Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project

Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project

The objective of the project was to reduce poverty and restore degraded environments in the middle hills by leasing small sections of public forest land to groups of rural poor people who would then manage the land for their own use, and thus help regenerate it. A total of 1,773 leasehold forestry groups were formed and 7,457 ha of degraded forestland were handed over to rural poor people.

The project showed that transferring sections of degraded forest to the very poor on renewable 40-year leases is an effective means of reducing poverty and reforesting the land. Annual household incomes increased from US$270 to US$405, and this in turn resulted in greater food security and improved nutrition. Environmental degradation was reversed at most sites and biodiversity increased significantly.

Source: IFAD