Agricultural reforms are a big part of the solution. It is estimated that we waste a third of the food that we produce. That’s about 1.3 billion tons a year. In addition, a third of our agricultural land is used for animal feed. As the world gets more ‘modernized’ the land devoted to animal feed is expected to rise to cater to the growing demand of the dairy and meat industry.

The answers to resolve this complex issue are not straightforward and require a combination of public policy, awareness, capital, human behaviour change, etc. However, one of the important aspects for the policy makers to consider is our legislative reforms and furthering environmentally friendly agricultural practices such as agroforestry. Agroforestry is the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic, and social benefits. There is a lot of work happening all over the world in advancing agroforestry-based solutions.

1. Alley Cropping
Alley cropping involves planting crops between rows of trees. The system can be designed to produce fruits, vegetables, grains, flowers, herbs, bioenergy feedstocks, and more.

2. Multi-story Cropping
The practice of multi-story cropping is based on creating a complimentary ecosystem of trees and shrubs under a forest canopy at different heights to grow food, herbal, botanical, or decorative crops. By providing ideal shade levels to the botanicals, a flourishing biodiverse economically viable forest system can be created.

3. Silvo Pasture
Silvo pasture combines trees with livestock and forage on one piece of land. The trees provide timber, fruit, fodder, or nuts as well as shade and shelter for livestock and their forages, reducing stress on the animals from the hot summer sun, cold winter winds, or a downpour.

4. Riparian Forest Buffers
Riparian forest buffers are natural or re-established areas along rivers and streams made up of trees, shrubs, and grasses. These buffers can help filter farm runoff while the roots stabilize the banks of streams, rivers, lakes and ponds to prevent erosion. These areas can also support wildlife and provide another source of income.

5. Windbreaks
Windbreaks shelter crops, animals, buildings, and soil from wind, snow, dust, and odours. These areas can also support wildlife and provide another source of income. They are also called shelterbelts, hedgerows, vegetated environmental buffers, or living snow fences.

So, if you are wondering how can you influence this change towards more widespread agroforestry practices, here are a few suggestions:

1. Become a lot more aware and conscious of your consumption choices. Start reading food labels of the products that you buy and make a deliberate shift towards products that are more upfront about their production and sources of origin.

2. Start asking your elected representatives about how agroforestry in your region is being encouraged. Often change begins when you ask for it!

3. If you happen to be directly involved in agriculture and food production start developing and implementing agroforestry practices and set an example!

The post 5 ways How Traditional Agroforestry Systems Help in Nature Conservation appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

1. Plant a tree
Get your kids to plant a tree in your garden or a surrounding neighborhood area. Get them to water the tree every day and spend a few minutes taking care of it. You could make some of your visits to the tree even more interesting by asking them to name their tree, paint or draw the tree, take a selfie, etc. A great way to get this started is to encourage your child to plant a tree on their birthday. This way, they have a companion that grows with them, who they can celebrate with every year!

2. Play the Recycling game
Recycling can be an incredibly fun activity that could also bring out the creative best in the family. As an example, give your child a box/ bottle to be recycled with some paint, ribbons, adhesive etc and join the fun! Not only will the outcome be a treasure, but the child will realize that a box that was about to be thrown can become an object of wonder!

3. Walk in the park
Forest bathing in many cultures is regarded as a therapeutic experience that brings about a calming sense of well-being. A walk in the park with your child along with some interesting activities like identifying new plants, talking to the gardeners, learning about native biodiversity, collecting flowers and seeds is a lovely way of making an everlasting connection. While strolling through the park, you can engage the children in a game of cleaning up the area around them. This will instill a practice of keeping natural surroundings free from trash, and will help them become ambassadors for a cleaner future. Do remember to carry a yummy treat for the little one as a reward!

4. Create an Environmental Volunteering Game
Each time your child does an environmentally conscious act such as switching off the lights, using less water, etc reward them by giving them points, badges, treats etc. Get your child to make a board where the points and badges can be displayed. Each badge is recommended to be awarded with some fanfare and hugs!

5. Adopt a pet
Having pets is a wonderful way to get your child connected with the natural world. Sometimes when it is not possible to keep a pet in the house, get your child to interact with friendly pets in the neighborhood and build the connection. They can also volunteer their time to walk or feed the pets if the opportunity arises.

