce collected by societies during 1982 to 1993 are given below :
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b. Bamboo & Reeds Bamboos are commercially much valued for their manifold uses, in the industrial sector for paper and pulp, in cottage industries for a variety of purposes and to meet domestic demands. Among the 21 genera and 136 species of bamboos and seeds are recorded in India, 8 genera and 24 species are known to occur in peninsular India. Of these, nine species of Ochlandra which are reeds, used in the pulp and paper industry, and for mat and basket making in the traditional industrial sector in Kerala. Five species of Ochalandra, O. beddomei, O. ebracteata, O. setigera, O.sivaairiana and O. talbortiiare reported to be endagered and restricted in distribution'. Earlier Working Plans of Forest Department prescribed the eradication of bamboo, identifying it more as a weed in favour of teak plantations. However the use of bamboo as an industrial raw material has entirely changed this picture. Kerala has a culture of planting bamboos in homesteads. The reed Ochlandra travancorica is the most important associate of the tropical evergreen forests and attains maximum growth in the very wet type of evergreen forests. In the evergreen types, the most important associations of Ochlandra include Hopea parviflora, Cullenia exarillata, Canarium strictum, Dipterocarpus indicus, etc. Ochlandra being shade tolerant, grows well even under the closed canopy of evergreen forests. The most common ones, are O travancorica (Bedd.) Benth. ex Gamble and O scriptoria (Dennst.) C.E.C. Fisher, are widespread, extending throughout the Western Ghats. The small sized reed occurring along most of the river and stream banks is O scriptoria. Species such as O beddomei, Gamble, O ebracteata Raizada & Chatterji and O setigera Gamble are restricted to a
few localities only. (Muktesh, KFRI). In general, the forest divisions of Malayatoor, Ranni, Konni, Trivandrum, Thenmala and Punalur are comparatively rich in reed resource. A large portion of the ridges forming the northern, eastern and southern sides of the Kulathupuzha valley (Vanchiyode one of the project Area is in this forest division) of Trivandrum division are covered entirely by reeds. Bamboo is a valuable fibre species for paper and pulp industry and its demand is increasing day by day. It forms fodder for some wild animals as well. The raw material supply for pulp wood industry is dwindling and dependence of communities on forests has also been recognized as a major factor influencing the management strategy. Collection and marketing The bamboo and reeds available in Vanchiyode have depleted considerably due to mass flowering which took place and the VSS members who made bamboo murrum and baskets now collect the same from the nearby locality. Pottamavu supplied bamboo and reeds to Hindustan Newsprint Limited during 1990-2001. The total quantity available per annum from these locations is around four tons of reeds and five tons of bamboo. Out of this the local members utilize one ton of bamboo and one and half tons (approx) of reed for their own needs, as well as for making small furniture and baskets etc. For fear of mass flowering, the bamboo is harvested completely before its maturity. This is possibly an unsustainable practice. Besides this when contractors of major buyers like Hindustan Newsprint Limited etc. enter the plantation area for harvesting the reeds they seldom show regard towards sustainability or conservation aspects of the resources.
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c. Honey Honey acts as both medicine and natural insecticide. It is believed that in areas where there is bee keeping there is an increase in the agricultural yield by 20%. Bee keeping is practiced in large scale in Kerala. Kerala is one of the two states, which witnessed great advances in bee keeping as a cottage industry, the other state being Tamil Nadu. Untill 1991, 70% of the total production of honey came from these two states together. But within two years as a result of the virus attack of Thai sac brood on honey bee colonies the production of honey fell to very minimal/nominal not only in Kerala and Tamil Nadu but in many states across India. By the end of 1992 almost 98% of the beehive colonies were destroyed by this virus attack. Natural Honey continues to be collected by people living within the forests as well as on the fringe areas of the forests. The former being mostly tribals in some 400 tribal villages across the state and the latter being settlers living in the fringe areas of the forests. Honey is sold primarily through the Kerala State Federation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Cooperatives. In areas where Vana Samrakshan Samithies are present they also function as the marketing appendage for NTFP products including honey. Processing of honey is important for its preservation. Though honey is a pure substance preservation of honey needs to be done scientifically to ensure a longer shelf life. This is in order to avoid fermentation of honey caused by the osmophillic yeast cells that grow in the water content that naturally exists in honey. Based on the content of water in honey it is divided in to three categories. That which has 20% water content in it is termed as special grade, 20 -22% as A grade and 22% -25% as standard grade.
As per an earlier study, 27.8 % of the community in Vanchiyode is engaged in honey collection. A further study of the seasonality and labour calendar shows that there is a strong tendency on taking up regular labour as on alternative livelihood rather than going in for honey collection. It was learnt that the difficulty as well as the lack of motivation in marketing the product has resulted in members shifting their interest to ordinary labour which in Kerala is more profitable. But at the same time it was also learnt that they would be interested in reversing this trend if there were proper marketing methods by which they did not have to waste their time in taking their produce to places which were 20 to 30 kms away. It has also been noted that there are many houses in both Vanchiyode and Pottamavu where the people have put up beehives in their homes. In contrast in Pottamavu which is a tribal VSS there was a preference towards honey collection and its marketing, primarily because there is a community that depends on NTFP collection for subsistence.
Collection Methods
The species found in Vanchiyode and Pottamavu are Apiserana indica and Apisdorsata trigonairidipenns. The honey derived from the latter is supposed to be of high medicinal value. There is a marked difference in the collection/harvesting methods between Vanchiyode and Pottamavu. Traditionally, the collectors have certain methods by which they decide on the rights to collect honey. Once a member of the community sights a beehive he puts two small pieces of stick in the form of an 'X 'depicting that no one else should collect the honey from that particular hive and that it was his to do so. It is believed that in contrary to this if at all and any one other than him collects honey he would collect the wax from the mouth of the beehive put it in a
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leaf and closing it within the palm of his hand curse the family of the person who has taken it. This curse they believe would result in the entire clan of the people to disappear forever. They go for collection based on days associated with full moon and phases of it. The tribals collect honey on the day after the amavasi (New Moon). The Vanchiyode community collects honey by smoking the entrance of the hive. Among the unsustainable practices that have developed due to the high demand of honey for medicinal, cosmetic and other health purposes are cutting of branches of trees as well as smoking that affects the trees. Some of the collectors put fires below the hive to destroy the entire bee colony itself. Another method is by chewing garlic or onion and exhaling the smell at the time of collection of honey from the beehive when the bees swarm around the collector.
sufficient space to insert their hand and get the honey-comb. In brief there is no specific scientific method and the methods used currently are often destructive. As for ascertaining the purity of the honey there is no scientific method either. They have the usual traditional methods like smelling and tasting etc to assess their purity. Existing practices for processing honey Processing is an important part in the preservation of honey. Though honey is a pure substance preservation needs to be done scientifically to ensure a long shelf. This is in order to avoid fermentation of honey caused by the osmophillic yeast cells that grow in the water content that naturally exists in honey. The tribal community believe that honey need not be processed as they feel that warming honey for preserving it is more than enough to strain the pollen and keep it clean. In
Other Methods of Honey Collection

