1st Review Meeting: People and Protected Areas Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods in partnership with local communities 12-18 July 2009 Supported by Science for Equity, Empowerment & Development (SEED) Division, Department of Science & Technology
Introduction The Project, People and Protected Areas: Conservation and Sustainable livelihoods in partnership with local communities is a joint initiative of the Science for Equity, Empowerment & Development (SEED) Division of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and WWF-India. The main focus is to coordinate and support the efforts of local and grassroots NGOs promoting innovative mechanisms to enhance local livelihoods for communities living in and around Protected Areas. WWF India is the coordinating agency for this Project. The Project was initiated in April 2008 with a total of eleven partner NGOs working in different Protected Areas around the country. Two other partner NGOs joined by end 2008. An annual review was organized by WWF-India in Uttarakhand from 12-18 th June 2009 on completion of first year of implementation of the project. The Objective of the review meet was Share and evaluate the progress made by the 13 projects supported under this effort; Exposure visit on low-cost rural technologies for natural resource based rural livelihoods improvement; Experience sharing on Community-Based Tourism from different parts of the country. A week-long meet included a one day exposure visit to HESCO, Dehradun (12 June), followed by a two-day workshop in Mussoorie (13-14 June), and a 4-day exposure field trip to Nanda Devi Biosphere (15-18 June) on community based tourism. A total number of 29 participants were present at the Workshop.
Day 1, 12 th June 2009 Exposure Visit The 1st Annual Review Meeting started with a day long Exposure Visit to HESCO (Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation), an NGO based in Shuklapur village near Dehradun in Uttarakhand. The visit included a talk by Dr Anil Joshi, Founder-Director of HESCO, walk around their campus to see the various low-cost rural technologies developed (pyrolysis for charcoal briquettes/ post-harvest technology/ water mill gharats/ solar energy based cookers, dehydrators, water heaters) and on-site demonstration of some of these technologies. Twenty participants were part of this exposure visit. Participants included representatives (PI and Co-PI) of all the NGO project partners. Image 1. Dr. Anil Joshi giving presentation about HESCO s work to partners Dr Joshi informed the group that HESCO is a group of scientists whose strength lies in science and technology as this is what, he feels, brings in revolution. A true democracy should entail decentralization of science, technology and knowledge even before decentralization of politics. This will help to meet local needs locally. An assessment of any shop in a locality will show that more than seventy percent of the products sold can be locally manufactured instead of being brought from outside. This will in turn help to generate local income and employment. Local upgraded technology is low cost, blends the traditional with new technology and can incorporate pre and post-harvest services. With this philosophy in mind, HESCO has been working with rural communities, since
the last twenty eight years, to match local technologies with the locally available natural resources. HESCO has also promoted WISE (Womens Initiative for Self Employment), an entity where women entrepreneurs (from small towns and villages) have been brought together on a common platform to strategize and implement self financing and marketing plans of the natural resource based products made by them. Image 2. Water mill (gharat) at Garhi Cantt. being shown to the partners Post-lunch all participants were shown how charcoal briquettes are made using lantana or any other agriculture residue. This demonstration was organized in the Shuklapur campus of HESCO itself. Following this participants visited a WISE shop in Ambiwala village managed by Mrs. Kala Bisht. Mrs. Bisht has been trained in post-harvest technology for processing fruits into various food products and is a trained bee keeper all these and many other products are stocked at this WISE shop. The next stop was at a water mill located in Garhi Cantonement outside Dehradun town where a flowing stream has been used to generate electricity which in turn is powering a fully-automated flour mill during the day and providing electricity to the local community at night. A series of three flour mills have been powered by upgrading the gharat technology. At present the flour from these mills are being sold at various shops and a shop-cum-café is being operated by WISE near the Garhi Cantonment area. The final destination was to see Lantana furniture being made and sold by Shri Vijay Pal Singh at Maldevta village. Mr. Singh is not only able to earn Rs 4000 5000 per month, and even more if he is able to make enough
products, from this skill but has also been involved in training a large number of youth from the area and outside in the same skill. Image 3. Lantana furniture being made at Maldevta village. Image 4. WISE shop in Ambiwala village
