Growing Tall !
People are finding new ways to
make a living without cutting
trees by turning to bamboo
Integrated Land and Ecosystem Management to Combat Land
Degradation and Deforestationin Madhya Pradesh
!
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION PHASE: 2010 TO 2014
!
PROJECT FINANCING
GEF grant: 5.76 Million (US$)
!
PROJECT DISTRICTS
i. Betul ii. Chhindwara iii. Sidhi iv. Singrauli v. Umaria
!
PROJECT IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS
- Global Environment Facility (GEF)
- United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
- Department of Forests, Government of Madhya Pradesh
Physical & Financial Progress till 31 Dec. 2011
Activity
2010 to 2014
2010 -11
Physical
(Ha)
Financial
Physical
(INR In Thousand) (Ha)
Financial
(INR In Thousand)
Rehabilitation of Degraded
Bamboo Forests
14,500
84000
7445
24736
Energy Plantation
200
20000
165
8851
Fodder Plantation
200
17000
200
8869
Watershed Management
3000
24000
3000
15202
Badi Ropan
6,00,000
Plants
7200
1,98,000
Plants
6981
Small & Medium
Enterprises
Preparation of
Business plans
and SME rollout
54000
Starting 1st
June 2012
1547 for Income
Generating activities
to Forest Div.
Capacity Building &
Training of JFMC
members
Training of 2000 10000
JFMC members
Starting 1st June 2012
225 to Forest Div.
for SHG training
Source: Project data, GoMP, 2011-12
Bamboo Farming Takes Pressure Off Forests: People
are finding a new way to make a living without cutting
trees by turning to bamboo
Anil Lobhanse is a Korku tribal in the tiny village of Tawa
Dhana nestled in the verdant hills of North Betul district in the
central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is barely 8am in
the morning, but Anil and half-a-dozen fellow villagers are
already working hard, cutting and cleaning degraded
bamboo clumps (bhirras) in their allotted 5-hectare
compartments. It is cool in the dense bamboo jungle, and Anil
is spurred on by the gentle morning breeze stirring the forest.
In between wielding his small axe deftly, Anil says he wants to
complete the day's work before going to fetch vegetables
from the market a few kilometers away with his wife. But for a
small-time farmer in the nondescript village, Anil has
surprising words of wisdom to offer: "The (UNDPDepartment of Forest) program has brought communities
together to discuss common challenges and take practical
measures to improve living conditions. This initiative has also
helped local authorities like the Forest department see the
benefit of involving people in community development work,
which has benefited everyone". This participatory process
has strengthened the relationship between local
administrations and communities.
Says Ramdas Jeevan Korku, another project beneficiary: “We liked that
the programme taught us how to collaborate with each other in the
rehabilitation and co-management of degraded bamboo forest areas,”
as he clears another bamboo clump of dead brush and debris. But it is
the Forest department that is most excited about the outcomes so far.
"Local communities are now better informed and have gained the
confidence to speak out, express their hopes and concerns, and
participate in decisions that affect their well-being.
Communities are also finding that as they achieve development results,
they inspire others to act. By taking part in community-development
projects, people gain the confidence to voice their needs in decisionmaking processes. For example, when people in village Tawa Dhana
came together for the management and sustainable harvesting of
degraded bamboo areas, other people from neighboring villages came
to see and to understand how the community had come together to
support the project. Now they are considering similar projects in their
own communities," says Solanki, Sub-Divisional Officer, Sarni, North
Betul Forest Division.Catchments in the five project districts of Betul,
Chhindwara, Sidhi, Singrauli and Umaria under the Integrated Land
and Ecosystem Management to Combat Land Degradation and Deforestation in Madhya Pradesh
continue to degrade and soil erosion rates remain very high. Unsustainable land management practices,
especially deforestation and overgrazing, have been both the cause and consequence of the livelihood
crisis of tribal and rural communities living in and around forest areas. In areas of intensive land use, soil
erosion, forest degradation, and reduced soil fertility in agricultural land are increasingly evident
Table 1: Villages in project districts within 5 km of forests
State/District
Madhya Pradesh
Betul
Chhindwara
Umaria
Sidhi
Number of forest
villages1
Number of revenue
villages2
Number of revenue villages
within 5 km of forest
925
92
49
0
12
51,806
1,328
1,903
683
1,822
21,797
1,134
1,426
212
1,465
Source: Forest Statistics, Department of Forests, GoMP, 2012.