1. The honey collectors after identifying the honey nest and if they are at reachable places on a tree or elsewhere they make a hole in the nest big enough for their hand to go in for taking the honey comb. After collecting it the honey is extracted in the traditional manner by squeezing the honey comb for the honey. If the tree is tall and it is not possible to climb it they sometimes cut the tree. If it is at an unreachable area on a branch they cut the branch. The Kani tribals (see photo) shoot the honey combs and collect the dripping honey in pots. The honey collected from between the spaces in the rocks is similar to collection by hand where they make
2.
3.
4.
5.
A Kani tribal in Vanchiyode
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earlier days honey was preserved in side bamboo poles later replaced by glass bottles. This difference in the methods of collection could be attributed to the fact that the quantity collected in Pottamavu is almost three times more than that of the Vanchiyode VSS and also because the area covered under the Vanchiyode VSS is almost 250 ha while for Pottamavu VSS it is 1250 ha. Some concerns related to harvest of NTFP's: 1. There are 120 items allotted for collection to the Tribal Societies. But invariably they end up collecting between 15 to 20 items as per demand of the Federation. This opens the way for unsustained collection of the forest produce. Collection should be linked to availability of the species, proper inventorisation of the entire NTFP in the state needs to be done. Collection methods are crude and outdated. There should be proper training for sustained collection practices. The pricing of items procured by the federation does not very often take in to account market realities. Pricing should be made more realistic. Since the SC/ST Federation does not have an efficient marketing policy, it often results in continued financial loss and this in turn affects the advances extended to the tribal societies engaged on the ground that is in collection. This paves the way for middlemen to enter the fray and forces the tribals to sell outside the Tribal Cooperative Societies.
Activities Undertaken
Training for Bee Keeping
A bee keeping training was conducted by the Regional Manager of 'Horticorp' in March 2004 at Vanchiyode Vana Samrakshana Samithy office. The members of both the Vana Samrakshana Samithies of Vanchiyode and Pottamavu who were involved in honey collection attended this meeting. There were a total of 30 participants including 14 women. Details regarding honey-comb making and the community life of the honey bees were explained by the trainers. The training emphasized on sustainable methods of honey collection. While discussing these issues the trainer pointed out the amount of loss incurred by Pottamavu VSS when honey collected by them were sold to the cooperative society established in their hamlet for the purpose of collection and sale of NTFP's of their Vana Samrakshana Samithy. It was realized that the members of the Pottamavu VSS were selling Honey at Rs. 20 less than the market value with no particular benefit to the Vana Samrakshana Samithy or themselves. In continuation to this training programme the Horticorp trainer was of the opinion that there is potential for starting a honey collection center through installation of bee-keeping boxes. He also suggested that VSS send in a request for installing such boxes. As per the decisions of the Vanchiyode VSS executive Committee an application was later forwarded to Horticorp indicating their interest in the Scheme and requesting for 20 bee-keeping boxes to be installed in the four enclosures Vengode, Kuruvikkadu, Vanchiyode and Nedumpacha. In light of the interest exhibited by the villagers the Forest Department scheduled a bee training programme for 11 VSS in the Anchal Range.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Medicinal Plants workshop Vanchiyode and Pottamavu A workshop was conducted by Dr N G Nair in both the Vanchiyode and Pottamavu VSS. He emphasized on the need for sustainable collection of medicinal plants. Villagers were apprised about the destructive methods of harvest of vayanappoovu (Cinnamomum malabaricum) and orila (Desmodium gangeticum). The VSS members of both the VSS were advised enrichment planting as a measure to overcome the depletion of these medicinal plants due to excessive collection. He suggested that selected species of plants in demand should be raised and to reinforce this medicinal plant garden also can be raised and indigenous plant species focused upon. A major decision taken during the workshop was to undertake medicinal plant cultivation in around 25 ha land in Vanchiyode. The self-help group focusing on medicinal plants was advised to develop a seed calendar for selected species of NTFP. It is seen that very often during the rainy season excessive uprooting is done for species like Kurunthotty (Sida rhombifolia) - roots. Workshop on Bamboo Cultivation and Marketing The bamboo workshop involving tribal members of the Vanchiyode VSS and Pottamavu VSS was conducted by Shri Madhavan Kutty currently working as an instructor in Tribal Welfare Department and Mr. M. Unnikrishnan of the Forest Information Bureau. Shri Madhavankutty spoke about the utility value of bamboo and reeds and informed the group in detail about the items that are in demand. He spoke to the participants about the opportunities available for marketing the products that they make and also how to modify their products in keeping with the times, as cane products are very much in demand not only in Indian markets but also internationally. He spoke of the
various outlets for their products within the state and the district. The annual exhibitions conducted under the aegis of Integrated Rural Development Department was one of them. He assured a training programme on some new products of bamboos for marketing. Shri M. Unnikrishnan spoke of the methods of bamboo plantation and calculation of yield. Vanchiyode was at a disadvantage in using the reed this season as they lost the whole planted bamboo as a result of mass flowering. The management of bamboo including extraction requires the services of semi-skilled labourers the control of its extraction is still with the Forest Department though it needs to be mentioned that the Pottamavu VSS had recently planted 20 acres of Bamboo under their own supervision at Erupathampady. The Hindustan Newsprint and Grasim Industries are major buyers of the bamboo. Development of action plan for management of NTFPs Both the project area Vanchiyode and Pottamavu have a Gene Pool Conservation Area (GPCA). This is an unfragmented extent of 500 ha of forests. The area is endowed with rare and endemic plant species. Important medicinal plants located in the gene pool are Arogyapacha (Trichopus zeylanicus), Amalporiyan (Rauvolfia serpentina) Adapathiyan (Caesalpinia sapan) Maramanjal (Coccinium fenestratum) Kunthirikkam (Canarium strictum) and among the NTFP's Vayanappovu (Cinnamomum malabaricum) Ponnampoo (Myristica malabarica) Parandayakka (Entada scandens) Kudampuli (Garcinia gummigatta) Kasturi manjal (Curcuma aromatica). Human intervention in the GPCA area is restricted and sanction is not accorded for collection of NTFP's from this area. Seeds if at all required for planting is done with the permission of the VSS only. Hence the area is accorded a special status and is protected.
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Through various awareness programmes the VSS in both the places have been sensitized on the need to: Update the inventory of rare and endangered species and to regenerate the species that were commonly found till recently but have shown a sharp decline in the recent years due to unsustainable collection. Enhance the traditional knowledge base and utilize it in the case of medicinal plants besides disseminating the knowledge available for the benefit of people who use traditional medicine for their livelihood.
reinforcing the needs for sustainability in the harvesting of NTFP needs to be reinforced. 5. As per the market analysis it is observed that opportunities exist for betterment of livelihood. However there is a lack of initiative by the people themselves in this regard. The land use study as well as the labour calendar developed in the two project sites indicate that there is a seasonal pattern which needs to be linked to the action plan for effectiveness. It is seen that often during rainy season extensive harvesting is done for species like Kurumthotty (Sida rhombifolia) (roots) as it is easy to uproot them at that time, without allowing any facility for natural regeneration. The Tribal Cooperative Society enjoys monopoly rights of collecting & marketing the NTFP and bamboo and putting the collectors at a great disadvantage vis--vis the pricing of the produce. The tribal co-operative societies rather than ensuring sustainable harvesting practices exploit the tribes and others to divert the produce with higher return for luring them to go in for unsustainable practices in collection. The VSS per se do not have strong marketing capabilities. This greatly restricts benefits that should be genuinely accruing to them through collection and sale of the NTFPs. The VSS are not aware of commercially important items due to lack of adequate exposure of the market.
6.
7.
The action plan for management of NTFPs are based on the following findings: 1. The collection methods adopted currently are not sustainable. There is lack of coordination between the various institutions operating in the region. For e.g. though the members of the VSS who are also members of the Tribal Cooperative Society do the collection and sell their products to TCS there is no overall guidance or overseeing of the whole process of collection and sale by the Forest Department. Their duty seems to be over with the issuance of passes for allowing collectors in the forest area. The inter-relationship between the various components in the VSS that helps in improving the present management system as well as identification of their roles to ensure ecological stability does not exist. The strengthening of the socioeconomic linkages for 8.
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For sustainable utilization of the natural resources it is therefore proposed that: a) 1. Harvesting of NTFPs to be done exclusively by VSS members. Awareness generation should continue on a regular basis so that the temperamental / attitudinal changes that are required to understand and practice the concept of sustained harvesting are ensured. Policies, which encourage unregulated harvesting of medicinal plants should be analyzed and corrective measures taken. Mechanisms to monitor the outcome of adapting to sustained management should be developed. This would also help in capacity building or institutional building.
5.
Indigenous knowledge to be documented and used systematically for improving the health of the forest. Regeneration practices to be started on war footing for plants like Maramanjal (Coccinium fenstratum) etc that have declined drastically due to careless harvesting. Selected species of plants (medicinal, bamboo, honey) in demand would be raised in a nursery for enrichment of the gene pool area. Seed Banks feasability of promoting local seed banks under the overall guidance the regional station of National Bureau of Plant Gentic Resources at Thrissur should be explored.
6.
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2.2 Eastern Himalaya

