Why forest landscape restoration in Ganjraha village of MP is in a confused state

By Monica Tewari, Garbhit Naik, Mansee Bal Bhargava* 
Forest landscapes are complex in nature with the interconnectedness of flora and fauna with soil, water, air, and many more aspects including the social-cultural appropriation. A degraded forest landscape makes it even more complex as a wicked problem because of the dominance of the anthropocene which alters, slows and even ends the regenerative capacity of the forest.
The UN decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) highlights the need to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation for all ecosystems on earth to address critical challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss (UN Decade on Restoration, n.d.). To restore the degraded forest landscapes, the concept of Forest Landscape Restoration initiated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature holds a significant relevance.
In this field essay, we diagnose the attributes of the Forest Landscape Restoration from our experience of restoration efforts at Ganjraha (photo), a village at the periphery of the Bandhavgarh National Park in Umariya District in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. The essay is part of a long-term action research on, ‘Social-ecological approach to governance and sustainability of forest and forest dwellers in Ganjraha.’ The essay includes a brief about the Forest Landscape Restoration and the study area, followed by analyzing the social-ecological attributes that existed at the study area and exercised so far in the restoration process, and finally a discussion on the way forward to the restoration opportunities and challenges.

Forest landscape restoration

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, refers to the Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) as, “the ongoing process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being across deforested or degraded forest landscapes. FLR is more than just planting trees – it is restoring a whole landscape to meet present and future needs and to offer multiple benefits and land uses over time.” The FLR is considered to offer a cost-effective strategy to rapidly rehabilitate the extensive degraded forests (Prasad et al., 2023). The FLR envisions a comprehensive approach to greening that extends beyond plantation, aiming to achieve carbon sequestration and biodiversity enhancement through ecosystem restoration. Simultaneously, it seeks to improve the socio-economic security of forest communities.
Restoration as a critical step in ecosystem management in a degraded forest is a wicked problem that has no clear-cut linear solution, and makes it more difficult as the multi-aspect problems are perceived by multiple actors from multiple levels, layers and organizations carrying multiple perceptions thus priorities (Elia & Margherita, 2018). The simple technical approaches for restoration that applied simple formulas to estimate sustainable yields of single species in past have been surpassed by studies recognizing the inherent complexity of ecosystems and the inability to foresee all consequences of interventions across different spatial, temporal, and administrative scales (DeFries & Nagendra, 2017).

Growing complexity of forests in Central India

The total forest area in India spans 7,75,288 square kilometers, constituting 23.58% of the nation's geographical area, of which, Central India consists highest share with around 20% (ISFR 2021). However, statistics from Global Forest Watch (GFW) reveal a concerning trend: between 2001 and 2023, India experienced a loss of 2.33 million hectares of tree cover, marking a 6.0% decrease since 2000 (GFW, 2023). Among all the nation’s forests, the dry deciduous forest of Central India is observed to be the most vulnerable in the current and the long-term climate scenarios (Sharma et al., 2017).
Like most forests, the Central Indian landscape is also impacted by the anthropogenic activities primarily agricultural practices are altering the availability of indigenous tree species for local use and other ecosystem services in the long-term (Agarwala et al., 2016). The intensive agricultural practices have also resulted in the loss of carbon stocks and have become the key reason for large-scale forest decline (Shukla et al., 2022). The situation is further aggravated in Central Indian Landscape, like the Bandhavgarh National Part, due to highest number of recorded forest fires nationally (ISFR, 2021) and the long-standing struggle of sustainable collection of forest produce (Jalonen et al., 2023; Raj et al., 2019; Shahabuddin & Prasad, 2004).
Several government and non-government organisations along with the Forest Department of the Government of India are making exemplary efforts to conserve biodiversity by emphasizing co-evolution between local biodiversity, indigenous ecological practices, culture and self-development (Nanjunda, 2008). We are working with one such not-for-profit organisation namely, Prakruti Prerna Foundation (PPF), in the Ganjraha village and the surrounding forest environs. This essay is a reflection and learning from the forest restoration process that is assessed through physical understanding of the place and the people over three years.

Peripheral villages of Bandhavgarh National Park and Ganjraha

Ganjraha alias Gajraha (as people generally pronounce it) is situated 35 kilometers away from the Tehsil alias sub-district headquarter Manpur (tehsildar office) and 60 kilometers away from the district headquarter Umaria in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. Bakeli is the Gram Panchayat of Ganjraha village. Importantly, Ganjraha is located in the buffer forest of the Bandhavgarh National Park. The famous Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is spread over the Vindhya hills consisting of a core area of 105 square kilometers and a buffer area of approximately 400 square kilometers. With the highest density of Royal Bengal Tigers, a plethora of magnificent flora and fauna -- Bandhavgarh is the most-visited protected wildlife reserve in the country. In addition, however, the forest is suffering from extensive deforestation and invasion of a shrub weed namely, Lantana Camara L (called Raimuniya in Hindi).
The total geographical area of the Ganjraha village is 874.5 hectares (2,200) acres. 75% of the village area is under the forest, and rest is farmlands and ravines. The villages located on the periphery of Protected Areas are critical transition zones that present a huge potential for large scale community-led restoration initiatives. Since, PPF is located in Ganjraha and the forest restoration efforts are tried out in the area, the village cum forest environ serves as a study area to observe the complex interaction of human habitation and wilderness. This study presents a first-hand and situational analysis and assessment of the forest landscape restoration processes and the prevailing complexity that make it a wicked problem. The villagers who are also the forest community of the region is the unit of analysis alongside the forest ecology.

