Impact evaluation of watershed activities on forest conservation and livelihood of people: a case study of Kalimati watershed in Uttrakhand state
With a view to assess the success of the programme, a study on “Impact evaluation of watershed activities on forest conservation and livelihood of people at Kalimati watershed in Uttarakhand state” was conducted by a team of experts from Himalayan Action Research Centre - Dehradun, with the technical and financial support from National Rainfed Area Authority, Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi. Three villages namely Soda Saroli, Kalimati and Bhopalpani were studied to understand pattern of watershed developmental activities and their impact on life support systems. The main objective of this study is to document lesson learned from the experiences of the programme and also capturing success achieved out of it. Further, the objective is also to replicate such innovative attempts in other similar watersheds across the country for holistic development of the rainfed area. This study assesses the impact of IVLP on socio-economic and ecological aspects, mainly agriculture and horticulture development, demand driven income and employment generation and ecological restoration with focus forest conservation in general and natural resource management in particular.