Stop deforestation and restore community lands

During the reporting period, tribal women from the project area involved in raising saplings in a nursery so that the plantation in the upcoming monsoon can be taken up. The nursery is located at Bakhtpura village in ‘Siliserh Chhind’, a landscape in Alwar district of Rajasthan (India). The landscape is home to a large number of agro-pastoralist communities. Their main source of livelihood is animal husbandry and agriculture. The vegetative landscape consists of sparse dry land grass intermingled with thorny, desert shrub and small stands of dry, deciduous forest, on which the communities depend for fuel and grazing for their livestock. The most common tree species are being raised for fodder includes Prosopis cineraria, Acacia sp., Zizyphus and Anogeissus pendula. Both species, during the time immediately before the monsoon or in times of severe drought, provide fodder when other tree species become devoid in foliage. According to the pastoralists, the landscape provides them with indispensable vegetation to feed their livestock. Co-management and worship of the Orans by the pastoralists contributes to greater species diversity in cultivated and wild plants as well as guaranteed sustainable access to members of the community.

• Pastoralists protect landscape (PDF)
  

Rajasthan, the project area, is the driest state in India. In the west of the state lies the Thar Desert, the most densely populated desert region on Earth. The occurrence of drought in this region is frequent but highly unpredictable, and consequently the conservation of water resources and reliable grazing lands is of the utmost importance. In recent years, population increase and the shift towards modern agricultural techniques, have led to the increased vulnerability of rural communities. Moreover, in a region as susceptible to drought as this, the climatic irregularities brought about by climate change have been felt acutely. Recognizing this, the project 'stop deforestation and restore grazing lands' has sought.

The project increases the resilience and adaptive capacity of communities, through interventions e.g. rehabilitating water harvesting structures, installing conservation devices and protecting trees, raising saplings in nurseries & transplantation including grass growing on the Orans or grazing lands, in the 10 project villages. In order to share and replicate the communities’ experiences, a workshop was organized, on 17^th January 2015. As many as 40 people, including project community leaders, representatives of universities, government, research, academic institutions and NGOs were participated. As a result, this workshop has contributed to a growing body of information about community-level concerns, observations and experiences relating to climate change impacts and adaptation. Also, it strengthened the link between knowledge centres, universities, research and academic institutions and NGOs and communities in such a way that all can benefit on the issue of climate change and adoption.

Links:

• A success story published on the project work