Kallu Bai Marko, a representative of Maneri Village Forest Committee (VFC) in the West Mandla Forest Division of Madhya Pradesh, has been toiling hard for years with a dream to provide sustainable livelihoods for the forest-dependent communities at the local level.
The plan consists of ecosystem restoration to achieve the highest level of recovery for biodiversity and human well-being. She was fortunate to join VFC Maneri, constituted in the year 1996, which was entrusted with the management of 186.92 hectares of the highly degraded forest area of compartment number 642 RF.
Her significant role in mobilizing the community for the protection and management of the forest area put a stop to the illicit felling of trees and uncontrolled grazing. The tireless efforts and commitment of the community brought them success. VFC Maneri has harvested 3526 Teak poles and 31 fuel stacks in the last few years. The government’s sustainable approach to protecting forests through the involvement of the local community has led to the full stocking of the area. Due to significant improvement in the stock, the area was allotted to the ‘Improvement Working Circle’ in the subsequent working plan (Plan of 2016-26).
Communities have played an integral role in restoring large tracts of degraded forest areas in the state. To encourage these communities, the Government of Madhya Pradesh decided to reward their efforts. For participatory, scientific, and sustainable management of the forests, a target of 5000 micro-plans has been set under the ‘Atmanirbhar Madhya Pradesh’ campaign, till the year 2022-23.
The forest produce obtained from silviculture operations is being given to these communities. This action has positively motivated people to participate in the effective management of the forests.
In the areas, where local communities have successfully restored the degraded forest areas, forest produces worth ₹12.50 crore has been shared with the local communities. As per the new policy, the Community Forestry Management Committee (CFMC) which has productive forests would get around ₹160 crores as their share in the revenue from the extraction of timber alone. The government has enacted a policy to provide 5 percent of the profit of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) trade to the CFMCs.
The sharing of the profits and the usufruct of the forests is playing a significant role in strengthening livelihoods and improving the standard of living of the forest-dependent communities. In the future, these communities would arrest the forest degradation in their areas. The micro plans of 1811 CFMCs are already under execution.
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