Environmental Performance

For the second consecutive year, ITC's Agribusiness Division has partnered with reputed international organisations like EarthWatch Institute, UK to implement the Biodiversity Risk and Opportunity Assessment Tool (BROA) in its crop growing regions. This tool identifies impacts and dependencies of business operations on the biodiversity of identified agricultural landscapes, and in the assessment of various risks and opportunities. The BROA tool has been implemented in Karnataka (Mysuru District) and Andhra Pradesh (West Godavari, Nellore, Prakasam and Guntur Districts) covering 5 landscapes till date. An article on this initiative was published in the International Journal of Biodiversity & Endangered Species, Spain 2014. The article also featured as a case study in the India Business & Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) report published by the CII ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change.

The objective of this initiative is to revive and enhance the native floral and faunal biodiversity and in the process, promote livelihood and employment generation for poor tribal households. In the past two years, ITC has developed a mosaic of 11 biodiversity plots involving farmers and community members covering a total area of 22 hectares in Khammam district of Telangana and East Godavari, West Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh. In Karnataka, 2 bio diversity plots were promoted in Mysuru where 523 native species were planted on 3 hectares. The plots were established in collaboration with Tank User Groups. Preference was given to native species in the implementation of this initiative.

In a unique collaboration, ITC is providing assistance to the Telangana Government to strengthen and benchmark biodiversity conservation in Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (KBR) National Park, which covers an area of 140 hectares in Hyderabad. Activities include identification of high conservation value forests (HCVF) and of rare, threatened and endangered species; initiating specific conservation measures for flagship species and introducing biodiversity indexing. This partnership has led to FSC certification of KBR National Park.

The maintenance and regeneration of common pasturelands assume critical significance for rural communities. Livestock is not only a means to a secondary income, but also a safety net, especially in times of hardship like drought or floods. However changes in land use and the 'Tragedy of the Commons,' have put these pasturelands in constant threat of encroachment and degradation, thereby adversely affecting the communities dependant on them. ITC's Watershed Development Programme in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra has led to the revival of biodiversity in such commons. This initiative was scaled up to 57 plots covering 504 hectares during 2014-15 with the objective of protecting native flora and fauna and providing other eco-system services. Cumulatively, the area under bio-diversity now stands at 3,191 hectares.

In ITC's efforts to spearhead biodiversity conservation, the Company will continue to develop local stewardship through awareness programmes, sustainable practices in agriculture, afforestation, pisiculture, apiculture, medicinal plants and creating sustainable livelihood for tribal farmers.

Going forward, some of the specific plans include the following:

• Based on the results of the BROA study in agricultural landscapes, ITC will progressively delineate a biodiversity strategy by combining biodiversity conservation and improvement with prevention, management and remediation of damage to natural habitats (if any).
• Tank cascade-based biodiversity assessment was taken up in Ravndoor village of Mysuru district with technical support of Kalpataruvu, a non-profit organisation, and Forestry College, Ponnampet (Karnataka). A cascade system is formed by interlinked tanks where the surplus run-off of upper tanks is a source of water for the lower tanks. The final report is under preparation, which will form the basis for an implementation plan across the entire tank cascade in the project area and provide a template for its replication in other project areas predominantly irrigated by tanks.
• Discussions are on with several expert agencies, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to establish baselines, undertake impact assessment and prepare management plans in some of ITC’s agri-business areas. Working Plans based on these assessments will be ready by December 2015.
• Mapping of wastelands of panchayat, individual farmers and foreshores of seasonal streams was taken up in 16 villages of Sehore district (Madhya Pradesh) to develop a template for biodiversity conservation through afforestation. The exercise identified an average area of 11 hectares of wasteland in each village for biodiversity development, which will be taken up in a phased manner in the coming years.
• To develop plans for revival of commons like village pastures and revenue wastelands in Mandsaur district (Madhya Pradesh), Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), a non-profit organisation, was engaged as a resource agency for collection of baseline and impact data. FES is also undertaking a similar baseline survey of biodiversity plots in Jhalawar district (Rajasthan). These studies will be able to help ITC in tracking progress on revival of native flora and fauna.