Shemjong Block (Gewog) under Tsirang Dzongkhag comprises of 5 sub blocks (Chiwogs) namely Zomling, Dekiling, Tashiling Toed, Tashiling Maed and Dangraygang. Among the resources optimally used for income generation from forest are Timber and Non Wood Forest Products (NWFPs). NWFPs play an important role in the daily lives and overall wellbeing of people in this Block. Scientific management and cultivation of broom grass under Tsirang Dzongkhag has high potential: to be cultivated on a commercial scale and achieve self sufficiency. It is, however, managed on a small scale by most households at the edge of hhe fields and by farm road sides.

Boom grass, Thysanolaena Maxima is a multipurpose perennial cash crop that belongs to the family Poeceae. People use stem and leave as fodder for livestock and sells inflorescence as broom. Likely in Tashiling Maed Block there is one NWFP (Broom Grass) Management Group called ?Sarekakthab? group comprising of 19 households managing 5 acres of private registered land on lease basis for the duration of 5 years. It was established in the year of 2012. The project aims to enhance this particular group to increase benefits and income for the members, to conserve the forest sustainably by increasing area (area will be proposed in open, degraded and landslide prone area), to sustainably manage degraded State Reserved Forest Land (SRFL), to prevent land degradation through plantation of broom grass, to create employment opportunity for the youths, to make self-sufficiency of soft broom in Bhutan?s institutions, for value addition to get higher price, to explore market within Bhutan and to facilitate networking among groups to meet common purposes. However, the production are not up to the expected mark since they were able to produce only about 30-40 bundles of brooms during last season. The reasons are due to recent farm road construction damaging the cultivated broom grass below the road, due to inadequate Training for the group and unsuitability of the land allocated for the cultivation.

Project Rationale and Justification

The proposed project will not only enhance the management of the existing group but also create awareness about the importance of NWFP (Broom grass) for the daily livelihood of the villagers. Over the years, establishment of the group has drastically reduced negative impacts on environment due to proper management, proper utilization and constant monitoring of the product. This is stated because the group members should abide by the By-laws that they have came up in the process of establishment. Moreover almost all the members of the broom grass marketing group have learnt that this initiative was useful for them as this was a quick source of income for them.
Some of the importance on enhancing this particular group is as follows:
? For the development of broom grass value chain;
? Landslide management;
? To identify traders and to facilitate a platform to bring the traders and seller together;
? Socio-economic development in the villages;
? Plantation for better causes in future;
? Capacity building; and
? Supplement of seedlings (Rhizomes/ growing shoots).

The stake holders of the group are firstly the members, Block Forest Officer and Territorial Forestry Sector. Other Agency such as Department of Agricultural and Marketing Cooperatives will be also involved. The stakeholders aforementioned will carry out lots of responsibilities ranging from conflict management, technical backstopping and guidance including constant Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E).

Project Objectives and Expected Results
The objectives for the proposed project are as follows:

Product diversification and income generation through up-scaled broom grass cultivation in degraded areas, technical capacity enhancement of the community forest management group members and marketing of broom grass.

? Identifying of suitable additional areas for cultivation of broom grass;
? Up scaling of broom management and marketing for the benefit of its members;
? To provide In and Ex-country training to the group members about broom grass cultivation till harvesting techniques for better production of broom grass and learn good practices from other countries;
? To create awareness among the customers about the availability of quality and affordable broom grass;
? To focus on group enterprise to assure sustainable supply of required quantity;
? To strengthen existing group with technical backstopping and extend assistance with materials support;
? To establish Nursery to have adequate and sustainable supply of broom grass seedlings.

Specific objectives are:
? To improve degraded and open areas since broom grass grows in clumps and has many tangled up roots that grow to about one meter below the ground. This makes it as highly effective in preventing soil erosion on hillsides as the grass is less likely to fall compared to other plants;
? Utilization of resources sustainably and to make self-sufficiency of broom grass in Bhutan;
? To increase income generation of the group;
? To promote conservation of biodiversity by creating natural habitats;
? To develop capacity of group members through attending various workshops and trainings in country as well as outside countries.

Expected results or outcomes
The expected outcomes from the project are:
? Should be able to identify suitable or additional management areas in CF or in SRFL;
? Should be able to improve the production of broom grass in quality as well as in quantity;
? Should be able to provide in and ex-country training to build the capacity of members in various field activities;
? Degraded land should be improved with the coverage of broom grasses;
? Should be self-sufficient in terms of broom requirement in the country.
Description of Project activities

? The project will be carried out with the additional awareness on importance of having NWFPs conservation group. There will be recruitment of new members as per the willingness of villagers in the existing group. Creating awareness will be done by the concern Geog Forest Officer in consultation with Dzongkhag Administration, Local Government and Divisional Forest Office for technical support;
? The surveying and identifying of suitable additional area in SRFL will entail seeking approval from relevant offices (National Land Commission Secretariat) and if it falls in Community Forest (CF) and private registered land, accordingly the documents has to be prepared. These works will be helped by Gewog Focal Forestry Officer;
? To provide in and ex-country training to the group about broom grass cultivation till harvesting techniques for better production of broom grass and to provide updated information on market oriented products, improvement strategies, awareness and training to the members;
? Establishment of broom grass management area and Nursery includes site clearance, burning debris, staking, pit digging, manure collection and fencing the area. The work will be done by the group members and Forest Official will be there to supervise;
? After the establishment, the members will carry out their responsibilities with constant monitoring by relevant stakeholders;
? Meeting of all stakeholders including the members will be held to draft the By-Laws;
? Training on soil and land management activities will be imparted and plantation will be done during monsoon season.