Restoring forests for restoring community health

August 2021 to August 2022 - one year of careful observation of the challenging journey that our Karanj saplings went on.  We have learnt invaluable lessons while watching these warriors power through several tribulations - extreme summers, forest fires, uncontrolled grazing etc. In these 28 years of conserving managing and regenerating forests, we have once again been reminded of how the localised dynamics of a site affect the seemingly straightforward activity of ‘plantation’. 

In June 2022, our field team visited Mangavli to check the status of the saplings planted last year after going through an entire seasonal cycle and also to implement phase 2 of the Karanj plantation. Our survey indicated that out of the 2000 saplings, 559 survived till this stage - indicating a survival rate of 28%. Although less than expected, this gave us a chance to critically assess the situation and move on to the second phase of plantation with the odds stacked in our favour. We geo-tagged the surviving saplings and documented their heights as well in order for the data to make way for more inferences and learnings. All in all, we were determined to give the 5000 new Karanj saplings the best chance of survival! It was time to put our learning into action. 

It started right from plot selection and we chose 4 plots with natural firelines in the form of stream boundaries and rocky patches. With the help of the community members, we completed the plantation of all 5000 saplings on all 4 plots. The team also replaced the dead saplings on one of the previous plots with new ones. It was heartening to see that our discussions and dialogue with the community was bearing fruit and we could see an increased sense of investment from their end in the entire process. They were part of failure analysis as well as strategising and planning for upkeep work in the coming months. 

There are two ways to look at this entire exercise of plantation which started in a new site more than a year ago. One way is to focus on only the numbers and conclude that the ‘output’ has not been as expected - but the complex cause of conservation is full of nuances and does not work like that. The other way to look at it is by doing a deep dive into all the tangible and subliminal changes that we have been able to bring around in the community through this exercise and the many capacity building sessions taken under it. One evidence of this is their proactive enquiries about AERF’s umbrella programme of ‘conservation agreements’ and the potential to scale it up in their village. We are sure that this engagement will pave way for a sustained approach towards not only plantation but other conservation deliverables planned in Mangavli in the near future.  

That’s all for now, but we will be back reporting on the health of these new line of warriors who have taken stand in place of the fallen ones, soon! 

Best regards,