The opportunities and challenges of Forest Landscape Restoration

1. Population dynamics and community engagement

There are about 105 houses in Ganjraha located in the distant bank of the Tributary Hulphul. A compact village housing around 447 people, out of which male population is 234 and female population is 213. The literacy rate of the village is 55.70% out of which 61.11% males and 49.77% females are literate. In the recent 2024 Lok Sabha Election, Ganjraha made a headline for 100% voting which may be seen as villagers are very much active in the social-political whereabouts of the country, besides being ecologically rooted to the forest and economically rooted to the forest allied livelihood. This also became a crucial means to experiment on the Forest Landscape Restoration by the PPF for the past three years.
Like most typical tiny villages in India, one can only find the elderly, women and children in Ganjraha, because most of the youth have migrated to the city for livelihood and aspiring a quality of life. This has created a sense of detachment of the community with the forest landscape by both generation and gender which has hindered the restoration efforts. Additionally, the growing population in nearby urbanizing areas like, Umariya puts more pressure on the limited resources of both Timber and Non-Timber Forest Produce. Forests and unregulated government lands are being cleared and into farmlands to meet the livelihood and lifestyle influenced by connecting with the outer world. The loss of forested land also means loss of wild animals and human-wildlife conflict. During late hours, tigers are spotted near human settlements roaming in search of prey. The societal aspirations for modern transitions further complicate the forest land restoration based on traditional ecological knowledge.

2. Livelihood with livestock rearing and overgrazing

Agricultural lands adjacent to the Protected Areas face huge risks of attacks from wild ungulates. As a result, the villagers are primarily dependent on livestock rearing as livelihood. Free range grazing provides livelihood to few villagers whereas, it acts as a part time activity during collection of logs and other forest produce. Extensive livestock grazing poses a potential threat to the conservation of sensitive native species, which can cause their extinction and reduce species richness. It has reduced the available forage and the important habitat qualities needed by wild ungulates by altering the structure and composition (Usha Dahal, 2023).
The cattle primarily include the low productive cows, buffaloes and goats which often are preyed upon by tigers (Chouksey & Singh, 2018) and leopards. If the cattle become food to the cats, the villagers are offered good compensation by the Forest Department which adds to the complexity of ecology and economics. So, remote villages like Ganjraha that lie on the edge of Bandhavgarh often witness a shocking phenomenon of stray cows (photo). During summer, when fodder is unavailable, the villagers abandon their low productive cows and wait for them to either return after summer or be eaten by a tiger and receive compensation for it. 

This has led to continuous increase in the number of stray cattle during summers, resulting in overgrazing, compaction of soil and loss of food for wild ungulates. Cattle from nearby villages also share these areas for grazing due to high number of agricultural fields and absence of pasture lands. Goats have been also identified as a major cause of ecological degradation and desertification from overgrazing (Valentine et al., 2020). Since goats comprise of a large share of worthy domesticated cattle in the region, feeding them is a big task. It is observed that goat rearing is one of the primary causes of deforestation as they feed upon tender leaves, for which, branches of trees are frequently being cut down, ultimately resulting in less fruiting of trees.

3. (Un)Sustainability of non-timber forest product

The communities that are dependent on the Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) derive income by selling forest products, which is crucial given the limited economic opportunities in the forested areas of Ganjraha and beyond in the forest. Notably, products like, Mahua flowers, Tendu leaves, tree-based oil seeds (including Sal, Karanj, Mahua, and Kusum seeds), and tamarind hold significant commercial value in the region (Ajay Kumar Mahapatraa, 2004; Singh, 2003).
The flowers of Mahua (Madhuca longifolia), is a fragrant blossom native to the Indian subcontinent and the main flora of the forest. The flower has a delicate appearance, with creamy-white petals and a sweet, intoxicating fragrance. It holds cultural significance in various communities and is often used in traditional ceremonies, cooking, and medicinal preparations. Additionally, the Mahua flower is valued for its potential economic benefits, as it is the raw material harvested to produce liquor and oil. Igniting the fallen leaves on ground is a common practice for preparing the ground for maximizing the collection of the flowers (photo). This is one of the main reasons for forest fires during summers.

