Short description of the best practice

Assisted/Aided Natural Regeneration (ANR) forms the major strategy of treating degraded forest in India under different programs.  Unlike its name, largely it is implemented as a plantation model and doesn’t accommodate the current forest policy thrust on community participation, livelihoods improvement and biodiversity conservation. Policy envisaged adoption and sustainability of Joint Forest Management (JFM), is incumbent upon a more community-sensitive, silviculturally apt ANR practices. Recognition of these concerns led (OFSDP to adopt a refined ANR process, following a step-by-step ‘diagnostic and design’ approach with the involvement of the community, the Forest Department and the non-governmental organizations (NGO). The process uses GIS maps, local ecological knowledge and working plan prescriptions to analyze 4 ha-grids from eco-livelihoods perspectives and jointly develop grid-wise treatment plans. With formalized involvement of communities and NGOs in forest management, this practice addresses upfront concerns of livelihoods and biodiversity, while reiterating commitment towards enriching forests and enhancing their productivity
The steps followed in grounding the practice include formation of a working group (WG) comprising members of the VSS, the Forest Department and local resource persons to take up the tasks.  
While deciding about the treatments, ‘retaining’ are given importance over ‘planting’; seed dibbling/wilding preferred over planting of seedlings; herbs, shrubs, tubers and climbers are accorded equal importance as tree species; NTFPs get priority over timbers and ‘what not to cut’ is the concern instead of ‘what to cut’. Under soil conservation measures, principles of ridge to valley treatments are followed along with preference for biological or bio-mechanical measures.

Location

Degraded Forests of 8 Districts (Koraput, Rayagada, Parlakahemundi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Angul, Deogarh ad Sundergarh) of Odisha State (about 0.2 million ha of forest in 2400 villages)|

Brief description of the natural environment within the specified location.

The climate is characterized by high temperature and medium rainfall. Topography, however, modifies the local climate greatly. The average annual rainfall of the state is 1498 mm. Mean annual temperature for the state is 26.2°C. Mean summer temperature from April to June is 30.3°C and mean winter temperature from December to February is 21.3°C.
The climate may be classified under hot moist subhumid and hot and dry sub-humid.
Odisha hugs the voluminous shores of the Bay of Bengal with a coastline that stretches for about 450 km. According to the physiographic conditions, the topography of Odisha is categorized into the following heads namely, the central plateaus, the eastern coastal plains and the middle mountainous and highlands region. Numerous mountainous springs and hot springs gush down the mountains of Odisha.
The forest  areas are mostly located in undulating terrains  in middle mountainous and high land.|
Soils of Odisha are mainly developed by the relief, parent material and climate. The biotic features, mainly the natural vegetation follows the climatic pattern. Soils of Odisha have been divided into 8 broad soil groups namely red soils, laterite and lateritic soils, red and yellow soils, coastal salt affected alluvial soils, deltaic alluvial soils, black soils, mixed red and black soils and  brown forest soils

Prevailing socio-economic conditions of those living in the location and/or nearby

The major source of livelihood for the households was wage labour. Agriculture and allied activities are the primary source of livelihood for 18.44% of the total households. Majority (53.46%) of the total households have reported that they rely on wage labour as main source of livelihood and 8.07%, 2.36%, and 1.35% of the total households have reported service and/or pension, trade and business, self employment and others activities respectively as their primary source of livelihood. |
In a rural economic environment in the forest fringe areas, the sources of livelihood are agricultural activities, forest products, wage, sale of livestock, trading, vending, salary, etc. These sources have been broadly categorized into agricultural income, income from forest, wage income, and other source of income.
According to Economic Survey of Orissa 2007 the average monthly family income of a 5 members family is Rs. 1825/. |
26.46% of the households do not have any landed property. Out of the households having land holding 14.07% have land less than 1 acre, 44% have land in the range of 1-2.5 acre, 19.85% have more than 2.5 but less than 5 acres land, 15.21% have more than 5 and less than 10 acres land and remaining 6.87% have more than 10 acres land.  |

On the basis of which criteria and/or indicator(s) (not related to The Strategy) the proposed practice and corresponding technology has been considered as 'best'?

