Gadchiroli is a rainfed district in Maharashtra, where communities primarily depend on agriculture and forest resources for their sustenance. Bio-physical challenges such as soil erosion, paddy monocropping, water scarcity in post-monsoon, and limited livelihood options, increases vulnerability of these communities to climate change. 

To address these interconnected challenges, restoration opportunities assessment was carried out in Gadchiroli by WRI India, Amhi Amchya Arogyasathi (AAA), and the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) India.  This study adapted ROAM (Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology), to identify interventions for agriculture, forests, and water resource conservation.  The recommended interventions would help bring rice fallows under cultivation; promote crop diversification; diversify income streams; increase food production; improve farmers’ resilience to climate variability; and enhance the flow of key ecosystem services, such as food, fodder, fuelwood, minor forest produce, soil and water conservation, and biodiversity conservation, to local communities. 

This assessment recommends actionable steps that can be taken for the successful adoption of the interventions, including building the capacity of gram sabhas and community-based institutions and mainstreaming panchayat development plans to make ecosystem restoration a community-led and community-owned effort.