About 10,000 saplings have been raised by a nursery in Tluh village in East Jaiñtia Hills district under the Community-Led Landscape Management project (CLLMP) funded by the World Bank and implemented by the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA).
Sharing its success story with Highland Post, the MBMA said as of 2021, the Village Natural Resource Management Committee (VNRMC) has sold 2960 saplings to other CLLMP villages for a total amount of Rs. 37,000.
“This money will be used for the care of the nursery and for raising more tree saplings. Further, about 2800 saplings were selected for various afforestation activities which have been implemented in the village,” it said.
Pointing out that in recent years, the importance of nursery-grown seedlings has grown immensely because of heavy requirements both for supply to the public for planting under social forestry programmes, and for advancing afforestation programmes and initiatives, the MBMA said the nursery in Tluh village was set up for raising local indigenous tree saplings belonging to a particular landscape which have higher survival rates when eventual planting is carried out.
“The success of this nursery is in its intelligent site selection and maintenance. The nursery is located centrally, is close to a water source, and is accessible for transportation. Proper conservation is another reason behind its success,” the agency added.
Each day a member of the VNRMC, a village committee that oversees the implementation of the project at the village level, or a Village Community Facilitator (VCF), a person trained by the project to lead NRM interventions for the community at the village level, would volunteer to water the saplings and clean the nursery.
Chairman of the VNRMC, Marpil Dkhar stated that like most of the villages in East Jaiñtia Hills, Tluh has also faced extensive degradation of natural resources due to coal mining activities. Therefore, the village community prioritized the establishment of a nursery for raising local tree species to prevent them from becoming endangered.
The local tree species which have been raised are Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Blackberry (Morusnigra), Dieng Chyrngan (Schima wallichii), Dieng Sning (Castanopsis armata), and Dieng Rtiang (Quercus serrata), and other species include Coffee, Lemon Grass, and Bottle Brush.
Further, about 2800 saplings were selected for various afforestation activities which have been implemented in the village.
