The Dewlieh Biodiversity Nursery was officially launched today in the Khatarshnong Laitkroh area of Sohra sub-division, East Khasi Hills.
The nursery is part of the ongoing special project of NESFAS that aims to scale out successful community-based livelihood initiatives through training, improving access to resources and creating market linkages with a special emphasis on youth, women and small marginal farmers.
Members of the Dewlieh Primary Agroecology Cooperative Society were present during the launch along with the NESFAS team and Abhinav Das of the regional arm of LIC Housing Finance Ltd.
The nursery is being managed by the Dewlieh Primary Agroecology Cooperative Society and came about as a continuation after working on a “biocentric restoration effort” from 2021 and 2023, a press release stated.
“We acquired some saplings from the forest and we have also done some stem cutting for generating more saplings. There are over 14 native plant and tree species and over 15,000 saplings in this nursery. The journey of collecting and taking care of the saplings started on June 21 this year and I’m thankful to those whose cooperation made this possible so far.” Shaiphar Dohling, Community Consultant for Field Supervision and Facilitation, said.
Dewlieh is a small community located in the lush valleys of Khatarshnong that lies in a fragile ecological zone facing mounting pressure from land-use changes. The rapid expansion of broom grass cultivation and extractive livelihood activities had contributed to significant biodiversity loss in the area. Since 2014, NESFAS has been working with the community focusing on strengthening Indigenous food systems and promoting biodiversity.
In 2021 and 2023, NESFAS, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation, undertook the biocentric restoration efforts at Dewlieh with focus on locally valued species such as Erythrina indica and Exbucklandia populnea and saw a staggering 95 percent survival rate after plantation. This high success rate is attributed to the use of native plant species rather than using fast-growing non-native species of plants/trees.
The nursery is equipped with polybags, and materials to construct low-cost infrastructure using locally available resources such as bamboo, straw, and reclaimed wood. These efforts kept costs low while remaining rooted in traditional practices. The nursery has been built on local knowledge, shared responsibility, and ecological relevance, making it an inherently sustainable initiative. The use of locally available materials and community labour also helped reduce costs, while the integration of traditional practices is set to enhance local ownership and adaptability.
In the future, the Dewlieh community envisions expanding the nursery to include medicinal and wild edible plants, linking conservation with nutrition and health security for future generations. For now, Dewlieh’s community nursery model offers a replicable pathway for biodiversity-based, community-driven landscape restoration across other indigenous communities in Meghalaya.
