Final evaluation of National Social Forestry project
KEYWORD: Community-based Natural Forest Management, Asia. Asia, India, farm forestry, income generation, afforestation, deforestation, degraded lands, reforestation, soil conservation, extension, institutional strengthening, policy, research, training, community participation, education, social forestry, evaluation. SUMMARY: This project was intended to provide poor rural people with goods and services from trees, employment in nurseries, and tree planting ventures in the Indian states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It was also intended that activities would combat deforestation and environmental degradation, specifically erosion. This review served as a final evaluation of the portion of the project in which USAID was involved, and as a midterm evaluation for use by the World Bank, which planned to continue project assistance. Activities included institutional strengthening and tree planting programs. Institutional strengthening included organizational, policy, research, technical assistance, training, planning and monitoring. Private farm forestry, public forestry and experimental programs were included in the tree planting initiatives. Experimental programs consisted of providing seedlings and tree tenure to poor and landless farmers. Institutional capacity increased as a result of project activities. The tree planting programs succeeded in establishment of nurseries and dispersal of seedlings, and appropriate methods of pricing were beginning to be clear. Overall, good foundations were laid in these areas. Experimental tree tenure programs failed due to the limitations of the target population: the poorest people only had access to marginal lands, where their planted trees had low survival rates. Assessments of each state's progress in the project areas are given in detail. The following recommendations are given: Establish separate line of command for social forestry in certain states; Reduce restrictions on private forestry; Develop seedling pricing policy; Educate people in yield improvement, soil preparation, and nursery techniques; Increase prevalence of environmental objectives while incorporating perspectives of foresters and social scientists; Increase research participation and extension; Improve planning in training activities; Update hardware/ software and increase training; Increase credit support.
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Final evaluation of National Social Forestry project
KEYWORD: Community-based Natural Forest Management, Asia. Asia, India, farm forestry, income generation, afforestation, deforestation, degraded lands, reforestation, soil conservation, extension, institutional strengthening, policy, research, training, community participation, education, social forestry, evaluation. SUMMARY: This project was intended to provide poor rural people with goods and services from trees, employment in nurseries, and tree planting ventures in the Indian states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It was also intended that activities would combat deforestation and environmental degradation, specifically erosion. This review served as a final evaluation of the portion of the project in which USAID was involved, and as a midterm evaluation for use by the World Bank, which planned to continue project assistance. Activities included institutional strengthening and tree planting programs. Institutional strengthening included organizational, policy, research, technical assistance, training, planning and monitoring. Private farm forestry, public forestry and experimental programs were included in the tree planting initiatives. Experimental programs consisted of providing seedlings and tree tenure to poor and landless farmers. Institutional capacity increased as a result of project activities. The tree planting programs succeeded in establishment of nurseries and dispersal of seedlings, and appropriate methods of pricing were beginning to be clear. Overall, good foundations were laid in these areas. Experimental tree tenure programs failed due to the limitations of the target population: the poorest people only had access to marginal lands, where their planted trees had low survival rates. Assessments of each state's progress in the project areas are given in detail. The following recommendations are given: Establish separate line of command for social forestry in certain states; Reduce restrictions on private forestry; Develop seedling pricing policy; Educate people in yield improvement, soil preparation, and nursery techniques; Increase prevalence of environmental objectives while incorporating perspectives of foresters and social scientists; Increase research participation and extension; Improve planning in training activities; Update hardware/ software and increase training; Increase credit support.
