Client:- Telangana State Forest Department (TSFD)

Multiple afforestation and regeneration activities have been undertaken under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) in Telangana in lieu of forestland diverted for non-forest purposes. Recognising the need to assess the efficacy of these activities, Telangana State Forest Department has engaged IORA to conduct third party technical evaluation of CAMPA works carried out from 2016-2019. On-site verification and discussions with stakeholders will be carried out to assess the veracity of the work executed under CAMPA. Based on this, a comprehensive data report will be prepared, along with relevant geo -tagged photographs, based on physical verification so that meaningful inferences can be drawn about the quality and quantity aspects of different categories of works executed under CAMPA.

Client:- Telangana State Forest Department (TSFD)

Under CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authority), large-scale activities have been taken up by Telangana State Forest Department (TSFD) from 2009-2010 onwards for preservation & development of natural forests, afforestation of degraded forest areas, forest protection, forest fire management, management of wildlife, capacity building, research & development, infrastructure development in the sector and other allied works. IORA Ecological Solutions carried out technical evaluation of activities taken up from 2009-2010 to 2015-2016 year wise throughout the state under different components of CAMPA. The study involved design of evaluation methodology, sampling of ten per cent of each component for each year and visits to all concerned forest areas to physically verify and record CAMPA works.

Client:- IIFM, Bhopal

Situated on the east coast of India with a coast line of nearly 450 km, the state of Odisha is highly vulnerable to climate change and natural calamities like floods, droughts, cyclones and heat waves. In an endeavor to build the state’s resilience, the Odisha Government launched the Increasing Green Cover (IGC) Scheme in the FY 2013-2014 for a period of 4 years. IGC undertook afforestation and regeneration activities across urban areas in the form of Economic Plantation, Avenue Plantation and Bald Hill Plantations. It furthered the Odisha Bamboo development programme, agro-forestry, permanent nurseries, distribution of efficient chulhas and plantations in areas under forests as well as outside. IORA in collaboration with IIFM, was hired to conduct a third party evaluation of the IGC Program for the period of 2013-2014 to 2016-2017. We assessed the suitability of the scheme, scope for modification, efficacy of implementation, survival, growth, and impact of plantation techniques applied and accordingly suggested modifications. Working on a stratified random sample of 550 sites, verification was carried out using GPS mapping, across 44 forest divisions and 2 urban sites. Using physical verification and collection of field data, non-plantation components like Fuel Efficient Chulhas, Maintenance of Permanent Nursery, Agroforestry, SSO of Timber and SSP of Bamboo were also verified.

Client :- Maharashtra Forest Department

IORA developed an Afforestation Decision Support System (ADSS) for the Department of Forest, Government of Maharashtra. ADSS is a region-specific and context-based user-friendly tool developed under the afforestation programmes of Maharashtra Forest Department. After finalizing the parameters for the system, IORA analysed the data and also created GIS layers in the spatial domain which constituted forest type, forest cover, LULC, soil, temperature, rainfall, hydrological and geological information. ADSS is an android based application and the project data is also web-based with access to location-specific information. IORA also designed an Afforestation Decision Support System (ADSS) by developing a web-enabled portal (WEP) hosting the GIS layer and a database to answer queries for both android and iPhone systems.