6. Celebrate special days
There are several days in the year such was the World Environment Day, Water Day, Biodiversity Day, Pet Day etc that can be occasions to celebrate. Wear green outfits, throw a party for their friends, organize a quiz etc – these are great ways to make the day memorable. Just ensure, all your party themes and supplies are biodegradable in nature, so your celebration has the benefit of being both fun and mindful!

7. The Jungle Book
Read books and stories to them about nature and fire up their imagination through the experiences of the natural world! Encourage them to make their own stories and create their very own version of the Jungle Book.

8. Plant questions and thoughts
Children in early years are exploring cause and effect, and the consequences of their actions. This is a perfect time to introduce the positive and negative impacts they can have on the environment with some intriguing and thought-provoking questions.
As an example, what happens to our rubbish when we throw it ‘away’ or recycle it? What happens to seeds when we sow them? Why buy when one can repair? How can we reduce our environmental footprint?

9. Conserve
Teach kids how to conserve existing resources – water and food, for example. Remind them to put food back in the refrigerator and close the door. There are numerous creative ways to conserve water, food, gas, and other products once you put your mind to it. Turn it into a game!

10. Ride bikes but walk whenever possible.
This is great exercise and saves not only gas but time because you don’t have to drop your kids off everywhere.

The truth is that climate change and climate actions can sometimes be abstract topics. It is by creating experiences and environmental volunteering interactions that as parents lasting impact can be created. As they say the best time to volunteer is now!

The post 10 Tips About Environmental Volunteering to Teach Your Children appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

If you have been toying with the idea of volunteering with such organisations, but are unsure, we’ve compiled a set of guidelines about what to know and how to get started:

* Ask yourself: ‘What are my motivations to do this?’
The first step is to find what drives your passion in environmental volunteering. Finding a cause that lights a fire in you can help you zero in on the local organisations working for those causes. You are also more likely to invest more time and resources in volunteering if you are allied with a cause close to your heart. So, start with finding your primary driving force.

* Work with reputed organisations:
Offer your time to organisations that you rely on and which have a proven track record.

* Have the right expectations:
Volunteering is an all-encompassing world. You can donate your time, money or professional skills to further the aims of the cause you are allied with. Take the time to assess what you can offer in terms of volunteering. Some people are great at fundraising, others are adept at using social media to garner attention for a cause. Still others can offer their professional skills in accounting and advocacy to help a local centre working for the flora and fauna of Canada. Pondering over what you can offer can help you align with the right organisation and have the right set of expectations from the work. For example, some environmental volunteering work requires traveling to remote locations in Canada, living in the outdoors, working for most of the day, etc. – in this case, expect not to have a warm bed, hot food or even a lot of sleep while you’re working.

* What to pack for out-of-country work:
Some environmental volunteering work may take you outside the Canadian borders. If it does, you should carry your passport, credit card(s), visa, emergency contact information, flight schedules, and a letter from the organisation that you are travelling with, attesting to your presence in the designated region for specific tasks. Ask them to provide you with an ID that you can show if stopped in another country. Other than these documents, you must pack light in terms of clothing. Do carry essential medicines, rubber gloves, bug repellent sprays, rubber soled boots, and so on.

* The right etiquette is important:
When you volunteer for an organisation, especially in another city or country, you must display the correct etiquette in terms of dressing and behaving appropriately, and showing respect and consideration for the region that you go to. This last entails being respectful of indigenous cultures, being ecologically sensitive in your use of the region while working, abiding by local laws, etc. The organisation you work with expects you to represent them in the best way possible at all times.

* Know how your donations are used:
If you volunteer during your time off at a local centre and make regular donations, you have the right to ask how your contribution is used. Ethical organisations will offer a report of annual expenses and how donations were used to feed and medicate animals, pay staff salaries, fund research, and so on. Or you can contribute to fundraisers aimed at raising money for specific causes; most organisations readily offer an immediate receipt of payment.

The post Basics of Environmental Volunteering: How Can You Get Started? appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

Over the 20th century and to this day, several wildlife trusts have taken charge of separate tracts of land to help them recover lost green cover and certain animal species. These trusts and other independent organisations are doing ground-breaking work in helping the UK and other countries maintain their ecological framework, primarily by working to save endangered animals and birds. The following section highlights some of them and the peerless work they do.