Arunachal Pradesh Feasibility of Introducing Group Certification for Swertia chirayita in Western Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalaya Introduction
The state of Arunachal Pradesh is situated in the Eastern Himalayas a priority ecoregion and a biologically rich 'hotspot'. Arunachal Pradesh accounts for 2.54% of the total geographical area of India and is a custodian of more than 23.52% of the flowering plants (Hegde 2002). Arunachal Pradesh can be termed as nature's repository of medicinal plants (Haridasan et al. 1989) and from the preliminary studies undertaken so far around 500 medicinal plants have been recorded from the region. The rich biological
resources of the region are being utilised by nearly one million population comprising of 25 major tribes and 110 sub-tribes of the state as a source of livelihood. With the increase in the aspiration of local people to improve their economic condition and lifestyle, the pressure on the available forest resources, mainly NTFPs has increased manifold in an unsustainable manner. According to the survey conducted by Mac Alpine Thorpe Warrie, Commonwealth Consultant in 1997, the global market for herbal products is estimated at Rs. 36,000 crores which is expected to grow to Rs.1,60,000 crores by 2010 AD. Of this, the present share of European market is Rs. 10,800 crores. India's share of this market is less than one percent (Borthakur 2003). China is the biggest producer as well as exporter of medicinal plants, accounting for 30% of total world trade in 1991, followed by Korea, USA, India and Chile. Hamburg is the world-trading center in medicinal plants (Iqbal 2003).
Map : Tawang, West Kameng & East Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh
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To ensure sustainable management of forest resources, which are being used as a source of income, Forest Certification is one of the most advanced and effective tools. Certification is done by various certifying agencies like Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Pan European Forest Certification Scheme (PEFC) which provide written assurance that the forest produce that are in trade are as per specific standards, on the basis of an audit conducted on agreed principles. As opposed to the quality of forest products, certification primarily addresses the quality of forest management (Chatterjee et al. 2003) This project therefore aims to analyze the general pattern of extraction and marketing of Chirayita in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh as per the FSC Principle and Criteria needed to be fulfilled for introducing Certification. Presently traders from outside the state come and engage the poor and unaware villagers for indiscriminate collection of these plants from the wild for a paltry amount which has resulted near extinction of certain important medicinal plants. Indiscriminate collection of medicinal plants from wild and marketing through middlemen due to the lack of necessary knowledge of the market setup and actual value of the medicinal plants has resulted in minimum economic benefit for the local villagers. Detailed analysis of the pattern of collection and marketing of Chirayita from the state upto the year 2001-2002 is expected to help to come out with a few recommendations for changes which are necessary to introduce Group Certification to the Chirayita gatherers. This in turn will ensure sustainable management of Chirayita and other medicinal plants available in the state.
harbours a very rich stock of economically high valued medicinal plants in wild condition like Taxus baccata, Coptis teeta, Acorus calamus, Picrorhiza kurroa, Swertia chirayita, Andrographis paniculata etc. Local communities of the state with limited scope of livelihood are engaged in the trade of these plants to improve their economic condition. Most of the Chirayita for marketing from the state are being harvested from West Kameng district. The whole process of marketing has many players at different levels such as agents from pharmaceutical companies, retailers from Assam, local contractors, local subcontractors and harvesters. Chirayita is much prized in India as a powerful bitter tonic. Unlike most other medicines of this class it does not constipate the bowels, but tends to produce a mild laxative affect. It promotes the flow of bile and is used as a tonic. In gastrointestinal disorders, like dyspepsia/anorexia it is used as digestive, febrifuge, and laxative. It is particularly useful in fever as a tonic and mild febrifuge (Kirtikar, 1985). It is used to prevent malaria. There is huge demand of Chirayita in Indian System of Medicine and was imported at a tune of 58.22t valued at Rs.14.61 lakhs in 1995-1996 (Anon 2004). According to Forest Statistics (Upto Year 2000-2001), in Arunachal Pradesh, 66.35% of the total state revenue was generated from forest produces. However, it has declined to only 34.18% in the year 1999-2000. The total revenue generated from Chirayita between 1997-98 to 2001-02 was Rs.2,96,025. However, from the year 2001-2002 collection of Chirayita from wild has been banned. In the year 2001 it was made mandatory that all the DFOs will first develop a Working Scheme for each forest produce and get it approved by CCF Central, Regional Office for North East India, Shillong. The reason for a high revenue generation from Chirayita collection during 2001-02 has to be explored.
Chirayita trade in Arunachal Pradesh: An Overview

