TreeSisters Planting Projects
This video footage contains both aerial drone coverage of the planting nursery and close up coverage with the women planters. Video courtesy Eden Reforestation Projects.
Location: Central Nepal (Rautahat) and Southeastern Nepal (Jhapa) which are located at the foothills of the Himalayas, along the Indian border
This reforestation project aims to regenerate the forest cover around the Jalthal forest, a protected area of great importance to the local communities. Community forest user groups are planting native species on degraded, burnt and cleared lands for grazing and agriculture.
The Eden Reforestation Projects provides the local villagers involved in the "pay to employ" program meaningful employment to grow, plant and guard native trees to maturity on their lands. The term Jhapa, meaning canopy, speaks to the vibrant, dense and diverse forest that once existed in the area - and we hope will one day return. The villagers have started to see the return of elephants and snakes into their local environment and recognize the importance of their presence.
"Hariyo Ban Nepal Ko Dhan" was a Nepali saying translating into "Green Forests are the wealth of Nepal". It was for good reason as lush dense tropical, temperate and alpine forests used to cover respectively the country's lowlands, midlands and high mountains (WWF Nepal). Today, the southern low-lying part of the Terai is densely populated, and mostly under cultivation. In just half a century (1927 – 1977), the forest cover of Nepal's Terai declined by almost 60% and continued decreasing by an annual rate of around 0.4% until 2010.
Want to know more about this project? Here are some wonderful articles!
By Lauriane Cayet-Boisrobert
Interview by Jessica and Rachhya
Complied by Terra Canova
Borneo, IndonesiaJHAPA Region, SoutheasT NepalCauvery River Basin, India
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