Stop deforestation and restore community lands

A group of community leaders from the project villages participated in the Sacred Grove Festival at IGRMS Bhopal, from 31st December 2013 to 1st January, 2014. Ritualistic activities and cultural performance were the main features of the two days programme. The festival highlighted the rich tradition of protecting and conserving Orans. The Festival provided a platform for the community managers of sacred groves and communities associated with natural resource management for a dialogue on alternative eco-conservation theories and practices. Aman Singh, the Project Leader addressed the gathering that the project has been protecting trees and sowing grass seeds in the Orans, as well as raising saplings in nurseries and then transplanting them into Orans. This contributes to saving endemic and endangered species of trees, thus bringing about greater livelihood security for the rural poor, who depend on such trees for livestock feed, traditional medicine, marketable commodities and, to a lesser extent, timber. KRAPAVIS project also takes into account the changing nature of pastoralism in these areas, and the recent shift towards preference of water buffalo and goats as livestock over cattle, working to ensure that the flora in the Orans is better able to meet the needs of the new livestock. Part of the work done by KRAPAVIS is focused on water conservation within the Orans. This is imperative due to the serious reliance of local people on the water sources found in Orans, both for their livestock and themselves. This maintenance is realized through the use of water harvesting structures and checks for soil erosion.

On 24 September, a group of 13 leaders from different countries visited the project village ‘Bera’ in order to learn from the community who lived in the sacred forest of Sariska, and who were struggling to maintain a traditional life increasingly encroached upon by modernisation. They set about restoring natural biodiversity and implementing resource management practices, blending old philosophies with current know-how to create a sustainable community. In the village they met project team, the village elders and farmers in Bera, which lies at the bottom of rolling hills where there no concrete structures, cars, telephone services or electricity. The ‘Leaders Quest’ group learnt about the project work to boost community empowerment, education and self-sufficiency. They spent time in communities’ homes and join them in their daily tasks, milking water buffalo, herding goats and making food, then visited village Oran site. They tried to understand the following themes:

 • What does it mean to live in harmony with nature?

• What has enabled KRAPAVIS project to show this kind of lifelong leadership, and to create diverse and sustainable eco- and social systems?

• Is it better for people to live in ignorance of the outside world, with no TV and no external influences? Or is this a western fantasy?

• What lessons can they learn from our day in Bera, and how will they affect our everyday lives?

• A_journey_to_the_Sacred_Forest_of_Sariska (PDF)
  

Our project “Restoring 10 sacred groves (Orans) in Rajasthan” has been working with the agro-pastoralist communities, their traditional systems and problems faced at locally and impacts of the global problems such as climate change. A number of activities are undertaken in 10 villages, such as seeking community-level observations through scientific led mix on climate change impacts on communities’ livelihoods, local efforts to cope with as well as adapt to these changes by the pastoralists’ communities, living in semi- arid and arid zones of Rajasthan. Tree plantation and water conservation demonstration are undertaken as the physical capacity building and strengthening social infrastructure measures based on the traditional systems and prevalent legal regime at local and global levels. The poverty reduction is addressed by strengthening the natural resources, and the traditional conservation practices (e.g. Oran), contribute to increase the potential area which could be declared as one of the categories of protected areas for biodiversity conservation, and help sustain the domesticated animal diversity such as breeds of buffalo and goats etc.

• KRAPAVIS: Working with communities to protect Oran (PDF)
  

A seminar to discuss the ecological traditions in Rajasthan (India) was organized jointly by the Project KRAPAVIS and CPREEC, on 20th March 2013. In the seminar, different topics like sacred groves (Orans), sacred water bodies, sacred animals, sacred rivers, sacred mountains, sacred sites/ sacred gardens etc. were covered by 10 distinguished researchers.   In Rajasthan, these age old practices are responsible for sustainable resource management by the communities. The goal of the  seminar  was to bring different organizations and individuals from the state that  are working on sacred traditions, Orans, Devbanis and to deliberate on the role these rich traditions play today and how best they could be used to communities’ advantage while safeguarding culture and biodiversity.

KRAPAVIS (Krishi Avam Paristhitiki Vikas Sansthan) and LEAD India jointly organised a training workshop on Environmental Awareness on Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change, on 17-19 January 2013 at Alwar. In these three days, issues like environmental changes, its impact and adaptation strategies to conserve the degrading natural resources etc. were covered. In brief, the purpose of the workshop is three-fold:

1. Increase awareness on climate change issues for conservation of biodiversity in fragile ecosystems of  Semi-Arid/ Arid of Rajasthan
2. Create a cadre of community level climate change leaders, who will take forward the cause of environment conservation and protection by the local communities
3. To demonstrate to the conservation leaders on how to hold mass campaigns

The workshop was also supported by the Ministry of Environment & Forest (Government of India). In the workshop particiapted as many as 38 youths (men & women both). After the training sessions the participants engaged in hands on training on using different techniques for community mobilisation and awareness generation on climate change.