United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Transcription

1 United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Performance Review and Assessment of Implementation System 4th Reporting and Review Cycle Report for Gram Bharati Samiti

2 Table of Contents Collaborative reports by accredited Civil Society Organizations Best Practices Best Practice #1 Best Practice #2 Submission Form General Information Section GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE REPORTING ENTITY Reporting country * Gram Bharati Samiti Name and surname of the person submitting the report * Bhawani Shanker Kusum Affiliation and contact details * gbsbsk@sancharnet.in

3 Collaborative reports by accredited Civil Society Organizations Collaborative reports by accredited Civil Society Organizations Are you submitting a report on Best Practices that was prepared in collaboration with different accredited organizations? Specify the name of the organization(s) If yes, please provide the full names and acronym of the organizations on whose behalf the present report is submitted. Kindly ensure that any duplication will be avoided: only one organization should submit a collaborative report on behalf of all the other organizations. Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS) means Society for Rural Development as an NGO registered under charity has been engaged in various rural development programmes for last 26 years in the Rajasthan state of India. As one of the founder NGOs of RIOD India GBS has been involved in the implementation of UN CCD in since its inception in India. GBS after organizing a national conference on Role of NGOs in the implementation of UN CCD on April 9-11, 2009 in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan established the chapters of RIOD in 6 districts of Rajasthan. GBS as lead organization raised awareness extensively on various aspects of UN CCD by organizing workshops of CSOs including NGOs and other key stakeholders and engaging experts and environmentalists, leaders of village communities, women and youth volunteers of the area. GBS involved number of NGOs practically in the implementation of programmes and activities related to land degradation and desertification. Such nucleuses were created at 4 places in Rajasthan and 3 in other states of India, which disseminated a very strong message on the CCD. Two training workshops were organized, first on October 23-24, 2009 and second on February 5-6, 2010 to provide the representatives of NGOs/CBOs engaged/interested to be engaged in the implementation of the CCD with adequate knowledge on its aims and objectives, programmes and activities, expected benefits to be accrued for the community people at grassroots level and role of NGOs etc. Seventy six representatives of NGOs/CBOs, leaders of village communities, women members of SHG (Self Help Groups) and youth volunteers participated in these workshops. GBS itself initiated work for developing a model kind of project on land management through implementing number of activities i.e. soil and moisture conservation, plugging the gullies and ravines, harvesting the rain water, planting trees, stabilizing sand dunes, regenerating indigenous plant species etc. and raising awareness among the local village communities, particularly the women and youth.

4 Best Practices C. Best practices According to decision 13/COP. 9, Annex V, UNCCD best practices shall be collected according to seven themes: 1. Sustainable land management (SLM) technologies, including adaptation; 2. Capacity building and awareness raising; 3. Desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) and SLM monitoring and assessment/research; 4. Knowledge management and decision support; 5. Policy, legislative, institutional framework; 6. Funding/resource mobilization; 7. Participation, collaboration and networking. While themes 2 to 7 represent different elements of the enabling environment needed for the implementation and dissemination/upscaling of sustainable land management (SLM) technologies (indirect impact), theme 1 comprises all actions on the ground that have a direct impact on desertification, land degradation and drought mitigation. In particular, as specified in document ICCD/CRIC(8)/5/Add.5, paragraph 12, theme 1 SLM technologies, including adaptation refers to SLM technologies that directly contribute to the prevention, mitigation and rehabilitation of desertification and land degradation on cropland, grazing land and woodland, with the aim of improving the livelihoods of affected populations and conserving ecosystem services. Successful implementation of SLM technologies is the base for achieving strategic objectives 1, 2 and 3 of The Strategy. Theme 1 also integrates five of the strategic areas defined by decision 8/COP.4, namely: (a) sustainable land use management, including water, soil and vegetation in affected areas; (b) sustainable use and management of rangelands; (c) development of sustainable agricultural and ranching production systems; (d) development of new and renewable energy sources; and (e) launching of reforestation/afforestation programmes/ intensification of soil conservation programmes. ICCD/CRIC(8)/5/Add.5 provides definitions for practice, good practice and best practice. These definitions are included in the common glossary that shall be referred to by Parties and other reporting entities while reporting to UNCCD, according to decision 13/COP.9, paragraph 8. The template for reporting is based on the general structure for the documentation of best practices contained in ICCD/CRIC(8) /5/Add.5, paragraphs 40 to 43; it is tailored to the documentation of best practices related to theme 1 SLM technologies, including adaptation. Best Practice #1 Property rights Clarify if the technology described in the template, or a part of it, is covered by property rights: If yes, please provide relevant information on the holder of the rights. (max 100 words) GBS implemented a project wasteland development in district Jaipur in the Rajasthan state of India. The activities carried out under the project included soil and moisture conservation, plugging the gullies and ravines, harvesting the rain water, planting trees, stabilizing sand dunes, regenerating the indigenous plant species etc. in collaboration with the women members of SHG and youth volunteers of the area. The problems of fuel, fodder and potable water of 2,000 poor people of backward castes of neighboring 10 villages were solved through the project. The UNDP recognized the project as one of the success stories of wastelands development. Section 1. Context of the best practice: frame conditions (natural and human environment) Title of the best practice Wastelands development Location (if available, also include a map) Gandhivan in district Jaipour in the Rajasthan state of India

