Landscape restoration aims to improve ecosystem services and build climate resilience. ITC has implemented landscape restoration projects covering over 260,000 hectares involving soil and water conservation techniques, sustainable agriculture practices, groundwater management, biodiversity promotion, and climate-resilient livelihoods. Challenges include integrating diverse stakeholder interests, aligning multiple institutions and programs, and establishing payment for ecosystem services.

1. Landscape Restoration for Improving Ecosystem
Services and Building Climate Resilience
Landscape Restoration for Climate and Communities
Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges in Madhya Pradesh
23 July 2016, Bhopal

2. ITC’s Agri-Business - Snapshot
Business Relevance - High Stakes in Indian Agriculture
• Direct engagement with nearly 2 hundred thousand farmers thru crop
development on more than 3 hundred thousand hectares
• Farmer connect thru eChoupals – 4 million
• These farmers operate in moisture stressed areas:
 Agriculture mainly rain-fed - crop production unstable
 Depletion of bio-mass - aggravating top-soil losses & surface run-off
 High soil erosion - implications for fertility & productivity of land
 Climate change
Business Product/s Major Sourcing - Crop/produce
Foods business - Biscuits, noodles &
pasta, wheat flour, candies etc.
Potato, Wheat, milk
Paper & Paper- Boards
Pulp wood species - eucalyptus, subabul,
casuarina & bamboo
Commodity businesses Soya, Coffee, maize, tobacco etc.

3. ITC’s Social Investments Programme
 Coverage: 16 states, 166 districts
On Farm Livelihood Interventions: Livelihood Today
 Natural Resource Management : Watershed
Development, Social & Farm Forestry, Sustainable
Agriculture.
 Integrated Animal Husbandry Programme
Off Farm Livelihood Interventions: Making Future Ready
 Women Empowerment: SHGs & SHG based Micro-
enterprises.
 Targeting hard-core poor
 Universalisation of primary education
 Skill Development of youths to improve employability
 Health & Sanitation.

4. Approach: Multi Stakeholder Alliance
• Partnership Between;
– Communities &PRIs – As direct implementers of the
project and owners of the asset created
– Specialist NGOs & Expert Agencies – As TSA of the
project with community mobilisation skills and
technical competence to facilitate and handhold
communities for the implementation
– Corporates – As co funders and supporting partners
with managerial competence and business partners
– Government – As resource providers to support the
project financially and technically and provide policy
direction
• Currently, ITC has MoU for 27 PPP projects with state
governments and NABARD for watershed development
in 5 states covering a target area of over 158,000 ha in
nearly 200 villages.
Natural
Resource
Management
Communities as
Direct
Implementers
Government
Resources &
policy support
Specialist NGOS
Managerial
Competence
and Business
Skills of
Corporates

5. Landscape Restoration : Components
 Soil and Moisture Conservation
 Ground Water Management and Water Security
 Sustainable Agriculture Development
 Promotion of Biodiversity
 Building Climate Resilient Livelihood
 Institution Building

6. Land Degradation
 16.4 tonnes of fertile top soil is lost per hectare per
year of which:
- 29% is lost permanently to the seas and another
- 10% flows into reservoirs thus reducing their storage
capacity by around 2% per year.
 Water is given preference over soil
 Soil Moisture is a neglected area

7. Soil and Moisture Conservation
 2,60,000 ha area treated so far
 8,300 water harvesting structure

8. Measuring Soil Erosion: Sediment Monitoring Units
Catchment area = 1230 Ha
Raingague distance = 5.7 Kms
SMU location - Khajuriya
Raingauge location – Ratanpur (Sehore)
S.
No
District
Project /
PIA
Location
village
Sediment quantity
(Tons/year)
Estimated
value
Actual
calculated
value
1 Sehore
ITC SMC /
VIBHAVARI Khajuriya 3,215 4,282
2
Chhind
wara
ITC SMC /
IDYWC Khadwadi 4,268 11,328
3 Sehore
ITC-IWMP /
Samarthan
Ramakhe
di 2,045 -

