Rohan Mukerjee
Between the 26th and 28th of November 2021 a team from representing the Using Diversity Project visited Bastar and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh for an exposure visit and nursery management training program organized by LEAF Bastar.
Promoting and supporting community led conservation, rejuvenation and regeneration of wild and uncultivated food trees and plants is one of the key objectives of the Using Diversity project. In this regard Using Diversity Network partners and community fellows in the different project areas across the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have been facilitating the planting of various uncultivated food trees and plants to promote regeneration of forests with a focus on wild and uncultivated food. The strategies employed for this comprised of purchasing saplings from local nurseries and the collection and planting of seeds of different uncultivated food species. However, both these strategies have had their limitations. The number of species available in local nurseries is limited and very few uncultivated food species are available with them. The survival of these saplings varies based on the care taken in rearing them by the respective nurseries and the partners and fellows don’t have control over this vital initial stage in the life of the saplings being planted. The collection and planting of seeds allow for the planting of a greater diversity of uncultivated food plant species but the success of this method has been mixed. In order to ensure greater success of planting efforts it was felt that the initiative would benefit from the establishment of cost-effective community run nurseries. Before commencing the establishment of nurseries, the Using Diversity Network team in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh felt that they like to receive training in nursery management and forest restoration strategies. This was the motivation behind planning a visit to Jagdalpur and Bastar where LEAF has been working local communities for almost 2 decades to promote protection, conservation and regeneration of forests. LEAF has a wealth of grassroot experience in setting up and managing nurseries of native forest species and facilitating and supporting planting and restoration initiatives by local communities across the Bastar region.
The Using Diversity team comprised of 15 members which included Naresh Biswas of Nirman and Lileshwar from PRERAK, fellows from Baiga project areas in Dindori and Anupur Districts of MP, the Bhariya project area in Patalkot, Chhindwara District, MP, Pahari Korwa project areas in Jashpur and Raigarh Districts of Chhattisgarh, Birhor project area in Korba District of Chhattisgarh and the Kamar project area in Gariyaband District of Chhattisgarh. We arrived in Jagdalpur on the evening of 26th November where we were met by Manguram Kashyap from LEAF who was responsible for coordinating our entire visit. After an early breakfast at Jagdalpur on the 27th of November we made our way to Sandh Karmari village in Bastar District, which is also Manguram’s village. We were received by Damodar Kashyap who has been at the forefront of conservation efforts in the area for several decades. Damodar Dada used to be Sarpanch and is currently the Patel of Sandh Karmari. He has successfully mobilized him community to protect, safeguard and restore the forests of his area despite facing several challenges and obstacles from neighbouring villages and the Forest Department.
Damodar Dada, Manguram and other villagers took our team to three different sites where they have been engaged in different types of conservation work. We first visited the Mauli Koth forest which is a sacred place and is home to the Kanda Mauli Devi temple. Damodar Dada shared that this 100 acre forest area is home to their village deity Kanda Mauli Devi. The old wooden temple in the heart of the forest has now been replaced by a concrete temple whose construction was supported by Damodar Dada. Damodar Dada shared how this forest area was under threat due to encroachment by villagers for agriculture. He then explained to them the importance of this sacred forest and encouraged them to give up their lands as an offering to Kanda Mauli Devi. They agreed and currently the entire village which comprises of 12 Para / hamlets works together to protect and safeguard this Sacred Forest. In addition to several species of native trees and plants this forest area also has many medicinal plants and Damodar Dada shared that the community allows traditional healers to collect these plants as per their needs.
Our next stop was a 10 acre forest patch know as “Nursery”. This plot of land belongs to Damodar Dada and he donated it to the community in order to facilitate regeneration of native tree and plant species. When they first commenced their restoration efforts 10 to 12 years ago the land was completely barren. With support from LEAF and other well wishers like Madhu Ramnath and Snehlata Nath they sourced and planted saplings from 3 of LEAF’s nurseries including the nursery at Karmari. They planted a variety of local trees species like Aam / Mango, Imli / Tamarind, Mahua, Koilari and Karanj. He is happy that today the area boasts a healthy young forest with a diverse variety of species which are now flowering and fruiting. He pointed out that his dream was that the younger generation would get to see and reap the benefits of a forest of natural species. He also shared that he and the community as a whole had decided that there would be no individual encroachment in the area and the “Nursery” would be a common property resource for the entire village.
The youth of the village are actively involved in protecting and monitoring the forest and we got to meet a number of them. The young men who accompanied us as we explored the forest included Banu Baghel, Gangadhar Kashyap, Kumar Baghel and Gulshan Kumar Nag. They were very proud of this restored forest patch and enthusiastically showed us a variety of different plants and trees and shared their uses and benefits.