The state of Arunachal Pradesh
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Year wise Extraction Chirayita from Arunachal Pradesh

Year 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 Quantity (Ton) 6 2 207 4.5
Source: Forest Statistics (Upto Year 2000-2001), Arunachal Pradesh
Quantity (Kg) Revenue (Rs)
200 000
150 000
100 000
4500
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
Year
Fig 1. Total Chirayita extracted and revenue generated from it in between 1997-98 to 2001-2002
Marketing of Chirayita is a seasonal occupation for the local villagers which starts in the month of September and continues upto the month of February. In the month of September, traders from Assam contact the local villagers and place their order as per the demand in the pharmaceutical companies. At this
stage the price of Chirayita at different level gets fixed which are also as per the demand in the pharmaceutical companies in that year. In the existing system the middleman plays the most crucial role and maximum economic benefit of this trade goes in their favour. While harvesters at the village level
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654321 1 654327654321
54321 7 54321 654321
54321 7 54321654321 54321 54321 54321
4000
50 000
2000-01
Source: PCCF Office, Itanagar (2004)
54321654321 54321654321 54321654321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 4321 54321 5
250 000
321 321 321 321
28625
22450
10650
2001-02
244950
321 321 54321 54321654321 54321654321 54321 54321 54321 54321
mostly get only 10-20% of the actual price in the market. Marketing of Chirayita is being done in an unorganized manner and so no proper records of extraction and selling by the local contractors are maintained.
Feasibility of Introducing Group Certification for Chirayita Gatherers

The nature and dynamics of the medicinal plant trade in India, and most other developing countries as well, is very complex. A typical chain of such transactions starts with the collection of the medicinal plant materials in the wild, through tribal and villagers, including women and children, followed by local level consolidation of these collections by a network of local traders/handlers and delivery at 'road-head' centers. The material collected at such roadhead centre then flows down to the local and regional wholesale markets, the latter generally located in bigger towns/cities (Ved 2004). Since most of the Chirayita are being harvested from common forest land and more than one individual are involved in the process, within the state, starting from harvesting to collecting and giving delivery to retailers coming from Assam, Group Certification is the only option that can be explored. Hence the subsequent section of this report is directed towards understanding the entire chain of Chirayita market within the state to analyze the feasibility of introducing Group Certification to the gatherers of Chirayita thereby promoting sustainable management of its stocks available in the state. The survey was based on 10 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Principles and Criteria, which are followed to conduct the audit for issuing Certificates. For the study local communities engaged in Chirayita trade from Shergaon village of West Kameng district of the state have been
selected which is one of the major points of collection of Chirayita before giving delivery to the retailers coming from Assam. Besides, this is also like a central point from where Chirayita is transported out to Assam by two routes. The detailed information required for the analysis was collected from local contractors, village headman, harvesters and Forest Department officials.
Chirayita Trade in Shergaon Village

Role of Local Communities and their socio economy in context to Chirayita Trade For the local villagers Chirayita trade is seasonal and a secondary means of earning a livelihood. It is traded in an unorganized manner and the number of people involved in this trade every year vary as per the demand in the market. But the whole market chain has certain levels in each of which different people with different job types are involved. The top of the chain is occupied by 'Local Contractors' who are financially sound and can afford to pay the Royalty to Forest Department for the 'Collection Permit' and can engage labour to do the collection for them. There are around nine contractors in Shergaon village. According to the local contractors, in the year 20032004 the demand of Chirayita was low. These contractors have very good networking with the retailers' from Assam and they are the people who receive the orders from the retailers. For the collection of Chirayita available within the jurisdiction of their village, they either directly purchase from local villagers who independently collect Chirayita from the forest or engage local as well as migrant labourer to collect Chirayita for them. But to collect the same from other villages they appoint subagents locally called 'Sardars' on commission basis. The villages from
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where contractors of Shergaon village collect Chirayita are Morsing, Tenzingao, Jigao etc. The mode of payments vary at in each level. For direct purchase made from local villagers cash payment is made immediately after receiving the Chirayita. Payments to the local labourers who are employed only in the harvesting season are also made in cash only but a part of that are paid in advance. However, in the case of migrant labourer, a part of the total payment is made by giving them required rations for the period. After the harvested Chirayita is delivered to the contractors, the balance payment, after deducting the cost of rations, are made by cash. Among the migrant labourer, there are two groups, one is of the permanent kind which works with the contractor during the off season on their fields, farms etc. The other group comes from different places and works only during the harvesting season of Chirayita as seasonal labourer. The commission for the sardars who collect Chirayita from other villages is Rs. 5 per kilogram (kg). In this trade, the harvester gets the lowest profit while the profit margin increases as the level goes higher. In the year 2001, the local harvesters and hired labourer received Rs.90 per kg and Rs.35 per kg, respectively. The permanent hired labourer and the seasonal labourer gets the lowest price for the harvested Chirayita. The middlemen like local contractors and retailers receive most of the higher benefits. In 2002 the local harvester received Rs.30-Rs.40 per kg, respectively from the local contractors, which is about 27% of the price at which the retailers at Assam sell Chirayita to agents coming from various pharmaceutical companies. During 2001-2002, the local contractors received Rs.140-Rs.210 per kg and Rs. 85-Rs.145 per kg from the retailers at Assam. According to
the information collected from three retailers from Tezpur, the rate of Chirayita at Tezpur in 2001 was Rs.300 per kg.
Chirayita Trade in context to Legal System

