About Sahjeevan
Sahjeevan has dedicated the last thirty years to community-level work in Gujarat, primarily focusing on the intersection of environment and development. Our efforts have spanned dryland agriculture, groundwater management, biodiversity conservation, and pastoralism. Some of this work was previously handled by separate institutions, such as Satvik Organic for rainfed agriculture and ACT for groundwater management.
In the past decade, Sahjeevan has streamlined its focus to concentrate almost exclusively on pastoralism, aiming to enhance the policy and market environment for pastoralists. Our approach to pastoralism, as well as our previous work on rainfed agriculture and community-based groundwater management, has always been driven by the need for scalability. As a result, we have consistently developed programs with clear pathways to achieve scale.
Traversing through Gujarat
Kutch and Saurashtra have large areas of wilderness even outside protected areas with significant flora and fauna. Kutch has Asia’s largest tropical grasslands, Banni to the north, mangroves and mudflats along the coastline and some of the last thorn forest of the country across the central ridge running from east to west. With the spread of Prosopis juliflora in the eighties, unplanned development and illegal encroachment of ecologies by both farmers and industries these regions are fast losing their habitats. Several nature-based livelihoods of local communities who are dependent on these ecosystems and the ‘commons’ are being compromised, besides the overall loss caused by reduced ecosystem services. Besides their livelihoods, habitat destruction is also affecting rare and endangered flora and fauna of these ecologies.
Sahjeevan believes that communities dependent on the natural habitats are important custodians of conserving and managing their ecosystem. The provisions of two powerful acts - Forest Rights Act, 2006 and Biological Diversity Act, 2002 empower communities to conserve their ecologies. Sahjeevan has helped village panchayats constitute Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and Community Forest Resource Management Committees (CFRMCs) to understand and demonstrate how communities associated with the commons and the forests can build their resilience to protect and manage these ecosystems Over the last decade and a half Sahjeevan has helped a 100 villages form their Forest Rights Committees (FRCs); and constitute CFRMCs. Sahjeevan has also helped 35 village Panchayats to form BMCs, helped them develop several Management Plans and execute them.
Sahjeevan’s work has had a significant impact, particularly with the Maldhari community’s successful CFR claim for the 2,500 sq km Banni grassland, the first of its kind for pastoralists in India. This led to the formation of Community Forest Right Management Committees (CFRMCs) and the restoration of 40 sq km of grassland by removing invasive Prosopis juliflora. Additionally, 35 BMCs have been set up in Kutch, contributing to biodiversity conservation.
In 2023, the restoration efforts were augmented with biochar production by the Community Forest Resource Management Committees (CFRMCs). Using Kon-Tiki kilns, Prosopis wood was converted into biochar, enhancing soil productivity and generating carbon credits. The total area restored under this pilot was 1100 hectares, which translated into 1530 credits produced from 695 tonnes of biochar. This generated around $183,000 of revenue. This model has empowered CFRMCs to sustainably manage and restore the grasslands, helping create a reserve for subsequent management of the restored plots, ensuring long-term ecological balance and economic stability for pastoral communities.
Sahjeevan’s efforts are also backed by research from RAMBLE, a field station established in 2012, and community engagement through the UGC-certified Salim Node Course on Pastoral Ecology, which is training local youth in pastoralism and conservation. This youth involvement has strengthened community-led conservation initiatives.
Collaboration between Sahjeevan and Rainmatter:
Sahjeevan is excited to announce a new collaboration with Rainmatter, aimed at expanding community-led conservation efforts. Together, we will scale up our work with Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs), which play a vital role under the Biological Diversity Act. These committees develop People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), legal documents safeguarding local bio-resources and traditional knowledge while enabling communities to create conservation action plans.
In parallel, we’ll work with communities to file claims to grazing lands under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), further empowering them in conservation efforts. Our collaboration also supports ongoing research, particularly focused on restoring mangrove and thorn forest ecosystems.
Additionally, we plan to expand the successful Salim Node Course on Pastoral Ecology, involving youth from pastoral communities in conservation efforts. Over the next three years, we will launch new courses in Kutch and Saurashtra, training young people to lead natural resource management and long-term conservation initiatives. This partnership is set to strengthen both local engagement and ecosystem restoration in the region.