Civil Society Grant Facility
Posted On: September 26th, 2018
The NWFP (Non-wood forest products) group of Pheluma of Samdrupjongkhar Dzongkhag is managing their community forest resources and enabling their members through skills and product development.
The village is remote and continues to practice subsistence agriculture, with very little scope for income generation for the people. Cane and bamboo, are however, found to be abundantly available in the forest. The group was therefore formed to manage and sustainably harvest these resources for potential income generation.
Members from the 53 households (19M, 34F) in Pheluma, have reviewed their old NWFP management plan and revised it based on current resources and needs. The members also planted bamboo saplings in 2 acres as a means to ensure sustainable re-foresting with the required species.
The members managed to obtain substantial technical support from the local forest field officials, subject matter specialists from the Department of Forests and Gewog administration in implementation of their activities.
The group will further work on obtaining product development skills training by an expert in the near future. They will also visit relevant institutions and learn from other similar groups in the country through an exposure visit.