1. Economic (livelihoods & silvicultural) Returns: Faster and cheaper; provides intermittent return to community through fuel wood and small timber etc. and enhanced livelihoods return through increased NTFP production; augments forest productivity through expedited growth of rootstock,diameter increment and nutrient recycling.
2: Ecological (biodiversity and local ecological knowledge perspectives)Returns: Promotes and conserves biodiversity; maintains the original vegetation stand and corresponding ecosystem function ; with modern scientific forestry.
3. Social (community participation, empowerment and livelihoods perspectives)Returns: Provides remunerative employment to the local community; promotes empowerment ; effective in remote locations where government approaches have not been very successful.|

Main problems addressed by the best practice

Local livelihood needs are subdued in timber/revenue oriented forest management; increasing economic value of Non Timber Forest Produces not considered. |Accommodating natural regeneration and growth of non-timber livelihoods species and biodiversity. |Current practices prefer planting of nursery raised sapling from outside, neglects seeding and planting of wildling; site-specific treatment through dispersed plantation not followed.|Focus on tree species doesn’t allow promotion of other livelihoods species which may be shrubs, climbers, herbs, etc., and slow growing, shade bearers/demanders, browsable, etc.|No provision to target tending operations to promote natural regeneration of non-timber livelihoods species, e.g., no climber cutting of livelihoods species like Bahuinia vahlii; no provision for thinning in subsequent years.|No SMC treatment as per site requirement; ridge to valley system not followed; bunding, trenching and use of vegetative options limited|Lack of focus on Participation and biodiversity.

Outline specific land degradation problems addressed by the best practice

Project area has predominant red soils in undulating and sloping terrains. This   is highly prone to erosion and frequent occurrence of high intensity storms which is a characteristic of local climate abates the land degradation. Deep Gullies  and exposed hard pans with eroded top soil are a common sight in degraded forests of the project region.
Cleaning and singling operations aimed at promoting growth of sal and allied species not only does expose soil to erosion, but also lead to timber stands with very limited under growth. Soil erosion is often immense under the pure crops of sal

Specify the objectives of the best practice

Biodiversity Perspective:In a forest, every plant species has got its intrinsic value and the traditional communities living its side since generations have adapted to use them to the optimum for a variety of livelihood needs from cultural to food and income generation. They have mastered and matured the art of using the forest resources through their long history of interaction with the forest. To them each individual of each spp. is of some or other use including the use through its existence.|Livelihood Perspective
Goal of OFSDP is to promote healthier forests and wealthier communities. While a relatively even aged, single storeyed uniform stand of timber species can be an ideal source of revenue through timber sale, it can hardly qualify to be a healthy ecosystem. Similarly, the livelihoods potential of such forest is also very limited.  Since forest area to be treated under ANR constitutes almost three fourth of the total area under JFM mode in OFSDP.

Brief description of main activities, by objective

The first step is about comprehensive diagnosis of the forest area to be treated through the use of grid-marked  GIS maps, multi-stakeholder grid transact walks and use of silvicultural and community knowledge. Each grid is allocated with a unique identity as per its location in the matrix. In this step, the teams take transact walks along the marked grid lines to assess and characterize each grid in terms of its canopy density, ecological status, livelihoods important spp. in different storeys.|
The treatment plan  for all grids gets finalized as per the requirement of species retention/augmentation (through seeding/transplanting of seedling/wildlings), tending operations (cleaning, weeding, singling, thinning, stool cleaning, etc., specific treatment measures for bamboo stock augmentation as per requirement) and soil moisture conservation (SMC) measures (trenching/bunding/gully control as per the erosion types).  |
Second step involves deciding about species (trees, liana, shrubs, herbs, climbers, tubers) to be augmented in different grids as per rational stakeholder choice (weighted scoring matrix) made through use of local ecological knowledge and species silviculture.The next step involves deciding about species (trees, liana, shrubs, herbs, climbers, tubers) to be augmented in different grids as per rational stakeholder choice (weighted scoring matrix) made through use of local ecological knowledge etc|
In step 3 (Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) about species) step, the selected species are described in terms of their livelihood uses, regeneration potential and LEK. This information helps to compliment/supplement the available/silvicultural knowledge about the selected species and therefore facilitates nursery/tending operations.  |