The project, with support from the Global Environment Facility
(GEF), aims to remove barriers to promoting sustainable rural
livelihoods and provide a broader range of livelihood options
for the tribal/rural poor.
A number of integrated approaches were used to support and
promote sustainable rural livelihoods to improve livelihood
security and enhance access to resources of vulnerable
communities at the community-level. Fish farming, riverbed
vegetable farming, off seasonal vegetable and farm training,
improving traditional skills and establishment of market centres
for produce like Lac were some of the activities carried out
since 2010. Implementation of these activities have
significantly reduced seasonal migration, increased income
and self employment, increased production and regular supply
of fresh and nutritious vegetables, freedom from indebtedness,
diversified livelihood options, reduced burden on women, and
enhanced social and political capital.
Starting Small and Building Big: Reaching The Poorest
And Most Vulnerable
The Integrated Land and Ecosystem Management Project is
being implemented by the Forest Department in Madhya
Pradesh with the cooperation of Global Environmental Facility
for a period of five-years: project will be
implemented till the year 2014. The project is
being implemented in nine forest divisions of
Betul, Chhindwara, Umaria, Sidhi and Singrauli
districts with a total outlay of about INR 26 crore,
which is being made available by Global
Environmental Facility through United Nation's
Development Programme.
During the year 2010-11, seven hundred
beneficiaries were allotted degraded bamboo
clumps in 3,500 hectare area and works to the
tune of about INR 1.25-crore were undertaken.
Every beneficiary is allotted five hectares of
degraded bamboo clumps, in which he
undertakes works. Each beneficiary is paid INR 2500 per month, paid directly into their bank accounts. Five
hectares of degraded bamboo areas will be allotted every year to each beneficiary for four years. Thus,
every family will be allotted about 2,000 bamboo clumps in 20 hectare area in the next four years. The
income from the bamboos that will be produced after four years will be shared by the beneficiary and the
Joint Forest Management Committee as per the provisions of Joint Forest Management resolution. Thus,
these families will earn from an additional source of livelihood by associating themselves exclusively with
bamboo clumps while ensuring the protection and development of bamboo clumps.
Management of Bamboo Forests: "What's In It For Me?"
The basic principles of bamboo management centers round the growth behaviors of the culm. New bamboo
culms are produced every year from the buds of the rhizome of previous year culm. The rhizomes of more
than two-year-old culms, therefore, have very little role to play in production of new culms. However,
bamboo culms require about three years to be fuly matured after which those are to be harvested.
Silviculture System: The Silviculture system adopted is “culm selection system”, combined with cleaning
and tending operations. Clump is the unit of management. Mature culms will be extracted by selection
method depending upon the total number of mature culms and the productive capacity of the clumps. The
main objective is to ensure maximum production without impairing the vigor of the clump and to protect
bamboo to ensure sustained growth and productivity.
Retention of old culms will result in congestion of the clump. After 4-5 years the old culms will dry up, split
and invite pests and disease, which will ultimately affect the younger culms. Congestion of clumps in one of
the most serious problems in management of bamboo forests.
Therefore, in India, for most of the bamboo forests, the
prescribed cutting cycle is kept at 3 or 4 years. However, the rural
artisans are habituated in using 1-2 year old culms for ease of
preparing slivers. This has resulted in damage of clumps due to
poor growth of rhizomes after removal of the young culms. The
3-4 year old culms, harvested from forest by the department, are
not suitable for their purpose due to its hardness.
