T
 
 
Our Work in India
 

  India
Overview: Extremely high population density, coupled with serious overgrazing and centuries of deforestation have left major scars on the landscape. Droughts and declining soil fertility are creating a crisis for already impoverished farmers
Our Project:

Trees for the Future is working on greatly expanding our India program. Our partnership with the Yoga community is supporting the planting of 1 million trees in India. Our work is mostly focused on the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
 

The Environmental Crisis

While almost one million acres of land in Assam, West Bengal, and other regions in Northwest India and Bangladesh get flooded regularly, the people of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India, 1000 miles away from the flood zones, are struggling with drought and a lack of fresh water. Trees have been cleared, erosion is stripping topsoil from farmlands, and little rainwater is channeled back into aquifers. In the end of 2004, the great tsunami hit Tamil Nadu causing further destruction to an already struggling region.

 


Program Partners in Action

One of Grace Trust’s women’s self-help groups prepares
nursery beds with trees donated by TREES.

Our Response

Trees for the Future is working with farming communities, schools, and women’s groups through a network of local organizations to address the water crisis that is punishing the region’s agricultural production and the health of the people. There is interest in planting a variety of fruit trees, timber and non-timber species suitable for the degraded red soil - with the emphasis being placed on planting fast-growing, multipurpose species that are supplying a wide array of products while serving as barriers to minimize further erosion.

 
The majority of all our work over the last two years has been in the region of
Tamil Nadu, the southeastern region hit hardest by the devastating 2004 tsunami. We have recently expanded to Andhra Pradesh, a region that is suffering from prolonged droughts, which has created
an epidemic of farmer suicides.
Training in sustainable agriculture
Update: January 2008
 
We are translating our agroforestry training manuals into Tamil and Telegu in order to increase our training activities. In-country seed distribution is underway, and we hope to distribute over 2 million seeds as part of our programs in 2008. We recently partnered with the Indian Autorickshaw Challenge, which is helping to distribute seeds and training materials along their route from Chennai to Kanyakumari.
 
Subramanian watering bare root nursery
Subramanian watering bare-root nursery Gangisetty in front of subabool (leucaena leucocephala)
 
Update: May 2007
 
Our main field representative in the area is Subramanian Periswamy, whose organization, the Rural Development and Aforestation Society (RDAS) is spearheading our tree-planting efforts in the region. We have developed an in-country seed distribution network, utilizing the seed resources of the Palini Hills Conservation Council, a local NGO based near Dindigul. Gorav Seth, TREES South Asia Program Coordinator, spent 18 days on-site in January 2007, where he helped to conduct a two day agroforestry training course in conjunction with RDAS and John Button, an Australian permaculture instructor based out of Tiruvannamalai.
 
A windbreak planted by Grace Trust
Agroforestry Training in Tiruvannamalai


List of Partnering Organizations  
RDAS - The Rural Development and Afforestation Society Tiruvannamlai, Tamil Nadu
EDPS - The Empowerment of Downtrodden People Society Lalgudi, Tamil Nadu
PARD - The Peoples Association for Rural Development Madurai, Tamil Nadu
VAIGAI River Conservation Trust Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Grace Trust Madurai, Tamil Nadu
The Green Tree Foundation Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh
The Indian Autorickshaw Challenge Chennai, Tamil Nadu
   
 
Trees for the Future | P.O. Box 7027 | Silver Spring, MD 20907 | 1.800.643.0001 or 1.301.565.0630 | LINK PARTNERS