Describtion and objectives

One of India's most important ecoregions are forest ecosystems as they act as life support systems for millions of people residing in the uplands and lowlands of the IndoGangetic plains. Forest ecosystems play a larger role in our survival, apart from being a timber source. Water is one of the most critical ecosystem services for sustaining life, amongst a wide array of other services provided by forests. Restoring degraded forest and agroforest lands and maintaining them to regulate stream flow will improve the accessibility of water resources. This particularly will benefit women in rural areas, who would need to walk less further for procuring water, fuelwood, and fodder to meet their foremost responsibility of family care and well-being. The orientation towards sustainability in the FES concept serves both directly to the sustainable availability and protection of natural resources.

ECO Consult implements two related assignments for the GIZ FES project:

1. Incentive-based mechanisms (IbM): The objective of this assignment is to design feasible and scalable Incentive-based Mechanisms for sustainable flow of ecosystem services (with focus on water) at six demonstration sites for local communities, and recommendations for IBMs as an intersectoral convergence tool for forest conservation at district and State level after analysis of international and national best cases on IbMs and consultation with identified major stakeholders in Himachal Pradesh (H.P.) and Uttarakhand (U.K.).

Our contribution:

• Analyse stakeholder roles and mandates and their capacity to promote FES
• Design Stakeholder Survey and document survey results
• Analyse available information on best IbM cases/practices
• Identify additional (national, regional, international) forest-related IbM best practices
• Design at least 4 feasible and scalable IbM including 2 working aids / toolkits
• Design monitoring framework

2. Measurement of indirect benefits and beneficiaries:  Main objective of this assignment is to develop a methodology and a narrative to either measure or reliably estimate (i) indirect benefits created or (ii) indirect beneficiaries reached by interventions of the FES project. Accounting the indirect benefits, in addition to the direct benefits already assessed and monitored by the FES project, will provide a holistic view of the overall impact the project interventions generate.

Our contribution:

• Desk-based review of existing indicators and methodologies
• Listing and classification of FES project interventions in relation to direct and indirect benefits
• Development of a methodology incl. sampling design, data collection formats and procedures
• Development of a monitoring framework and implementation of the methodology
• Capacity building of FES project team

3. Development of a framework for the implementation of the landscape approach for managing Forest Ecosystem Services of the Western Himalayas: The assignment aims at supporting the GIZ FES project and the State Forestry Departments of Uttarakhand (U.K.) and Himachal Pradesh (H.P.) in developing a practical framework for implementing the landscape approach to manage forests and the complementary ecosystems to ensure a sustained flow of prioritised ecosystem services.

Our contribution:

• Develop a set of criteria and indicators to select two representative landscapes in H.P. and U.K. in close dialogue with the forestry departments
• Identify best practices and develop a framework for cross-sectoral institutional collaboration
• Develop an awareness strategy and conduct awareness raising events