Multi-disciplinary Projects

Dodamarg is an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), part of the Western Ghats (a biodiversity hotspot) and a wildlife corridor. This study aimed to prioritize financial mechanisms for conservation activities in the area, like REDD+ feasibility to reduce the pressure generated from various drivers of deforestation. IORA generated a Land use/cover change matrix by analysing the Landsat satellite data from 2005 to 2015. The satellite datasets were classified using a hybrid approach. IORA used both leaf on and leaf off datasets to delineate the forest cover. Total area under study was 1350.21 square kilometres.

IORA was commissioned by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to formulate a national policy on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and develop its corresponding operational guidelines for clusters of villages in the most vulnerable districts in India.. CSA is an integrative approach that aims to sustainably increase agricultural productivity, support equitable increase in farm incomes, food security and development; adapt and build resilience of agriculture and food security systems to climate change; and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. In order to develop this policy IORA has identified key CSA practises and mapped existing government programmes to bring about an efficient convergence of these programmes.

DurationJuly 2017-Dec. 2017

“IEMaC is a USAID supported project under their InFORM program, led by IORA Ecological Solutions and supported by other organizations like MART and Bioversity International. IEMaC aimed at reducing pressure on forests through development of innovative gender sensitive models for improved fuelwood management, community-centric solutions for sustainable harvesting and efficient market channelling of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) and community-based forest monitoring tools. The project was implemented in two landscapes; Sirsi in Karnataka and Mandla in Madhya Pradesh. NTFP enterprises were developed as an alternative livelihood opportunity for forest dependent communities. This involved developing sustainable NTFP harvesting techniques, community-centric entrepreneurs, Farmer Producer Company (FPC), organic certification and value addition at processing hubs and market linkages leading to a 30% increased income for forest dependent communities. Training has been initiated for over 50 women farmers. The program resulted in certification of 27 wild harvested produce, 20000 Ha of forest land & 400 farmers as organic under USDA-NOP, NPOP & EU 847/2007 organic standards.
The project led to the development of iFoReST (India’s Forest Resource Decision Support Tool), an innovative decision support system (DSS) that scientifically guides investments aimed at addressing unsustainable extraction of fuelwood from forests. The iFoReST was deployed in Sirsi and Mandla in with the Karnataka Forest Department and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, respectively. Several clean technology installations targeting domestic, commercial and institutional users of fuelwood were carried out by clean technology entrepreneurs trained under the project. There was 1,000 tonnes of reduced CO2 emissions as a result of community plantations, fuel-efficient water heaters, dryers, cookstoves ,and jaggery processing units along with household biogas plants.

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The overall goal of the project is to safeguard the forest and biodiversity sectors of Mizoram from the impacts of climate change. IORA is using two key approaches viz. global analysis of Mizoram’s’ forest ecosystems and the assessment of forests and biodiversity vulnerability using multi-factor analysis. A combination of top down and bottom up approaches using IPCC and UNDP guidelines will be used to develop a sector specific climate change resilience action plan for Mizoram. The key steps involved in the execution of the project include assessing the inherent and the future vulnerability of the two sectors through consultations, field activities and simulations. Field activities will be conducted across the eight districts of Mizoram to gather primary data that will be utilised with secondary data to assess district wise vulnerabilities. This will be validated through stakeholder consultations. Climate smart adaptive actions, vulnerability assessment (inherent and future) of important species and preparation of an index based vulnerability layer for Mizoram will be finalized through consultation reports. Additionally, an Intervention Resource Matrix will be prepared to understand the interventions, resource availability and budgets for project management purposes.