Day 2-3, 13-14 th July 2009 Review Workshop The second part of the Annual Review meeting was a two day workshop organized in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand on 13 th 14 th June, 2009. As mentioned earlier, the specific purpose of this two day workshop was to share, discuss and evaluate the project progress made in all the sanctioned projects, including the overall coordination project. Presentations were made by all thirteen participating NGOs. The final session of this two-day deliberation was on Community-Based Tourism and its potential as an income generating option for local communities living around Protected Areas. A total of twenty nine men and women participated in the two-day deliberation. The following experts and DST officials were present. 1. Dr. Anil Joshi, HESCO, Dehradun Chairman 2. Shri Ramesh Rawal, BAIF, New Delhi Member 3. Dr. P. Bhattacharya, IIFM, Bhopal Member 4. Dr. (Mrs.) P. Soni, F.E.E Division, F R I, Dehradun Member 5. Shri Sunil K. Agarwal DST 6. Shri Rajinder Singh DST Coordinating team members were as follows:- 1. Dr. Sejal Worah WWF India 2. Ms. Vishaish Uppal WWF India 3. Ms. Sangeeta Agarwal WWF India 4. Ms. Priya Gupta WWF India Proceedings A warm welcome was extended by WWF India Team. Participants were informed about the objective and agenda of the two day meeting. The Agenda of the two day workshop is appended in Annexure I. WWF presented an overview of the project which included a brief on the selected project sites, WWF s role as the coordinating agency, progress made so far and some highlights from various project sites, the learnings, and next steps. This was followed by detailed presentations by each of the participating NGOs followed by question-answer session.
Image 5. Dr. Sejal Worah presenting the overview of the project Some general recommendations were also made applicable to all Partner Implementing Agencies: Each group to carry out a natural resource inventory; assess the sustainable harvest limits for NTFPs; and develop sustainable harvest mechanisms Each group to collect quantitative and qualitative data for each activity. For HH involved in multiple activities, a seasonal calendar and income generated from each activity to be recorded Each group carrying out multiple activities should identify one to two activities which would portray their regional identities and these should be taken up as their core activities Each group to document and develop criteria used for selection of beneficiaries Tie up with BAIF for marketing of products The economics of any income generation activities promoted should be clear from the beginning, with a proper business plan prepared Networking within partners and with experts to learn from each others experiences; set up of an Yahoo group as an option Establish communication channels with state forest departments, tribal development departments and other related government agencies about project activities and possible linkages
Image 6. Mr. Utkarsh Ghate presenting the progress of his project Image 7. A project presentation in progress
Following are some common issues highlighted by Partner NGOs which need follow-up by WWF India and DST: List of technologies DST should publish on their web site a list of tested and approved technologies which are low cost, suitable for rural environments and applicable for energy, agriculture, and income generation needs. Fire fighting technology DST support should be mobilized to develop practical and well thought out forest fire-fighting technology. Handling Forest Fires through NREGA Although this is a local issue, related to Suhelwa Sanctuary, it could be applicable to other protected areas as well. While NREGA funds can be used for afforestation activities, they cannot be used for fire management and lantana eradication. There is need for discussion with FD about the possibilities of using the NREGA funds for these activities as well, and along with that set up a work measurement and payment criteria. Incentives for Sustainable non-timber forest-based products Similar to forest certification which promotes sustainable forestry practices, there is need to work on developing and advocating for incentives that would promote sustainable NTFP harvesting practices. One of the options suggested was tax relief, but since taxation is a state subject this option will have to be explored at the state level. Other incentives need to be thought of. Image 8. Dr. Anil Joshi addressing the partners
