Kathmandu valley is located at the heart of Nepal covering total area of 899 square kilometres. This valley is divided into Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts of Bagmati Zone and provides habitat for more than 3 million populations covering one Metropolitan city, one sub-metropolitan city, 3 municipalities and more than 100 village development committees (VDCs). Since Kathmandu valley has been the capital city and the central administrative region of Nepal, the urbanization process has been very rapid in the past few decades. With the increased urbanization process, the demand of boulders and gravels from stone mining and stone-crosser industries have also been increased rapidly recently in this valley. The major supply of stone-made products like boulders and gravels is based on the stone mines operated especially at the national forest of the foothills in the peripheral area of Kathmandu valley. The regular and large-scale mining of stones brings multi-fold impacts in the local environment, forest ecology, rural economy and local community. The stone mining and stone-crosser industries in the southern part of the Kathmandu valley such as in Chapagaun, Lalitpur area are in regular operation since more than 35 years. In this long period, the operators of mines and stone crossers have cleared up the vast area of forest for the purpose of stone mining. As a result the fragile forest ecology and biodiversity of this area has been widely devastated.
The forest in the Chapagaon area as in many parts of Nepal is the key sources of fuel woods, fodders and bedding materials for livestock and fresh water supply to irrigation for agricultural production. In addition, it is the major sources of fresh drinking water for local people as well as for the people living in the Patan city of the Kathmandu valley. Available information (CEMORD, 2005) indicate that the destruction of forest ecosystems has already affected the local population in terms of declining fresh water sources; drying of wells and ground water level, and there are symptoms of declining agricultural and livestock productivity. The agriculture crop yield has also decreased vastly due to the reason that the area is gradually converting into dry land, the top soils have been eroding and crop plants are being covered with pollutants. The sever problem of environmental health risk is also experienced with the increase in silt's pollution. The deforestation has resulted open patch space of dry land in one hand, which consequently spreading further and decreasing the natural habitat of rare endemic species in the other hand. The decrease in forest density has decreased the availability forage, firewood and other recourses that are vital for the livelihood of surrounding community. The vast area of southern Lalitpur is under the vulnerability of disasters such as flood, soil degradation and erosion, famine, and landslides (CEMORD/ECO-Nepal, 2006). If the destruction of forest ecosystems continues at the present rate and if strong measures are not taken to rehabilitate the destructed forest areas in terms of reclamation and protection, the biggest negative impact will be on drinking water supply, local economy, agriculture and means of livelihood in local community, forest ecology, biodiversity, pollution, environmental health risk and consequences of flood, landslides and desertification.
There are at least 50 stone mines in the Lalitpur district, which are operating by clearing the forests. Each of the mines has destroyed a minimum of 7 to 15 hectares of forest areas. Because of bad governance the depletion of forest area is increasing each year. The local community has little say in the control of these devastating environmental acts created by a few powerful and influence people for their private gains at the huge social cost. A very conservative estimate shows that so far 450 hectares of forest areas are already converted into stone mining, turning them into completely brown regime in the Lalitpur district (CEMORD, 2005). It is pathetic to see such a huge loss of forest ecosystems within the Kathmandu valley, which has been taking place for over past thirty years.
Though recently, some of the media have highlighted the issue and raised adverse impacts of stone mining activities, local community lack adequate environmental awareness of negative impact of stone mining activities and appropriate local community actions on conservation of local forest ecosystems and biodiversity for sustainable livelihood and human health. In addition the community are not well organized and mobilized to conserve degraded forest ecosystems and biodiversity as well influence policy making body for halting stone mining activities through appropriate action research findings and policy advocacy. Therefore, the government of Nepal and people of Kathmandu valley are seen to be not realizing the seriousness of the issue and proper actions for finding the measure is vastly lacking and the problem is being more and more complicated.
The purpose of the project is to conserve forest ecosystems by developing mechanisms for halting stone mining activities and local initiatives for natural resource management as well as to improve the livelihood options of marginalized /disadvantaged communities. In the process, it will empower the disadvantaged communities and reduce poverty.