The World BankSouth Asia Region
WORLD
BANK TO HELP COMMUNITIES TAKE OVER FOREST MANAGEMENT IN ANDHRA
PRADESH Project
aims to reduce Rural Poverty through Community Empowerment
WASHINGTON,
July 16, 2002—The
World Bank today approved a US$108.2 million credit to support
a project which will help poor people living in and around the
forests of Andhra Pradesh. The project will help communities improve
their livelihoods through direct management of the forests and
will strengthen the legal framework governing community rights
to timber and other forest products.
The
Andhra Pradesh Community Forest Management Project is designed
to reduce rural poverty by placing forest areas under the management
of poor and primarily tribal forest-dependent communities. Their
participation in looking after the forest, and in having secure
legal access to its resources, is expected to improve forest management
practices.
“There
are champions of change in both the State government and in the
communities,” said Constance Bernard,
World Bank Sector Director for Rural Development. “We deeply
respect their efforts as they have an uphill battle working in
a very challenging environment. We do hope that the success of
the AP project will set a standard to be pursued across the country.”
The
project will be implemented in 14 of the poorest districts of
Andhra Pradesh, and will cover 3.86 million hectares of forest
land. It follows the first AP Forestry Project (1994-2000) which
was successful in bringing 0.85 million hectares of forests under
the joint management of the State forest department and forest
communities. This second project brings a greater emphasis to
the role of the communities: building on the lessons of joint
management in the first project, the new design goes further yet
with communities themselves assuming primary responsibility for
managing local forests while the State forest department will
be the facilitator, providing technical advice and regulatory
oversight. The 14 districts to be covered in this new project
are Adilabad, Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Khammam, Warangal,
Karimnagar, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam,
Chittoor, Cuddapah and Nellore.
“The
willing involvement of forest and forest-fringe dwellers is essential
for the effective management and protection of forests,” says Irshad Khan, the World
Bank’s task leader for the project. “The first project
taught everyone involved a tremendous amount about the power and
value of community participation. Communities have seen their
needs factored into the management of forests and this has built
mutual trust and partnership.”
The
project begins with a component to strengthen the enabling environment
for community involvement. A second component focuses on developing
the forest resource and the third emphasizes community development
and improving the well being of forest communities.
Under
the first component, the project will support policy and institutional
changes, and build capacity of the state and local government,
communities and NGOs. The project’s emphasis on community management
of forests and increased transparency is designed to make the
State Forest Department accountable to local communities. In addition,
the project will support improvements to
the legal framework governing the benefits communities receive
from harvesting and marketing of forest products.
“To
minimize conflict within or between stakeholder groups, careful
attention is being paid to social inclusion and conflict resolution
training,” says Khan. These efforts
will particularly reach out to tribal groups, migrant grazers,
landless people and women who collect fuel wood for sale.
The
forest management component will support communities in improving
the productivity of designated forest lands through better planning
and forestry practices, planting of non-timber forest products
(e.g. medicinal plants, fruits and berries), agro-forestry, afforestation,
and fodder and pasture development outside forest land. The project
will also support adaptive forestry research, forest inventory,
implementation of environmental and pest management plans, and
development of a forest management information system.
The
community development component will support small improvements
in village infrastructure and help communities explore opportunities
for income generation using both the forests and other options
like agriculture and animal husbandry.
The
total project costs are US$127.1 million of which US$108.2 million
is financed by IDA, the interest-free lending arm of the World
Bank. IDA credits carry a 0.75% service fee and a maturity of
35 years with a 10 year grace period.
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More information: Andhra Pradesh Community Management Forest Project
http://www4.worldbank.org/sprojects/Project.asp?pid=P073094 The World Bank in India, http://www.worldbank.org.in
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