5 Attachments: none If the location has well defined boundaries, specify its extension in hectares Hectares (ha) 50 Estimated population living in the location Number of people Prevailing land use within the specified location Unproductive land Other (specify) (max 30 words) Barren, infertile, gullied sandy wasteland Brief description of the natural environment within the specified location Climate: There were sand dunes only in the far away areas and not a single green leaf could be seen around. The project land was completely undulated with sand dunes, ravines and deep gullies. There was no vegetation cover over the neighboring hills. Soil: Partly sandy and partly loamy Topography: The area is on the foothills of the Aravalli ranges where there had been a thick forest a few decades ago, which has been completely denuded during last couple of decades in want of fuel wood and the hills have completely been deforested. Prevailing socio-economic conditions of those living in the location and/or nearby Income level: The resourceless poor people of backward castes and classes are residing in the neighboring villages, who solely depend on the forests for fuel wood to coock food and no other alternative is availlable. Main income sources: As most of the community people are marginal farmers or land less labourers, their main source of income is cattle rearing and working on the frams of big farmers. Therefore, many of them migrate to big cities in search of jobs when there is no farming season. Land tenure and land use rights: Most of the people have very small land hordings and many are landless labourer. Though they have ownership over these small pieces of land, but sinse they don't have any source of irrigation, they can't get good crops and only depend on the monsoon, which is very uncertain and scattered in the area. Short description of the best practice GBS in consultation of the local village communities conceptualised a plan of project for developing the wasteland near village Todaladi (later named as Gandhivan) in order to address the key problems of the people. The community people were agreed upon the proposal and assured of all kinds of their support for successfull implementation of the project. Then a Project Implementation and Monitoring Committee (PIMC)was formed involving all the key stakeholders, particularly the women and youth volunteers. The activities carried out under the project included soil and moisture conservation, plugging the gullies and

6 ravines, harvesting the rain water, planting trees, stabilizing sand dunes, regenerating the indigenous plant species etc. 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? max 100 words As the project mentiioned here solved successfully the problem of fuel, fodder and potable water of the people of the neighboring 10 villages through developing the 'wasteland', which was generally known as barren, infertile and quite useless. Further, it strengthened the biodiversity of the area by conserving the flora and fauna and changed the ecological scenerio. The 'waste' land of a time has been transformed into the 'best'land of today with a thick forest of over one hudred thousand plants of various species. Section 2. Problems addressed (direct and indirect causes) and objectives of the best practice With respect to DLDD, the best practice directly contributes to: Adaptation Main problems addressed by the best practice Outline specific land degradation problems addressed by the best practice max 100 words As the rain water flowing from the neighboring hills was eroding the soil of the flanking area, GBS built 2 check dams to harvest it and plugged over 30 deep gullies by erecting bunds and mulching them with grasses and bushes. It not only checked the soil erosion and land degradation, but conserved sufficient water and moisture, which helped in nurturing more and more trees as garner of good quality fodder and enough fuel wood for the community people. Specify the objectives of the best practice The main objective of said best practice was to solve the problem of fuel, fodder and potable water of the poor people of backward catses and classes of 10 villages of the area. Section 3. Activities Brief description of main activities, by objective Objective 1 Plated 80,000 trees of various spoecies in consultation with the local community people Objective 2 Stabilized 26 sand dunes through plnting trees on furrows, contours, bench terraces etc. Objective 3 Plugged 30 deep gullies with erecting bunds and mulching them with grasses and bushes etc. to check the soil erosion and land degradation.