Take a look at some of the local efforts to save endangered animals in the UK:

* The PTES (People’s Trust for Endangered Species) works with the vision of protecting and saving endangered animals in the UK and around the world. They do this by working closely with on-ground organisations and locals in affected areas to save endangered animals from extinction. They also fund extensive research in wildlife conservation and provide financial grants for those working in the area of conservation (researchers and experts are often selected for these).
How you can help: Donate to them or volunteer with local organisations that partner with them.

* The Natural History Museum does a large amount of work in the area of awareness and community education to shine a spotlight on endangered animals and birds in the UK. Thus far, it has successfully participated in campaigns to save animals and birds on the brink of extinction, from the Peregrine falcon to the sea otter, and from blue whales to Fisher’s estuarine moths. They also work extensively for flora in the UK.
How you can help: Stay in touch with their programmes on their website and support their team of 300 scientists and their research via donations.

* The Wildlife Conservation Society has offices in several countries, including the UK. The organisation collaborates with local communities in every area of its work to shape their future and take their help in preserving and conserving wildlife. It works for global conservation of endangered plants and animals, proper maintenance of zoos and aquariums, and towards mitigating climate crises and pandemics.
How you can help: You can donate for their work or volunteer in their target areas in your home country. Corporates are also encouraged to tie up for several conservation and awareness programmes.

What you can learn from their efforts

Saving endangered animals in the UK is not the sole responsibility or purview of a few committed organisations and the Government. Indeed, the Government announced a £220 million biodiversity fund to save endangered animals, in 2019. But these efforts can get a considerable boost with the active participation of every individual in the UK.

It’s quite simple to do, too: engage with the local wildlife conservation communities, abstain from purchasing products and services that use illegal animal parts or employ animals for laboratory testing, visit local parks to help wildlife tourism and donate to several related causes. Above all, do spread the word about the issue in your local community at every opportunity, be it by organising seminars or engaging the youth in fun events aimed at animal protection and conservation.

The post Local Efforts to Save Endangered Animals in UK: What Can You Learn From Them appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

* Protect the environment to protect wildlife.
Every step you take impacts the world at large, so it’s always better to make every action a positive one. It begins with protecting your immediate environment and adhering to laws and rules about conservation to ensure a litter-free, plastic-free zone in your neighbourhood. The cleaner and greener the environment, the better for the animal and bird kingdom at large. The next step is to be as non-intrusive as possible when visiting natural reserves and national parks – this includes avoiding littering, making noise or interfering with the animals’ way of life. Other steps you can take include saving use of fuel whenever possible, recycling and reducing waste, eliminating plastic usage in everyday life, switching to sustainable cleaners that do not impact marine ecology, and participating in, or organising regular trash clean-ups in your home or office neighbourhood.

* Get information about local conservation and protection efforts.
Your local area or even the city at large has organisations working tirelessly in the arena of wildlife protection and environmental conservation. Most of them require volunteers, donations in cash or kind, and a constant stream of ancillary resources to continue their work. You can get information about local efforts being made to protect animals and birds, and ally with the causes that resonate with you the most.

For example, the Government of the United Arab Emirates has implemented strict measures to protect wildlife in the UAE. Wildlife protection laws in the country extend to the conservation of natural ecologies for the benefit of wildlife such as the red fox, Asiatic caracal, striped hyena, Brandt’s hedgehog, cape hare, sand cat and Arabian leopard, among others. These measures encompass steps such as protecting plant species, preventing dumping in the sea, reducing plastic use, creating nature reserves, and generating environmental awareness among residents. UAE residents are invited to become part of these initiatives and to volunteer resources and time wherever possible.

* Learn more about species in peril.
Every region has some threatened or imperiled species that need help from becoming extinct. Positive human intervention in the form of supporting policies and creation of funds to protect wildlife in the area can go a long way in helping these species. But the first step is to know which species are in peril. You can find out more from your local municipal office, or the nearest national park, or even local organisations in your area that work to protect wildlife and plant ecosystems. Next, you can spread awareness about them, and follow environment-friendly measures to curb further threats.

