3. Retain focus through
ongoing incentives & support
Financial incentives
Many tree-planting programs suffer during the long gap between tree-planting and tree maturity.
After the initial excitement has died down and until the trees
start producing income 3-5 years later, attention
drifts away. Trees are not inspected regularly
(especially if they are in out of the way areas), don't
receive regular care, or aren't protected adequately.
To address this challenge
and recognising that the target communities have an
immediate need for income, the campaign will provide input
material and a small salary to ecoSHGs to
cover tree maintenance every quarter for the
first 3 years.
These funds will be
conditional on clear commitment to maintaining the trees
and attending monthly meetings and training sessions.
Groups that fail to uphold their commitments may not
receive ongoing support and may be reorganised. In this
way, up to one-third of the campaign budget (the amount
for ongoing support over 3 years) will only be used if the campaign is on track.
This "pay-for-performance" or "pay-for-impact" approach
significantly reduces risk for donors.
Finally, for groups showing
exemplary motivation and commitment, small
rewards and cash bonuses will be distributed to
highlight what can be done and create emulation.
Accessible technical support
The Environmental Champions will be regularly trained in
relevant skills to provide ongoing support
during the critical stages in the growth of the trees,
like pruning, top-dressing, and pest management. They will also help ecoSHGs resolve
issues and inform the campaign team of progress and
potential problems. The technical campaign
staff will help to manage and resolve more serious issues.
Continuous Learning &
Sharing
ecoSHGs members will receive ongoing training in
monthly village-level meetings. The training will cover topics like functional literacy, sustainable natural resource management and
micro-entrepreneurship. The topics will be determined
based on input from community members and the material
will be developed with local and outside partners (e.g.
components of the
training have been drafted based on discussions with attendees
of the 4th
International Conference on Environmental Education and the working group on “non-formal spaces
for learning”).
In all participatory
meetings, ecoSHGs members will
be invited to share their own ideas and issues with
core team experts, visiting specialists, and regional
entrepreneurs and role models.
Targets:
-
Tree survival rate of over 80% in Year 1
-
Regular attendance of women to
monthly meetings and training sessions
-
Cash for ongoing tree maintenance and rewards for good
tree health up to $1050/yr per woman for first 3 years