All the National Acts (Indian Forest Act 1927, Wild Life Protection Act 1972, Biodiversity Act, 2002 etc.) and State Acts (Assam Forest Regulation Act, 1891) are applicable. However, Arunachal Pradesh is a tribal state and about 74% of the total forest cover of the district is under Unclassed State Forest (USF) category, which are under the control of local communities, and local Customary Laws prevail as well. A. Rules and Regulation of Forest Department: As per the Forest Department rules all the people willing to be involved in the trade have to procure a Collection Permit from the state Forest Department. Every year, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Forest Division asks for the availability report of Chirayita from each forest range. The assessment report of the available stock of Chirayita in the various Forest Ranges is submitted to the DFO of the respective Forest Division. Depending on the availability of Chirayita, the number of Collection Permits are issued. Nearly 80% of the total stock of Chirayita is allowed for collection and the remaining 20% are kept as a mother plant for seeding/ propagation of Chirayita for regeneration. After the assessment report is available, the local villagers can apply for a Collection Permit. They have to obtain a certificate of permanent residentship from the Administrative Officer (CO/EAC) of the area and a letter of recommendation from the Gaonbura (Village Headman) of the village. Along with this letter, applicants fill up a form for the procurement of the
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Chain of harvesting and collection of Chirayita at local level from Shergaon Village.
Harvester Group
From Bhutan
From West Kameng, India
Local Villagers from Bhutan
Harvesters selling to Royal Bhutan Forest Department for Auction
Harvester from the Village of Contractors
Harvester from other villages
Direct Seller
Employed Local Labourer of Contractor
Employed Migrant Labourer of Contractor
Local villagers selling through Sardars of Contractors
Direct Seller
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Collection Permit and submit it to the Range Office. The Range Officer then forwards the application to the Divisional Forest Office for permission to issue the Permit from the DFO. Once the Divisional Forest Officer gives the clearance, the Range Officer issues the permit to the applicant. The applicant has to pay the total amount of royalty in advance to the Range Officer prior to availing the permit. After collecting, drying and packing the Chirayita, the contractors have to procure a Transit Pass from the Forest Department to transport the material out of the state. The Forest Department (FD) issues a Transit Permit after physically verifiying the weight of the collected Chirayita. This should be equal to the quantity of Chirayita allowed for collection by the FD as mentioned in the Collection Permit. However, since 2001, the DFO has to prepare a Working Scheme with regard to each forest produce. The Collection Permit, is first forwarded to the PCCF Office, Itanagar, from there it goes to CCF Central, the Regional Office for North-East India, Shillong. Only after the Working Scheme is approved that DFO can issue a Collection Permit to the local villagers.
B. Customary Laws Arunachal Pradesh is a tribal state, so while solving any dispute Local Customary Laws prevail in the villages. Most of the Customary Laws are for crimes like theft, murder, or marriage and property dispute etc. No specific laws regulate the collection and marketing of forest produces, to ensure their sustainable management. But in 2001-2002, in Shergaon village, the Village Council passed a resolution to restrict harvesting of Chirayita before the first week of November to ensure that the mature seeds of the plants are properly dispersed to ensure sufficient regeneration of the plants in successive years. A fine of Rs. 5000 was levied on any person violating the law. So far there has been no record of violation of this resolution. Shergaon village has been divided into two blocks, one in the eastern side of the river Dublokho and other one in the western side of the river. According to the local law, the contractors can send their labourer for harvesting Chirayita only in the western side of the river but they cannot send more than two labourers to the eastern side of the river. This is because the Chirayita on the east is for the local villagers who cannot afford to hire labourer for harvesting. All the migrant labourers have strict instructions to sell the Chirayita that they harvest only to the local villagers and not directly to the traders coming from outside.
Constraints and Gaps for Introducing Group Certification

Some of the major constraints and gaps in the existing system of Chirayita marketing for introducing Group Certification is discussed below.
Unorganised Marketing
Bundles of harvested Swertia Chirayita
The marketing of Chirayita in Arunachal Pradesh is done in an
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unorganised manner. Number of people in the trade depends on the demand of the species in the market. Moreover this is a seasonal source of earning for the villagers, and they consider it as a secondary income. Therefore identifying a particular group for Group Certification will be difficult.
as Forest Department officials. As a result local traders rely on standards set by buyers. For introducing group certification in the area, first we will have to ensure a market for the local villagers for sustained income and higher benefits from sale of certified products.
Illegal Marketing
Chirayita is illegally traded along with other commodities, such as vegetables and items of day to day use, which the Forest Officials are not authorized to check. Moreover, most of the villagers can hardly afford to pay in advance the royalty for the Collection Permit and hence prefer to avoid legal procedures.
Probable Interventions
To overcome the constraints mentioned above and to make certification a reality some major changes are required in the existing system. First of all it is necessary to develop a mechanism to make the monitoring more effective and to check the indiscriminate collection and marketing of Chirayita. Secondly there is need to develop a simple and transparent market system where the villagers at the ground level get maximum benefits. For this the focus should be mainly on capacity building of local villagers, to monitor all activities related to the extraction of Chirayita from wild and also to market it in a systematic way. Based on the findings of the survey, two probable interventions have been proposed which are mentioned below.
Constraints faced by Forest Department

