Extremely
high population density, coupled with serious overgrazing and
deforestation have left major scars on the landscape. Droughts,
dropping water tables, and declining soil fertility are creating a
crisis for already impoverished farmers.
Our Project:
Our
India program began in the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu, and is now
expanding to the north. Our partnership with the Yoga community is
supporting the planting of 1 million trees in India.
Current Status
We are working in 3 areas of India: Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu; Talupula, Andhra Pradesh; and now Uttarkashi, Uttarkhand.
Environmental Issues
While almost one million acres of land in Assam, West Bengal, and other
regions in Northwest India and Bangladesh get flooded regularly, the
people of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India, 1000 miles away from the
flood zones, are struggling with drought and a lack of fresh water.
Trees have been cleared, erosion is stripping topsoil from farmlands,
and little rainwater is channeled back into aquifers. In the end of
2004, the great tsunami hit Tamil Nadu causing further destruction to
an already struggling region.
Social Issues
While some sectors of Indian society have greatly improved their
standards of living, life for the average farmer continues to be a
struggle for survival. Thanks to the vagaries of commodity prices and
the weather, the high costs of pesticides and fertilizers, and
declining yields, India has experienced a horrifying number of farmer
suicides. At the same time, common lands continue to be degraded, as
overgrazing and fuelwood harvesting destroy the remaining fertility.
Agroforestry Training in Tiruvannamalai
Training in sustainable agriculture
A windbreak planted by Grace Trust
Our Response Trees
for the Future is working with farming communities, schools, and
women’s groups through a network of local organizations to address the
water crisis that is punishing the region’s agricultural production and
the health of the people. There is interest in planting a variety of
fruit trees, timber and non-timber species suitable for the degraded
red soil - with the emphasis being placed on planting fast-growing,
multipurpose species that are supplying a wide array of products while
serving as barriers to minimize further erosion.
The
majority of all our work over the last two years has been in the region
of Tamil Nadu, the southeastern region hit hardest by the devastating
2004 tsunami. We have recently expanded to Andhra Pradesh, a region
that is suffering from prolonged droughts, and in 2009 we are starting
a new program in the northern state of Uttarakhand, which will be
working with villages and local governments to enhance the productivity
of common lands.
Program Update: January 2009
We
have translated our Agroforestry training program into Telugu, and will
soon complete the translation into Tamil. In-country seed distribution
is underway, and we hope to distribute over 2 million seeds as part of
our programs in 2009. Our partners continue to find new and innovative
ways to plant trees, in a region that has extremely high population
density. The India program continunes to grow, and we have contacts
throughout the country that are ready to start planting trees in the
coming year.
List of Partnering Organizations
RDAS - The Rural Development and Afforestation Society
Tiruvannamlai, Tamil Nadu
EDPS - The Empowerment of Downtrodden People Society
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