Rajasthan Forestry and Biodiversity Project :

The Project was designed to improve the natural environment as well as socio-economic conditions of the target regions in the state of Rajasthan, India, through afforestation and biodiversity conservation with the active participation of communities.

Also, the underprivileged who highly depend on the forest resources are concentrated in the project areas; thus the need for afforestation and biodiversity conservation with participation of communities including the poor households are high. Together with the consistency on the assistance policy to India by Japanese sides, the relevance of the Project is high.

Project Period :

 The actual project period was extended to 88 months from March 2003 to June 2010, as compared to the planned period of 61 months from March 2003 to March 2008, due to the delay in activities of farm forestry and biological parks

Project Outline :

 The objective of this project is to prevent desertification and restore ecological status of Aravalli Hills, protect infrastructure like canals and roads, improve biodiversity, augment the availability of forest products like fuel woods and fodder, generate employment opportunities by participatory afforestation and soil/ moisture conservation activities3 in the target 18 districts, 16 districts in the Aravalli Hills area and two districts in IGNP area, thereby contributing to improve the socio-economic conditions in the region.

At the time of project appraisal, the forest cover of Rajasthan was only 4.62% of the state’s geographical area which is much lower than the national average of 20.64%. Also it was known that the living standard of people in Rajasthan was quite low, and approximately 40% of state residents live under the poverty line. Most of people in this category belong to either SCs or STs, and live concentrated in the Aravalli Hills area. It is said that the poor households in the area repeatedly resort to tree-felling and over-grazing due to the insufficient cash income and it leads to deforestation. Even at the time of ex-post evaluation, the forest cover of Rajasthan is only slightly increased to 4.70%, which is still much less than the national average of 21.05%8 , and fell far short of robust recovery.

Effectiveness :

(i) Improvement of natural environment (expansion of forest areas and improvement of biodiversity conservation) Under the Project, 123,967ha have been afforested and forest areas were indeed expanded. As to improvement of biodiversity, according to the post-project survey, the beneficiary’s survey, and the interview to the officers of Forest Department, the villagers and officers confirmed that they saw more rare animals, e.g. Chinkara16 , in forest areas and the protected areas after the Project.

(ii) Soil conservation

 (iii) Prevention of soil erosion In the baseline survey and the post-project survey, organic carbon contents of soils and soil pH were measured and the results imply that the soil conditions were improved  . As for soil erosion, no investigation was carried out; however the positive effects are expected by considering the fact that one of the most effective measures for erosion control is expansion and restoration of plant cover.

(iv) Improvement of livelihoods  : In the localities where SHGs were formed and started IGAs, such IGAs contribute to the improvement of livelihoods. By the time  1,428 SHGs were formed and mainly engaged in small scale dairy husbandry and MFP processing.

(v) Job creation : Employment opportunities for afforestation activities and biodiversity conservation activities during the Project and for related O&M activities after the Project were indeed increased.

 (vi) Mitigation of forest resource exploitation

( vii ) Impacts on the natural environment  : At the time of project appraisal, a concern over the introduction of a non-native species, Acasia tortills, along with native Acasia was raised. According to the executing agency, Acasia tortillis has been introduced in the region for more than a few decades for the purpose of greening desserts. Non-native and native species have been co habituated so far without any negative impacts on the natural environment.

Recharge of groundwater through improved water-retaining capacity as a result of afforestation and moisture conservation activities of the Project was expected as one of the positive impacts on the natural environment.

( viii) Ecotourism : As to eco-tourism development, the executing agency commissioned World Wide Fund for Nature, India to conduct a study on eco-tourism before delineating the exact areas. Based on the recommendation of the study which identified areas of 400 ha to be targeted, the very 400 ha areas were conserved and developed as eco-tourism sites. Nature trails as well as camping sites were developed and the sites were just opened to the general public at the time of ex-post evaluation.

Conclusion : The Project was designed to improve the natural environment as well as socio-economic conditions of the target regions in the state of Rajasthan, India, through afforestation and biodiversity conservation with active participation of communities. Both at the time of project appraisal and at the time of ex-post evaluation, the national government as well as the state government have adopted robust forest policies aiming at one third of geographical area to be under forest cover, and therefore the Project is in line with the development policies. Also, the underprivileged who highly depend on the forest resources are concentrated in the project areas; thus the need for afforestation and biodiversity conservation with participation of communities including the poor households are indeed high. Together with the consistency on the assistance policy to India by Japanese sides, the relevance of the Project is high.

Under the Project, the expected effects and positive impacts such as the improvement of natural environment, soil conservation, mitigation of forest resource exploitation, improvement of livelihood, etc., were produced and therefore the effectiveness of the Project is also high. On the other hand, as for the efficiency, although the Project was implemented within the planned project cost, the project period was extended beyond the planned project period; thus the efficiency is concluded as fair. As for sustainability, the Forest Department, the state government of Rajasthan, has the appropriate organizational structure, technology and financial sources for operation and maintenance (O&M), and in fact, the actual O&M conditions is observed to be good; thus the sustainability of the project effect is high. In light of the above, this project is evaluated to be highly satisfactory.