Enforcement of the laws is a difficult task for the Forest Department as a result of the shortage of well-trained staff, tough geographical terrain and Customary Laws.Due to lack of infrastructure, the Forest Department finds it difficult to make an assessment of resource availability for developing an effective management plan.
Uncertainty of Market
The price of medicinal plants in the market keeps fluctuating frequently and for villagers involved in its trade the risk factor is always very high. The involvement of middleman in the trade reduces the profit margins for the local villagers. As the local villagers are not directly in contact with the pharmaceutical companies, they are bound to depend on middlemen. As a consequence of this the middlemen and retailers in Assam have developed a monopoly over the trade. Another issue of concern is that the pharmaceutical companies do not convey quality specifications followed by them, to the local traders as well
Development of Village Cooperative Society/Self Help Group

In this model it has been proposed to establish village level cooperative societies, which will be under the jurisdiction of the Village Panchayat or Village Council members. The members of the management body of the society and all the employees will be selected and appointed by the Village Panchayat or Village Council members. This will help in developing a sound and systematic strategy for collection and marketing of Chirayita. In the proposed system, the local contractors who can afford to get Collection Permits from the Forest Departments can obtain it on their own but they will in turn sell the harvested products only to the
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Society. The poor local villagers who cannot afford to get the permit from the Forest Department, will get one with the help of the Society who will then engage the villagers to do the collection for them. Here it will be the duty of the Society to ensure that collection is done strictly as per norms set by the Forest Department. The Society will thus act as the main source of collection of Chirayita by paying all the collectors a preapproved price fixed as per the market demand. After this the Society will also do the rest of the marketing. The Society will also help check the illegal collection and marketing of forest resources since it will be operational at village level and will be in a better position to monitor all the activities taking place at the village level. The authorities of the Society will be held responsible for any illegal activity and will have to give an explanation to the Forest Department. To nullify the chances of transporting products that have been collected illegally, use of the society vehicle can be made mandatory and will be considered as legal. Since the marketing of Chirayita is seasonal, the Society may also provide a base for the local villagers to market local products like handicrafts, agricultural products, horticulture products and various other forest products. Thus the Society may play multiple roles to develop the economy of the village, based on the natural resources available.
society under the Societies Registration Act at the Territorial/ Wildlife Forest Division level. The Samanvit Gram Vanikaran Samirddhi Yojana (SGVSY), an umbrella scheme will integrate the common afforestation and eco-development efforts of various ongoing schemes, which will be implemented by the agency through Village Forest Management Committee (VFMC) and Eco-development Committee (EDC). VFMCs will be constituted in each village falling within the jurisdiction of respective FDAs. These VFMC/EDCs will also be registered bodies. Each FDA will incorporate 25-50 villages within its jurisdiction. The FDA will consider each Forest Range as a territorial unit for planning and development. It will draw up a comprehensive microplan integrating community land development, agroforestry, horticulture, dairy farming, sericulture, weaving, cultivation of medicinal plants and its marketing and development of permanent community assets. This will be mainly for the local villagers so as to minimize their dependence on forest resources and to increase their income. In the Forest Divisions where the above proposal has been implemented, VFMC can act as the primary source of collection of forest produce from the local villagers and contractors. The FDA can act as the final point of collection from the VFMCs under its jurisdiction. Thereon the product will be sold to the retailers and buyers coming from outside. The mode of operation will be almost similar to what has been suggested in the model described above. At present, under Bomdila Forest Division of West Kameng district, within the jurisdiction of Bomdila Forest Development Agency, 14 Village Forest Management Committees have already been constituted. These are :
Capacity Building of FDA and VFMC

In 2000, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), Government of India, proposed to take up an integrated approach through the institution of Forest Development Agency (FDA for the conservation of forests and wildlife and to improve the implementation of various schemes). FDA will be a registered
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I. Bomdila Range 1. Khaitan VFMC 2. Pedung VFMC 3. Sera-Dekling VFMC II. Nafra Range 4. Rurang VFMC 5. Khellong VFMC 6. Lower Dzong VFMC 7. Jerigaon VFMC III. Dirang Range 8. Senge VFMC 9. Duwangba-left VFMC 10. Dawangba VFMC IV. Khuphi Range 11. Denjogona VFMC 12. Khupli VFMC 13. Jania VFMC 14. Palizi VFMC
maximum profits. Also being a society it will be easy for them to develop a good network, which is always difficult for an individual. 3. For retailers and pharmaceutical companies: Presently the retailers coming from various states and companies have to depend on contractors who are known to them. Hence the entry of any new genuine retailer in to the market becomes very difficult. But now as the societies will have a permanent address the retailers can contact members for material enquiries. And it will become easy for them to place their orders and to get the materials in time. To check illegal marketing: For the Forest Department Officials it is not always possible to monitor all the activities at the village level due to various constraints. But as the society will have village level workers, it will be easier for them to monitor all the activities. Since the societies will be bound to work as per the norms of Forest Department it will become their responsibility to ensure no illegal activities are taking place in the villages under their jurisdiction. Once transportation of materials is permitted only in vehicles owned by the societies the selling of illegally harvested materials will be get curbed. For Introducing Certification: On adopting the above model the marketing of Chirayita and other medicinal plants will become more systematic and organised. It will also become easy to obtain the requisite certification. For introducing certification the Society can be directly targeted.
Advantages of the Proposed Interventions

Some of the advantages of the proposed interventions are as follows: A. Medicinal Plant Marketing 1. For Local villagers: The local villagers with poor economic conditions and no network with the retailers will get a chance to earn some money by working as per the permit taken by the Society or VFMC from Forest Department. The villagers will no longer have to worry about selling their products. Moreover the price that they will get will be one decided by the societies of the state as per the market rate of that year. So the profits will be distributed among the local villagers equally. For the Local Contractor: Because of a limited knowledge about genuine retailers, the contractors are at present bound to sell their materials to existing known retailers on their terms and conditions. But in the new system, it will be the job of the Society to ensure the marketing of the materials with 4.
2.
5.
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B. Other Benefits 1. 2. It will generate employment for the local villagers. It will give a base for the marketing of other local products like handicrafts, agriculture and horticulture crops etc.
3.
Various day to day items will be made available to them for which they now have to travel to big towns. Capacity of local villagers to manage their natural resources in a sustainable manner and earn a livelihood from them will be enhanced.
4.
Functioning of the Proposed Model

