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| Last Updated:08/06/2023

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KRAPAVIS wins India Biodiversity Awards 2021: Recognition for community led restoration of Orans

 

 

 

Our Member Krishi Avam Paristhitiki Vikas Sansthan (KRAPAVIS) has won the India Biodiversity Awards 2021 for their two-and-a-half decades of work to restore hundreds of Orans; sacred community-conserved areas.

 

By Pratibha Sisodia Director, Krishi Avam Paristhitiki Vikas Sansthan (KRAPAVIS)

 

 

 

Krishi Avam Paristhitiki Vikas Sansthan (KRAPAVIS) has won the prestigious India Biodiversity Awards 2021 under the category Sustainable Use of Biological Resources. The Minister of Environment of the Government of India announced the awards in a virtual celebration on 22 May 2021 on the occasion of the International Day of Biological Diversity. The India Biodiversity Awards is a prestigious award and a joint initiative by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the National Biodiversity Authority, and the United Nations Development Programme.

 

 

On receiving the award, the founder of the organization, Aman Singh, said that two and half decades of work by KRAPAVIS made the community-led restoration of hundreds of Orans possible.

 

 

“Orans are the natural common lands where one can find water, medicinal plants, wild foods, wildlife, and solace and spiritual comfort,” said Amtan Singh. He said, “in our restoration work, we use the citizen science research & documentation, policy analysis and advocacy, and above all, community awareness.” 

 

 

He said, “we have trained and assisted over 500 communiy volunteers, many of them women and youth. These barefoot Oran champions have disseminated information on biodiversity, aquifers, water management, sustainable agriculture, pastoralism, and ways to govern and manage the Orans effectively.”

 

 

KRAPAVIS was founded in 1992. The name of our organization, Krishi Avam Paristhitiki Vikas Sansthan (KRAPAVIS) literally means “organization for the development of ecology and agriculture livestock.” We work with the clear mission of “betterment of ecological, agricultural as well as livestock practices” to ensure sustainable livelihoods for rural and pastoral communities.

 

 

Aman Singh further noted that KRAPAVIS supported communities to restore water harvesting structures, recharge wells and water tables and plant half a million trees of local species in Orans. KRAPAVIS also led the compilation of the Directory of Orans of Rajasthan, aiming at listing key information about all estimated 25,000 Orans in the state (ranging from 10 to 400 hectares).

 

 

Data collection was conducted in a participatory and empowering way. The first fourteen volumes of the Directory come with data on 1400 Orans. The Oran Atlas was launched with a focus on one hundred Orans in need of visibility and protection.

 

 

 Oran Rogra Aman Singh

 

Community planting trees in a Oran photo by KRAPAVIS team

 

 

Aman Singh in a Oran with Pastoralist Chursidh Oran