Hasiruhabba

Hasiru habba (The Green Festival)

Hasiru habba’… A Celebration of Creating Green Wealth…

Background

Every day the environment, land, water and air in India, is subject to unsustainable use and degeneration. No natural disaster can match this slow and steady process of destruction of people’s lives and livelihoods. India loses about US$80 billion every year on account of natural resource degradation, says the World Bank’s Annual Environmental Review. Creating a culture of loving trees, worshipping trees, planting trees, living with and integrating plants and trees as an essential part of one’s life styles is the only way to bring about a shift in this destructive process. (Source: Down to Earth magazine, Jan 2000)

Tree plantation, as yet another programme would not help. The social forestry programme initiated by the Government is yet to create a lasting impact! Symbolic attempts such as celebration of `Vanamahotsava’ or World Environment Day etc have not been of much help too.

Only a holistic approach that simultaneously focuses on both human and ecological welfare can lead to sustainability. Along with efforts for human welfare, it is crucial that we ensure putting greenery back on the parched lands. For this to happen on a massive scale, the community taking the ownership and actively involving in the process is very important.

Initiative

Hasiru habba (in Kannada) / Pachchani Panduga (in Telugu) - a celebration of the green’ is an innovative and successful strategy initiated by 1BIRD-K (BAIF Institute for Rural Development- Karnataka)to ensure people’s participation and ownership in natural resource management. It is an outcome of the lessons learnt in mobilising large number of farmers for taking care of their immediate environment.

BIRD-K, headquartered at Tiptur, Karnataka, has been active in the field of natural resource management for the last two decades in Karnataka. Several innovative approaches have been evolved during this period for involving village communities in addressing issues of natural resource degradation including tree based farming systems practiced by more than 6000 farmers today in Karnataka. `Hasiru habba’ is an outcome of lessons learnt in mobilizing large number of farmers to take care of their immediate environment.

‘Hasiru habba’ is conceived to be a joyous festival to be celebrated at the onset of every monsoon, with all fervour of any other traditional festival in the village. It aims at creating a culture of loving trees and integrating trees and plants as an essential part of one’s life styles. It is a celebration of creating green wealth. Hasiruhabba is celebrated in all the project areas of BIRD-K across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Features

Unique features of Hasiru habba:

  1. A festival - not a programme.
  2. A celebration – not a performance.
  3. Aims at creating a new culture.
  4. Celebrated by all caste/class of people.
  5. Common cooking and sharing of food.
  6. Formal family level invitation to friends and relatives.
  7. The local community treats outside participants and volunteers as guests.
  8. Campaigns by direct action and mass involvement.
  9. Mass involvement of all sections of the community.
  10. Active and equal involvement of men and women.
  11. Active involvement of local people’s organizations in event organization.
  12. Integrates religious fervour Tying `Hasiru kankana’ (a green colour ceremonial thread) on each other’s hand as a symbol of commitment.
  13. Integration of cultural programmes.
  14. Large scale tree plantation on both private and public land.
  15. Pre-festival orientation cum demonstration of technical aspects of plantation.
  16. Community oath taking to celebrate the festival every year.

References

1. BIRD-K Annual Report 2008-2009

2. BAIF Development Research Foundation, Uruli Kanchan, Pune