Women-led eco-nurseries for reforestation and livelihoods
Focus-Group discussion with the beneficiaries of Kharagpur by IUCN & ITC teams
IUCN India
Eco-nursery led by women farmers aimed to alleviate forest pressure through plantation initiatives in Kharagpur agriscape
IUCN India
Eco-nursery led by women farmers aimed to alleviate forest pressure through plantation initiatives in Kharagpur agriscape
IUCN India
Women groups in the Kharagpur agriscape established eco-nurseries to produce seedlings of multipurpose tree species (MPTS) such as Moringa (Moringa oleifera), Teak (Tectona grandis), Papaya (Carica papaya), and Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla). These nurseries supported reforestation and provided additional household income. Manju Kumari and others used their land to raise seedlings, supported by custom hiring centers and training from Bhagalpur University. The nurseries produced high-quality planting stock for plantation drives and private land use. Sales from seedlings generated up to approximately USD 570/year per group. Women gained leadership experience by managing nursery operations and supported outreach to other farmers. The activity reduced fuelwood dependency while enhancing economic resilience and social recognition for women’s groups in the village.
• Provision of land by local farmers enabled group-based nursery siting. • Formal training from Bhagalpur University built technical capacity in seedling propagation. • Financial and logistical support through ITC and custom hiring centers ensured smooth setup. • Strong social cohesion and mutual trust within women’s groups strengthened performance.
• Empowering women through nursery management created ownership, accountability, and long-term sustainability. • Protection measures (e.g., fencing) were critical to prevent livestock from damaging seedlings. • Reliable access to seed markets and offtake arrangements could further improve profitability. • Flexibility in nursery operations allowed them to adapt to seasonal constraints and opportunities. • Income generation acted as a strong incentive for quality maintenance and future expansion.
Individual fodder cultivation for sustainable livestock management
Fodder farming
IUCN India
Woman feeding fodder to her livestock in Kharagpur as a part of livestock development intervention as an alternative livelihood option
IUCN India
To reduce pressure on nearby forests, certain individual farmers were supported to cultivate green fodder (oats and maize) on private plots. This intervention aimed to transition livestock feeding away from forest foraging to stall-feeding using cultivated fodder. Households adopted varieties like oats that yield multiple harvests annually, improving economic returns and ensuring a reliable feed source. Women like Vasanti Devi found health improvements in livestock health and reduced vet expenses after switching to green fodder, reinforcing adoption. The total fodder yield reached over 49,000 kg, valued at over USD 843. Households saved up to USD 28 – USD 34 annually by reducing feed purchases and medicine costs. This practice also contributed to reduced forest degradation, improved milk yields, and created an entry point for sustainable livestock management practices within the agriscape.
• Timely access to quality fodder seeds and technical training boosted adoption. • Demonstration plots helped farmers visualize benefits before committing land. • Strong linkage between green fodder use and improved cattle health motivated uptake. • Methods were simple and suitable for small, leased, or marginal landholders.
• Crops like oats, with multiple harvests per season, are more cost-effective than single-harvest crops. • Farmers who adopted early became community champions and influencers. • The approach is best suited to areas with small land parcels near homesteads. • Additional extension support is needed for fodder preservation (e.g., silage). • Inclusion of women enhanced the diffusion of knowledge and practice, especially in managing livestock health.
