Seva Mandir works on commons such as pastures and forest through community institutions like Gram Samuhs (see Sustainable Development) and Forest Protection and Development Committees within the villages, and Van Utthan Sansthan, a federation of such committees in the region. They act as a social force to decide on operational rules and management processes, removing encroachments through persuasion, compensation and incentives, and generating awareness of the benefits of the proper management of these resources.
We have developed and afforested 248 community pastures, 37 Joint Forest Management (JFM) sites and 1,630 wasteland sites, covering 16,350 hectares of land. We have worked to ensure the sites’ sustainability continues, and so far 70-80% of the common lands are well managed.
More than 63,000 families have benefited through this work, with over 120 million trees being planted. These trees have sequestered 300,000 tonnes of carbon (CO2) produced annually, benefited more than 400,000 livestock with access to better quality fodder and improved pastures. There are on average 11 types of tree species in a developed pasture site (Shannon Index: 2.5)
Overall, communities have an annual saving of INR 3,000-4,000 (USD 40-60) per family from access to pasture land for fodder.