Environment and Community Forest Protection Project (NEP/95/G52/02)

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Project Details & Results

This project is implemented in Kalimati Rampur, Kalche and Kavrechaur Village Development Committees of Salyan, one of the hardest hit districts by the food deficiency and the rampant insurgency activities in the Mid-west Development Region of the country. Kachuwa Daha (lake) in Kalimati Rampur has its significance as it inhabits around 200 of the threatened turtles. The turtles are almost vanished in the middle hills of Nepal. Hence the area is important and warranting immediate intervention to conserve the turtles and to manage the ecosystem through participatory approaches that also integrates livelihood activities. SGP Project facilitates the local user groups by providing them technical support in managing their forest and biodiversity. The project also supports the communities in handing over process of the forest from the District Forest Office to the Local user groups. SGP is the only project at the moment underway in the entire district. A major portion of the grant fund has been allocated for the Community Environment Trust (CET) Fund.

Notable Community Participation
Project activities are carried out through community mobilisation approach. Participating communities form groups in each hamlet or settlements and these groups eventually transform into Community Organisations. These groups and/or organisations mobilise their resources by organising group meetings and generating savings and labour on weekly basis. They collaborate with SGP's Seed Grants Fund in carrying out local level initiatives on productive physical infrastructure activities. They plan, execute and monitor the activities themselves with the technical support from the grantee NGO.

Capacity - Building Component
Community-based groups and the grantee NGO mutually identify and organise training programmes for selected community members. Exchange visits and or study tours for the community members to selected project sites are organised in order to observe and share each others experiences and knowledge.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods
The project has created a revolving fund named as Community Environment Trust (CET) fund and has allocated 60 percent of the grant amount (i.e., $30000) to it. Participating community members can easily get this facility as a loan on the basis of social collator through their respective Community-based Organisations (CBO's). The CETF is mobilised exclusively for small-scale green enterprises or livelihood activities.

Gender Focus
Community groups and/or organisations are of three kinds – men, women and mixed of men and women. Formation of the groups is solely depended upon the interest and decision of the community members themselves.

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples
Magars and Kami communities are among the most underprivileged and backward indigenous groups in the project area and are the major participants of the programme.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
The project is a demonstration type in nature. The site is very famous regionally as a holy place for Hindu Goddess ‘Kali’. Thousands of visitors from neighbouring districts also visit the temple to pay homage to the Goddess every year in April and October. The project site is very good for disseminating demonstrative activities carried out in the area and for promoting generate the awareness of global environment.

Project Results
The project was successful in the formulation of CBOs which were the fora for the socio economic development that also integrate environment management. Social transformation can be seen in the project area. Setting up the doable prerequisites such as participation in the forest management, kind contribution in plantation and other development activities, construction of ICS and toilets had positive impact in the attitude of the local people. Along with the conservation of the community forests, the project has, with the support from the community conserved around 200 of the threatened indian turtles (Melanochelis trijuga Indopeninsularis) that dwells in a small Kachuwa Daha (pond).