7 Objective 4 Hravested the rain water by building 2 check dams on the foot hills to conserve the water flowing from te hills. Short description of the technology It was decided under the best practioce of the project that no chemical fertilizers and pesticides will be used and it was follwed throughout the implementation of the project. Rather organic manure and herbal pesticides were used. The species of the plants were selected on the basis of their adaptabilities. The tools and implements were used locally made and availlable. The techniques for raising saplings in the nursery, planting trees, building check dams, plugging gullies and satbilizing sand dunes etc. were planned and used in consultation with the community leaders which were based on the indigenous technology and past practices of the villages Technical specifications of the technology if any Locally availlable bulding materials i.e. stones, plant species i.e. grasses and bushes, locally availlable tools and equipments etc. were used in the project. Section 4. Institutions/actors involved (collaboration, participation, role of stakeholders) Name and address of the institution developing the technology Name Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS) Address Amber Bhawan, Amber Jaipur India Was the technology developed in partnership? No If yes, list the partners: Specify the framework within which the technology was promoted Programme/project-based initiative Other (specify) (max 30 words) None Was the participation of local stakeholders, including CSOs, fostered in the development of the technology If yes, list local stakeholders involved: Local NGOs, community leaders, women members of SHG and youth volunteers For the stakeholders listed above, specify their role in the design, introduction, use and maintenance of the technology, if any.

8 The stakeholders discussed the design, use, repair and maintenance of the technology in the monthly meetings of the PIMC and solve the problem while testing in the field Was the population living in the location and/or nearby involved in the development of the technology? If yes, by means of what? Consultation Participatory approaches Other (specify) (max 30 words) None Section 5. Contribution to impact Specify to which strategic objectives of The Strategy the technology contributes (more than one box can be ticked) 1. To improve the living conditions of affected population 2. To improve the conditions of affected ecosystems Describe on-site impacts (the major two impacts by category) Production or productivity: 1. Production of the check dams, tree species planted, gullies plugged and sand dunes stbilized was more than expected benefits 2. Rain water harvested and soil erosion and land degradation checked has brought out tremendous results. Socio-economic level (including cultural level): 1. Over 2,000 households of villages of the area need not to spend money and labour on buying fuel and fodder. 2. The money being spent in fetching water from far away wells for their cattle could be saved. Environmental level: 1. The area of barren sand dunes of a time has been transformed into a thick forest today, biodiversity strengthened and flora and fauna conserved. 2. The over all ecology of the area has been enriched Other (specify): 1. None 2. None Describe the major two off-site (i.e. not occurring in the location but in the surrounding areas) impacts 1.

9 The practice of cattle rearing has increased, which was stopped during last couple of years 2. Migration of the youth of the area has been checked. Impact on biodiversity and climate change In your opinion does the best practice/technology you have proposed positively impact on biodiversity conservation? Explain the reasons: The project has increased in the generation of the wild animals and birds and number of plant species of medicinal and other values. The extensive vegetation cover over the sand dunes and flanking area has changed the scenerio. In your opinion does the best practice/technology you have proposed positively impact on climate change mitigation? Explain the reasons: The level of underground water has increased by 2 to 5 meters in the area and carbon emmission has decreased extensively (though it has yet to be measured). In your opinion does the best practice/technology you have proposed positively impact on climate change adaptation? Explain the reasons: More and more community people in the rural areas have been inspired to plant trees and harvest the rain water. Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out? If yes, summarize its main conclusions: Cost to be incurred on fuel and fodder of the village communities could be saved widely Section 6. Connection to other UNCCD themes Specify if the technology relates to one or more of the other UNCCD themes Capacity-building and awareness-raising DLDD and SLM monitoring and assessment/research Knowledge management and decision support Participation, collaboration and networking Section 7. Adoption and replicability Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations?

