Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Wednesday sought the help of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to meet the development goals for the state and the country.
Addressing the 14th national workshop of JICA-assisted forestry projects in India, State Forest, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia hailed the agency for its support in safeguarding the interests of local people.
“We thank JICA and the government of Japan for their support. They help us protect forests, the environment and the livelihood of people, especially for tribals, scheduled castes, and backward classes. Odisha needs their continuous support in safeguarding the interests of local people,” he said.
Singkhuntia said that the JICA-assisted Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project (OFSDP) phase I ran successfully from 2006-07 to 2014-15.
“Now, phase-II has been going on since 2017-18 across 12 forest divisions and 2 wildlife divisions of the state,” he said.
The OFSDP phase-II is coming to an end in March 2027, the minister said, adding that the state government is expecting the “support of the Centre and JICA in the coming days through implementation of another project in phase-III to help us meet goals for Viksit Odisha 2036 and Viksit India 2047”.
The project focuses on sustainable forest management (SFM) through community participation and livelihood promotion via inter-sectoral convergence on the principles of joint forest management (JFM).
Under sustainable forest management, people have protected and managed forests over 1.257 lakh hectares, covering 1,210 Vana Surakshya Samitis (VSS) and 10 Eco-Development Committees (EDCs), the minister said.
Outside forests, on private land, farm forestry plantations cover over 8,650 hectares with more than 18,000 farmers under OFSDP phase-II, he pointed out.
“Inspired by OFSDP phase-I success, the state government started Ama Jangala Yojana (AJY) from 2016-17 to 2024-25, which covered 22 forest divisions, involving 4.2 lakh households to promote sustainable forest management,” Singkhuntia said.
He said the state has recently approved ‘Ama Similipal Yojana’ (ASY) for about 400 villages around Similipal National Park to protect wildlife and provide sustainable livelihoods to tribal people.
Another scheme, ‘Ama Bana O Jibika Prakalpa’ is under consideration for 20 forest divisions in 15 districts with the same goals, he added.
Noting that Odisha is among the most climate-vulnerable states and faces climate challenges like cyclones, floods, droughts and heat, the minister said, “Forests help us fight these. We need community involvement, adaptation plans, and strong livelihoods to protect forests and people.”
The national workshop will continue till February 13.
Orissa POST – Odisha’s No.1 English Daily
