Adaptation Strategies Adopted in the River Basin

1. Institutional Arrangements

Over the past eight years, communities in four of the fourteen major drainage basins (or gadheras as they are called locally) have been galvanized to engage themselves in sustainable restoration of the languishing Gagas river basin.

The bedrock of change and development in the river basin is intensive community organization which leads to the formation of self-help groups of women. These groups of women, ultimately, engage themselves and the rest of the community towards restoration of the ecosystem within which they reside – typically, a micro catchment area of 30 hectares inclusive of degraded village commons.

The institutional pattern at the grassroots has been established in the following manner:

• Each and every family has participated as      members of self help groups and      typically, a village has 1-2 such groups. These groups form the bedrock of      change and development.
• After the formation and consolidation of such      group activities, the next tier has been formed, which is the village      level gadhera bachao samiti,      wherein each family subscribes as a member with a contribution of Rs. 100      as an annual gram kosh.
• Finally, all these village level gadhera bachao samities have led to      the formation of an apex body, called the Gadhera Bachao Manch.

This structure at the grassroots enables and empowers local community-managed institutions to take matters into their own hands, so that adaptive measures through a bottom-up approach based on local knowledge could be crystallised. Typically, action plans include eco-restoration strategies, adoption of appropriate technologies, optimising land use and livestock management strategies. Together, community aspirations regarding millennium development goals and adapting to climate change begin to take concrete shape at the grassroots.

Within the first two years, the Manch (or Federation) organized a phenomenal gathering of several hundred residents from the river basin to mark the occasion of World Water Day and several resolutions regarding the renewal of the hydrological cycle were discussed and adopted. During one such meeting to mark the World Water Day, the Manch had invited the participation of very senior government officials including forest managers. Considering the level and intensity of engagement at the grassroots, the government evinced keen interest to participate in the creation of a multi stakeholder platform.

The platform has been created with representatives of all key stakeholders from civil society, government departments, scientists and of course the residents of the river basin, who are viewed as the primary stake holder. Forest managers are viewed as a key stakeholder.

In order to bring together synergy at the grassroots, it is imperative to consolidate this multi stakeholder platform, which would enable the state government to view the problems of the entire Gagas river basin in a holistic manner. The focus of the multi stakeholder platform would be primarily to restore the hydrological cycle in the river basin and at the same time attempt to introduce livelihoods improvement programs which would enhance food security and thereby the quality of life.

The institutional structure at the grassroots has so far evolved as follows:

1. Number of SHGs formed                                            84

2. Number of SHG members                                          1,259

3.  SHG funds                                                                  Rs. 7.15 lakhs

4. Number of Gadhera Bachao Samitis formed              26

5. Gram Kosh   or Village Fund                                      Rs. 6.57 lakhs

6. Village Commons under protection                             350 hectares

7. Village Nurseries                                                         10

8. Species in village nurseries                                           35

9. Number of saplings being raised in nurseries              230,000

10. Number of mature saplings planted-out                     200,000      

2. Farming Systems

Communities have initiated the following activities in order to optimize landuse patterns and farming systems:

• Improve      the quality of farmyard manure with the idea of impacting upon soil      fertility
• Undertake      certification process regarding organic farming
• Improve      the breed of livestock through training local youth as para-veterinarians
• Plant      fruit trees along farm bunds and adjacent to dwellings
• Grow      high value crops like strawberries, chamomile and aloe vera
• Increase      acreage under traditional rain-fed crops
• Promote      water neutral techniques like system of rice intensification

Efforts are underway to leverage the potential spin-off a farmers organization which would encourage such changes through establishment of marketing linkages for farm produce and thereby increase incomes right at the farm gate.

3. Community Forestry

Village groups are being provided with critical inputs for building on their capacities regarding establishment of small nurseries, to raise appropriate rootstock of native species of grasses, shrubs and trees and decide upon strategies for providing fresh vegetal cover to degraded common lands in the catchment area.                  

Within a period of two years, the production of grasses on village commons has increased significantly. The growth of young saplings of several native species has led to encouraging communities to participate and sustain the process of protection and conservation of commons.

Alongside, communities have revived the tradition of creating and maintaining shallow ponds (Khals) with the idea of improving soil infiltration and soil water storage capacity, which in turn would influence the amount of water available from groundwater, sub surface, surface water courses and water bodies.

This particular event, revival of a tradition regarding soil and moisture conservation at the grassroots, has led the government and the forest managers to turn their attention to promoting Khals on a wider scale across the river basin, especially within the reserved forest areas which define the upper ridges of the basin.

