Shillong, Dec 26: The World Bank has recognized the Meghalaya Community-Led Landscape Management Project (MCLLMP) as a robust and adaptable framework for advancing community-led natural resource management strategies. According to the Bank, the project’s success offers a blueprint for similar initiatives in Meghalaya and other regions.

The MCLLMP, supported by a $48 million loan from the World Bank, has transformed sustainable development efforts across 400 villages in Meghalaya, achieving notable environmental and socio-economic milestones.

With 76% of its land under forest cover, Meghalaya is an ecological hotspot, but it faces mounting challenges from mining activities, population growth, and climate change. To mitigate these threats, the state government, through the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA), launched the MCLLMP in 2018. The initiative focuses on rehabilitating degraded landscapes, promoting biodiversity, and empowering communities to lead sustainable resource management efforts.

Key achievements of the MCLLMP include land restoration, community-led governance, livelihood diversification, and Focus on Inclusion.

Under land restoration, the project restored over 46,700 hectares of land, significantly surpassing its original goal of 31,510 hectares. This achievement was facilitated by afforestation, agroforestry, soil conservation measures, and biophysical interventions targeting areas impacted by mining.

The establishment of 400 Village Natural Resource Management Committees (VNRMCs) became a cornerstone of the project as part of community-led governance. These committees—structured to ensure gender equality—led critical initiatives such as spring rejuvenation and the prevention of soil erosion.

Each of the 400 villages developed and executed a Community Natural Resources Management Plan (CNRMP). Integral to these plans were Forest Management Plans (FMPs), covering over 110,000 hectares, including 15,444 hectares under community natural resource management and the rest under Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES). The project’s intermediate target of managing 12,585 hectares of forest area was substantially exceeded.

The biodiversity agenda also saw significant progress, with the number of People’s Biodiversity Registers expanding from 15 to 310 during the project’s implementation.

Additionally, 3,000 springs were rejuvenated across the 400 project villages, supported by a system for monthly monitoring of water discharge and quality.

As part of livelihood diversification, MCLLMP also introduced sustainable agricultural techniques and facilitated community nursery projects, providing new income streams for local populations. The PES initiative was a pioneering effort to reward communities for preserving forest ecosystems, promoting long-term conservation efforts.

Further, the project prioritized inclusive participation, with women accounting for 52% of VNRMC membership. Moreover, over 13,000 Village Community Facilitators (VCFs), many of them young individuals, were trained to support sustainable resource management, creating a knowledgeable and skilled workforce in the region.

In its assessment, the World Bank rated the project as highly effective. It noted that the substantial achievement of nearly all set targets and the qualitative improvements in community-driven landscape management underscore the project’s success. It also highlighted the efficiency of economic and implementation strategies, culminating in a “satisfactory overall outcome” rating.

The Bank emphasized the need to replicate this model in other Indian states, commending its integration of geographic information system (GIS) tools, community engagement practices, and landscape management strategies.

Looking ahead, the Bank recommended that future initiatives explore innovative financial mechanisms like the PES scheme to incentivize communities for their stewardship of environmental resources.

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