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Here is the story of Ms Nakalla Mallamma (Aged 42 Years) D/o of Shri Kadiriappa a resident of Nakkalavarikota Village, Gurrmavandlapalle Panchayat, Peddamanyam Mandal, Annamaya District, AP. A courageous single women living on her terms works as NTPF collector and Agriculture Labour…
Story
It’s her story and of her community members who are acting a guardian by playing a crucial role in protecting their forests and local environment as it sustains their means to livelihoods in a changing World.
Nakalla Mallamma is one such NTPF collector from the village spending many hours a day during the season collecting various types of Fruits, seeds and other NTPF products. She sours the forest floor for the fallen fruits or seeds collects them carefully and brings them back them back to sell them in the local markets in the region.
She sells them in nearest town Kalicherla where she finds the market for her produce fetching her a decent sum of Rs 10000 per annum supplemented it other sources of income. This is where it gets more interesting when part of the collected produce is sold for money and to part of it bartered away to get the food grains chiefly Rice.
Forests provide significant social and economic benefits at all levels to her community when members from eight other families also join her in collecting the NTFP. According to them it has acted an incentive for protect their forests in the past the community members have come together to put out the forest fires.
Nakallamma along with other community members also explain the benefits they have derived as what we term them as ecosystem services – they have listed benefits such as
a) They’re standing crops are less prone to attack from pests and destruction as birds from nearby forest act as controlling agents keeping check harmful pests and other insects.
b) Provides them with fodder for their sheep and goats which are reared in large numbers by the community members
c) Anecdotally speaking they say that they are less prone to diseases as they get fresh air to breadth…Finally, they say that forests contribute to the well-being of particularly the poor, in terms of food security, nutrition, health and subsistence…
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