Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management in India

By Hem Pande, Joint Secretary & GEF OFP India and Nayanika Singh, GEF Consultant Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India

Poverty and environmental degradation are major problems in dry lands, where forests and trees contribute significantly to rural livelihoods. In order to eradicate poverty in the dry lands, it is important to protect the land from deforestation, fragmentation, degradation and drought. About 69% of country's total geographical area is under dry lands. These areas incidentally are highly populated which makes the people vulnerable to environmental stress and impacts livelihoods directly. In order to tackle these issues, about 22 major programs are being implemented by the Government of India (GoI), including, the 'Mission for Green India' one of the Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, which aims to address dry land forests, in addition to other ecosystems.

GEF's Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management (SLEM) programmatic approach is strengthening institutional and community capabilities on SLEM practices through approaches and techniques that combine indigenous and scientific knowledge of restoring and sustaining the natural resource base, including its biodiversity, while taking into account climate impact.

Integrated Farm Development (IFD) models are promoted in Nagaland, the north eastern state of India wherein all components of agriculture like crop-livestock-fishery-forestry-horticulture are integrated in a complementary way. This has provided a viable alternative to shifting cultivation for about 800 families. Due to introduction of other crops like tea, bamboo, rubber, cardamom and others, the farmers are working on the same land thus lengthening the fallow period. This along with the introduction of an appropriate mix of indigenous and scientific farming techniques is improving the soil fertility. Till date the project has estimated about 10% increase in economic benefits. Inter-departmental coordination has increased. Awareness programs have enhanced the capability of the local communities in sustainably utilizing their natural capital.

In 75 villages of Thar Desert ecosystem in western India, the rural communities are being empowered in reviving and promoting the traditional integrated water and land management systems. About 62 micro projects have been implemented. Many villages have removed the encroachments from common property resources and revived common grasslands. Grass varieties like Moda Dhaman (Cenchrus sp.) with high caloric value are being grown. Revival of traditional plants/ trees and planting techniques with the technical support of government institutions is on the rise. The project has provided platform to the locals to discuss their problems with government institutions and collectively find a way out. The project has ensured active participation of women in 'jal sabhas' (water committees) which manage the water resources and its usage of their respective village.

The marine fishers in the state of Maharashtra were facing problems due to distribution shift of pelagic fishes, submergence of their low lying fish drying platforms, unseasonal and extreme rains. Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) forecasting has been issuing regular advisories, which the marine fishermen were not able to access due to frequent power cuts. The GEF intervention developed an innovative service called 'm-Krishi-Fisheries' in collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services. This service has made available the PFZ and wind advisories to fishermen on their mobile phones. This service integrates technologies such as wireless sensors, camera phone and script technology, ensuring business benefit to the stakeholders. The advisory is available in local Marathi and English languages.

The use of information and communication technology is becoming popular in the country in conserving and managing the natural resources. The Forest Department of Madhya Pradesh is using this technique for their fire alert messaging, forest offence management and wildlife alert messaging system at a very minimal cost. The same technique has been extended to select the project sites within degraded bamboo forest areas and now to monitor the work done.