Community-led vermicomposting using water hyacinth
Composting from Water Hyacinth
IUCN India
A community member working with Water Hyacinth, invasive species removed from nearby ponds, for vermicomposting
IUCN India
A community member working with Water Hyacinth, invasive species removed from nearby ponds, for vermicomposting
IUCN India
To address the dual challenges of wetland degradation and declining soil fertility, the project introduced vermicomposting of invasive water hyacinth. This fast-growing aquatic plant was manually removed by community members and processed in vermicompost pits provided through the project. The biomass was converted into nutrient-rich organic fertilizer, restoring soil productivity. In Banbarsa village, farmers successfully used this vermicompost to grow okra, brinjal, bottle gourd, and ridge gourd—without applying any chemical pesticides or fertilizers. These efforts not only improved crop yields but also enabled women farmers like Ruby Devi to share surplus harvests with others in the village, promoting food security and social cohesion. The initiative demonstrated how invasive species management could be transformed into a livelihood-enhancing, ecosystem-restoring practice. Moreover, vermicomposting helped rehabilitate wetland ecosystems by curbing hyacinth spread, allowing sunlight and oxygen back into aquatic systems, thereby restoring its biodiversity.
• Community training on vermicomposting techniques ensured adoption of best practices. • Provision of vermicompost pits, tools, and follow-up technical support enhanced implementation. • Success stories from pilot participants created motivation and trust in the process. • Peer-to-peer learning, especially among women, fostered rapid knowledge exchange.
• Vermicomposting invasive biomass supports both ecological restoration and sustainable agriculture. • Women’s leadership in vermicomposting generated community-wide interest and strengthened social bonds. • Behavior change requires sustained awareness-building and visibility of results. • Limited mechanized options for removal of water hyacinth created bottlenecks, suggesting need for technical upgrades. • Active local facilitators were essential to motivate participation, address challenges, and scale the practice to new areas.
Community-led vermicomposting using water hyacinth
Individual fodder cultivation for sustainable livestock management
Women-led eco-nurseries for reforestation and livelihoods
Elevating public awareness
Featuring black bear science education as an exhibition zone in the Hubei (Wuling Mountains) Wildlife Specimen Museum, externally promoting and popularizing species knowledge and project achievements. Nature educators organized public museum tours, conducted wildlife rescue activities, science lectures, etc., with annual public reception exceeding 35,000 person-times. By displaying spectacular black bear footage captured by the project, publishing science articles, and streaming real-time videos, visitors observed bears without disturbance. In recent years, illicit excavation, deforestation, and poaching have nearly vanished. Local residents now fully recognize the species’ importance; diverse educational approaches fostered comprehensive multidimensional understanding of Asian black bears, acknowledging them as part of the reserve community while avoiding intrusion into bear habitats.
1.Biodiversity conservation concepts have landed and rooted in China; vigorous publicity and retransmission by major mainstream media elevated attention to black bears; 2.High prioritization by Houhe NNR management leadership; full cooperation from the reserve’s professional nature education team; continuous reporting by communicators; 3.The reserve possesses an effective external display platform—a multifunctional, technologically advanced specimen museum with diverse exhibition methods, centrally showcasing outcomes of black bear initiatives; 4.Obtained black bear footage was exceptionally compelling, shattered traditional perceptions, and sparked public discussion.
1.Timely dissemination of project outcomes within reserve communities invited media to narrate black bear stories; collaborated with residents to film species-related documentaries, enhancing community recognition; 2.The reserve regularly submitted promotional materials to CCTV, leveraging mainstream media for nationwide publicity, amplifying project influence; 3.Published research findings in academic journals, targetedly proposing species conservation and human-bear conflict mitigation solutions; 4.Research outcomes require transformation into science education materials easily understood by the general public.
To effectively resolve wild beasts harming farmers, the Houhe Reserve invested 244,000 yuan, purchasing 63,000 meters of fencing nets for free distribution to communities, and issued 160 sets of prevention alarms; explored installing 5,000 meters of pulse electric fences; annually acquired 50,000-100,000 yuan in wildlife damage insurance, installing real "insurance" for residents' production and livelihoods. Through alarms, fencing nets, and electric fences, effectively warned of black bear presence, blocked bears from entering community areas, alleviating human-bear conflicts.
.1.Social organizations’ attention to "human-bear conflicts," opening purchase and compensation channels for wildlife damage insurance to reserve communities; .2.High prioritization by reserve management leadership, annually directing dedicated funds for purchasing related materials and wildlife damage insurance.
