Regional Centre for Development Cooperation (RCDC) started its journey in 1993 with the mandate to carve a definite niche in the development sector for empowering people for sustainable management of natural resources. RCDC works towards enabling the communities to manage their own natural resources efficiently and effectively for addressing poverty and improving the quality of life. RCDC has started working with the belief that proper management of natural resources can take care of most of the current development problems and the local communities are the best managers of these resources as they have the highest stake and time tested knowledge. Currently the organisation is working in areas of Policy and Action Research, Advocacy and Networking, and Field Demonstration Interventions relating to community based natural resource management and livelihood enhancement.

Policy research, analysis, preparation of campaign documents and initiating debate on different issues are the major activities relating to advocacy undertaken by the organisation. RCDC’s strategic framework for Advocacy and Campaign has changed over time to meet the changing needs of people, to influence the Government and Policy makers, better know and plan on NRM related issues; find solutions to satisfy needs of increasing numbers of people; protect and regenerate the depleted resources; strengthen the capacity of people and institutions; and create an enabling policy and legal environment. In recent years, environmental issues have assumed greater importance in RCDC’s issue-based interventions. Advocacy and Campaign is being undertaken in an integrated manner to ensure the promotion of enabling environment, participation of deprived masses, accelerate organized effort, develop pressure groups and exert legitimate pressure on Government and policy makers for appropriate policy changes.

RCDC Works for democratization of forest governance. It strives to bring in change both at policy and practice level to establish community forest management. RCDC works with community institutions, CBOs and other stakeholders to secure the forest ownership and use rights of forest dependant people; to advocate for reduced regulatory burden on local forest producers and facilitate local producers to have increased access to market. The organisation documents the diversity in forest management practices by the local communities and widely disseminates to different stakeholders including communities involved in forest protection, management and conservation. It also helps the communities to establish improved forest management practices, which are accepted as part of sustainable forest management. RCDC strongly believes in the potentiality of forest based livelihood to reduce rural poverty and accordingly it works with primary forest dependent people and their organisations to establish enterprises and provide them necessary linkages. RCDC analyses market and strategic policy issues related to forest management, catalyses connections amongst producers, communities and market concentrating on livelihood development of forest dependant people and the commercial niches for low-income forest producers. A website www.banajata.org has been created and regularly updated with the purpose of providing all possible information on Forest (especially Non Timber Forest Produces-NTFP) management and trade. A number of Product Profiles on NTFP has been published by RCDC to help primary producers and other promoting organisations to follow good harvesting and post-harvesting practices, propagation/domestication, and to understand the market.

Being part of NTFP Exchange Programme, an international network operating in South and South East Asian countries, RCDC has undertaken policy research on NTFP in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Chhattisgarh to develop strategies for the network to address various priority issues in NTFP management and trade. The organisation is currently involved in policy advocacy and other interventions of NTFP Exchange Programme. Through Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG), another international network supported by IIED, RCDC has also undertaken a study on NTFP enterprise governance which helped the organisation as well as other to have an alternative perspective on forest based livelihood. RCDC is an active member of FGLG and implements different activities to achieve the objectives of the network.

From the very beginning of its intervention RCDC has been focusing on creating platforms for the community forest management groups to come together at different levels such as forest block, sub-district and district for sharing of their experiences and also for developing collective vision as well as interventions for effective community based forest management. RCDC has helped forest protecting communities to evolve District Forestry Forums in different districts. These forums are playing active role in negotiating the district and state governments on their rights and entitlements over forest and forest products. These networks have been very effective in resolving inter village and intra village conflicts. RCDC helps these networks to build their capacity and develop strategies to address various issues involved in forest conservation and management. RCDC works with other Civil Society Organisations to promote and strengthen networking among forest protecting groups and other stakeholders. There is a state level network known as Odisha Jangal Mancha and RCDC is associated with this network as a promoting organisation. Odisha Jangal Mancha raises various issues in forestry development and advocates for greater rights and privileges to the communities, who are protecting and managing forest.

RCDC brings out a number of periodicals in local language and circulates them to different stakeholders for sensitizing them on forestry and development issues; and also provides different options to address these issues.

RCDC intends to play a catalytic role for civil society action on different issues pertaining to water for ensuring enough water for all life forms. It strongly believes that there should be enough water for everybody to meet their basic requirements as well as the basic development needs like health, food security, sustainable livelihoods and other economic social and cultural developments.