We then had lunch in Karmari which comprised locally sourced rice, horse gram dal and vegetables served in Dona / leaf bowls made by village women. Arjun Nag the Chief Functionary of LEAF joined us after lunch and accompanied us the famous Thenga Palli forest which the villagers of Karmari have been protecting for several decades. This is a 300 acre Sal forest around 2 Km from Sandh Karmari. Damodar Dada shared that the villagers used to protect this forest area in the past but when he left the village for his studies the entire forest was felled for timber by the Forest Department. When he returned to Karmari he found that the villagers were extremely angry that their efforts to protect the forest had come to nought and they wished to uproot the remaining trees stumps to vent their frustration. Damodar Dada succeeded in discouraging them from doing this and motivating them to come together to carry out strict protection of the area. They launched a system known as Thenga Palli whereby one village household would be responsible for patrolling the forest for one day after which they would put the Thenga, a wooden pole that they viewed as a symbol of their Devi / Goddess in front of the house of another family who would then take over the responsibility of patrolling the forest. These efforts bore fruit and we got to see a dense Sal Forest with many large trees. The villagers shared that they don’t even allow the collection of firewood and fines for violations of rules is Rs. 500. Ramwati, one of the women who accompanied us shared that village women are not actively involved in Thenga Palli patrolling. However, two villagers who accompanied me back from the forest shared that despite not being involved in formal patrolling the women keep a strict watch when visiting the forest for NTFP collection and they are stricter than men when it comes to enforcing rules for violators.
Arjun Nag shared that these conservation efforts have not been without their challenges and the villagers continue to face severe conflict from neighbouring villages and the Forest Department. In this context LEAF has been supporting the community in dealing with legal issues and helps them to take necessary legal recourse and coordinate with concerned departments and official to ensure that their rights and the forest resources are safeguarded.
On our way back from the Thenga Palli forest we made a brief visit to the LEAF nursery in Karmari. The caretaker of the Karmari village Suleshwar Baghel gave us a tour of the nursery and provided us with a brief overview. Suleshwar is from Karmari and this is along the lines of LEAF’s efforts to engage local people in their nurseries. Suleshwar also shared that they engage local women’s group in various tasks in the nursery like filling polybags and they get remunerated for this. So, in addition to benefiting from the planting of saplings from the nursery in their areas the villagers also receive employment in the nursery.
On 28th morning the villagers of Karmari put on a display of wild and cultivated tubers. While 2 tubers were made consumed as vegetable preparations 4 were boiled or roasted. After this our team returned to the Karmari nursery where Suleshwar and Mangruram conducted a detailed session on nursery management. Suleshwar shared that the nursery had a capacity of 40,000 saplings and while currently the nursery was not at full capacity there were still saplings of 27 different local tree species. Suleshwar helped the participants prepare a list of all 27 species providing them with details of each species pertaining to rearing their saplings. He then provided a detailed demonstration of preparing the mix for polybags using mud and manure and how to fill the polybag and insert the seed. He and Mangruram patiently answered all the participants queries also providing invaluable advice on how they can adapt the lessons from here to the specific characteristics of their regions.
After lunch we had a session chaired by Naresh Biswas with inputs from Damodar Dada on planning the establishment of nurseries and promotion of community-based conservation efforts in our project areas. The fellows all prepared a tentative list of species which they would focus on in their respective nurseries and these lists would be finalised based on community consultations after they returned. Damodar Dada shared that he was very happy that our team had visited his area, and he was sure that the participants would succeed in promoting similar interventions and initiatives in their areas and he wished them well in their efforts. On behalf of the entire team Hiralal and Lileshwar thanked Damodar Dada and all the villagers of Karmari, Mangruram and the entire LEAF team for the warmth with which them welcomed us and shared their wealth of knowledge and experience in conserving, protecting and restoring forests in their area. Hiralal shared that he was very inspired by the efforts of Damodar Dada to conserve large areas of forests against all odds, and he will share this with the Baiga community he works with in Dindori district, and he aims to inspire them to carry out similar efforts to conserve and protect their forests and natural resources. He will also build on the nursery management knowledge he acquired here to set up a nursery in Dindori with a focus on wild and uncultivated food plants and some NTFPs.
Our visit concluded with a visit to LEAF’s largest and first nursery at Kangoli under Jagdalpur town. Arjun Nag met us their and shared LEAF’s experience with establishing nurseries and facilitating planting and restoration of native forests in the Bastar region. Kangoli nursery was established in 2008 and has a capacity of 1 Lakh saplings. LEAF has set up a total of 5 nurseries in the Bastar region and the prime focus is to make saplings of native species available to Gram Panchayats across the region. In addition to this they also sell saplings to organisations and individuals which include the Forest Department. They shared that they supply saplings to different states like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Arjun Nag also shared that the local communities have a wealth of traditional ecological knowledge with regards to their natural resources, forests and the environment. LEAF aims to support them in facing modern challenges and ensuring their ecological knowledge and resources are preserved and passed on to the next generation.
This exposure visit was a tremendous learning experience for the entire team, and we are sure that it will help the fellows and partners in achieving their objectives of establishing nurseries and working alongside their communities to promote conservation and regeneration of forests.
