Decentralised Natural Resource Management - A study of Watershed Development Project in the State of Karnataka

Abstract

The paper examines the practices and processes, and the role of principal actors in such processes striving to implement watershed development under Hariyali guidelines. More specifically, the paper aims at assessing the extent of autonomy that the institutions like gram panchayats have in the implementation of watershed development activities. An important lesson that emanated from the analysis is that no institution or organisation - be it a panchayat, a NGO, a government department, or a CBO - can work in isolation. Hence, it is necessary to create complementalities among these formal and semi-formal governing institutions for addressing different needs and aspirations in natural resource management.