Project proposal wan

Proposal for

RESTORATION OF FOREST & Adhiwas Resource Station at - Wan Kusawade, Koyana Catchment

Proposed by,

Need of Restoration • Majority natural areas in Sahyadri are degraded and getting degraded • Mainly due to human induced activities • Rate of degradation is much higher than the rate at which ecosystems restore.

Restoration is necessary !

To bring back to original or a known previous condition

Project background • •

•

Kulkarnis and Joshis bought 24 acres of land in 2004 Being urbanites, and not dependent on land, the group decided to start a unique venture of ecological restoration with Pune based consultancy ‘oikos’ in 2005 The project was planned & is being executed by ‘oikos for ecological services’ since 2005 to 2018.

Location

At post : Wan Kusawade, Taluka : Patan, Dist : Satara

Regional setting of the project area • • • • •

Western Ghats Koyna wildlife sanctuary 1012 m above sea level 5000 mm av. Annual rainfall High speed winds, hilly topography

Initial status in 2005 Open grassland to scrub Lack of canopy Poor fertility of soil Intense grazing High speed wind

• Considering the status, it is a time taking process to restore the semi-evergreen forest on land. oikos for ecological services

Restoration techniques applied till date • Protection • Control on Wood cutting, Grazing & Grass cutting • Soil and Water Conservation Measures • Stream Restoration • Plantation of Native plants

Soil erosion control & moisture conservation methods Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Improved habitats

Micro habitats in terms of shrub clusters, ponds, grass clumps are providing habitats for micro fauna and flora.

Improved soil temperatures in Summer

Open soil : Max.

56 0 c

Covered soil : Max. 44 0 c

Watering need reduced

Now, saplings survive on soil moisture right from October to April, as against earlier years when we would start watering in October itself. oikos for ecological services

MONSOON : COMPARATIVE IMAGES

Year 1

First monsoon with seasonal grasses

Year 3

Increased biomass with regenerating shrub clusters

SUMMER : COMPARATIVE IMAGES

Year 1

Barren landscape with scanty grasses

Year 4

Increase in perennial grasses

Year 6-10

Current state with increased shrub canopy and dominance of perennial grasses

Social benefits so far…

• Employment to a local person as full time worker on land (@ Rs. 78,000 per year) • Employment to local people in restoration as & when required (@ Rs. 25,000 average per year) • Availability of good quality grass for local cattle (bunches) • Rough estimation - around 105 kg of quality grass from 1 guntha i.e. 1000 sq. ft.

Graph showing succession on the land and prediction of the same in future : YEAR Vs STAGE OF VEGETATION

Current status (2017)

Achievements • A well planned, self-funded, continuous eco-restoration effort over last 12 years (2005 – 2018) have already set the land on right track with natural regeneration & increase in associated fauna • It has gained positive results on land & is received well by people, even covered by media many times.

• These results have been briefly documented step by step during this process

Going ahead…

• Considering the positive results & improvement in biodiversity on land, it is important to continue this effort for long term.

• For continuous work on the project land, owners are ready to donate the land for conservation purposes.

• They have decided to enter into an agreement with Ecological Society for further management and research on land.

• Neither owners nor Ecological Society have any intent to use this land commercially.

Going ahead…

• Following activities have been identified, • Continue the restoration work on land that includes mainly protection and plantation with minimal external inputs • Exploring the research potential of land to closely monitor the progress and respective results. Publishing the results in form of scientific papers, popular articles & restoration manual as a part of Adhiwas research station.

• Conduct training programs for farmers or local people or visitors to reach out to masses.

Budget Expense head Construction : resource station Project monitoring Research & documentation

Work on land Administration & office backup

Year 1

Year 2 0

Year 3

1,40,000 16,30,500

66,000

74,000

87,000

98,500

85,000 1,10,000

Year 4

Year 5

1,25,000

Planing, Construction & 1,50,000 maintenance of research station

93,000

Core team of 2

1,04,000 people

1,22,000

Team of 5 1,33,000 researchers & advisors Labour work, 3,76,500 materials, transport & travel expenses

3,05,000

2,98,750

3,39,000

3,57,750

65,000

79,000

88,500

97,500

1,07,000

6,90,250 22,53,000

7,95,250

8,70,500

5,23,000

For 5 years 51,32,000 /-

Details

Fund utilisation • These funds will be utilised towards, 1. Construction of Training and Resource Station 2. Work on land that includes local material sourcing, labour payments, purchase of saplings – seedlings – seeds, etc 3. Monitoring, Research, Training & Documentation work 4. Travel & related expenses 5. Administration & office backup

Benefits • Restoration of natural capital – soil, water & biodiversity • Employment generation for, 1. Local un-skilled people 2. Researchers in life sciences 3. Practitioners in eco-restoration & conservation

• Developing a model of Eco-restoration in Sahyadri • Training, education and awareness

Key Performance Indicators • Restoration of soil, water and biodiversity will be regularly assessed and documented by naturalist experts. KPI here are temperatures of soil, moisture levels, species and habitat diversity etc.

• Number of visitors • Number of trainings conducted • Many Private land owners already copying this concept.

Hence forth documentation can be done.

AS OWNERS SAY : “ As urbanites, its responsibility of land owners to initiate such projects as ‘cautious citizens’. ”

A walk during monsoon !

Thank you !

Ecological Society • The Ecological Society (ES) is a NGO founded in 1982, by the ecologist Prakash Gole and now operated by Dr Mrs Swati Gole along with core team : Ajay Phatak, Gurudas Nulkar, Manasi Karandikar and Ketaki Ghate.

• ES’s mission is to promote environmental awareness and nature conservation through one year postgraduate program named ‘Sustainable Management of Natural Resources & Nature Conservation’ & other awareness programs • ES have conducted a number of research projects & restoration projects and has published reports and books on the same. One research journal is published annually.

• ES have also done pioneering work in the field of Ecological restoration, first project initiated in 1986 with Irrigation department. www.ecological-society.org