Target families are supported by the Forest department to
develop their skills for managing and protecting degraded
bamboo forest areas (survey and demarcation, cleaning of
clumps (bhirras), soil work around clumps, soil moisture
conservation through check dams/ contour trench, fire
protection, watch and ward), and for sustainably harvesting
bamboo.
This output is expected to produce the following
impacts:Ecological impact: 14,500 hectares of degraded
bamboo forest land in the four project districts is rehabilitated in
collaboration with the local community to produce the following
environmental benefits: (a) Rejuvenation of micro ecological
1
2
3
Forest villages are those that are located within forest land that is under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department.
Revenue villages are located outside forest land under general jurisdiction. The project will cover both in a ratio of 80:20.
A crore is a unit in the numbering system equal to 10 million
and biological services over the long term by
enhancing connectivity between relatively
undisturbed forest tracts that provide refuge
for globally significant biodiversity (b)
Rehabilitation would help curtail the negative
impact of land degradation processes such as
high sedimentation rate, and assist in better
recharge of ground water, improvements in
soil fertility of nearby forest and non-forest
lands, restoration of the capacity of bamboo
vegetation to provide a refuge for local
biodiversity, and (c) Enhanced carbon
sequestration as healthy bamboo stands are
estimated to absorb at least 4 tons of carbon
annually. Therefore, 14,500 ha of degraded
bamboo forest land when treated would help in
sequestration of approximately 58000 tons of carbon annually.Livelihood impact: Community-led
sustainable management of degraded bamboo areas would lead to a good harvest of bamboo culms. It is
expected that clumps would improve from about 15-20 culms (baseline scenario) to about 25-35 culms.
Therefore, it is estimated conservatively that by the end of the project period degraded bamboo areas
would generate at least 1.5 to 2 million bamboo culms. Approximately 0.3 to 0.4 million bamboos will be
obtained annually, which can be used by the community as fodder for livestock and as a livelihood
resource.Enhanced ability to meet fodder needs: Regeneration of bamboo also promotes healthy
growth of foliage. It is estimated that through regeneration the project could deliver about 3-5 tons of
biomass per hectare, which amounts to a conservative estimate of about 40,000 to 70,000 tons of biomass
from 14,500 hectares for meeting the fodder needs of livestock. This will be especially important in the lean
season when dependency on forests for uncontrolled grazing increases immensely. It is estimated that the
use of bamboo biomass as fodder would reduce the present critical pressure on the regional/ local forests
from uncontrolled grazing by at least 20%. This is expected to save at least 10,000 hectares of forest land
currently under severe pressure of uncontrolled cattle grazing. An estimated 100 trees per hectare of forest
land would be saved from uncontrolled grazing by the ever increasing livestock population.
In our villages, it is not uncommon to hear of fields ploughed in preparation for the rains, which are late in
coming. In much of the region, and especially in dry areas during the scorching Indian summer, rural
people's livelihoods hang in the balance during these periods of drought. Scrawny-looking cattle and other
livestock pick over the dry scrub at the roadsides in search of food. Milk production plummets along with
harvests. For many livestock farmers these times are as lean
as their cattle. Thus, in all project villages, bamboo plantations
and even fallow lands have been intercropped with Dinanath
grass (pennisetum pedicellatum), which needs low inputs and
yields more forage for green fodder. Thus, the once verdant
rangelands (grasslands) and village common lands that
harboured grasslands have also been seeded with various
varieties of grass suitable to local climatic conditions for
effective management and protection of these invaluable
grasslands and to provide fodder for livestock during lean
times.
“The key to the success of this programme,” says Solanki,
SDO, Sarni Range “lies in coordinating efforts to generate
change. Knowledge is fundamental, but so are linkages,
grouping communities and people together and good
management. Above all, we want to help farmers think
commercially and understand their potential to participate in
their own sustainable development.”