* Protect your property, but not at the cost of wildlife.
It helps to be kind to all living beings, and avoiding the use of high voltage electric fences, snares and traps to catch animals roaming into one’s property, or impacting crops, is a good measure. Whenever possible, advocate the use of cruelty-free measures to prevent animals from causing agricultural or property damage. Further, do take animals and birds injured in snares to the nearest vet for immediate treatment and to be released back into the wild.

Which other measures can individuals take to protect animals and plants in their area? Tell us in the comments section below.

The post Efforts You Can Make to Help in Wildlife Protection in Your Area appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

Canada has some of the world’s lushest forests, accounting for over 9% of the world’s forest areas. About 38% of Canadian land is composed of forest cover. The forests in Canada also have the distinction of being ‘stable’, i.e. less than half a per cent of the forest area has faced deforestation since 1990.

While Governments enact laws to conserve and protect the natural forest cover, it is down to individuals to adopt simple lifestyle changes to save forests in this beautiful country. Consider some changes one can make towards this goal:

#1 Practice ‘conscious Earth-friendly’ behaviour.
An environmentally friendly person is one who is conscious of the impact of their lifestyle on the planet. As a Canadian citizen, you can make simple changes in your daily life to reduce your carbon footprint – power the house with solar panels instead of using fossil fuel-generated electricity, recycle water, install LED bulbs, and use detergents and cleaning materials made from pure plant actives rather than harmful chemicals like bleach. Living with a greater awareness of the resources one uses in daily life, how and where they are produced, how you choose to heat up the house, your use of water and other non-renewable resources, and even the manufacturing processes for the products you use, can ultimately save forests, keep marine ecologies healthier and significantly reduce your home’s carbon footprint.

#2 Recycle, reuse, conserve.
Adopt ‘Recycle and reuse’ as your daily mantra – if something can be put to use multiple times instead of being trashed after one use, or recycled, then the practice must certainly be followed. It is not just about using the nearest recycling station, but of using it properly and often. Ditch the use of single-use plastic and substitute plastic food containers, bottles, straws and other items with glass or metal ones. Meanwhile, conserving resources can be both simple and complex. It could be as basic as switching off the power when not needed, or choosing building materials that do not deplete the forests in Canada (such as wood).

#3 Plant trees around your home.
Keeping your home shaded from the sunlight helps reduce the use of electricity in the summer season. A simple change to make in this regard, is to plant trees around your home and care for them till they become stable. Not only do trees provide shade, they become nesting spots for birds, clear the air by providing oxygen, provide fruits and flowers, and so on. If you cannot plant trees, then aim to cultivate an organic kitchen garden. Growing your own produce is healthy for your home, and reduces the burden on commercial agriculture. Besides this, try reducing your dependence on meat every week and substitute it with vegetables, cereals and grains to lower emissions and save forest wildlife.

#4 Cook only as much as required.
Most households unintentionally discard uneaten food every day – this ends up in landfills and generates greenhouse gases like methane. The forests in Canada bear the brunt of rising greenhouse emissions. Meanwhile, food waste ends up wasting the resources that helped create that food in the first place, right from raw produce to fuel. Do ensure that you cook only as much as the household needs, and donate the uneaten portions to homeless persons instead of junking it. If you have kitchen waste, compost it rather than throwing it away.

Simple changes to everyday life can have a tremendous impact on the forests in Canada. Try and use biodegradable products wherever possible, shop locally instead of having products shipped from other cities or countries, and so on.

The post 4 Changes You Can Make in Everyday Life to Save Forests in Canada appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

In recent years, many consumers have been moving away from gifting newly made items to ‘experiential’, upcycled, second-hand and eco-friendly gifts. 

Take the example of London lawyer Alex Law, 29, who dubs himself an ‘ethical non-consumer’. 

“I think so much stuff just gets chucked into landfill and I do my best to ethically reuse things already around: buying a picture frame to customise for a friend, for example.” Law adds that consumer ethics and a heating planet are informing what he sees as a generational shift. “My friends and I are keenly aware of the carbon that’s gone into any product we buy as well as the risk of factory exploitation in the manufacture of cheap goods,” he says.

A 2017 report by Goldman Sachs Research, the Millennial Spending Survey, highlighted three consumption trends we are likely to see more of as millennials reach their peak spending years, around the age of 40. Alongside a more pronounced migration to online purchasing, which was super-powered during the pandemic, the report predicts a growing demand for markets for ‘efficient exchange of pre owned products’. Attendant to this growing demand for pre owned items is ultra-low environmental impact, or planet-positive or environmentally friendly gifting.

