ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

CONSERVING MEDICINAL PLANTS

Unprecedented global levels of demand for rare medicinal and aromatic plants for use in natural remedies and cosmetics has led to uncontrolled collection of these plants from the forests and grasslands they are found in nature. Many of the delicate ecosystems that are naturally attuned to support such plants are already suffering the effects of climate change, which in conjunction with rampant habitat destruction, is leading to a huge loss of biodiversity. Much wild-harvesting typically involves methods that prevent any regeneration of the plants, and is consequently unsustainable. Numerous such plants are now endangered, and yet they play an important role in the interconnectedness of local flora and fauna, contributing to the stability of ecosystems as a whole. Moreover, a number of indigenous populations in isolated rural communities have limited access to state health care, and rely instead on the traditional medical knowledge of local healers that have for generations harnessed these medicinal plants for the health and wellbeing of their communities.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

CONSERVING MEDICINAL PLANTS

Pragya is working to conserve and protect threatened species of medicinal and aromatic plants in the unique ecosystems that support them- a work that won us the Whitley Gold Award - see Awards.

We are generating awareness amongst communities through educational sessions and campaigns on the local herbal wealth. We also deliver courses for schools and colleges on conservation of herbal flora and habitat management. 

We empower communities to protect and monitor locales at particularly high risk through initiatives like ‘Community Protected Areas’, areas of depleting medical plant wealth protected by social and / or physical fencing, with replanting where necessary. In particular, Pragya promotes local youth engagement through training and enlisting them as ‘Young Biodiversity Managers’, equipping them with biodiversity monitoring guides, plant identification manuals, re-planting materials and tools, for habitat and biodiversity monitoring and upkeep.

We have collaborated with communities to conduct ethnobotanical surveysand to document the herbal wealth in biodiversity-rich areas and to identify threats to biodiversity. Working together with traditional healers, Pragya secures the preservation of ethnobotanical knowledge through the likes of herbal wealth inventories. People’s councils are involved in preparing and updating Community Biodiversity Registers to record the local herbal wealth and its status in the wild.Read more about our research and documentation work on medicinal plants in Pragya’s program on Culture Preservationand on our Researchpages.

Pragya has also developed cultivation of the threatened species of medicinal plants as a viable alternative source of supply of the plant material, which has had a significant impact on the conservation of their status in the wild- see Pragya’s Program on Cultivation of Medicinal Plants.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

CONSERVING MEDICINAL PLANTS

GEOGRAPHY / LOCATION

The programme on Conserving Medicinal Plants has been/ is being implemented in the Himalayan belt and its foothills comprising the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

BIODIVERSITY AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT

Rich in endemic flora and fauna, many of which are CITES featured or IUCN-red listed, several of the unique and vulnerable habitats in India, such as the Himalayas, are under ever greater pressure from multiple forces, including local industry, road construction, expansion of human habitations, clearing of lands for agriculture, and the over-exploitation of natural resources for profit. Significantly, climate change presents a serious threat to the fragile and delicately balanced ecosystems found across India that support rare plant and wildlife, and to the livelihoods of the predominantly agrarian communities inhabiting and proximate to such habitats. Apart from shrinking resources, these ecosystems are witnessing increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters with severe impacts on resident humans and local biodiversity.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

BIODIVERSITY AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT

The preservation and management of unique and vulnerable habitats is a key focus for Pragya, and permeates many areas of our work, from livelihoods and renewable energy to women’s empowerment and youth engagement. Pragya is working to counter the threats to these habitats and mitigate their impacts, empowering communities for grassroots habitat monitoring and management.

We run awareness campaigns, using local media and arts, targeting a cross-section of community members with a focus on farmers, women, traditional healers, and youth, educating them on threats to local biodiversity and the impacts of habitat destruction and climate change, and encouraging participation in local habitat conservation. Pragya has developed fun, interactive ecology courses for school childrenas well, recognising them as future custodians of the local environment.

We help establish Community Conservation Councils to coordinate and manage local conservation activities, and train the community in the sustainable use of shared land and water resources. The councils work to reduce avoidable human pressure on wild resources through common property resource management. They are facilitated to develop and monitor codes and limits for use of the common resources, whilst establishing alternative sources of natural resources including plant nurseries, woodlots and fodder farms, frequently on degraded lands. Councils are further supported to engage with relevant authorities to foster collaborative management of forests and habitats.