Considering that 20 percent of the critical catchment areas which crown the ridges at 6,000 feet are defined as reserved forests, such policy changes at the level of a key stakeholder are indeed significant. Over the past year, forest managers have been involved in an innovative dialogue with the communities to restore the hydrological cycle of the streams through intensive silvi-cultural operations in such catchments.

Thousands of these (khals) recharge ponds (top) need to be prepared and maintained jointly by the forest managers and the communities residing adjacent to such forests.

It is envisaged that the tragedy of the commons could be reversed over a period of a decade. The challenge is to maintain the momentum of change and encourage the pace of joint action amongst key stakeholders in the river basin.

4. Adoption of Appropriate Technologies

Communities are also motivated to adopt appropriate technologies in cross cutting sectors like drinking water, environmental sanitation, renewable energy and rainwater harvesting with the idea of fulfilling millennium development goals aimed at improving the quality of life, here and now.

Infiltration Wells are being promoted with the idea of enhancing easier access to safe drinking water – so far, over 150 villages have shared the cost of such community managed drinking water systems. As an a priori condition, communities have also been involved with installation of twin pit water seal toilets, again on a cost sharing basis.                                   

Similarly, head-loading firewood from distant forests adds to the drudgery for women and even children. Renewable energy options like a biogas stove, provides four hours of clean cooking gas. This not only improves indoor air quality but also reduces the biotic pressure on scarce forest resources, which are currently being stripped at a faster pace than the annual incremental biomass growth. At last count, over 500 households have invested in biogas units and the idea is to benefit at least fifty percent of households in the river basin.

5 Micro Enterprises

Community organization activities have led to several initiatives with the idea of securing new livelihoods options which would supplement family incomes. More than 1,500 families are members of a growing network of entrepreneurs involved with diverse business programs:

• Farm      women are involved with the production and sale of hand-knitted woollen      jumpers
• Fruit      growers are adding value to local soft fruits like apricots and plums      through production and marketing of natural fruit preserves and pickles
• Bee      keepers harvest honey in different seasons through the year and market      natural honey, even to France!
• Yet      another self help group of women are involved with production and sale of      eco-friendly roofing tiles
• And,      almost a thousand small farmers rear free range poultry birds which      provides home nutrition through consumption of eggs and cash through sale      of mature hens at a premium.

However the most significant aspect of these local efforts in promoting the spirit of enterprise is a concern of the institutional framework at the grassroots level. Each and every business is directly controlled by the producer-groups; who own the assets and are equal shareholders of the business. This arrangement enables the greatest portion of the consumers dollar to reach the producer. Each year, these groups are in a position to distribute a bonus from the ‘profits’ of their businesses.

The annual turnover of these small rural enterprises amounts to $250,000. Plans are underway regarding the way forward for scaling-up such/and other initiatives to at least $1.5 million in the next three to five years through the establishment of a Producers Company.

The Future & Way Forward

Efforts over the past few years could certainly be viewed as an awakening to the environmental crisis in the Gagas river basin. The participation of large numbers of farmers and the establishment of Save the River Federation would seem to have paved the path for the securing the participation of other key stakeholders, especially the forest managers.

Communities in selected drainage basins have taken strong steps to reverse the process of degradation and improve the hydrological cycle. The lessons of these ‘first steps’ would indeed be significant to lead the way forward in the immediate future for strengthening and consolidating inter and intra basin dialogue.

Grassroots has certainly enabled communities to focus on the problems which plague them in a holistic manner. It is significant to note that communities have identified the problems jointly, in the sense, that eco-restoration activities need to be initiated right from the headwaters down to the mouth of the stream. This has led to a fresh sense of camaraderie amongst residents of all villages located along either banks of a stream – in fact, the growth of the Manch or Federation is based on this concept of inter-basin dialogue.

Based on the success of this inter-basin platform, steps are being taken to enlarge the scope of such a dialogue at an intra-basin level. Over the next decade, the idea is to forge these networks towards the eco-restoration of the entire Gagas river basin.

And, in order to succeed, the linkages between Forests and Water needs to be discussed even more intensively at every level, be it the policy makers, scientists, community leaders, non-governmental organisations, international forums, political leaders and last though not in the least, the forest managers. Grassroots believes that communities may find a fresh balance in their lives, even during times of climate change, through ecological security. For which, it must be recognised that Forests provide a Vital Balance for sustaining the development process.