Buying gifts can almost feel like a formality one needs to fulfill, but there are examples where people are finding alternative paths to navigate this situation. 

Rachel Mills, founder of ecological education charity Buttercup Learning stopped buying Christmas ‘stuff’ for adults in 2019, although she does buy her daughter material goods she needs second-hand. “I now go product-free with gifts for friends, visiting (charity listing site) workforgood.co.uk and picking a charity that matches the recipient’s values, be it concern for animals, deforestation, or homelessness, and making a donation in their name.”

Aimee Higgins, co-founder of grassroots climate action charity Every One Of Us, is also trying to go ‘planet positive’ in her giving following the dramatic picture of the world’s plight reported in the recent CoP 26 climate change conference. “I choose either ‘experience’ gifts that will give the person I’m gifting to a lifetime’s memories or something that supports an organisation that’s doing good. This year I have funded tree planting for one friend and sponsored an elephant in an African sanctuary for my business partner Sonia.”

New York-based Alex Sands, 35, gave up presents last year after being overwhelmed by the number of plastic toys sent to children over a Christmas in lockdown. “I hid some of the presents away because they were given so much” she says, adding that for years she feels that Christmas prompted her to “panic buy” and spend far too much. 

A 2018 study by the University of Lund in Sweden found that a seasonal spike in heart attacks during the Christmas period might be caused by increased emotional stress, including the pressure to excessively give gifts.

Now Sands donates to charity instead and this year is sending chickens to a community in rural Africa through the Send a Cow charity on behalf of her family. A chicken costs US $10, she says and a cockerel costs $7. Sands’ gift recipients can follow the progress of their avian friends on the charity’s site. Sands admits that not giving material presents is something of a relief. “We can just enjoy spending time together as a family,” she says. 

And maybe that’s the best gift of all.

Gift planet-positive this year by buying a Sacred Groves Cluster for friends and family.

Author: Sally Howard, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves

The post Why Planet-Positive Gifting Is The Future appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

“Are you sure this is the way?” said Alfie, scrambling up the hill after his sister.
“I don’t know alright?” replied Eva sharply, staring at her phone as she strode on ahead. “I’m still trying to get a signal.”
“That’s what you said, like, half an hour ago.” said Alfie, holding up a chubby wrist. “We should have stuck to the path like I said. Then we wouldn’t be lost!”
“We’re not lost.” retorted Eva. “Look, we’re nearly at the top of the hill. There’s bound to be something on the other side.”  

But there wasn’t. There were only more trees, thickening into an impenetrable distance.

“Great!” sighed Alfie. “What now?”   
“I dunno,” replied Eva, uncertainly. “Keep going until we get signal, I guess…” 
“But what if we don’t?” asked Alfie.
“We will.” snapped Eva. “This is Wales, you know, not the end of the world!” 

The forest seemed to grow darker here, more gnarled and the children were quieter as they went, nervously looking up at the great oak trees that surrounded them. With their wrinkled old trunks and branches bearded in moss, the trees looked like sentinels, silently watching as the children passed deeper into the forest.

“Evie,” said Alfie in a small voice after a while. “I’m a bit scared.” 
“Scared? What’s there to be scared of? It’s only a bunch of old tr… ” began Eva but then she stopped. Standing in front of them was an old man. 
“Where did you come from?” exclaimed Eva, staring at him in astonishment. He was, in fact, an extremely old man with a tangled white beard and even whiter hair and he was carrying a wooden staff. 

“From the forest.” replied the man in a melodious voice. “Where did you come from?”   
“We were on our way to the seaside but our parents got lost!” said Alfie excitedly. “So they parked up to look at the map – only they can’t read maps so they started arguing! And me and my sister went to check out the forest – then we got lost!” 
“You do not live in the forest?” asked the man. 
“We live in London!” replied Alfie, grinning confusedly. 
“Who lives in the forest?” said Eva, staring at the man.
“Once upon a time, we all lived in the forest.” replied the man and his eyes, which were a brilliant azure blue, seemed to darken with the weight of the loss. “Once, forests like this one covered the entire country.” 
“Right…” said Eva, frowning. “And…do you live in the forest?” 
“As long as there is a forest, I shall live here.” replied the man. 
“Great! Then you must know the way out?” said Alfie briskly. 

