The Banganga River Basin, Jagadishpur wetland (a Ramsar site) and surrounding communities faced dangerous circumstances. Slash-and-burn agriculture, combined with erratic rainfall patterns, imperiled the area. Compared to the 1990’s, the forest coverage reduced by 60% due to slash and burn practices and climate induced disasters (DFOs, 2015). High tillage and unmanaged slopes have led to heavy soil erosion in the upstream. And in the last 53 years, 16 major landslides have destroyed over 6,000 ha of land. The resulting flooding impacted over 118 species, four of which are listed on the verge of extinction.

These environmental challenges only exacerbated challenges faced by local communities. As a result of the land degradation upstream, indigenous communities began moving downstream – causing conflicts between locals and newcomers as they competed for scarce resources. About 53% households in the area own

less than one ha land, and eight percent are landless (land hold data, 2015). Further, farmers began using synthetic chemicals to combat the severe malnutrition among women and children in the area. Food sufficiency was only three to five months.

NDRC eliminated the traditional unsustainable slash-and-burn farming practices through local awareness campaigns. As a result, the practice decreased 80%. Instead, the organization encouraged the adoption of agro-forestry (products such as broom grass, lemon grass, bamboo, etc), sloping area land technology,

climate-resilient cash crops (banana, turmeric, ginger, pineapple, etc), climate adaptive leguminous cover crops and zero tillage farming system. These techniques have not only helped to restore soil biodiversity and control erosion, but they also increased incomes and ensured higher food security. By working with the communities, conflicts between indigenous groups decreased 70%. And along the way, NDRC reduced environmental

impacts. Through bioengineering techniques, improved cooking systems, solar home systems and biogas plants, carbon emissions decreased and the use of wood decreased – further protecting the local forests and biodiversity.