Kohima, November 28 (MExN): The Enhancing Landscape and Ecosystem Management (ELEMENT) project in Nagaland has reached a major milestone with the conclusion of its Tripartite Negotiation Meeting and the World Bank's approval. This significant development paves the way for the project's implementation, aimed at promoting sustainable landscape management in the state.
According to a press release from ELEMENT, Nagaland Project, the USD 81.5 million project, financed by the World Bank-International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), will be implemented over five years in 225 villages across 15 districts.
The Project will be implemented by the Society for Climate Resilient Agriculture in Nagaland (SoCRAN) under Agriculture Production Commissioner Cell (APC Cell).
The ELEMENT project focuses on four key components, which include strengthening capacities for integrated landscape management. Under this, the focus is on building capacities for integrated landscape management to promote sustainable use of natural resources.
Another component is restoring degraded landscapes to improve ecosystem services, intervention on agriculture-based livelihood including spring shed management, soil conservation, and carbon sequestration.
The third component is enhancing landscape-based value chains for economic transformation, which involves enhancing value chains for high value forest and farm products to promote economic transformation and improve livelihoods.
The fourth key component is the project management, monitoring, and evaluation. Here, the focus will be on establishing a robust project management and monitoring and evaluation framework to ensure effective implementation and impact.
By adopting a holistic landscape approach, the project aims to empower forest-dependent farming communities to make scientifically informed decisions, restoring forests, preserving biodiversity, and promoting climate-resilient agriculture and livelihood-support activities, the press release added.
This project is expected to bring significant benefits to Nagaland's environment, economy, and communities, and its approval marks a crucial step towards achieving sustainable development in the region.
It may be mentioned that the ELEMENT project is a twin project, which is also being implemented in Tripura. The objective is to improve landscape management and increase benefits for targeted forest dependent communities in Tripura and Nagaland.
