Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh state government is going to get $108.2-million assistance from the World Bank. The credit, approved by the international financial organisation, is aimed at supporting a project that helps poor people living in and around the forests of Andhra Pradesh.

The projects objective is to help communities improve their livelihoods through direct management of the forests. It strengthens the legal framework governing community rights to timber and other forest products.

The project will be implemented in 14 of the poorest districts of Andhra Pradesh, and will cover 3.86 million hectares of forestland. It follows the first AP Forestry Project (1994-2000) which was successful in bringing 0.85 million hectares of forests under the joint management of the state forest department and forest communities.

This second project brings a greater emphasis to the role of the communities: building on the lessons of the joint management in the first project, the new design goes further yet with communities themselves assuming primary responsibility for managing local forests, while the state forest department will be the facilitator, providing technical advice and regulatory oversight.

The 14 districts to be covered in this new project are Adilabad, Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Chittoor, Cuddapah and Nellore.

The Andhra Pradesh Community Forest Management Project is designed to reduce rural poverty by placing forest areas under the management of poor and primarily tribal forest-dependent communities. Their participation in looking after the forest, and in having secure legal access to its resources, is expected to improve forest management practices.

"There are champions of change in both the state government and in the communities. We deeply respect their efforts as they have an uphill battle working in a very challenging environment. We do hope that the success of the AP project will set a standard to be pursued across India," says World Bank sector director for rural development Constance Bernard.

The total project costs are $127.1 million, of which $108.2 million is financed by International Development Association (IDA), the interest-free lending arm of the World Bank. IDA credits carry a 0.75-per cent service fee and a maturity of 35 years with a 10-year grace period.