RCDC focuses its efforts on policy research, documentation and advocacy on water resource management, water use conflicts and entitlements of primary stakeholders. It mobilises civil society action for independent monitoring of implementation of different programmes on water resource development and management.
The organization has taken up four thematic programme areas such as - Drinking Water and Sanitation, Water and Biodiversity, Peoples Water Management and Water and Livelihood along with two functional programmes i.e. Water Education and Documentation and Communication.
The organisation has developed a set of indices for safe drinking water and it builds the capacity of communities and PRIs to establish efficient and effective installation and maintenance of drinking water sources. It has developed a specialized education curriculum for the schools safe drinking water and for water resource conservation and it is being implemented in 60 schools in Odisha. RCDC has been advocating for safe drinking water in the fluoride prone areas and it has set up a demonstration unit for popularization of cost‐effective de‐fluoridation technologies.

RCDC publishes number of periodicals and other papers in local languages on water resource management and livelihood issues.

RCDC predominantly works on policy research, documentation and advocacy on land resource management, land alienation and entitlement issues. The organisation emphasizes on developing its own understanding of issues relating to land as a productive resource and their impact on the livelihood of poor people and also on the larger environment and natural resource management.

RCDC intends to play a catalytic role in building an enabling environment for the NGOs, CBOs and especially the organisations of the land poor to initiate action to have enhanced access to land as a productive resource. The organisation is also making an attempt to work as a clearing house of information for the agencies who are working on land. Currently the organisation is engaged in documentation on different types of land, their legal ownership, state of the land, management prescriptions under different laws, rules and programmes and contradictions therein.

For more than one decade the organisation has been advocating for rights of local communities over forest and forestland. It has been doing documentation on status of forestland, diversion of forestland, encroachment of forestland and their settlement. The organisation is actively engaged in implementation of forest rights act in the state of Orissa. It educates communities, PRIs and local government officials on the provisions and procedures of the act and helps them to properly implement the provisions.

Another area of intervention of the organisation is promotion of integrated land and water resources management and protection of the agro-ecosystem in different parts of Odisha. RCDC helps communities to establish communities based management of land and water resources and links them with different opportunities in the market.

Planning and execution of various interventions of the research, advocacy and campaign on NRM programmes are undertaken in close association with community institutions, community based organizations, NGOs, extension/front line officials of Government, research institutions, academicians etc. emphasizing on collaborative/cooperative approaches to address issues and challenges in community based natural resource management. RCDC plays a role of clearing house of information on different issues and also plays a facilitative role to initiate multi-stakeholders dialogue on these issues. Field programmes on integrated community based NRM are developed to organize communities on their rights and entitlements over various natural and other resources and services provided by the state with focus on ensuring food security and enhancing livelihood security of resource poor and excluded people. Community empowerment activities are integrated to this venture. The newsletters and IEC materials carry advocacy input to different nook and corners of the state. For each research, study and advocacy work, RCDC consults and gathers feedback through workshops and consultations at district level, cluster level and state level from time to time.

This is one of the dynamic sources of promoting livelihood as well as rights of forest dependant people in all its operational areas. Forests and other natural resources are the major sources of habitat for the human beings, wildlife and other biological resources. To ensure optimal benefits to people and to develop their access to market, it promotes cooperatives and other institutions of primary forest dependent people to control and manage the procurement and trade of different forest and other agricultural produces, promotes enterprise on forest and agriculture products owned and managed by the forest dependent communities and develops different market models for management and trade of NTFP and agricultural produces and lobby with the Government, civil society organizations and market promotion agencies to adopt it.

‘Katha Rakhiba Sarakar’ (Lets Us Keep Promises) Campaign is a state level collective initiative in Odisha, working towards creating an enabling environment towards realization and effective implementation of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other related commitments made by both central as well as state government. RCDC hosted the Campaign Secretariat and accelerated process of integration among various stakeholders and community level agencies through network initiation and sensitization. The campaign aspires to go for a broad based campaign on MDGs in general and Poverty Alleviation, Land Rights, Safe Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation and HIV/AIDS related issues in particular.

The volunteers, staff and members of RCDC participate in different networks within the state and beyond and contribute to developing alternatives for resource management. RCDC provides support services to NGOs and CBOs on request – mainly orientation and training on different aspects of NRM, participatory planning and project management, project evaluation etc. and helps their networking process.