Land Research Cell
The Land Research Cell investigates issues that affect both the conservation of India’s ecosystems and the livelihoods of marginalized, natural resource-dependent rural peoples.
Specific Areas of work include:
- The status of common property resources (such as pastures, forests, and water resources held in common by a community)
- Land-use policy and access rights such as the implementation of the Forest Rights Act of 2006
- Community natural resource management such as the Joint Forest Management (JFM) program.
- Action research that promotes pro-poor government policymaking, networking and collaboration among civil society organizations, and awareness raising and empowerment. The future of natural resource management in India lies in the development of grassroots leadership through effective knowledge and information sharing.
Impact:
- The Land Research Cell has conducted investigations into the status of forest-dependent peoples in India, the implementation of the Forest Rights Act of 2006, the use values of common lands, and other issues of current interest to civil society actors working with the rural poor.
- At the government level, Seva Mandir has played a central role in ensuring access of the poor to common property resources and minimizing the conversion of non-agricultural land.
- Seva Mandir’s grassroots interventions and research have helped support positive public policy interests for our partner villages.
Current Situation:
- The Land Research Cell is currently working a three-year project to investigate the current status of common property resources in five states in Rajasthan, performing collaborative research with NGO’s working in similar fields in each state. This project will lead to a network of organizations from diverse regions of India who will share experiences and develop research capacity, while gathering and analyzing much needed data that is up-to-date, standardized, and widely available for future policy-level and grassroots implementation.
- The project will also analyze the best practices in local common land governance and the implementation of the Forest Rights Act of 2006.
The explicitly research-oriented focus of the Land Research Cell institutionalizes Seva Mandir’s role as an NGO with programs that function as a “think and do tank,” where we seek to strengthen research capacity and disseminate our experiences beyond our area of work to replicate lessons learned and best practices. In this way, we seek to create a critical mass for holistic, grassroots development throughout India and beyond. As society and ecosystems cross borders and regions, so must we work to share the experiences of Seva Mandir with other NGOs and all sectors of Indian society. Our present projects place us at the center of large networks of Indian NGOs, as well as in a common space with the international scholarly community studying the commons. These opportunities will challenge us to grow into new roles as an organization.
If you would like to support our Natural Resource Development Program or any of its specific interventions please visit our Donation Page
For more information please Contact Us