Major Activities |
Major tasks and accomplishments (as reported by the NGO):
CPF��_s accomplishments over the past five years can be summarised below under three major areas:1. Participatory Forest ManagementCPF came into existence with its work on participatory forest management, which was initiated with involvement in the Joint Forest Management in 1996 when CPF was part of CWS. In Andhra Pradesh, CPF could reach out to 680 Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSSs) belonging to 32 forest ranges in 12 districts of Andhra Pradesh through 32 local partner NGOs. These VSSs have 80,800 households and take care of 1.5 lakh ha of forest area in their charge. CPF through partner NGOs provided capacity building to these VSSs in microplan preparation, review and revision, Gender sensitisation and mainstreaming, resolution of various kinds of conflicts, facilitation skills to the partner NGO functionaries, policy and practice change processes, collaborations in livelihood enhancement, engagement with the forest department, community empowerment processes and mainstreaming concerns of HIV/AIDS. Recently, CPF has been involved in the Forest Rights Act 2006 both in providing inputs to the draft bill, rules etc and in the process of implementation. 2 Sustainable LivelihoodsWhile working with the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) on NTFP based livelihoods CPF started to understand the livelihood status of the members of VSSs in the CPF project area. CPF��_s initiatives on sustainable livelihoods to the forest dwelling and dependent communities fall in two broad categories, viz. forest produce based and land use based. A third category of finding alternative means to supplement the income is also attempted. Forest produce based interventions are i) Improving the service delivery of the Girijan Cooperative Corporation ii) Value addition to the Adda leaf iii) Sustainable extraction of wild honey As part of land use alternatives initiative, fodder generation and management was taken. Besides fodder development on the common lands, grazing lands earmarked for Panchayats were also reclaimed for fodder development in Mahabubnagar. Embroidery project was initiated with 30 Lambadi women of Narsapur forest range in Medak division. On the request of the Forest Department it was scaled up to five more divisions covering 225 women.3 Policy AdvocacySignificant results achieved by CPF by advocacy are : incorporation of recommendations of stakeholder consultations on CFM conducted by CPF, in the CFM GO and in the Project Implementation Plan of APCFM project, Changes in the R&R policy GO, withholding certain clauses from implementation with regard to the convergence GO (Velugu project), Circular for uniform implementation of CFM GO across the state, 100% returns from beedi leaf to collectors, Micro plan preparation, review of the status of implementation of CFM GO, benefit sharing with communities are some of the accomplishments at State level.At National level, CPF joined campaigns spearheaded by other agencies with regard to Biodiversity Act and Forest Rights Act 2006. It also spearheaded a campaign for the implementation of the Act. CPF has been informing the State level steering committees in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa on the same.
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