Sustainable poverty alleviation through a forestry project in Tamilnadu State of India

Basic information

• Case ID: INT-113-1
• Intervention type: Combination
• Intervention description:

  combination of restoration and management Tamilnadu Forestry Project: degraded forest micro- watersheds, together with abutting hamlets, or habitation or revenue villages are selected. The forest area is divided into three zones – Lower or Utility zone, Middle or Asset creation zone and Upper or Eco-restoration zone. Normally, the area for all three zones is 250 ha, in which the zone-wise gap planting is taken up...In the forest area of around 250 ha of each micro- watershed, 77 000 saplings are planted, with delib- erate emphasis on non-timber forest products (NTFPs). The species used include Azadirachta indica, Phyllanthus emblica, Syzizium cumini, Tamarin- dus indica, Bassia latifolia, Terminalia bellerica. In addition, 25 000 saplings are distributed to the villages for growing on their own lands....The VFC members are given the right to collect NTFPs and a share in the final harvest.

• Landscape/sea scape ecosystem management: Yes

• Climate change impacts	Effect of Nbs on CCI	Effect measures
  Loss of other ecosystem goods	Positive	anectodal report on NFTP supply, author/implementor's own observations? No social assessment methodology reported

• Approach implemented in the field: Yes
• Specific location:

  Tamilnadu state

• Country: India
• Habitat/Biome type: Tropical and subtropical forests |
• Issue specific term: Not applicable
  

Evidence

• Notes on intervention effectivness: effectiveness determined by qualitative assessment (anecdotal evidence) "Even last year, when the rainfall in the state was the lowest in a century, Neem tree seed collection proved to be a good source of income for the poorest of the poor."
• Is the assessment original?: Yes
• Broadtype of intervention considered: Not applicable
• Compare effectivness?: No
• Compared to the non-NBS approach: Not applicable
• Report greenhouse gas mitigation?: No
• Impacts on GHG: Not applicable
• Assess outcomes of the intervention on natural ecosystems: No
• Impacts for the ecosystem: Not reported
• Ecosystem measures:
• Assess outcomes of the intervention on people: Yes
• Impacts for people: Positive
• People measures: Anecdotal evidence that the project addressed the three pillars of poverty: opportunity, empowerment and security e.g. "Women’s empowerment is given due emphasis and one third of the Executive Committee posts are necessarily held by women. In each village, one or two women’s self-help groups are formed and are encouraged to undertake economic activities individually or jointly using credit from the buffer zone fund." e.g. "A visit to the forest villages is enough to gauge the palpable improvement in dwellings and living standards of the majority of families" e.g. "Restocked forests provide households with a means for diversifying their subsistence and income- generating activities, optimising their labour resources during different seasons"
• Considers economic costs: Yes
• Economic appraisal conducted: No
• Economic appraisal described:
• Economic costs of alternative considered: No
• Compared to an alternative: Not reported

Evaluation methodology

• Type of data: Qualitative
• Is it experimental: No
• Experimental evalution done: Not applicable
• Non-experimental evalution done: Empirical case study
• Study is systematic: