Women and Forestry: (Tale of Six Harijan Women of Ganeshpura)

The success of social forestry programmes in Gujarat raised demand for seedlirgs from 0.2 million in 1970 to 211.5 million in 1985. This stretebed the limited personnel resources of the Forest Department, which therefore, decided to decentralise seedling production by encouraging schools and farmers to establish nurseries In 1986, a similar scheme was launched nationwide by tbe National Wastelands Development Board with a rarticular focus on disadvantaged members of society, who receive a small wage and also earn money when they sell the seedlings Tbis paper describes the experiences of six landless women from the village or Ganesbpura, Gujarat, who joined tbe scbeme. Each raised 25,000 seedlings during 1986 87 and received a net wage of Rs 5,000)and all additional Rs 2,392 from the sale of seedlings. The nursery scheme bas given the landless women a new self-corfidence and has also improved the standards of living of their famiJies. Privaising seedlirg production frees Forestry Department staff for more highly skilled jobs, allows tbe raising of seedlings of species which local people want ratber than wbicb the Forest Department selects, and since there are more nurseries, people now have a shorter distance to travel to their nearest nursery tban before.