The State Government on Thursday decided to implement the Phase II of the Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project (OFSDP) with JICA support from the year 2017-18.
A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting held between State Govenment and the JICA Contact Mission Team under the chairmanship of Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan at the State Secretariat here. PCCF Projects-cum-Director of the OFSDP Dr Ajit Patanaik presented the project objectives and outlined the issues for discussion.
While JICA Contact Mission Team Sachiko Imoto expressed happiness that people provided full cooperation for implementation of the Phase-I project in 11 forest divisions under 10 districts, Balkrishnan assured the team all sorts of support and assistance for implementation of the Phase-II. He advised the OFSDP Director to transform the programme to a mass movement among the people.
After the meeting, OFSDP Director Patanaik told reporters that around 2426 Vana Sanrakshyan Samities (VSS) and 7,000 self-help groups (SHGs) were directly involved in the Phase I programme against the target of 2,370 VSS and 5,000 SHGs respectively. Around 56 Environment Development Committees (EDCs) in protected areas of three wildlife divisions also actively participated in it .
The project implemented from 2006-07 to 2014-15 with total financial outlay of Rs 802 crore developed around 2, 10, 000 hectare of degraded forest land and created additional income for all members of the aforesaid SHGs and VSSs.
The Phase-II of the project targeted to improve 4.8 lakh hectare of degraded forest and develop 50,000 hectare of farm forestry in many forest and wildlife divisions across 18 districts. It would provide alternative livelihood sources to 3,000 VSSs and 10,000 SHGs.
Besides, 11 forest divisions covered in the Phase I have also been included for up-scaling income generating activities and livelihood support. The budget estimate for Phase-II is around `1,739.50 crore which includes JICA loan component of Rs 1,509.50 crore and the State Government share of `200 crore. It would be rolled out from 2017-18 and would continue for 10 years.c