10 If yes, where? (add as many rows as necessary) Location: Were incentives to facilitate the take up of the technology provided? If yes, specify which type of incentives Can you identify the three main conditions that led to the success of the presented best practice/technology? Examples of conditions leading to success may include: highly motivated local governments, farmers organized into well structured cooperatives, extremely favorable weather conditions, etc. For each condition of success you are able to identify, specify whether in your opinion such condition is: (a) linked to the local context and thus cannot be replicated elsewhere; (b) replicable elsewhere with some level of adaptation; (c) replicable elsewhere with major adaptation. 1. It motivated the local farmers and volunteers to adopt the activities of the project into their own fields, particularly the tree plantation, practice of gully plugging for checking soil erosion and land degradation. 2. It can be replicated any where else with some changes due to the land and weather conditions etc. 3. The federal and state Government and many private institutions in India and other countries including a delegation of SAARC countries, that visited the best practice, have appreciated the project and conferred GBS with many awards. In your opinion, the best practice/technology you have proposed can be replicated, although with some level of adaptation, elsewhere? If yes, at which level? Local Sub-national National Section 8. Lessons learned Related to human resources The women members of SHG and youth volunteers have got adequate training to implement the project activities Related to financial aspects The cost of fuel and fodder can be saved to a good extent through these activities Related to technical aspects It has proved that 'Small is always beautiful'. Indigenous technology is really cost effective and useful.

11 Best Practice #2 Property rights Clarify if the technology described in the template, or a part of it, is covered by property rights: No If yes, please provide relevant information on the holder of the rights. (max 100 words) Section 1. Context of the best practice: frame conditions (natural and human environment) Title of the best practice Location (if available, also include a map) Attachments: none If the location has well defined boundaries, specify its extension in hectares Hectares (ha) Estimated population living in the location Number of people Prevailing land use within the specified location Other (specify) (max 30 words) Brief description of the natural environment within the specified location Climate: Soil: Topography:

12 Prevailing socio-economic conditions of those living in the location and/or nearby Income level: Main income sources: Land tenure and land use rights: Short description of the best practice 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? max 100 words Section 2. Problems addressed (direct and indirect causes) and objectives of the best practice With respect to DLDD, the best practice directly contributes to: Main problems addressed by the best practice Outline specific land degradation problems addressed by the best practice max 100 words Specify the objectives of the best practice Section 3. Activities Brief description of main activities, by objective Objective 1 Objective 2

13 Objective 3 Objective 4 Short description of the technology Technical specifications of the technology if any Section 4. Institutions/actors involved (collaboration, participation, role of stakeholders) Name and address of the institution developing the technology Name Address Was the technology developed in partnership? If yes, list the partners: Specify the framework within which the technology was promoted Other (specify) (max 30 words) Was the participation of local stakeholders, including CSOs, fostered in the development of the technology If yes, list local stakeholders involved: For the stakeholders listed above, specify their role in the design, introduction, use and maintenance of the

14 technology, if any. Was the population living in the location and/or nearby involved in the development of the technology? If yes, by means of what? Other (specify) (max 30 words) Section 5. Contribution to impact Specify to which strategic objectives of The Strategy the technology contributes (more than one box can be ticked) Describe on-site impacts (the major two impacts by category) Production or productivity: Socio-economic level (including cultural level): Environmental level: Other (specify): Describe the major two off-site (i.e. not occurring in the location but in the surrounding areas) impacts 1.

15 2. Impact on biodiversity and climate change In your opinion does the best practice/technology you have proposed positively impact on biodiversity conservation? Explain the reasons: In your opinion does the best practice/technology you have proposed positively impact on climate change mitigation? Explain the reasons: In your opinion does the best practice/technology you have proposed positively impact on climate change adaptation? Explain the reasons: Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out? If yes, summarize its main conclusions: Section 6. Connection to other UNCCD themes Specify if the technology relates to one or more of the other UNCCD themes Section 7. Adoption and replicability Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations? If yes, where? (add as many rows as necessary) Location:

16 Were incentives to facilitate the take up of the technology provided? If yes, specify which type of incentives Can you identify the three main conditions that led to the success of the presented best practice/technology? Examples of conditions leading to success may include: highly motivated local governments, farmers organized into well structured cooperatives, extremely favorable weather conditions, etc. For each condition of success you are able to identify, specify whether in your opinion such condition is: (a) linked to the local context and thus cannot be replicated elsewhere; (b) replicable elsewhere with some level of adaptation; (c) replicable elsewhere with major adaptation In your opinion, the best practice/technology you have proposed can be replicated, although with some level of adaptation, elsewhere? If yes, at which level? Section 8. Lessons learned Related to human resources Related to financial aspects Related to technical aspects

17 Submission Form Submission Form Name of the Reporting Officer * Bhawani Shanker Kusum Date of Submission * 11/29/2010 6:34:11 AM Signature Name of the Authorizing Officer Harsh Wardhan Agarwal Date of Authorization 03/11/2010 Signature 2010 PRAIS