Local Contractors Direct Local Harvesters
Village Forest Management Committee
Village Cooperative Society/SHG
Forest Development Agency
Retailers and Buyers
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Summary of the information collected as per the FSC Principle Present Status
All the National Acts (Indian Forest Act, Wild Life Protection Act, Biodiversity Act etc.) and State Acts (Assam Forest regulation Act) are complied with. But being a tribal state Local Customary Laws prevail most.
Constraints
Due to shortage of well-trained staff in the State Forest Department and a tough geographical terrain, enforcement of all the Govt. Laws is difficult. Besides as Customary Laws prevail in the control of most of the Forest Resources, the Govt. enforcement agencies have minimum scope to regulate the things happening at the inaccessible village level. As most of the forest area belongs to the community so the local contractor can harvest as much as Chirayita they can from any amount of area as per their capacity. So most of the time harvesting is done as per the demand of the market not keeping in mind sustainability of the resource.
Principle 1: Compliance with laws and FSC Principle
Principle 2: Tenure and User Rights and Responsibilities

In the Forest areas directly under control of the local villagers, the Village Council has rules to ensure that the rights of the villagers over the forest resources is protected. In Shergaon village, the Village Council has passed a rule that during the harvesting season of Chirayita, in the eastern side of the river the local contractors can send only two labour for harvesting, so that all the villagers get equal opportunity to harvest the Chirayita and earn some money. While on the western side of the river local contractors can send as many labourers as they want. Besides all the outside traders will have to buy Chirayita from the village through local villagers only and the Govt. can issue Harvest Permits to only the local villagers certified by the Village Council. To safeguard the rights of local people over the forest resources, the Forest Department issues Collection Permits and Transit Passes only to the local villagers who produce residence proof of belonging to the particular village from where Chirayita and other forest products are to be harvested. Besides the Village Council also has a set of rules to ensure proper distribution of the forest resources among the villagers by demarcating forest areas in to two parts, one only for villagers who cannot afford to get Harvest Permits from the Forest Department and the second free for the contractors. During the season most of the harvesting is done by local villagers. Only the contractors with Permits from the Forest Department and those with sound financial condition can afford to engage labourer to do harvesting for them. For the regular labour who is already working for the contractor through the year, is asked to harvest Chirayita during the season time. Besides they also engage migrant labourer during the season for harvesting Chirayita. Payments and mode of payments vary from person to person. The regular labourer is paid Rs.1000-1500 per month with free lodging facility while the migrant labourer is paid daily wages of about Rs.5075/day.
Principle 3: Indigenous Peoples Rights

Though the rights of local villagers over the forest resources are well protected but the profit that they are earning by selling these products are about 50-60% of the actual market price in the case of the contractors and 10-20% for the direct harvesters. Besides there is no regulation over the quantity to be harvested to ensure long term sustainability.
Principle 4: Community Relations and Worker's Rights

The whole process is quite unorganized, and there is no concern for the worker's rights. Since the workers are poor and do not have an alternate option of earning they are bound to accept what ever the employer offers them.
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Present Status
Due to the lack of any sustainable livelihood and poor economic conditions the local people are mostly dependent on the forest resources for survival. So far it has been a situation where only the extraction of resources from the forests is taking place and no effective steps have been taken to ensure sustainability of the resources. Among the forest resources, only those which have high market demand are being exploited in large scale like medicinal plants, firewood, timber etc.
Constraints
As the local people are bound to depend on the available forest resources for their economic upliftment and as most of these resources are under the control of local villagers, the State Forest Department is not in the position to regulate them.
Principle 5: Benefits from the Forest
Principle 6: Environmental Impact

Central Govt. approved working schemes check the adverse impact of NTFP harvesting on forest resources. To ensure natural forest regeneration and to maintain diversity at all levels, provisions are there in the Working Plan and Working Schemes of State Forest Department. There is a ban on harvesting of endangered and rare species. The Forest Department also do not encourage the plantation of exotic species. Due to inaccessibility and as most of the forests are under community control, first it is tough to develop working plans for all the forest areas. This needs a lot of resources and secondly with limited manpower working as per the Working Plan and Working Schemes is difficult for the Forest Department.
Principle 7: Management Plans

State Govt. has issued instructions to all the Divisional Forest Offices of the state to Develop Working Schemes for harvesting of NTFPs. As a result this year Bomdila Forest Division has stopped issuing Harvest Permits to local villagers for harvesting NTFPs from forest. As per the indicators mentioned in the Working Schemes the Forest Department staff regularly monitor the status of the forest resources. Forests with HCV are usually kept untouched and maintained as Protected Forests as per the Working Plan. Due to lack of manpower, funds and other necessary resources, Forest Department Officials are finding it problematic to develop the necessary Working Scheme.
Principle 8: Monitoring and Assessment

Due to inaccessibility and poor staff strength proper monitoring is difficult.
Principle 9: Maintenance of High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF)

HCVF, which are under direct control of the community, are not possible to protect since the villagers are dependent on it for survival. Not applicable in the present context.
Principle 10: Plantations

Under Social Forestry Programme plantations are done with the compensation fund that the Forest Department receives from various agencies like BRTF, PWD, NHPC etc. for diversion of forest areas either for road cutting, dam construction etc.
80
The Way Ahead :

Lessons learned from the preceeding case studies provides future directions to the initiatives taken so far. These are briefly summarized as follows :
ii)
A model project in each of the JFM villages for cultivation of medicinal and other economically important plant species.
Better practice of Raab cultivation in Dangs district of Gujarat in Western Ghats

The pilot experiment to grow millet without raab burning that is presently causing immense damage to the Dangs forest can be scaled up to include many more villages where this method of cultivation is practiced. Vermi-composting, development of methods to maintain soil temperature, protection of the watershed could be some good practices. This would require sustained efforts, a campaign to motivate and sensitize the locals on one hand, and larger involvement of other stakeholders like the Agriculture Science Centre, Dangs, Navsari on the other. This initiative has to be coupled with the promotion of alternative means of livelihood like handicraft development through use of bamboo species like Dendrocalamus strictus and Bambusa arundinaceae.
Approximately 3000 ha will be put under the afforestation project in Maharashtra covering around 75 villages, and measuring approximately 50% of the JFM villages. The medicinal plant project will be undertaken either on village community land or on a private land provided for the purpose by any of the villagers in the 100 different villages. The involvement of the JFM could be sought for undertaking several voluntary works (shramdaan) for construction of boundary works, digging pits, procurement of saplings, etc. Efforts will be made to plant indigenous species for the purpose of short and long term gains useful for villagers. A society could be set up for processing and marketing the herbal products cultivated under model project. i) Restoration with JFM committees could be initiated in Dangs forest of Gujarat. Development of Criteria and Indicators for sustainable forest management. Assessment of the success of JFM through criteria and indicators developed by committies themselves in all villages.
ii)
Afforestation of degraded land and monitoring and evaluation of JFM with the Forest Protection Committies in Maharashtra and Gujarat
WWF-India intends to use a twopronged strategy by implementing: i) A massive afforestation programme on all the degraded and barren community forest land with the help of all involved.
Capacity Building of Forest Protection Committees in Kerala

