Sustainability in Action
Social & Farm Forestry
ITC's afforestation project is driven by the realization that India's poor forest cover - a meagre 11% of the geographical area of the country against a desirable 33% - has serious implications for the rural poor. Forests and common property resources constitute as much as 20% or more of the total income source of such households. ITC has effectively leveraged its need for wood fibre to provide significant opportunities to economically backward wasteland owners. The main plank of ITC's forestry projects is the building of grassroots capacities to initiate a virtuous cycle of sustainable development.
ITC, working with select NGOs, identifies poor tribals with wastelands and organizes them into self-supporting forest user groups. The user group leaders are trained by ITC to follow best silvicultural practices to grow high quality timber as a viable cash crop, and other local species that meet domestic, fodder, fuel and nutrition requirements. ITC provides a comprehensive package of support and extension services to farmers - loans, land development, planting of saplings, plantation maintenance, marketing and funds management helping the farmer produce a quality that attracts the best price. After the first harvest, the farmer returns the loan to his forest resource user group, in the process, creating a village development fund large enough to sponsor aspiring timber growers. Or meet other village development needs. Making sustainability a reality.
