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The North Eastern Region
Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP)
is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD). The overall objective of NERCORMP is
to improve the livelihood of vulnerable groups in a
sustainable manner through improved management of their
resource base in a way that contributes to preservation
and restoration of the environment.
The NERCORMP is looking
at participatory, sustainable, and viable community
based institutions that is expected to carry out a
people driven mode of rural development. . We have been
concentrating on building up Community based
Institutions (CBIs) at the grassroots level called -
Natural Resources Management Groups (NaRM-Gs) and Self
Help Groups (SHG).
One of the significant achievements
through the creation of CBIs is the emergence of a
bottoms-up planning approach by the village communities
based and perceived on their felt needs. Back to top.
Location:
 NERCORMP is located in the
North Eastern Region of INDIA and comprises the 7 States
of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland and Manipur. It covers an area of 255.000 sq km
representing around 8% of the total geographic area of
the country. It is a district geographical unit
connected to the rest of India through a narrow corridor
in North Bengal. Overall, 98% of its borders are with
other countries – Bhutan and China in the North, Myanmar
in the East and Bangladesh in the South and West. The topography of the NER comprises
three broad divisions – (a) the North Eastern Hills and
Basin (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and most of
Tripura) which accounts for 65% of the total land area;
(b) the Brahmaputra valley which covers 22% of the
region; and (c) the Meghalaya Plateau which covers 13%
of the area. The upland areas are characterized by steep
sided valleys and ridges with narrow valley bottoms and
flood plains which offer limited scope for
terracing.
The NER is renowned for its rich bio
diversity and it is one of the two areas in the Indian
sub-continent classified as an ecological `hot spot’,
denoting ecosystems, which are rich in bio diversity and
possess rare and/or endangered species and endemic
species. The NER is one of the most biologically diverse
areas of the world due to the dramatic changes in
elevation coupled with heavy rainfall. As many as 51
types of forest are found in the NER, ranging from
tropical rain forest, deciduous forest to snow-clad
alpine and sub-alpine forests and as many as 35 plant
genera are known to be endemic in the NER. Out of the
500 different species of mammals known in India at least
160 are from the NER whilst over 65% of the mammalian
genera recorded from India are also found in the NER.
NER is also home to a wide diversity of
close relatives of common food crops including rice,
brinjal, yams, ginger, turmeric, chilies, cotton, jute,
sugarcane, amaranth, mandarin oranges and other citrus
fruits. The genetic variability of tropical,
sub-tropical and temperate fruits, and of many other
crops and plants including ornamental, medicinal and
aromatic plants, canes, bamboos etc. is also large in
the region. Apart from their contribution to the
possible production of improved varieties of food crops
for future generations of mankind, many may also
represent untapped opportunities for commercial
exploitation. Back to top.
Objectives:
The overall objective of the
North Eastern Region Community Resource
Management Project for Upland Areas (NERCORMP)
is to improve the livelihood of vulnerable groups in a
sustainable manner through improved management of their
resource base that would contribute to the preservation
and restoration of the environment.
The project is trying to address the
critical institutions constraint to development in the
North East. It is focusing on introducing approaches
which are:
a) More responsive to communities
perspectives on needs and priorities.
b) Involve the communities more in
decision making and planning.
c) Make communities more responsible
for management of their development programmes in order
to generate a greater sense of ownership of development
interventions.
d) Build on traditional values and
participation and utilise the strength of village
institutions and sustainable use of the available
resources.
The first element of this strategy was
focus on developing self-reliant community institutions
to prioritise the needs and participation's of the
community and to plan and implement the project
activities in a sustain manner. This approach led to the
establishment of Natural Resource Management Groups Back to top. |
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(NaRM-G) on the lines of
community participation and keeping the
socio-cultural-political cogitations of the community
intact. The NaRM-G will assess the community : men,
women and
youths. The NaRM-G has been formed in 616 villages distributed in
6 project districts.
Strategy:
The second element of this strategy
was to introduce participatory planned approaches and
final priorities activities identified through the
involvement of inter communities. This led to the
promotion of Natural Resource Management Plan (NaRM-P).
The NaRM-P for the year 2000-2001, which has been
planned with active involvement and participation of the
communities, is mainly focused on 3 aspects:
a) Social Sector
b) Livelihood
Activities
c) Training.
An important element of the
strategy was also to focus on changing the attitudes and
behavior of the principle promoters of development in
the region. This involved
a) Orientation of the Government, Line
Departments and NGO Staffs on participatory
approaches.
b) Re-orientation of resource approach to
cooperate respect for indigenous knowledge and
participatory resource methods on non-farm trials and
seek re-orientation and strengthening of extension
services to make them more client oriented and more
responsive and relevant to the needs of the community. Back to top.
Components:
The Project's objectives are being
achieved through the following components:
1. Capacity Building of Communities
and Participating Agencies
The primary objective of
this component is to provide a mechanism for
community-level decision-making and to strengthen the
capability of communities to take responsibility for the
management of their own development.
2. Economic Livelihood
Activities
The objective of the economic
livelihood activities are to expand viable
income-earning activities for resource poor households
in crops, horticulture, forestry, livestock, fish
production and non-farm activities using sustainable and
environmentally sound practices.
3.Community Based Bio-diversity
Conservation
The objectives of this
component are to:
a) Assist communities to conserve their
unique and natural resources and biological diversity
through utilising the commercially valued products in an
environmentally sustainable manner and through the
development of new enhanced natural resource based
production system.
b) Strengthen indigenous institutions
and institutionalise new conservation practices.
4.Social Sector Activities
The objectives of this component
are to:
a) Improve access of communities to
safe drinking water and better health care
b) Provide young people with a better
understanding of the village environment and a greater
willingness to remain in the village and promote
sustainable agricultural production.
5. Village Roads and Rural
Electrification
The objectives of this
component are to:
a) Assist communities to upgrade and
construct a village road that will improve access to
their villages and facilitate movement of produces to
markets.
b) Provide electricity to a number of
communities with a view to broadening the economic base
of the rural economy through opening up possibilities
for
the development of non-farm activities. Back to
top. |
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