Two more VSS have been proposed to be included for scaling up of the initiative on capacity building of the forest protection committees to cover an area of 2500 ha. Specific activities would include: Forming Self Help Groups to undertake activities related to the management of NTFPs.
81
Taking initiatives related to improving the socio-economic conditions of the community. Arranging interactive sessions for the VSSs to gather information through sharing of ideas and experiences and for encouraging their involvement and contribution in activities related to sustainable utilization of Natural Resources and Forest, management. An area of focus could be enrichment of the Gene Pool Areas maintained by the USS with species which are over harvested.
Group Certification of Swertia chirayita in Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalaya

Our studies in Arunachal Pradesh and in other states like Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh indicate that certification is not imminent (WWFIndia, 2004). It is however possible to promote the best practices for cultivation of medicinal plants. For Arunachal Pradesh, WWF-India can help development of management plant for NTFPs, Swertia chirayita to begin with.
82
REFERENCES:
Anonymous (2004 ) http://www.holistic-online.com/Herbal-Med/_Herbs/h139.htm Borthakur, S. K. (2003). Setting Priorities to Interfuse between Medicinal Plants and Indigenous Knowledge to Boost Rural Economy. In - Ethnomedicine of North-East India - Proceeding of National Seminar on Traditional Knowledge Base on Herbal Medicines and Plants Resources of North-East Protection, Utilisation and Conservation (March 13-15, 2001, Guwahati, Assam). Ed. Gian Singh, H. B. Singh & T. K. Mukharjee. NISCIR, New Delhi. pp. 64-69. Chatterjee, S., Pande, M., Semwal, S., Kumar, K., Dutta, P. K., Soni, S. and Pangging, G. (2003). Relevance of Certification to the Wood Carving Industry in India. WWF-India. Census of India 2001 District Land Records, Survey Office, Dangs Hardiman, D. 1998. Farming in the forests: the Dangs 1830-1992 In: Poffenberger, M and McGean, B. (Eds) Village Voices Forest Choices, Haridasan, K., Shukla, G. P. & Benewal, B. S. (1989). Medicinal Plants of Arunachal Pradesh. SFRI Information Bulletin, No.5. State Forest Research Institute, Itanagar. Hegde, S. N. (2002). Arunachal Pradesh State Biodiveristy Stretagy & Action Plan - Final Report. State Forest Research Institute, Itanagar. Iqbal, M. (2003). International trade in non-wood forest products: An Overview. Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations. Rome, Nov 1993. FO: Misc/93/11 - Working Paper. Khanchandani, 1970. Working plan for Dangs forests, Vol. I &II Govt. Press Baroda. Kirtikar, K. M. & Basu, B. D. (1985). Indian Medicinal Plants, Bishan Singh Mahendrapal Singh, Dehradun. Lucas, A. 1892. Forest conservancy in the Dangs. Revenue Dept. Publication No.982. Bombay. Marjoribanks,G.E. 1911. Outbreaks amongst Bhils in the Dangs. Revenue Dept. Publication No. 1113, Bombay Norman Myers 1988, Norman Myers 1990 Patel, R.I. 1971. Forest flora of Gujarat state. Forest Dept Baroda Rabindranath NH. Murali, K.S. & Malhotra, K.C. Joint Forest Management & Community Forestry in India. An Ecological and Institutional Assessment (2000) Saha, B. N. and Dutta, S. C. (2001). Conservation and Utilization of Medicinal, Aromatic and Economic Plants for Sustainable Development of Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh Forest News. Vol. No. 19 (1&2) - A Biodiversity Special. SFRI, Itanagar. pp. 157-160. Semwal, R.L.. Maikhuri, R.K., Rao, K.S., Singh, K. and Saxena K.G. 2002. Crop productivity under differently lopped canopies of multipurpose trees in Central Himalaya, India. Agroforestry Systems, 56: 57-63. Ved, D. K. (2004). Trade in Medicinal Plants - The State of our Ignorance. Worah, S. 1991. The ecology and management of a fragmented forest in south Gujarat, India The Dangs. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Poona, Pune, India. Working Plan for Rajpipla East and West forest Divisions, Surat Circle, Government of Gujarat WWF-India, 2004. FSC Certification Feasibility Assessment Report - Himachal Pradesh, India.
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Conservation With Communities in The Biodiversity Hotspots of India 1

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Conservation With Communities in The Biodiversity Hotspots of India 1

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for a living planet

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

for a living planet

CONSERVATION WITH COMMUNITIES IN THE BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS OF INDIA

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Better practices for Raab cultivation in Dangs Forests of Gujarat

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Forest Protection in Maharashtra and Gujarat

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Feasibility of Group Certification of Swertia chirayita in Eastern Himalaya

Capacity building of Forest Protection committees in Kerala

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

1. An Introduction to Participatory Forestry in India and the Case Studies

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

1.1 The Case Studies :

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Map : Project Locations in Dangs District, Gujarat

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Geology and Soil

Raab - The Traditional Agricultural Practice

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Degraded Forests in Dangs

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Dried biomas spread over nursery bed

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Biomas burning in nursery bed

The objectives of the case study

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Heavy silt in flowing water - an indicator of soil erosion

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Selection of villages for study

The Practice of Raab

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Eleusine coracana seedings in nursery

The Local Economy

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Productivity* of Finger millet Paddy Vari/hog millet

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

* On an average one family prepares two raab plots of 40-50 sq m area.

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

A pilot experiment on Cultivation of finger millet (nagli) without raab burning

Soil sampling in the experimental plot at Tekpada

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Data Collection for Comparision of Crop Yield

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Experimental plot in Village Dewan Tembrun

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Ecological setting of the village

Map : Kunbar Village in Narmada District, Gujarat

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Socio-economic status of the village

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Training on monitoring and evaluation

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India

Conservation with Communities in the Biodiversity Hotspots of India