The man bowed wordlessly, gesturing for them to follow him through the trees. 

“So do you, like, live in a tree-house?” asked Alfie.
“I have no house.” replied the man. “The trees provide my shelter. The leaves, comfort. The wood, warmth.” 
“Is that why you’re not wearing any shoes?” asked Eva suspiciously. 
“What need have I for shoes when the forest provides such a carpet?” he replied and the children saw that up ahead, the floor of the forest was sprinkled with thousands of tiny blue flowers, glowing like fairy lights under the darkened canopy. 

They followed the old man through the flowers to a tinkling stream that led off down the hill.

“Ah, we’re back here.” said Eva, looking around. Then she frowned. “But how did you know where our parents were parked?” 

The old man pointed to the canopy and through the leaves, hanging behind them like a painting, the children could see fields, great dazzling squares of green rolling one after another, into a cobalt sea.    

“What you were looking for?” he said. 

They followed the stream down the hill until the children spotted a splash of yellow paintwork and then their parents, hunched over the bonnet of an enormous 4×4. Amazingly, they were still arguing.    

“So much for mum and dad being mad.” snorted Eva. “They haven’t even noticed we’re gone!”
“But they must of! It‘s been, like…” began Alfie. Then he stopped. 
“What?” asked Eva. 
“My watch says it’s still two!” replied Alfie, staring at her. 
“Two? As in the time we left mum and dad?” exclaimed Eva. “You must be looking at it wrong!”
“No I’m not!” said Alfie indignantly. Then he turned to the man. “Have you got the time?”
“Time passes differently in the forest,” he replied.
“But we’ve come out at the same time?” said Eva, frowning perplexedly at her phone. “The same time, although we’ve been walking for ages! How is that even possible?” 
“Think of the forests… as a way into the past.” replied the man, closing his eyes. “You may enter them in your time but if you keep on walking, who knows where you will end up. You may end up in my time – or some other time entirely. But what I do know is that without the forests, there is no way back.” he went on, opening his eyes and looking directly at Eva. “That is why you must protect them.” 

Eva was staring at the old man but then she heard her parents, distantly calling their names. Alfie set off down the hill, waving excitedly, but Eva turned to the man.

“I‘m sorry – what did you say your name was?” she said. 
“My name is Myrddin.” replied the man, his face crinkling into a kindly smile. “But in English, you would say Merlin.” 
“Merlin?” repeated Eva incredulously. 
“Come on Evie!” called Alfie from the bottom of the hill. 
“I’m coming!” shouted Eva. Then she turned back to Merlin. But he had disappeared into the forest.

Author: Tim Davies, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: Sacred Groves Founders’ images of Coed Rhyal

The post Found in the Woods – short story inspired by Coed Rhyal appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

For villagers in Tharabari, a remote village located close to Balipara Reserve Forest (BRP) in Sonitpur district of Assam, India, the forest that surrounded them has always been full of treasures. Other than firewood, they forage the jungle for medicinal herbs like seni bon, a cure for acidity, durun ful, a headache remedy and dupor tenga used to treat kidney stones. Over the years, however, the forest became severely denuded. So did these treasures and their livelihoods. This also led to soil erosion, loss of biodiversity and rise in human-elephant conflict. 

Could afforestation offer a solution? In 2017, Balipara Foundation, a non-profit working for community based environment conservation had transformed barren land in Udalguri in Assam into a full-fledged forest with local help. The transformed forest was soon restored as an active elephant corridor.  It also had experience running similar afforestation projects in other parts of the state. In Tharabari, however, when the Foundation initially explained the plan to afforest the area with indigenous trees, local attitudes initially proved to be an obstacle. Villagers feared that once this happened, their land would have to be handed over to the forest department. 

Lucky for them that a local student, 21-year-old Junali Basumatary, understood that perhaps by restoring traditional biodiversity to the area, local livelihoods could get a much-needed fillip. She persuaded Jermia, 43, a local farmer, to participate. Together, they convinced 150 villagers to join the drive and paved the way for the Foundation to start their work at Tharabari. 