Income from sale of bamboo: It is estimated that by the
project end the area would generate revenues of about INR 15
million through the sale of the bamboo culms (estimated at a
nominal rate of INR 10.00 for 1.5 to 2.00 million culms of
bamboo produced through community rehabilitation and
protection). It is estimated that families in the villages
identified for the project activity would benefit
collectively as end users of sustainably
harvested bamboo. This will not only help with
meeting socio-economic needs, but also help
maintain, in the long run, the traditional skills
of “Basod” families (families whose livelihood
for generations has depended on making
bamboo products and its sale).
"Before I joined the group, there was no
harmony in our home. I was dependent on my
wages from labour for all aspects of life, and I
had nothing to contribute in running the family.
Our farm did not provide us with enough food
because of low productivity, and we were not
able to maintain our small house. This was
something I never dreamed of! This money
assists me a lot in buying school supplies for my kids and purchasing household needs like cooking oil,
sugar and iodized salt. I feel rich now! I've always had land and manpower but I failed to implement and
utilize them fully due to my lack of awareness and skills. Now that the Forest department has helped open
my mind to other possibilities, I am now assured that my children will have their education,” says Goti Ram,
a beneficiary in village Bodal Kacchar, Range Tamia, West Chhindwara Forest Division.
Apart from the above, rural artisans are trained / facilitated to harvest and use three-year-old culms to stop
the menace of illegal cutting of young culms. The bamboo coupes in each series are worked on a three-year
felling cycle. Selective felling of mature Bamboo culms duly retaining 6 to 8 culms per clumps to support the
clump ensures health of the clump and also fetches revenue to the VSS (Forest Protection Committee) as
the bamboos so removed are either used to meet local demand or sold by the Forest Department under the
Joint Forest Management (JFM) arrangement or upon adding value in the form of bamboo articles like
Baskets, agarbattis (incense), mats etc.In the village of Dundi Shikhar in Tamia Range of West Chhindwara
Forest Division, Jaglal and Summi Lal have used the expertise offered by the Forest department for
harvesting local bamboo resources by further adding value to waste bamboo culms: they together use
waste bamboo culms from cleaning bamboo clumps to make kadi (bamboo slivers) and candy sticks (each
waste bamboo culm gives about 2-5kg to 3kg of kadi). This way, both Jaglal and Summi Lal make about
350-kg of kadi every month, and by selling these kadi at the rate of Rs 10-12 per 10kg, they earn about Rs
4,200 per month - all from waste that would otherwise be thrown away or burnt as fuel wood!Other
beneficiaries in the village have come up with another innovation: they fashion walking sticks out of waste
culms, which they sell to pilgrims who come every month to pilgrims who use these sticks as support to
make the difficult climb to the temple during festival time! By selling each stick at about Rs 30, the each
beneficiary earned approximately INR 2,700 from this activity alone!
Says Ramdas Jeevan Korku “I never knew bamboo could be used to earn a livelihood in so many ways. For
me bamboo was only useful as fuel wood or for fencing our fields! But now, we are able to pay school fees
for our children; we have built a good house using corrugated iron roofing sheets. The project has brought
new hope to our family and our lives in general.”
Says Anandi Budholia, Range officer, Tamia, West Chhindwara Forest Division “By engaging ad providing
people with technical skills in the protection and management of bamboo clumps, the initiative is designed
to reduce unemployment and, consequently, rural poverty along with ecosystem revival.”
The views expressed, designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not necessarily reflect the
views or imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Department of Forests, Government of Madhya Pradesh; United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP); or Global Environmental Facility (GEF), concerning legal or development status of any
country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Madhya Pradesh Forest Department Goverment of Madhya Pradesh
Head of Department : Additional Principal Chief Conservator Of Forest Madhya Pradesh & Project Director
Address : UNDP - GEF Project, Upper Basement, Satpuda Bhavan, Bhopal (M.P.)
Phone : 91755 - 2557003
Telefax : 91755 - 2674343
E-mail : [email protected]