Another major collection that the communities do is Tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon) leaves. It is also commonly known as the Indian ebony or East Indian ebony. The tendu tree is native to India and is highly valued for its leaves, which are used in the production of bidi cigarettes. Additionally, its wood is prized for its durability and is used in various woodworking applications. From our interaction, we found that for every 100 bundles collection (1 bundle=50 leaves) costs around a day’s labor and the collector receives 400 INR per day in the peak season of collection. To get more leaves quickly, people often cut down the branches of the tree (photo). This activity stops flowering and fruiting of the tree and hence limited propagation.

4. Deforestation, vegetation invasion and soil degradation

Apart from posing a threat to flora and fauna, the above-mentioned anthropogenic activities exacerbate the issue of soil erosion by destroying vegetation that plays a vital role in stabilizing the soil. Soil fertility and plant nutrition are interlinked which emphasize the forms and availability of nutrients in soils, their movement to and uptake by the roots, and the utilization of nutrients within plants (Khursheed Ahmad Wani, 2014). There is a serious percentage decrease in organic content in the soil which shows that there is not enough nutrient-rich organic matter in the soil that is required for healthy plant growth. Land degradation problems serious impact on the flora and fauna of the region and as one of the causes as well as impacts of climate change.
A typical consequence of deforestation and land degradation is the invasion of alien plant species such as, Lantana Camara which is prevalent in the region and most parts of Madhya Pradesh. Lantana camara poses significant challenges to forest and exacerbates climate-related issues. Its rapid spread and dense growth outcompete native vegetation, leading to a decline in biodiversity and altering soil structure and composition. The shrubs thick canopy hinders sunlight penetration resulting in negatively affecting the understory plant growth and regeneration. This disruption in vegetation dynamics further exacerbates the climate change impacts by reducing carbon sequestration potential besides altering the microclimate. Because weed is highly flammable and therefore its spread increases the risks of wildfires. It creates thickets that can catch fire, posing a threat to the ecosystem's overall stability as well as the liveability of the flora and the fauna.

Deforestation, alien plant Invasion and poor soil health present challenging situations for forest land restoration. For example, ravine formations up to 12ft deep alias the exposure of the roots of many trees are found in regular intervals of the forest landscape now. The trees affected die slow death before their natural death adding to the deforestation process (photo).

Discussion

The long-term action research on, ‘Social-ecological approach to governance and sustainability of forest and forest dwellers in Ganjraha’ through this essay highlighted the attributes of the Forest Landscape Restoration at Ganjraha village located at the periphery of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. The shrinking population and intergenerational dynamics are affecting the community engagement with the forest conservation and management. The forest health is further affected by the livelihood possibilities focused around livestock rearing resulting in overgrazing of the forest floor. The shrinking forest is affecting the sustainability of timber and non-timber forest product. All of them in aggregation are evidence to the rising deforestation, vegetation invasion and soil degradation.
We learned that sustainable forest landscape restoration is attributed to the recovery potential of natural ecosystem that includes soil-water and vegetation besides the active involvement of forest/local community. In case of Ganjraha, these factors are impacted to a large extent presenting a complex and cyclic state of degradation. This is putting those engaged in the restoration efforts in a confused state for a suitable starting point and process for restoration. On the one hand, measures taken to ensure afforestation and soil nourishment is not possible without regulating current anthropogenic activities of chemical intensive farming and unsustainable collection of forest produce. On the other hand, sustainable livelihood opportunities need to be discussed with the available local resources to ensure intergenerational community engagement importantly reverse the youth migration which is unlikely. Then the vegetation invasion such as lantana camara pose a serious threat to rural livelihood and restoration processes.
This phase of the study helped us set a reference for setting the forest restoration goals alongside raising some pertinent questions. Setting the forest restoration goals would further require thorough study of the native forest ecology besides understanding the successful and failed case studies of forest landscape restorations elsewhere importantly to identify the social engagement tools. The questions ahead of any forest restorer are around the approaches to soil, water and vegetation regeneration besides dealing with the invasion of weeds and monoculture farming. The future essays of this study thus are also tuned around these issues including the opportunities and challenges in the ongoing restoration efforts at local organizations like Prakruti Prerna Foundation and the Forest Department.

References

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*Monica Tewari is a PhD Scholar at School of Architecture of CEPT University Ahmedabad and a Senior Research Fellow at WforW Foundation. Garbhit Naik is a MSc student at ITC, Twente University, The Netherlands University and Interdisciplinary Researcher at Prakruti Prerana Foundation, W.for.W Foundation and Woder Foundation. Mansee Bal Bhargava, PhD, is an Entrepreneur, Researcher, Educator, Speaker, and Mentor from Environmental Design Consultants Ahmedabad and WforW Foundation. More about here are at: www.mansee.in, www.edc.org.in, and www.wforw.in.
Prakruti Prerna Foundation (PPF) with special mention of Srinivas Rachakonda who is committed to support the study besides the efforts the foundation is making in forest restoration. The villagers of Ganjraha, the foresters and the officials who support us with their knowledge of the place and the people. The WforW Foundation collaborating with PPF for a long-term study on ‘Social-ecological approach to governance and sustainability of forest and forest dwellers in Ganjraha.’