Especially vulnerable habitats such as wetlands and pasturelands as well as forest areas rich in economically important speciesare a key focus. Local youth are trained in wetland monitoring and conservation methods, and undertake wetland restoration initiatives and revitalisation of natural springs via infiltration-enhancing measures. Pastoralists are trained on rotational grazing methods and facilitated for moisture conservation and reseeding measures for the regeneration and improved productivity of rangelands. Communities in buffer zones of forest areas are helped in afforestation and protection of micro-hotspots of biodiversity. Ourwasteland development initiatives help communities revive lands that had been rendered barren and infertile, enabling these to be used for fodder farming and growing woody species for household use, with associated benefits to soil quality and wildlife; training and support for watershed management helps them in sustainable use of land and water resources, with a particular focus on lands being eroded and water bodies being degraded.

Pragya is also working with community councils, local youth and provincial governments on Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction. These stakeholders are being trained in Green Development and encouraged to incorporate such measures in the local development plans towards reducing adverse developmental impacts on the local habitat. They are also being assisted to undertake appropriate ecosystem conservation actions particularly targeting identified vulnerable zones, such as afforestation of eroded and landslide-prone hillsides. See also the Pragya programme on Disaster Preparedness and Resilience.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

BIODIVERSITY AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT

GEOGRAPHY / LOCATION

Pragya’s Programme on Biodiversity and Habitat Conservation has been/ is being implemented across several states in the Himalayan belt in northern India and its foothills, including in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

For the millions of rural and predominantly agrarian communities in India, access to adequate water is a critical need. Most small farmers are wholly dependent on the rains for irrigating their fields, since they lack the capacity and access to technologies that would enable them to draw water from distant sources. Patterns of use of existing water resources have also, frequently, tended to be inappropriate and inefficient. Water bodies- ponds, streams and rivers- are grossly overused, often by humans and animals and degraded therefore, risking their sustainability. Wetlands, infiltration zones and floodplains have been encroached upon with adverse impacts on the recharge of water bodies and aquifers. Climate change has brought water woes of newer kinds as well. Rainfall patterns have changed and are increasingly unpredictable, rainfall is decreasing and aridity increasing, and extreme weather events- severe droughts, cloudbursts or intense rains leading to floods- are also on the rise. The vulnerable rural poor are particularly hard hit, and struggling to cope. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Pragya works on water management in rural India blending suitable traditional practices and modern technologies towards efficient and sustainable use of water along with its conservation.

Pragya has conducted rigorous studies on hydrology and water stress and the suitability of various irrigation and conservation technologies- see Research. Studies in the Himalayas have been followed by several water management innovationsby Pragya and their implementation. The technique of harvesting snow by creating snow reservoirs has been pilot-tested; solar water pumps have been installed for lifting water from rivers to settlements located on steep slopes; snow-fences have been trialled for capturing snow-drifts for enhancing infiltration and soil moisture. Efficiency of traditional technologies such as earthen water channels and storage tanks has been enhanced, with technologies that minimize water loss through seepage & evaporation.

Pragya’s research into water management and technologies has guided our programmes with farming communities in rural India to help them cope with their water stresses. Pragya is experimenting with new irrigation technologiesfor water harvesting, developing new methods for moisture conservation, and infusing improved technologies for water storage and distribution/usage. Farmers are provided exposure & training on techniques like hydrams, sprinkler and drip irrigation systems, as well as micro water management structures such as farm ponds, check dams & percolation tanks. Local water seminars are being used to catalyse community innovations that blend traditional water sourcing, storage & distribution methods with appropriate technical inputs to increase their effectiveness.

Natural springs, the traditional sources of drinking water which have been drying up as a result of climate change and habitat degradation, have been revitalised. Based upon thorough assessment of springs at risk and their infiltration zones, communities have been assisted to take up afforestation for greening of their feeding grounds and creation of infiltration ponds that would help enhance water flows, and construction of protective platforms at water access point that reduce contamination of drinking water sources. Women and youth in communities have been trained to do water budgeting and set up household level rainwater harvesting.

Wetlandshave been a particular focus of Pragya’s conservation work. Local youth have been trained and involved in the assessment and conservation of wetlands in the Himalayas and the species dependent on them, including Black-necked cranes and Brahmini ducks. Community management councils have been formed for each wetland and facilitated to develop and monitor adherence to conservation codes. Pilot initiatives for restoration and wetland biodiversity conservation have demonstrated these methods. A communication package including a documentary film, posters and pamphlets, has been designed, and a conservation education program run in several schools.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

GEOGRAPHY / LOCATION

Our Water Resources Management program has been/ is being implemented in the Himalayan belt in northern India as well as the arid zone in western India, covering specifically the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS

For India’s remote rural communities as well as its neglected urban slums, power supply is often erratic and unreliable, if available at all. Some communities even suffer complete power outages for months at a time. In response to energy insufficiency, communities become overdependent on traditional energy sources like wood fuel and biomass, which drives deforestation in sensitive habitats. Community health suffers also, with air pollution from the burning of fuels and use of kerosene lamps indoors contributing to respiratory diseases, where women and children are most at risk. With intermittent energy comes insufficient irrigation and post-harvest processing, leading to poor yields, disrupted supply chains, and ultimately low returns for agricultural output. Key state infrastructure such as schools and health centres are also negatively impacted, disruptive to children’s education and impeding the provision of quality healthcare. These underserved communities deserve better. Government attempts at grid extension and other state energy initiatives in the remote regions and marginalised communities where Pragya works have proved unfruitful for many. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS

At Pragya, we take a pragmatic approach to the problem, bringing clean, off-grid renewable energy solutions to underserved, under-electrified communities.

Pragya began its renewable energy programme with a rigorous technology assessment study to identify the potential of different Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) such as wind, solar, hydro, and designing an award-winning (Energy Globe Award), socio-ecologically appropriate solution for remote communities- see Researchand Awards.We have a three-tiered approach to propelling the adoption of clean energy: we install renewable energymicro-gridsusing solar and solar-wind hybrid systems for shared village electricity supply; we provide renewable energy-driventechnologies for agricultural purposessuch as solar pumps for irrigation and solar dryers for post-harvest processing; we also provide clean energy support to community centres and schools, such as solar panels for lighting and solar water heaters.

Building capacity at the grassroots, we facilitate the locally-led management of these clean energy initiatives, through the establishment of Community Energy Boards, responsible for overseeing the maintenance and usage of the clean energy facilities established under our projects.

Another Pragya program on Green Livelihoods and Developmentconverges with this program and supports its sustainability. The Green Livelihoods and Development program trains local youth as Rural Technopreneursenabling them to take up sales and serve of renewable energy technologies as a livelihood; they are also promoting the uptake of clean energy technologies in our program areas.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS

GEOGRAPHY / LOCATIONS

Pragya’s Clean Energy Programme has been implemented in the Himalayan belt in northern India, specifically the districts of Leh and Lahaul & Spiti in the western Indian Himalayas, Uttarkashi in the central Indian Himalayas, and Tawang and W. Kameng in the eastern Indian Himalayas. It is currently being implemented in the western Indian state of Rajasthan.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

GREEN LIVELIHOODS AND DEVELOPMENT

Lack of adequate opportunities for income-generation in rural communities in India is causing socioeconomic stagnation and encouraging youth outmigration in search of better prospects. The apparent lack of rural job creation persists despite India’s growing economy, with ruinous impacts on local economies and detrimental to the continuity of cultural identities. Creation of economic opportunities in these rural areas with their nature-dependent communities however needs to be weighed against the potential adverse effects that developing industries or businesses would have on the local ecosystems. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

GREEN LIVELIHOODS AND DEVELOPMENT

Pragya’s Green Livelihoods and Development programme supports youth in marginalised and rural communities to pursue eco-friendly livelihoods and businesses that would also spur local economies.

One such Green Livelihood being promoted by Pragya is centred on the sale and service of Renewable Energy (RE) appliances. Focusing on youth with an aptitude for technology, we are fostering Rural Technopreneursthrough intensive vocational training courses covering the installation and maintenance of electrical and Renewable Energy appliances. Supporting this, Pragya encourages the development of local RE markets, by helping the trained technopreneurs establish ‘RE-Kiosks’, rural energy retail outletsfor the leasing and sale of RE-appliances, such as solar home-lighting kits, water heaters, and cookers. The Kiosks also offer repair and servicing of RE-appliances, and act as demonstration points to showcase RE-technologies. We are simultaneously educating communities with campaigns on the transformative potential of RE. 

Pragya is also training rural youth with an aptitude for and interest in agriculture, for providing agricultural extension servicesand promotion of new methods and technologies for agriculture and land and water management, and climate smart agriculture. Intensive vocational training courses are delivered in collaboration with agricultural universities and the trained Agricultural Advisorsare also linked up with Pragya’s Agri Clinics in the program areas which continue to mentor them. The Agri Advisors are providing advice on soil quality improvement, crops and farm productivity enhancement, irrigation and other farm technologies, adaptation to climate change. The Agri-advice service is being shaped into a gainful livelihood for the youth which also re-energizes the local agrarian economy.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

GREEN LIVELIHOODS AND DEVELOPMENT

GEOGRAPHY / LOCATION

The programme on Green Livelihoods and Development has been/ is being implemented in several states in north India, including those of Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.