Posted on April, 29 2013

Restoring forests and adapting to climate change – one step at a time

"I was ill, I have even had heart surgery, and my health was deteriorating because of the smoke while cooking," shared Laxmi Rana, who is very happy to have installed biogas in her home with the help of the Hariyo Ban Program. Rana is from Jumdanda, one of the least developed regions in Bandipur Village Development Committee, in Tanahun District in the mid-hills of Nepal, where most women are tied to home and hearth. Today 25 households in Jumdanda have installed biogas. Rana says, " Now since less time is needed for gathering firewood, cooking, and cleaning, I have spare time to do other work."

Currently Rana is using some of the time saved from household chores to act as the vice president of Jum Dada Jhapri Community Forest Users Group (CFUG), and today there are also many other women members in the CFUG committee. One of them is Sugmaya Thapa.

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Safeguarding rhinos through ID based monitoring

The birth of a rhino calf in the Sauraha block of Chitwan National Park is an exciting event, helping to increase the population of this endangered species. Rhino with ID number two, named Lumsi Pothi, gave birth to a new calf which is now over three months old.

Like all other wild rhinos in the ID based monitoring program, Lumsi Pothi was given an ID number and her distinctive features were documented. Individual identification of rhinos helps in monitoring the rhino population and reducing the risk of poaching. This process also immediately helped identify the presence of the new calf. Babu Ram Lamichhane, Conservation Officer, National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), says, “We take particular care to record the individual features of each rhino such as sex, shape of its horns, scars or marks on its body, etc. Then, an ID profile is built up for each animal along with a photo, which we maintain in a database."

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Power fencing: Helping people help wildlife

“Our relief cannot be expressed in words,” says Bishnu Rijal, a resident of Bhimapur-6, Bardia. “Earlier, elephants and rhinos frequently raided our village, often coming across the border from India, and we lost wheat crops worth Rs 5-8 million each year. This spelled disaster for poor families who own only a few square meters of land. But since the electric fence has been installed we sleep soundly at night, as our lives and valuables are safe.” Ganga Ram Tharu from Bhimpaur-5 adds, “We had no protection except sticks and stones. Now, the fence keeps the animals away. Last week an elephant loosened a pole, but could not get past the fence.”

These statements reflect the views of most Bhimapur residents, where a 15 km long electric fence was inaugurated on March 11, 2013. The Bhimapur Electric Fence Installation Management Committee erected the fence with Hariyo Ban support through NTNC’s Bardia Conservation Program (BCP). It will benefit 1,031 households (6,755 people) by protecting 2,700 hectares of land near the Karnali River, where the communities cultivate paddy, wheat and sugarcane.

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VIDEO CORNER

Click Here to watch a video where Laxmi Rana from Jumdanda shares her experience after Hariyo Ban Program interventions.


Earth Day, April 22

On Earth Day, the Hariyo Ban Program organized a media workshop entitled “Earth Matters: Changing the Lens on Environmental Reporting”. The 2-day workshop of discussions and 4 days of field research aimed to encourage established Nepali journalists to produce environmental news with more in-depth analysis and connect the dots on why earth matters to Nepal’s socio-political dialogue.

Twelve participant journalists will share their work produced from the 4 days of field research on World Environment Day, June 5.

Look out for our next month's newsletter for the journalists' stories.

Find out more about the workshop and the speakers HERE

Major updates this month

• On the occasion of World Wildlife Week, U.S. Ambassador Peter W. Bodde visited Terai Arc Landscape to understand Hariyo Ban Program work in Chitwan, particularly the support provided to the Government of Nepal in tiger survey and initiatives to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. Find out more
• Hariyo Ban Program supports celebration of Earth Hour. Read more
• Skill based training provided for Sisnu powder production in Gorkha (Follow us for the full story next month).
• Iron poles distributed to 120 households in Chhekampar VDC of Manaslu Conservation Area to support prayer flags. An additional 280 households will receive iron poles in the near future; this activity is expected to directly protect 400 pine trees.
• Chitwan Annapurna Landscape climate change vulnerability assessment conducted in Pokhara.
• Laliguras community learning and action center established in Makwanpur.
• Forest fire control trainings provided in Chitwan,Tanahu, Lamjung, Gorkha, Rautahat, Dhading, Syangja and Parsa.
• Training of trainers on integrated climate vulnerability and capacity assessment and participatory monitoring, evaluation, review and learning provided in Chitwan.
• Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and climate change sensitization workshops conducted in Dang, Dhangadhi, Parbat, Tanahu and Syangja.
• Community based anti-poaching training provided in Lamki.
• Good governance, biodiversity conservation, and gender and social inclusion trainings carried out in Lamjung and Nawalparasi.
• Training of trainers on public hearing and public auditing organized in Nawalparasi.

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