India's Climate Change project - Bahmandeh diaries

Bamandeh is a remote village surrounded by disappearing forestlands in Rajasthan. The population is the minority Sahariya tribe. World Vision implemented the Climate Change Project in the village by providing fuel-efficient wood-stoves, biogas, and solar home lighting.

The area was once a lush green forest, but now has very few remnants of that time. Traditionally, the Sahariya’s are forest dwellers. In the recent past they were powerless to stop wood merchants from decimating the forests. Along with the forests, the wood merchants have destroyed the Sahariya livelihood and lifestyle. The Sahariya’s are expert woodsmen and forest produce gatherers. Their main business was gathering and selling forest wood, gum, tendu leaf, honey, mahua and medicinal herbs.

Today, many of the Sahariya are settled cultivators. Agriculture is largely rain-dependent with merely 2% of the total land area being irrigated.