Final Session - Community based Tourism: It s potential in relation to Conservation and Livelihood This session started with a presentation on the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) and the community tourism initiative in its surrounding villages by Mr. Samir Sinha, IFS, Director TRAFFIC-India and former director Nanda Devi National Park. As a four-day field visit was planned for this area, the presentation by Mr Sinha gave an excellent overview of the area and its people. Mr Sinha explained how and why the biosphere reserve was formed, a brief background of the Nanda Devi National Park (NDNP), and the process adopted in developing a community-based tourism programme in village Tolma. Nanda Devi and its surrounding peaks has been an attraction for mountain trekkers and climbers for decades. However, the damage cause by human footprint led to declaration of 630.33 sq km area as the Nanda Devi National Park in 1982. Mountaineering and trekking were banned which created a conflict with the local community, especially with the youth because these tourists were their only source of income. In 2000, the boundaries were redrawn and the Valley of Flowers was included within NDBR. Over the next few years the Forest Department worked with the local community to develop a community based tourism programme which would generate some income for the local families. However, a major point of deviation in tourism management in the country is the obsession with structures which are not in consonance with the mountains and its environment. He stressed on the need to promote local architecture using local raw materials which match with the local surroundings and urged all the participants to think about this. Image 9. Mr. Samir Sinha giving an overview of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve
The next presentation was a case study on eco-tourism developed in Spiti valley by Ms. Ishita Khanna from MUSE. She spoke about the role of an organization called Ecosphere in establishing synergies between economic empowerment, conservation and development. She explained how from a subsistence-based economy, Spiti has transitioned into a cash-based economy and this has brought about remarkable changes in the agricultural practices. Moreover as weather patterns have altered, irrigation sources have diminished, agricultural productivities have come down, and livelihood options are limited. Consequently it became essential to look for alternative means of livelihood. It was here that Ecosphere stepped in to work with the local communities to identify livelihoods that would be in harmony with the ecology and culture of the region and at the same time blend the traditional and the modern. Consequently the initiatives introduced range from the propagation and commercialisation of Seabuckthorn (a plant with immense medicinal, economic and ecological value), to eco-tourism and the promotion of traditional (organic) agriculture. In the case of eco-tourism, Ecosphere has developed home stays in some villages and has trained local youth as nature guides, in hospitality services, etc. In order to deal with the haphazard and unplanned development currently taking place in Spiti, Ecosphere is working with the communities for promoting renewable sources of energy like solar water heaters, solar passive architecture, solar lighting, etc.; for the revival of traditional handicrafts and crops; providing eco-friendly tourism management options, etc. Image 10. Ms. Ishita Khanna presenting the case-study of Eco-tourism developed in Spiti valley
The final presentation was by Mr. Rajiv Bhartari, IFS, Additional Secretary Tourism, Uttarakhand and CEO Ecotourism. Mr. Bhartari talked about community based tourism and gave examples of what works and what does not from different parts of the country. He defined community based tourism as tourism owned and managed by the community. In order to promote tourism, as a first step, communities need to identify the assets possessed both physical and cultural, following which products need to be identified. Once this is done efforts should be put in to develop markets. Communities also need to be prepared that situations change over time and are dynamic. It has been observed that where leadership is dynamic, things work well. Through all this government has to ensure that community rights are ensured and that their access to resources is continued and is legal. Mr. Bhartari felt that community based tourism increases the investments in a village, whether it is by the government, NGO or by communities. He emphasized that community based tourism benefited both conservation and development by helping to enhance: Community skills in planning, accounting, communication & design; Awareness on tourism and development issues; Employment and Income enhanced in terms of both direct and supplementary incomes; Environment protection through afforestation, solid waste management, etc.; Conservation of local natural and cultural resources; Local infrastructure is improved like better sanitation services, sports facilities which are accessible to the communities also. Image 11. Mr Rajiv Bhartari sharing his experience on Community based Tourism with partners
