Social fencing
Topic: Geographical Issues: Pollution, Urban Waste, Slums and Land Degradation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 9 "Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems"
Meaning
Social fencing is a village agreement to keep grazing animals off land where plants are growing back. It uses no wire or walls. Instead, the village's shared rules and pressure from neighbours stop people from letting their cattle in. It lets grass and young trees on common land recover. It is a cheap way to bring back damaged land, and it works because the community owns the effort.
Example
In Petlawad block in northern Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh, Bhil villagers of Sat Rundi hamlet (Karravat village) used social fencing on their common land. They kept it for at least two years while the newly planted trees and fodder grass grew back. This was part of watershed work run by the Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Watershed Management.
Don't confuse with
- Stall feeding: this means feeding cattle in sheds instead of letting them graze in the open. In Petlawad, stall feeding started after the two years of social fencing, as the next step.
- Physical fencing: this keeps animals out with real barriers such as wire or walls. Social fencing does the same job using only a shared promise.