Supporting Activities under OFSDP

1. Preparatory Works

   1. Establishment of Executing Body (EB)

   Executing Body (EB) consisting of a Project Management Unit (PMU) at the state level, 14 Divisional Management Units (DMUs) at the Divisional Forest Office level and 71 Field Management Units (FMUs) at the Range Office level was established with proper status and support. The PMU is an autonomous Society registered under the Society Registration Act. Operation Manual was prepared as a code of financial, technical and administrative management of the EB In concurrence with the by-laws.

   2. JFM Area Selection and Demarcation

      A current vegetation/ land use map (1:50,000) was prepared with GIS technology using satellite imagery, depicting the Forest Division/Range boundaries etc. and was the technical basis for the selection of JFM sites where Project activities will be extended.

      The selection of JFM areas for the Project was carried out in three steps, i.e. prioritizing by the EB with a set of minimum requirements, criteria and a rating mechanism and possibly in a cluster approach, confirming community will to participate in JFM through a process of community resolution signed by all VSS members, and finalizing. The number of target villages /JFM areas for a target year in respective Divisions was thus determined and selection was done in 5 phases.

   3. Preparatory Works for Micro Plan – Survey and Mapping of JFM Area

      For the JFM sites selected, ground survey was conducted for demarcating the VSS assigned area and prepared maps using DGPS survey in 1:5000 scale depicting the crown density, standing stock, slope category, and other information required for formulation of micro plan.

2. Strengthening of Executing Body (EB)

   1. Improvement of Office Infrastructure
      • Renovation of the existing SFTRI building was taken up for the space for PMU of the OFSDS.
      • The existing DFO buildings concerned was extended by a maximum of 75 M2 to accommodate the respective DMU offices. No land acquisition was required for the extension.
      • All the existing Range office buildings in 71 selected ranges were extended by a maximum of 78 M2 to accommodate respective FMU offices including a floor space to gather VSS members.
   2. Facility/ Equipment Improvement
      • Computerized management / monitoring system at PMU with local area network (LAN) and GIS cell was established for project planning and monitoring
      • Computerized management / monitoring system at DMUs/FMUs was developed with appropriate numbers of computers and other accessories provided. After development of mobile application for web GIS, 340 mobile devices were procured and supplied to the field staff upto the level of foresters
      • Procurement of office equipment and furniture necessary for the offices of PMU, DMUs and FMUs.
      • Procurement of survey equipment: PMU was equipped with one DGPS and the DMU/ FMU were provided with GPS for Survey and mapping.
   3. Mobility Improvement

      To execute field inspection, technical assistance and monitoring 18 four-wheel type vehicles and 380 motorcycles were provided for DMUs and FMU respectively.

   4. Capacity Development
      • Training: The training programme was designed based on the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) with the contents, modules and training curriculums prepared to meet the training needs.
      • Study tours for selected DMU/FMU staff members were conducted
      • Annual review meeting were conducted to: i) review progress of the Project; ii) exchange views among the staff members from PMU, DMUs and FMUs; iii) identify technical, social and managerial issues/problems hampering proper implementation of the Project; iv) study best practice cases; and
      • provide feed back on appropriate countermeasures to the issues/ problems and lessons learned to the following year’s Project management

      Preparatory meetings were first conducted at each DMU office with representatives from the FMUs concerned. A general meeting at the state level will be attended by all PMU staff and representatives from DMU/FMU offices.

3. Infrastructure Development

   1. Forest Roads Development
      • Improvement/rehabilitation of existing forest roads through widening strategic stretches and strengthening of one side of the shoulder including the thick gravel sub-base.
      • New road construction in order to improve connectivity, in particular to plantation sites and protected areas. Related structures like hume pipe culverts, causeways, guard walls, and retaining walls were provided as required in the field
   2. Linking Road Development / Improvement
      • New link road construction for connecting a village or a cluster of villages to the nearby main road aiming at the economic development and livelihood of target community under the Project
      • Improvement of existing link roads to construct gravel roads with ordinary compaction.

4. Forest Research

   Forest research component was included to provide appropriate information, data and new technologies to be useful for the implementation of the Project. Different researches were undertaken through universities, NGOs and research organizations. The results of researches would be disseminated through the annual review meeting among EB members and publications.

   1. Biodiversity and Wildlife Study
      • Baseline survey carried out at the level of beneficiary households at the beginning of project provided a benchmark to assess Project impacts.
      • Collection of secondary data: Such data included i) census, ii) BPL census. iii) forestry statistics and iv) data on meteorology.
      • Development of web- GIS data base for the Project was developed to plan the interventions appropriately and to scientifically evaluate the physical progress and impact.
   2. Establishment of Management Information System (MIS)

      Web enabled MIS for recording all the project components was initiated in the beginning and the data implementation of the project was entered at FMU level. The FMU level data on all operations such as micro plan, project site descriptions, plantation, harvest and disposal of produce, village level information, and accounting module for expenditure accounting under different budget headlines. the MIS project was subsequently used for integration of with GIS.

   3. Progress Monitoring and Evaluation
      • Regular monthly monitoring by PMU on all FMUs and NGOs based on a monthly progress report in accordance with standardized formats. PMU will prepare its Project monthly progress report by compiling DMU level progress reports and will submit to the Governing Body.
      • Regular quarterly monitoring: Based on the monthly progress report, PMU prepare quarterly reports in which all major activities, results, findings, analysis and future plan will be illustrated. This report is being submitted to JBIC and the Governing Body.
      • Bi-Annual project review: Based on the quarterly report, the bi-Annual report is prepared by PMU and endorsed by the Governing Body before submission to the High Power Committee (HPC). It will clearly illustrate the comparison between the physical targets and actual achievements, as well as the situation of fund disbursement, problems and countermeasures.
   4. Impact Assessment and Monitoring
      • Physical impact assessment: interventions under both JFM and non-JFM modes help improve inherent function of forest/watershed such as mitigating soil erosion, mitigating peak flood discharge and prolonging/augmenting baseflow by improving water-holding capacity apart from improving water quality. During the Project period, impacts on mitigation of soil erosion and seasonal water regime was investigated.
      • Socio-economic impact assessment: Since the ultimate goal of the Project is to bring about a positive change in the livelihood of forest dependents, the socio-economic impact of project was evaluated as against the baseline data and household surveys
   5. Project Completion Evaluation

      In order to monitor and evaluate the progress of work and achievements, the evaluation was done on verifiable indicators to measure the progress and achievements of overall goals, purpose and outputs of the Project.