The last but not the least was a presentation made by Mr Sunil Agarwal, SEED, DST on Innovative Technology Intervention Models for Sustainable Livelihoods. Through this presentation he shared DST s experiences on technology transfer. He stressed that the challenge is to assess the scale of technology implementation, to customize the technology solutions and to establish community institutions who would manage the technologies in the long term. He talked about the water mills; seabuckthorn processing; solar technology for food dryers, lighting, space heating, and water heating; and biogas as some of the technologies which have made an impact on rural livelihoods and gave examples from different parts of the country. Image 12. Mr. Sunil Agarwal sharing DST s experiences on technology transfer The Workshop ended with a discussion on the financial formalities that partners need to comply with for the release of next year s budget. The different forms Utilization Certificate and Statement of Expenditure were explained. A new requirement was registering all grantee institutions for the Central Plan Scheme and Monitoring System (CPSMS) using their new application software available on www.cga.nic.in. At the end of the review meeting, feedback was taken from the participants. Most of the participants liked the review session with experts since it provided the necessary inputs to improve upon their project activities. Though some of the participants also expressed that conservation issue related to different projects should also be given equal importance which was lacking in this review meeting. The participants also mentioned that experts should visit these areas to understand the working conditions which would enable them to
make more appropriate and site specific suggestions. Feedback form is annexed in Annexure III. Most participants found the exposure visit to HESCO useful but they felt that it could have been better organized by providing more details about the technology and giving demonstrations of those technologies on the spot. Most the participants found the session on community based tourism very informative and insightful. They all felt that such an intervention could be brought in their project areas but only with a lot of planning to avoid any adverse impact on both environment and communities. All the participants were very satisfied with the arrangement and organization of this review meeting. Some of them mentioned that the presentation format could be improved with more emphasis given on process and the duration of presentation could be increased. Some of the participants also expressed that more time should be given for interaction with the experts. Animal husbandry; improvement of cattle management; biomass based technologies; energy saving technologies; skill building of NGOs in scientific and social studies like ecological sampling, transect, participatory rural appraisal; business planning, conservation in the light of livelihoods and rights; water conservation; food processing; handicraft from bamboo, lantana; value addition for medicinal plants were some of the topics suggested by partners for trainings in the future. Some of them also mentioned that trainings should also be organized for field level staff and communities. They also expressed that training manuals on different technologies should be provided to them and next meeting should be organized at one of the field sites. Image 13: Group Photographs of the participants
Day 4-7, 15-18 th July 2009 Field Trip The last part of the Annual Review Meet was a four-day field trip to the Nanda Devi Biosphere organised by the Uttarakhand Forest Department. Participants visited Tolma village where a community-based tourism programme has been in place since last 3-4 years. This whole initiative was implemented by the Forest Department. On way to Tolma village, the participants were shown the wool cording plant in Lata village which was started in 2001-02 by the Forest Department for the villagers. This cording plant is being managed by the women s group of Lata village. Image 14. Partners visiting the Wool Cording Station in Lata Village Tolma village is situated around 30 kms from Joshimath. There is a trek of 3 kms from Suraithota village situated at the base of the mountain. The village presents a beautiful view of thick forests, snow laden mountains and meadows. In the evening, a village meeting was organized for the participants to interact with the villagers and get their perspective on community based tourism. Rudra Singh, one of the villagers who provides homestays, spoke about the problems faced when community based tourism was introduced in the village. The villagers also spoke about the benefits that they are getting out of this enterprise. The participants also shared their views on how to make this enterprise more beneficial and organized. Image 15. Homestay facility in Tolma village
Image 16. Tolma village Image 17. Partners interacting with the villagers of Tolma village
The participants also got the chance to meet with Bali Devi who had participated in Chipko Movement under the leadership of Gaura Devi. During this interaction, she spoke about the history of the Chipko Movement, about Gaura Devi and how the community was mobilized to save their forests. All the participants enjoyed this interaction. Image 18. Participants interacting with Bali Devi in Reni village Mallari village could not be visited because of the lack of time. The team therefore, returned to Delhi after reaching Joshimath.
