Trees for Villagers

Project Purpose
Trees for Rural Communities 

Location
Plantation of local tree species on the community lands of 36 villages across Bagepalli and Sidlaghatta blocks in Chikkaballapur District and Srinivasapura block in Kolar District, near the town of Chintamani in Karnataka, India.

Aim

• To create sustainable livelihood opportunities for the local communities through the plantation process
• To provide income to the local women through the production of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)
• To plant mixed species to replenish nutrients in the soil, lost due to monoculture cultivation in recent times
• To provide the cattle with fodder and sequestrate carbon to reverse the effects of climate change, once the trees are mature
• To nurture the ecosystem of wildlife species like the yellow-throated bulbul, starred tortoise, red sand boa and Kolar leaf-nosed bat that are prominent in and around the region

Why trees?
S. Suryaprakash from the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Agricultural Sciences, on behalf of the Karnataka State Forest Department, prepared a report citing the importance of NTFPs (Non-Timber Forest Produce) to the tribal communities and the tribal economy. The working paper published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für highlights the effect of climate change that adversely affects the lives of rural women. Alister Doyle in his article ‘Plant more trees to combat climate change: scientists’, speaks about the role of trees in combating climate change, by offsetting carbon and releasing oxygen. The roots hold topsoil and prevent erosion of the precious topsoil, which has taken millions of years to form. Serena Josephine. M. in her article The Hindu (October 20, 2008) mentions how community participation improved the results of soil conservation methods and prevented floods, thus, helping the community in the long run.  

Tree Species
The tree species planted here include bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus), Nayi Nerale (Syzygium cumini), Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Golden Flower (Cassia Fistula), Black Siris (Albizzia odoratissima), Indigo (Wrightia tinctorial), Kassod (Cassia siamea), Anjan (Hardwickia binata), Tamarind (Tamarindus indica), and Cluster fig (Ficus recemosa), and Karanj (Pongamia pinnata).

Social Impact
The project has so far provided over 35,000 workdays of jobs to the rural community. The upkeep of the saplings and later collection of forest products is a sustainable source of income for the rural population. The trees, when mature, will provide food and fodder to the cattle, thus, preventing them from venturing inside the forest. Due to improvement in the vegetative coverage, soil erosion is also being reduced. Due to improved water levels, the drinking water sources and agriculture in the nearby areas have seen improvement. The trees planted play an important part in absorbing the carbon and help in regulating the climate. 
The non-timber forest resources have increased both in terms of quality as well as quantity and communities are procuring them for personal consumption and the surplus is used for selling in local markets. The leaves of Butea for crafting leaf plates, grass for making broomsticks, berries, etc. provide commercial opportunities and small-scale forest-based industry, thus, providing a steady income source to the forest dwellers.

Adoption Status