Unanimous support for landscape restoration in Sidhi
State and district officials, civil society organizations and other participants discuss pathways to implement Sidhi’s restoration opportunity assessment findings in the region.
On 3 February 2018, WRI India convened a multi-stakeholder workshop ‘Landscape Restoration in Sidhi: The Way Forward’ at the district headquarter of Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh, to discuss the findings of a restoration opportunity assessment conducted for the district. This was a first-of-its-kind assessment in India, undertaken by adapting and applying the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) in Sidhi, from October 2016 to September 2017.
Hosted by the Sidhi Zilla Panchayat, 214 participants attended the workshop, including officials from various state and district level departments, civil society and local communities. The workshop was presided by Mr. R Parasuram, State Election Commissioner and former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh (MP). Senior officials from the MP State Bamboo Mission (MPSBM), MP State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MPSRLM) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD); political leadership from the district (including Mr. Krishna Kumar Singh, former legislator of Madhya Pradesh); civil society organizations; community members and private sector representatives joined the workshop. Photos from the event can be accessed here.
Dr. Rohini Chaturvedi, Former Director, Food, Land and Water Program, WRI India, presented Sidhi’s opportunity assessment findings. The findings showed that Sidhi has more than 360,000 hectares of restoration opportunity, which can provide direct benefits to communities, generate more than 3.75 million person-days of wage labour and INR 710.76 million in wage income, sequester more than 7 milllion tonnes of CO2eq (equivalent carbon dioxide), and conserve key tiger reserves and its buffer zone. An additional 31,000 jobs for women, unemployed and landless can be generated by value chain development around six key tree species.
The findings were well-received by the participants who agreed that implementation of Sidhi’s opportunity assessment could significantly reduce the risk for climate vulnerable poor and marginal population of the district. Mr. R Parasuram noted that, “Landscape restoration is important to us not just as a short-term benefit but for future generations as well.”
Supporting landscape restoration in Sidhi, stakeholders responded to the findings with several commitments.
Mr. B B Singh, MP State Director, National Bamboo Mission committed to supply 30,000 high quality, clonal bamboo seedlings, free of cost, for planting on all types of private land. Further, he committed to setting up medium/small scale bamboo processing units in a nearby district. As the bamboo becomes ready for harvesting in three years, these units will provide the necessary market.
A representative of Orient Paper Mills committed to purchasing 8,000 -10,000 kilo tonnes of bamboo annually from the district made available through landscape restoration.
Mr. L M Belwal, CEO, MPSRLM, supported the creation of value chains of key tree species for livelihood diversification and income generation, and the establishment of self-help groups of households that are below poverty line in more than 500 villages of Sidhi.
Senior officials of the forest department have committed to clarifying laws and policies, such that forest communities and tree growers can be assured of benefits.
Mr. Abhayuday Singh, President, Sidhi Zilla Panchayat reiterated his support for landscape restoration in the district and its benefits to the tribal and marginalized communities.
Representatives of NABARD have invited Green Climate Fund (GCF) proposals from the district and also committed to extending credit for enterprise development around landscape restoration, in financial year 2018. They further reiterated their commitment to implementing different types of agroforestry programs that can strengthen rural livelihood.
The summary proceedings are available here.
As a next step, a high-level expert consultative group with members from government agencies, NABARD and civil society organizations was formed to generate traction at the state level, which is necessary to implement and scale. WRI India offered to convene the expert consultative group to take the discussion forward, and subsequently, the first meeting was held on 5 March 2018 in Bhopal.
