Rainforest Alliance

Indian Farm Forestry Co-operative Limited’s Project in Uttar Pradesh, India is being implemented in the districts of Allahabad, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Unnao and Lucknow of Uttar Pradesh, and covers an area of 222 hectares. The project estimates it will reduce 169,554 tc02e over the course of the 30 year project lifetime. Implementation of the project activities are intended to assist farmers, especially women, to promote plantation establishment on wastelands and marginally productive lands by organizing primary farm forestry co-operatives and thus making it a people’s participative program. The project activities will help in improving soil and water conservation and bringing about ecological balance, and to generate consistent employment for the rural poor and thus help them in their socio-economic development. The target group comprises of small and marginal farmers (men and women) owning less than two hectares and the landless whose percentage is above 90 percent of total members.

This is one of the few attempts made in India to bring management of common property natural resources under the cooperative sector. Techniques for developing different kinds of wastelands like degtraded saline soils; ravines etc. have been developed with the assistance of research institutions and demonstrated on the ground. Innovative approaches such as developing medical plants or introducing poplar plantings for fram forestry have proved to be successful.