9. Unsustainable Ground Water Use
• India is the “global champion” in groundwater irrigation:
 40% of irrigated area from tube-wells
 15% of groundwater tables over-exploited
• Sustainable use & groundwater development a major challenge
Watershed plans should be aligned to the science of hydro-geology
Source: Minor Irrigation Census, http://micensus.gov.in/

10. Ground Water Management and Water Security
No.of functional borewells
in the entire catchment
5,825
Nos
Average discharge from
each borewell
210
LPM
Average annual pumping
hours of each borewell
900
Hrs
Discharge from each
borewell in m3 11,340
m3
Total discharge from all
borewells
66 Million
m3 / year
Total watershed area 305 Million
m2
Annual groundwater
abstraction
217
mm
Average annual rainfall in
watershed
1,100
mm
Water storage in soil 220
mm
Annual groundwater
recharge
165
mm

11. Ground Water Management and Water Security

12. Ground Water Management and Water Security
 Ghod river
 Catchment: 3.58 lakh
ha
 No of villages: 440

13. Co-Creating an Ecosystem of Sustainable Agriculture
Information
&
knowledge
Access
to inputs
& markets
Sustainable
agriculture
practices
Natural
resource
management
Integrated
animal
husbandry
services
Sustainable Agriculture Programme
Soil health is focus
Soil Carbon is indicator
 Climate Resilient Technologies
- Zero Tillage, BBF, R&F, Horti & low
cost inputs
 Support Services
- Mechanization for women, small
& marginal farmers thru CHCs
 Knowledge Services
- Thru FFS and tie ups with CGIAR, Agri
Universities, KVKs
 Mainstreaming of Gender
- Women FFS
- SHG led custom Hiring Centre (CHCs)
Climate Smart Village

14. Promotion of Biodiversity in Agri Landscape
Commons are shrinking at the
rate of 1.9 per cent every five
years due to encroachment
Since independence, more than
834,000 hectares of village
commons have been encroached.
Traditional species are
disappearing from agri fields.
Challenges
•Restoration of pasture lands
•Regeneration of native sps. –
In commons, pastures, tank
catchments
•Promotion of allied livelihoods
– fodder/apiary/pisciculture
/NTFP etc
Approx 5,000 ha commons
have been rejuvenated.
Solution

15. Bio-Diversity conservation in Bhilwara dt., Rajasthan:
Impact on Natural Resources
• Increase in area of Tree outside Forest from 36 ha to 146 ha in Agril. land & 206 ha
to 460 ha in Open Forests
• Improvement in species richness and regeneration Canopy cover: 20-25%
• % increase of Organic carbon in regenerated plots- 10-13%
• Total organic matter added in to soil - 969.47 Tones
• Total carbon dioxide sequestered - 1454.2 Tones

16. • Initiated towards understanding
relation between eco-system services
and agriculture in partnership with
IUCN. Aimed at mainstreaming
biodiversity into rural and agrarian
communities based on study findings
• Implement biodiversity conservation
at a water basin level and going
forward at river basin level by
incorporating all factors such as, in-
situ conservation, native species
planting, protection of existing flora
and faun
Bio-Diversity Conservation – Way forward

17. Promotion of agro forestry
2,25,000 ha covered under afforestation programme out of which
25,000 ha is agrforestry

18. Building Climate Resilience to Rural Livelihoods
• Integrated Animal Husbandry Programme. Covered 13,00,000 milch
animals.
• 50,000 women covered through SHG programme
• Targeting Hardcore Poor:10,000 ultra poor women mainstreamed and
liked with livelihoods.
• Skill development: 31,000 underprivileged youths trained and placed in
different jobs.
• Health and Sanitation : 15,000 households

19. Institution Building
• Integration of different institutions at village
level.
• Involvement of PRIs: PRI Capacity building

20. Challenges & Learnings
 Diverse Interests of different stakeholders
- Meeting expectations of different stakeholders
- Conflicting interests
 Multiple institutions : PRI is a solution
 Lack of policy support
 Multiple schemes & programmes
 Payment for ecosystem services

21. Thank you