The
bag-packs still lies unpacked; the dust is yet to settle and enriched memories
of rural setting are still fresh in the minds of Social Forestry officials from
their recent retreat walk. They’ve treaded the path least trodden in the quest
of getting the real feel of lives the people in remote villages lead
harmoniously co-existing with nature.
Following
the conventional adage of “seeing is believing” in letters and spirits, the 12
officials recently embarked on a 5-day retreat walk from Haa to Samtse. The
retreat walk was undertaken to physically see for themselves various problems
and challenges faced by the people in remote hamlets. This is possible by
interacting with local farmers en route about their use of forest and other
natural resources.
Besides,
the retreat walk also enabled to further develop, enhance and foster team
spirits and synergies between different components of Social Forestry programme
such as community & private forests, Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFP)
management and plantations. The thematic sessions, discussions and summarizing
insights gained during the trip was also held which helped to further improve
the coherence of the main elements of the division.
 |
| the village and forests they traversed through... |
The
retreat walk is a radical break from conventional modus operandi of
conducting such sessions within the confinement of four walls. The walk
provided unique opportunities and experiences of focusing the attention in a
live subject. Instead of theoretical flashes of presentations and lecturing,
the retreat walk involved more of exploring the problems, issues and
opportunities in soothing environment of the ambient sound of chirping birds,
rustling of leaves and cool refreshing air. It’s a perfect antonym of normal
workshop, seminar and any other official gatherings.
“We
walked through places like Pajab, Shebji, Sombaykha, Sebjithang, Dumtoe and
Dorokha in Haa and Samtse Dzongkhags often pausing and contemplating on forests
& other natural resources issues and rural setting. We also looked into how
Social Forestry Division (SFD) can help rural people generate income and their
livelihood,” said KJ Temphel, the member of the retreat walk.
K.N
Ghimrey, another member of the troupe said that it was fulfilling journey that
enabled them to witness the real hardships the rural folks are enduring. He
observed that terrain itself is very challenging and people there have got guts
to settle in such hostile area where the basic element of uplifting rural
livelihood – the accessibility to market is a far-fetched dream. He felt that
people there could establish their own small scale forest nursery for small
area plantation and added, “The prevalence of tseri (slash & burn)
cultivation is high in the backdrop of government discouraging such agriculture
practice.”
The retreat walk was rated as an epitome one which many other
departments and agencies could pick up. It was the first-of-its-kind being
undertaken and the outcomes as per officials from SFD were overwhelming. SFD
will plan further most explorative and learning retreat in future.
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