Monitoring, Verification & Reporting of Reforestation Projects in North & East India
Partner: One Tree Planted (OTP)
July – August 2022
BACKGROUND
OTP is a US-based non-profit organisation focused on global reforestation. Their mission is to make it simple for anyone to help the environment by planting trees. With their on-ground partners, OTP is restoring forests, creating habitat for biodiversity, and generating positive social impact around the world.
Sustainable Green Initiative (SGI) has been working with One Tree Planted (OTP) to grow fruit and timber trees, and mangroves in India, specifically West Bengal, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. The nature of such work requires effective cooperation between multiple organisations, farmers and landowners to meet plantation targets. More than 1,370,962 trees have been planted 2019 and 2022, in collaboration with 11,600 farmers across 190 villages in Odisha, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal. The sheer scope of work being undertaken by OTP, SGI and their partners is nothing short of impressive; they are arguably undertaking the largest tree plantation intervention in the country (with the exception of the Indian Government).
CONSULTANCY SERVICES PROVIDED
Monitoring, Verification & Reporting
The objectives of this consultancy were to:
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Conduct site visits to the mangrove and agroforestry sites in North & East India
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Assess the success of current projects being implemented;
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Review past monitoring data and reports in collaboration;
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Review current agroforestry approaches and models being undertaken, and;
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Provide recommendations on approaches and models being implemented
We undertook a mixed-method approach which included:
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Physical verification of 42 reforestation sites in Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
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Review of previous monitoring information, remote sensing data and associated reports
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Discussions with local plantation partners, farmers & landowners, SGI field staff and OTP staff
OUTCOMES
The outcome of this consultancy was a report detailing our findings, an evaluation of our findings and recommendations to support OTP and SGI in strengthening their approaches to meet the needs of the communities they are working with, and their respective visions, through strategic reforestation actions in India.