Forest Enrichment

1

Matavan

‘Forest of the Mother’ — where no tree is cut, in any case

Tribal communities across India keep a demarcated community forest that is preserved and protected. In Jhabua that tradition is Matavan. Nurturing its trees is a social norm; no individual may make personal use of its wood. It carries into ritual too — the first harvest of a crop is offered to the deity in the Matavan. Shivganga recognised the strength of that tradition and made it the medium for the whole forest programme.

After consecutive village meetings the team lists potential sites for revival. Once the June and July rain has come, the community organises Halma and gathers to dig pits and plant, supervised by the Gram Engineers. The area is fenced against grazing and free movement, and the villagers tend it through heat waves and replace any sapling that dies.

• 1,04,250 trees planted
• 736 villages

2

Swastha Parivar — twelve trees per family

Chosen for the nutrients they carry, not the shade

After the Swachh Gaon – Swastha Parivar training, a family adopts a set of twelve saplings, picked to bring a diversity of nutrients into the household: mango, moringa, mulberry, lemon, guava, neem, curry leaf, papaya, custard apple, amla, jamun and bel. Villagers take the pledge to raise the saplings as they would raise a child.

• 19,000 plants distributed
• 1,650 families
• 216 villages

3

Community Forest Rights

Vanraj Training Camp, begun 2019

Tribal communities lived in an indistinct oneness with the forest, as its natural protectors. Under British rule they were cut off from their forests, their livelihood and their culture — and even after the Forest Rights Act of 2006, little changed on the ground. Shivganga began the Vanraj Training Camp in 2019 so that communities can actually claim the rights to their forests.

The Vanraj Training Camp will be pivotal for the Jangal Samvardhan dimension, and opens possibilities for livelihood along with it.

• 27 training camps held across villages, training 1,447 villagers
• Three villages have begun the legal procedure
• Experts involved: Shri Milind Thatte (Founder, Vayam Foundation, Palghar), Shri Girish Kuber (Hitraksha Pramukh, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram) and Shri Rahul Mungikar (Joint Director, Bombay Natural History Society)