By Deepti Ameta | Program In Charge Resource Mobilization
Dear Friends,
"Sangthan me takathai" (The sense of community is powerful). This month, we bring you the story of how in the village of Jamun, the sense of community fostered with the help of Seva Mandir support is very powerful. Jamun is situated in the dense forests of Aravali region and comes under Jhadol Tehsil of Udaipur district.
After participating in Seva Mandir trainings and workshops, Jamun village organized their own elected governance council. The villagers have developed a Joint Forest Management (JFM) program to protect the important forests of Jamun village. They have come to understand how important this resource is to maintain and preserve. Recently, Jamun GVC (village development committee) got information that some neighboring villagers from Umaria, Madla, Bijli and other villages were regularly cutting wet wood from forest - something which goes against the JFM regulations. Through the GVC, the village mobilized. On January 4th, the village GVC called a meeting where members explained their concern over this matter and the group made the decision to stop this illegal activity with penalty. The villagers of Jamun caught around 70 people of neighboring villages red handed while cutting wet wood. Over 70 bundles of wood were captured and taken back in the custody of GVC members. Along with this, a clear warning was issued to the caught individuals to follow the JFM rules otherwise legal action would have to be taken against them.
Seva Mandir's GVC program gives villages the tools to mobilize their community and protect the resources that are so important to their community and livelihoods. The GVC helped Jamun advocate for themselves by strongly demonstrating that breaking of JFM regulations would not be allowed. As individual members of the community, these villagers might not have had the power to protect the precious forests.
Thanks to your continued support of this program, Jamun village's message of "save the forest" can be heard widely by surrounding villages. Thank you for your help in empowering the people of Jamun village to advocate for themselves.
With regards,
Deepti
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