Panchase Forest Ecosystem (PFE) represents an important block of forest in the Middle Mountains, an ecological zone not well represented amongst the country's protected area system. The Panchase Forest covers an area of approximately 10-12 square kilometer and is situated at the nexus of three districts namely Kaski, Parbat and Syanja of west Nepal. The local people consider the Panchase Forest and the mountain peak (2509m) a sacred landscape and it has special religious significance for both Hindu and Buddhists. The PFE is major source of water for agricultural and domestic use in the surrounding communities, as well as the primary source area for a number of local watersheds including Phewa lake Watershed. Furthermore PFE is rich in biodiversity, home to variety of endangered wildlife (black bear, leopard) and rare and endemic plants (orchids, rhododendron). It also represents a critical link in the Chitwan-Annapurna (Protected areas of Nepal) linkage and an important component of Greater Himalayan Landscape. But the situation, in the recent year, has become increasingly threatened and even degraded in terms of its geographic extent, biodiversity richness, ecological processes and hydrological functioning.
The project would intervene to increase environmental stewardship of local people and also engage them in diversified income generation activities. Introduction of alternative energy technology and promotion of ecotourism are other objectives of the project that would help to conserve the Panchase Forest Ecosystem