Community Nurseries

You don’t need degrees or machinery to fight climate change — sometimes, all it takes is a determined group of women and a patch of land. In Thaugittim, a remote village in Meghalaya’s East Garo Hills, that’s exactly what happened.

For years, Kong Markynti Mawlong stood in front of a blackboard, calling roll call as children burst into the classroom, laughing and shouting. Then one day, the bell rang but she didn’t have to go. 

Her contract as a teacher at the government lower primary school in Nongrim Umksih had come to an end. Quietly. Without warning. The routine that once gave her identity was suddenly gone.

The Community-based Forest Management and Livelihood Improvement project in Meghalaya (MegLIFE), supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), commenced in October 2020. The primary objective of this project is to undertake sustainable forest management, enhance livelihood opportunities, and strengthen institutional frameworks within villages, thereby contributing to the conservation of natural resources, biodiversity, and the improvement of socio-economic conditions in Meghalaya.