Annexure I: Agenda for Review Meet Date Agenda 12 June, 2009 Partners reach Dehradun 12 June, 12 5 pm Visit to HESCO and Hands on Training on Livelihood related technologies By Dr Anil Joshi and HESCO Team 12 June, 5 pm Departure for Mussoorie 13 June, 2009 Review Workshop 9:30 10:30 am Welcome, WWF-India Introductory Remarks: SEED, DST Project Overview & Status at end of Year1, WWF-India 10:30 10:45 am Tea break 10:45 1:30 pm Presentations by 4 Partner NGOs (incl. follow-up discussions) 1:30 2:30 pm Lunch 2:30 4:00 pm Presentation by 2 Partner NGOs (incl. follow-up discussions) 4:00 4:15 pm Tea break 4:15 6:15 pm Presentation by 3 Partner NGOs (incl. follow-up discussions) 14 June, 2009 9:30 10: 30 am Presentation by 2 Partner NGOs (incl. follow-up discussions) 10:30 10:45 am Tea Break 10:45 11:30 am Presentation by 2 Partner NGOs (incl. follow-up discussions) 11:30 12:30 pm Concluding session and Recommendations 12:30 1:30 pm Lunch Break 1: 30 4:30 pm Community based Tourism: Its potential in relation to Conservation and Livelihood & case studies Mr Samir Sinha, IFS, Director Traffic India Ms Ishita Khanna, Director, MUSE Mr Rajiv Bhartari, IFS, Addl Secretary Tourism, Uttarakhand Mr Sunil Agarwal, DST 4:30 5:00 pm Tea Break 5:00 6:00 pm Financial reporting formats, Mr Rajinder Singh, DST 15 19th June, Visit to Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve 2009 15 June Travel from Mussoorie to Joshimath; night stay in Joshimath 16 June Joshimath to Tolma village; night stay in Tolma 17 June Tolma to Mallari village and Return to Joshimath; night stay in Joshimath 18 June Joshimath to Haridwar 18th night or 19 th Departure from Haridwar for respective destinations morning
Annexure II: List of Participants of DST First Review Meeting: 13-14 th June, 2009, Mussoorie Organisation Participants Phone No. Email Id MUSE Ishita Khanna (PI) 9418207750, 9899492417 RRDRO Niharika Singh (PI) 9811535359 Rural Communes Shramjivi Unnayan Vasundhara Vaishali Gawandi (Co-PI) 9423891401 muse_india@yahoo.co.in niharikasingh2@gmail.co m rcmpcc@gmail.com, vellerina@yahoo.com Pranab Choudhary (PI) 9431758311 pranabpiu@gmail.com, pranab09@rediffmail.co m Y. Giri Rao (PI) 9437110915 ygiri.rao@gmail.com Prafulla Mishra (Co-PI) 9437018804 - AERF PRAYAS CARD CDC SAKTI Darjeeling Earth Group CCD WWF India Avadhoot Velankar 9920032482 avadhoot.velankar@gmai l.com Archana Godbole (PI) 9890927727 aerf@hathway.com Jawahar S. Dagur (Co-PI) 9414396879 jawaharsd@gmail.com, jawaharsd@yahoo.com S. L. Bapana (PI) - - Sundar Narayan Patro (PI) 9437190420 snpatro11@rediffmail.co m Manju Prava Dhal (Co-PI) 9437115139 card_13@hotmail.com Ameen Charles (PI) 9893460426, 9425822228 cdcindia@rediffmail.com Mamta Bais 9424747896 cdcindia@rediffmail.com P. Sivaramakrishna (PI) 9441427977 saktisrk@yahoo.com P. Sarada Devi (Co-PI) 9441506948 saktisrk@yahoo.com M.S. Rai (PI) 9434177042 Utkarsh Ghate (PI) 9422059469, 9424102440 B. A. Stephen 9443314315 - darjeelingearthgroup@ho tmail.com ccdnorth@gmail.com Sejal Worah 011-41504804 sworah@wwfindia.net Vishaish Uppal 011-41504779 vuppal@wwfindia.net
Sangeeta Agarwal 011-43516265 sagarwal@wwfindia.net DST Experts Priya Gupta 011-43516265 pgupta@wwfindia.net Mr. Sunil Agarwal 9871540570 sunilag@nic.in, skagr99@gmail.com Mr. Rajinder Singh - rajinde.s@gmail.com Dr. Anil P. Joshi 9411109073, 0135-2102396 dranilpjoshi@gmail.com Prof. Prodyut Bhattacharya 9303136488 prodyut@iifm.ac.in Dr (Mrs) Prafulla Soni Dr. Ramesh Rawal 0135-2752674(O), 2773736(R), 9897278203 9811193887, 011-28741031 sonip@icfre.org rawal.ramesh@gmail.co m
Annexure III: Feedback Form 1. Please provide comments on the following sessions (time, relevance, topics,etc) Exposure visit to HESCO Comments: Review session with experts Comments: Community based tourism Comments: 2. Please mention suggestions for meetings in the future. 3. Suggestions for trainings you would like in the next year and half.