The plantation drive had a three-fold strategy. “We started by offering them wages for the plantation that gave them livelihood. Then we asked them to build a community nursery from where we could purchase saplings,” explains Gautam Baruah, chief operations architect, Balipara Foundation. The project took off and today, planters and site supervisors earn between Rs 250-350 a day, considered a good livelihood here. Additionally, they also undergo training in multi-cropping and looking after the newly planted saplings.  

From 0.25 million in 2020, Jermia and friends have already reached the grand figure of 0.47 million saplings planted this year at Tharabari. The project however, is fully dependent on Balipara Foundation as of now. It needs time and perhaps more community support to become self-sustaining. 

Linking forest regeneration with livelihoods has ensured that villagers are not solely financially dependent on cultivating rain-fed paddy. It has also reawakened the community’s natural affinity for the forest. “It is unbelievable that we are managing to earn our livelihood without destroying the environment,” says Jernia. “The earth can certainly become a nicer place to stay if such efforts are replicated in other places!”

Author: Gurvinder Singh, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: Balipara Foundation

The post Here, Money Does Grow On Trees! appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

Uttarakhand farmer Krishan Singh Bargaley used to have a hard time getting good prices for the apples he so painstakingly grew. Although they were juicy and sweet, they would invariably develop unpalatable looking pockmarks on the skin. The culprit? A bacterial disease called apple blister that would spread with every rainfall to new sites. Aid came in an unusual form — a community radio that launched in the Nainital district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand in 2010, Kumaon Vani (which translates as our radio, our voice). From a programme on radio, 61-year-old Bargaley learned that a traditional mix of lime and water known as Chuna can help in stopping the disease and revive his plants. “We used to travel a long distance to Pantnagar to meet experts, now those experts dispense advice on radio,” says Krishan Singh. “And I was able to rescue my apples from the disease.”

Like Bargaley, a large number of villagers of Uttarakhand tune into Kumaon Vani t at 90.4 Mhz with reception reaching 500 villages in the state. This radio station was set up by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) in 2010 at Nainital, Uttarakhand, to promote sustainable agriculture and spread awareness on climate change, environment, health, science, education, gender and culture among the local villagers. Funded by charity TRISHA, (TERI’s research initiative), the radio station airs a daily diet of climate news and weather forecasts and also warns the villagers about impending landslides, melting glaciers and government-issued alerts, according to Sumit Bansal, coordinator of the station.

“We gather information from the villagers about the problems they are facing and tailor our shows to suit their needs by bringing in the necessary experts,” says Jitendra Raikwal, the radio station’s producer. Villagers are encouraged to phone in their farming-related problems. Experts provide solutions and offer advice to improve their livelihoods through sustainable agriculture, improved biodiversity and accessing government-run welfare schemes. Mohan Singh Karki, station manager at Kumaon Vani says: “The objective of this platform is to provide a solution to all the problems related to water, forest and land of these regions, people should immediately think about our radio for any problems that they face.”

Kumaon Vani’s information-packed programmes, heard by as many as 200,000 listeners, have had some impact. After a program on the impact of using excessive pesticides and insecticides, many farmers switched to using natural pesticides and began to understand the side effects of chemicals on their health and for the environment. Uttarakhand is an ecologically sensitive area, because its hilly terrain and melting glaciers cause frequent landslides. Kumaon Vani is helping increase disaster preparedness among the community by airing tips on how to build homes on slopes. With limited access to television and newspapers, Kumaon Vani radio has also been a key source of news during the Coronavirus pandemic. 

There are limitations to the use of  broadcast radio in hilly regions such as the Himalaya. Because of a low transmitter power of 100 watts, the radio is unable to reach villages in the valleys. Frequent power cuts sometimes interrupt the radio broadcast. Yet it has been successful in creating a sense of community among villagers living in isolated, media dark villages. 

On a typical day last month, Ganga Singh Bisht from Prabada village called in, asking for the selling price of crops in the local market (Mandi). Minutes later, Khushhal Singh from Sunkiya village called in just to appreciate how relevant the programme is to his life. “I rely on Kumaon Vani for farming related advice and weather updates,” says Munni Devi, a farmer from Nainital.  “It’s become a friend in need for me.”

Author: Kavitha Yarlagadda, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: Uttarakhand banner image – Anurag Agnihotri/ Wikimedia Commons, Kumaon Vani
(Wikimedia License – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)

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