Short description and technical specifications of the technology

With contours of forest management shifting towards livelihoods, biodiversity, ecosystem services from timber/revenue based management, regeneration, tending and harvesting operations requires responding and adapting to the changing paradigms and needs. Silvicultural operations now need to meet the often conflicting needs of economy (local and global), ecology and society. Forest management processes need to integrate participation, livelihoods, gender equity, democratization and decentralization agenda and concerns while maintaining technical integrity in harmony with ecological processes. Assisted Natural Regeneration, the existing dominant forest management practice in India, has to accommodate these needs, concerns and processes to enhance adaptation and resilience of forests to changing contexts.
This best practice blends top-bottom approach of GIS based mapping with bottom-up approach of microplanning through forest transact and promotes multi-stakeholder forest management through participation of JFMC, NGO and Forest Department. It attempts to augment elements of biodiversity conservation and livelihoods promotion to the ongoing ANR practice. Different innovations like use of grid-based planning and integrated treatments, leveraging on local ecological knowledge (LEK), shifting focus from what-to-cut to what-not-to-cut, augmenting enrichment  seeding/wildling, promoting regeneration of forest-foods like tubers, herbs    etc. have become part of this approach through interactive demonstrations and stakeholders-feedbacks.

Name and address of the institution developing the technology

Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project|Odisha Forest Department

Was the technology developed in partnership?

Yes

List the partners:

VSS members
|Partner NGO|Evaluation by external agency (CTRAN)

Specify the framework within which the technology was promoted

• Programme/project-based initiative

Was the participation of local stakeholders, including CSOs, fostered in the development of the technology?

Yes

List local stakeholders involved:

Joint Forest Management Committee members
|Women members of SHG|Partner Non Governnebtal Organisation

For the stakeholders listed above, specify their role in the design, introduction, use and maintenance of the technology, if any.

This technology has been developed through participatory process over three years of regular and close interaction and analysis of the field situations with the  stakeholders’ (the Forest Department, the non government organization (NGO) and the community) by the project officials and consultants  
Piloting of this process was done with involvement of Consultants, project staff, NGO and Joint Forest Management community
Implementation of the practice is through NGO, JFM Community including women Shelf Help Ggoup and field staff.

Was the population living in the location and/or nearby involved in the development of the technology?

Yes

By means of what?

• Participatory approaches

Describe on-site impacts (the major two impacts by category)

Degraded forests under JFM are usually eco-tone zones with higher biodiversity of NTFP, especially herbs, climbers and tubers, which are frequently relied upon by the forest-dependent communities to meet their food, medicine and income needs. |
There is a decrease in diversity of trees and shrubs after ANR operations, indicating increasing dominance of certain species. However, herb diversity seems to be showing a marginal increase after ANR than control.  |
About 2-4 quintal of cleaning materials (fuel wood mostly, occasional small timbers) are generated per ha of ANR operations, which is mostly distributed among villagers or disposed to earn income.This is a kind of direct immediate return to the community after coming under JFM mode.|
ANR operations provide substantial employment (about 82 MD/ha) to remote forest-fringe village communities (as per OFSDP procedure to the JFM village) during first 4 years of ANR operations.
There were about 1331 no of total individuals in ANR versus 1739 in control on an average.  In terms of numbers, the ANR area has less number of individuals across age classes as well as corresponding to years after treatment (or no treatment) except for 0-5cm and 5-10cm age classes after 2 years. |
Soil carbon found to be more in ANR area than the control, except after 5 years. The difference is more after 2 and 20 years and marginally more after 10 years. Increased soil carbon indicates increasing productivity of soil and also higher carbon capture in soil.|
An interesting observation is that after 20 years of ANR, tree and shrub diversity index demonstrate downward trend, while herb diversity showed a marginal increase. In comparison to control, shrub diversity reduction looks quite higher in comparison to reduction in case of trees and herbs.|

Impact on biodiversity and climate change

Explain the reasons:

There has been a spate of consciousness, recognition and activities towards promotion of biodiversity conservation following Earth Summit in Rio, wherein India became a signatory to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD).  Biodiversity conservation as a sustainability strategy, as key ecosystem services/products and as a potential contributor to local and national economy, has become a main driver of forest management in policy and practice. In the context of tropical forests and their degrading trend, ANR with its ability to arrest retrogressions, facilitate succession, species enrichment and moisture augmentation, has significant implications on the biodiversity regime. Mid Term Evaluation of OFSDP has observed Greater evenness and more bio-diverse nature of the forest community (S-W index values 1.86 -3.23), better regeneration status in ANR (2204 to 3337 established seedlings/ha- adequately naturally regenerating as per national norm).
REDD+ (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation) under UNFCCC, has assumed significant global importance as a cost effective mitigation strategy in the context of climate change with potential livelihoods and conservation benefits. REDD reddiness processes have begun in many developing countries including India, where significant efforts have been underway to tackle deforestation and rewrite compensatory conservation, sustainable forest management and community participation through ANR like operations in JFM landscapes.     

Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out?

Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out?

No

Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations?

Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations?

Yes

Where?

In Savings Utilization Plan of OFSDP, being implemented during 2012-15,  this best practices will be revisited and implemented in all JFMC (in an average 32ha /site)  as under-planting in ANR |

Were incentives to facilitate the take up of the technology provided?

Were incentives to facilitate the take up of the technology provided?

Yes

Specify which type of incentives:

• Policy or regulatory incentives (for example, related to market requirements and regulations, import/export, foreign investment, research & development support, etc)
• Financial incentives (for example, preferential rates, State aid, subsidies, cash grants, loan guarantees, etc)

Can you identify the three main conditions that led to the success of the presented best practice/technology?

Biodiversity Conservation: Biodiversity conservation as a sustainability strategy, as key ecosystem services/products and as a potential contributor to local and national economy, has become a main driver of forest management in policy and practice. In the context of tropical forests and their degrading trend, ANR with its ability to arrest retrogressions, facilitate succession, species enrichment and moisture augmentation, has significant implications on the biodiversity regime.
Focus on forest base livelihood opportunity: Forest dependant people depend on the forest for different purpose only. They depend on forest for their daily foods, to meet their domestic needs and also to earn something out of forest produce. Their whole livelihood opportunity as if confined to their forest. Due to excess dependency on forest and no further steps to multiply the available stock, day by day some species are going to be rarely available. |
Participatory approach:This activity succeeds in field due to collaborative and participatory approach. Apart from forest department staff VSS members are given equal importance in implementation and management process. Local NGOs were also included in whole process to motivate VSS members and to facilitate the work.

Replicability

In your opinion, the best practice/technology you have proposed can be replicated, although with some level of adaptation, elsewhere?

Yes

Related to human resources

The evolved process provides an option to the JFM stakeholders in India in form of a doable and simple tool to carry out ANR, the major forestry operation assigned to them. This practice provides the grassroots staff of Forest Department leverage to avoid peer pressure for showing survival and thereby going for only plantation of fast growing and non-browsable species.|By providing a strategic space to communities (VSS) and civil societies (NGO) in the planning and decision making of ANR operations and hence in the manipulation of forest structure and composition, this process incentivizes and reinforces the concept of JFM.|Involving women SHG (feminine forestry) who are the gatherers and regenerators of the livelihood species in ANR operations will underline the importance of feminine forestry. This will create an example for other states to follow the process in line women nursery scheme (viz. involvement of women directly in regeneration practices elsewhere (viz. Uttaranchal) has demonstrated higher survival and growth).

Related to technical aspects

This practice has provided opportunity for formal interaction of the stakeholders in manipulation of forest structure and composition. Comparing and contrasting the resulting forests evolved through such co-management approaches vis-à-vis the forests resulting from management by separately by Forest Department and Community (CFM) in terms of ecological and socio-economic impacts will provide immense learning opportunities in the direction of future forest management in India. |Given the present capacity and continuing approach towards timber-based and departmental approach of forest management among the cutting edge stakeholders mainstreaming such paradigm shift is difficult. Considering this, transition to adoption of this practice is challenging and painstakingly slow.  |However, since JFM areas have to be treated on a participatory approach with prime objective of livelihoods augmentation and biodiversity conservation, percolation of the change process through demonstration, piloting and frequent monitoring of actual adoption at VSS level will be absolutely  essential. |Better and effective management of JFM-forest is incumbent upon availability of scientific information on their structure, composition, biodiversity, productivity. However, such information is scarcely available, largely due to lack of scientific research inquiry. |Absence of availability of information on sustainable NTFP harvesting, NTFP silviculture and biometry, limited documented knowledge about tubers, climbers and herbs and their ecology affect the adoption and implementation of this practice. On the other hand it also makes it inevitable to follow local ecological knowledge on these aspects, which strengthens community participation and ownership.