Environmental
1. Does BioFuel tree-planting compete with food production?
2. What impact will large-scale tree
planting have on the local environment?
Operational
3. Will the programme survive after
the campaign stops providing support in year 3?
4. Is the local government interested in
supporting this programme?
5. Can this campaign be scaled up in other parts of the world?
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1. Will BioFuel tree-planting compete with food production or other
activities?
The
region selected for this campaign has large amounts of land that
is too rocky, sloping or eroded to support food crop production.
This land is fragmented into small family holdings of under 5
acres.
Nomadic herders bring their goats
through these lands after the monsoon season is over, but the
fodder supply is limited and short-lived. Grazing can
continue while the trees grow, as cattle do not damage the trees
(see photo of goats grazing on the field site with very young
saplings) .
Thus the tree-planting system promoted by the campaign does not
compete with land use for Food or Fodder.
The harvesting periods for the
different oilseeds trees also fall outside of the main
agriculture growing season. This avoids competition for the time
and attention of the women's groups who would otherwise be engaged
in food production activities on their better agricultural land.
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2. What impact will large-scale tree-planting have on the
local environment?
Planting trees on previously barren
land is likely to change the local ecosystem in a significant
but complex way. It is therefore essential to plan such an
activity diligently and proceed cautiously to avoid doing harm.
Some questionable practices that
have been conducted in the name of tree-planting include:
-
Clearing of existing shrubs &
vegetation
-
Heavy earth movement
-
Fencing that prevents
traditional movement of people, wildlife, and cattle
-
Use of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides that have downstream effects
-
Introducing new species that can
become invasive, crowding out native species and reducing
diversity
-
Introducing or strengthening new
pests or diseases
-
Placing burden on local water
resources, particularly groundwater
Done well however, planting trees
can provide many valuable "ecosystems services". These include:
-
Green cover - which provides
shade and protects the soil from extreme sun
-
Carbon sequestration - locking
up carbon dioxide to help fight climate change
-
Water retention - simple water
management structures and the trees themselves hold water and
release it slowly (see photo of dam structures and iso-contour
trenches along a hillside)
-
Soil stabilization - less
erosion by wind and water
-
Soil regeneration - leaf fall
adds nutrients to soil, and some trees fix nitrogen from air
to soil
-
Biodiversity promotion -
moisture and nutrients mean more microorganisms, insects,
birds and other animals
-
Climate
buffering - extremes of hot and cold temperatures are reduced
The campaign has sought guidance of
local and outside experts in biodiversity and conservation to ensure it promotes the right
practices to minimize risks and maximize benefits.
But nature is the chief guide: only species that grow naturally in the local area are being
used. Once established, most survive without any care at
all; therefore intensive management is unnecessary and local
ecosystems can be enhanced through the promotion of such
species.
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3. Will the programme survive after the campaign stops
providing support in year 3?
The campaign has been designed with
the goal of becoming fully self-sustained by local women after
Year 3.
The greatest risk to programme
survival is in the first three years. After the trees establish
however, they tend to be remarkably resilient to environmental
stresses and produce an increasing amount of oilseeds every year
without very expensive additional inputs.
Therefore, there are strong economic
advantages to the project’s sustainability: as long as BioFuel
is worth more than the cost of harvesting and processing seeds,
local community members will keep on benefiting from the trees
planted by this campaign.
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4. Is the local government interested in supporting this
programme?
Interest in tree-planting and BioFuel production is very high in
various state and central government agencies in India.
The Ministry of Rural Development is leading India’s drive to
promote BioFuel tree-planting and is strongly supportive of the approach taken
for this campaign.
The Government of
Maharashtra is considering assigning its own idle land to
non-profits for tree-planting purposes, which may enable scaling
up further and directly targeting the landless poor.
The local District administration
is very supportive of this campaign and has indicated interest
in aligning some of its ongoing watershed and infrastructure development activities with
the needs of the campaign's ecoSHGs. This has not been assumed in the
budget for the campaign.
Finally, many Panchayats
(village councils) in the
local area are keen to attract the campaign to their villages by
helping to organise environmental awareness days and bring
together their communities.
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5. Can this campaign be scaled up in other parts of the world?
Tree-planting for sustainable BioFuel production using the
campaign's model is possible across the semi-arid tropical
regions of the world where the same tree species grow naturally
and similar socio-economic issues exist. (see areas suitable for
BioFuel tree-planting circled on the map below)
We are in touch with individuals and
organisations in Kenya, Tanzania, and Cambodia who are
interested in partnering to replicate the "Plant a BioFuel Tree"
campaign model. Please
contact us for more
information.
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