.1.Alarm installations maintained appropriate distances from residential points, reducing triggered alarms and noise disturbances to residents while effectively warning of wildlife proximity. .2.Protective fencing requires sufficient coverage area to effectively safeguard residential zones and production assets. .3.Wildlife damage insurance claim recognition and compensation procedures need optimization toward intelligence—current recognition processes and compensation implementation require substantial manpower with lengthy process completion times. .4.Alarms and fencing only partially mitigate human-bear conflicts; amid expanding black bear populations, new pathways must be explored to balance wildlife conservation and community development.
Infrared camera traps obtained photographs of a black bear
Infrared camera traps obtained photographs of a black bear in upright posture.
The Houhe NNR applied for financial support through multiple channels, and the black bear survey project secured 300,000 yuan from the "Green Mountains Public Welfare Nature Conservation Initiative" fund. Subsequently, scientific staff from the Houhe NNR selected 20 high-frequency black bear occurrence sites to deploy infrared camera traps, installing three infrared cameras at each trap point to capture individual identification markers of black bears. Simultaneously, they collected bear feces, hair, and other trace information to assist in population analysis. Using infrared camera traps, they identified and marked a portion of captured individuals, estimated the black bear population size in Houhe via mark-recapture methods, and concurrently conducted surveys through semi-structured interviews, completing a total of 193 questionnaires.
1.Sufficient funding ensured carrying out team investigations, study tours, and fieldwork; 2.Invited relevant experts from the Chinese Academy of Forestry's Forest Ecology and Environment Institute for on-site guidance, enabling reserve researchers to master relatively mature survey and research techniques and methods; 3.An enthusiastic research team ensured the effectiveness of the work; 4.Full cooperation from community residents who truthfully provided feedback completed the questionnaire surveys; 5.The black bear species possesses distinctive traits – the V-shaped chest patch can serve as an identification feature for individuals.
1.Invited community residents familiar with mountainous terrain to participate in fieldwork, and conducted initial technical training for field staff at the project's outset; 2.During the preparatory phase, utilized monitoring data from past years for preliminary analysis, laying the foundation for subsequent field deployment planning; 3.Community survey sample size and representativeness were limited—193 questionnaires could reflect some issues, but coverage of more villages and diverse stakeholder groups (farmers, tourism practitioners, conservation staff) would yield more comprehensive data; 4.Integration of multi-year monitoring data and long-term monitoring mechanisms need improvement; current data primarily supports short-term research; recommends establishing a black bear population dynamics database, combining GIS technology to analyze human-bear conflict hotspots, providing basis for long-term conservation.
Tourists the visit the different nesting beaches had the opportunity to see the nesting process of sea turtles, as well as witness the release of sea turtles first-hand. These experiences were accompanied by educational information, including the species conservation status, the time of release (at dusk since that is when there are fewer predators in the water), and the importance of nesting beaches.
During the newborn turtle’s releases, hotel guests were invited to watch the journey of the baby turtles from the dune to the sea. This activity was highly appreciated and was very popular, and the participation of the security team and ropes was essential to maintain order among the people and the safety of the baby turtles. As a reference for its potential economic impactfor the hotel, considering it as a recreational activity, an estimated 150 people participated in each release.
Enabling factors
Raising awareness among tourists is essential to strengthen conservation processes and to generate conscious communities in the future. Responsible tourists can act as advocates for protecting sea turtles and, in turn, helps inspire interest among future travellers who seek meaningful experiences connected to conservation
Lessons learned
Public-private partnerships, understood as cooperation between companies and institutions (public or special), allow the structuring of competitive and sustainable advantages where both are benefited and are the undisputed way to achieve the SDGs.
Thoughout the whole process, launch clean energy awareness campaigns, produce educational materials, and promote synergies with focus on sustainable businesses to support Community Scouts and enhance community wellbeing.
