Plant a tree in Green Himachal Pradesh

About the state 

Himachal Pradesh is a beautiful state with Himalayas in the North and cold climate. The state has many rivers that originate and flow. There are old forests and they span all along the state. With rapid industrialization, population increase and tourism, the state is witnessing reduction in the forest cover. In order to keep the unique wildlife like snow leopard, mountain goats, tigers, leopard and hundreds of bird species intact and safe, a lot needs to be done.

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Also, due to the hilly region, the land of the farmers is less. Increasing the income of the farmers is a challenge that can be addressed by agroforestry. Planting fruit trees will help the farmers to increase their income and also get nutrition for their families that can reduce the expenditure. This project aims to increase the forest cover in the state and also help the farmers. A part will be used for helping the farmers grow more trees and another shall be used to grow forest trees on community lands, panchayat lands, landfills etc. For every contribution, there will be a minimum 0.25 MT of carbon that will be fixed.

Impact in Numbers 

Number of trees to be planted 50,000

Carbon Fixed  300 Kgs per tree.

CO2 reduction from atmosphere by 1100 Kgs per tree.

Farmers to be positively impacted 1250

Ecological impact

The trees that are being planted are selected by the experts based on the soil conditions, water availability, temperature range, native trees. With more trees of different varieties planted, there will be food and shelter available for the animals and birds. Every tree that is planted is different and it helps in maintaining the biodiversity of the state. Every tree helps to preserve the life of animals and birds. Even providing the shade to wildlife helps in their survival.

• The trees planted shall help in controlling the soil erosion.
• The project shall be able to increase the number of trees that are less in number in the state.
• Increase in the overall green cover of the state.

Positive impact on farmers

• Farmers get high quality saplings to plant in their lands adjacent to the forests. Fruit trees, Timber trees, Medicinal plants.
• Increase in the farmer income by 10% over a 5 year period of time.
• Better economic conditions of the farmers help in getting education for the children, nutrition for the family.

About the project

The project is an ongoing project to help achieve increased greenery in the state. Under this project, sites are identified and farmer groups contacted for planting trees on their lands close to the forest areas. High quality of seedling of fruit trees, timber trees, medicinal plants, forest trees are identified and they are then planted on the lands of the farmers. The farmers are explained on how to raise them, best practices for the same and benefits that they shall be getting in the next 2 years, 5 years, 10 years and 20 years. A periodic visit of the experts is done for the same so that they can monitor the progress and also guide the farmers. The current condition of the farmers and forest cover is recorded and stored on e platforms. This is updated every time of the visit so that the improvement can be noted and measured. The project keeps on identifying new sites and farmer groups so that the benefit can be spread to all.

Technology

The trees are geotagged. The area boundary is marked using GPS. Farmer details along with the images. All the data is captured and stored through mobile apps directly from the field. Carbon fixing that is happening yearly is calculated by using the equations developed by the experts for different species in app and reports. Total transparency is maintained in getting the data, storing the data and analysing the data.

Impact assessment

The impact that is being created by the project for wildlife and farmers is measured. All data is captured in regular intervals and the same is analysed by comparing with the previous data on the same parameters calculated a few months ago. The change is measured against the planned results.

Reports

The project reports are prepared and sent to the contributors. The report covers the following

1) Trees status as on the last visit made

2) Any mortality in the trees planted

3) Carbon fixed in MT from the start of the project

4) Quantity of fruits that are being produced by the planted trees

5) Economic impact on the farmers.

6) Ecological impact created.