Goal: Conservation of forests and biodiversity within and in the vicinity of Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary and building of robust community institutions capable of effectively participating in the formal management mechanisms of the sanctuary

Objective:
? To strengthen institutional mechanisms (community led) for protection and sustainable management of forests in the buffer area of the sanctuary.
? Establish dialogue between forest department, community institutions and other local stakeholders on better management and conservation of the sanctuary and its buffer areas.
? Evolve a package of green livelihood practices that when implemented hold out the potential to eliminate excessive dependence on forests to meet cash needs.
Long term objectives
? To conserve and improve the biodiversity of the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary and gradually reduce excessive pressure inside the protected area.
? Creation of a more robust role for the local indigenous communities in the formal management mechanisms of the protected area and evolving a model of co-management such that the local communities have a more informed and therefore greater say in the management of the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary.
? To strengthen existing livelihoods of the mainly indigenous populace residing inside and at the peripheries of the wildlife sanctuary, and introducing the element of sustainability in these livelihood practices.
? To evolve new and innovative livelihood practices such that increased incomes through these help reduce direct dependence and therefore excessive pressure on the protected area and even forest areas in the buffer zone.

20. Project Strategy:
? In order to enhance conservation, protection and judicious use of natural resources, village level institutions will be organized.
? All households and all adults, women and men would be members of these village level institutions.
? The village institutions are the platform for collective decision making and give the individual village the necessary negotiating strength when articulating their development needs to external agencies as also for evolving operational rules for management and conservation of their natural surroundings.

? Representatives from the community institutions will be assisted in linking with the existing federation supported by the Foundation. Federation meetings will be twice in a year to discuss issues of trans-boundary protection of forests, conflict management both within the villages that will comprise the federation as also between the local community and the forest department, resource appropriation and for discussions on ways to enhance livelihoods as also to reduce pressure on the protected area. Representatives of various development agencies both government and non-government would be invited to the federation meetings to discuss and negotiate on development plans and issues of the region.
? A pckage of livelihood practices aimed at increasing yields and comprising promotion of a combination of soil-water conservation measures, organic composts, bio-fertilizers and introduction of robust seeds of the local variety, increased irrigation potential through group well deepening will be developed. Demonstration farms will be, set up and the results, if as anticipated hold out the possibility of increasing farm yields by around 40% ensuring greater food security and reduced dependence on forests.
? The proposed project is not a stand alone initiative but seeks to develop synergies with programmes in watershed development being implemented by the Foundation in the area, as also with the works being planned for and implemented through NREGA directly by the Foundation as also through the panchayats and other line departments.
? As is the practice of the Foundation, village level micro planning at the level of village institutions which often go beyond the village level and are located at the habitation level becomes crucial to project planning and implementation. Thus habitation level micro plans based on detailed household level consultations will be organized in to systematic village level plans further rationalized in to panchayat level perspective plans (long term three to five years) and annual action plans which will inform all project activities including those of watershed development and NREGA