August 1998

31st August 1998

Social and Community Forestry Project - Tree Saplings

Moduo Village The villagers of no. 1 hamlet are interested in growing trees on their field boundaries and upland areas. After a few years they will be able to sell the fruit and bark at the local markets adding a valuable extra source of income for each family whilst also protecting steep slopes from erosion. DORS have agreed to assist Moduo villagers in purchasing Duzhong (a medicinal plant), Huajiao (Sichuan Pepper) and apple trees. Approximately 28,000 saplings will be planted in the autumn.

Shashu Village Following on from DORS Agroforestry Project in Shashu hamlets 1,2 and 3, we will be helping the people of hamlets 4 and 5 purchase 3,800 pear tree saplings. The villagers already have experience of growing plum and apple trees but want to increase their fruit production. A new road is under construction to these hamlets and the villagers hope that by the time it is completed the pears will be ready to harvest.

Work begins in Juetuo Village on Irrigation Water Supply

The plans for the first stage of this project are now completed and were approved by the population of hamlets 2 and 3 at a public meeting held in the village school yard. The plan involves suspending a 100m pipe across a mountain valley to pipe water from a mountain stream into an existing water channel. This water channel currently feeds the paddy land in hamlets 4 and 5. The increased volume of water will flow down the mountain side and along a new channel beside the road into land adjacent to the village hamlets 2 and 3. Work is beginning this month on suspending the pipe across the valley and increasing the size of the existing water channel. It is expected that every household in the hamlets will benefit from the irrigation water and be able to irrigate paddy, growing two crops a year instead of just one annual harvest of maize.This project is funded by the Methodist Relief and Development Fund.

(Photo: Two Yi Minority Girls in Juetuo Village.)

Colour back copies of DORS newsletters are available

Please write or e-mail if you would like any. Also, please let us know if you know of anyone who you think might be interested in receiving our newsletter.