Restoring ecosystems and building climate-resilient communities in the mountains of Nepal
If you have a toothache, a cold, a cough, or a fever, the timur fruit is often prescribed as the antidote. Common stomach complaints are treated with timur soup. Young shoots of the timur plant can be used to form toothbrushes and the powder of the dried fruit can also be used as toothpaste. Pilgrims visiting shrines often seek out timur sticks to burn due to their fragrance. In recent years, some pharmaceutical companies have started purchasing timur fruits in bulk, leading to competitive commercial activity among villages.
Preferring cooler temperatures, the timur plant gives better yields when planted at higher altitudes. With climate change expected to cause increased temperatures at lower altitudes, the range for growing timur (historically between 1200 – 2200m) is also likely to get higher. With proper land use planning to conserve areas of original forest, timur can be grown on higher slopes in appropriate areas, providing a valuable and climate-resilient livelihood option for the communities living in the foothills of some of the highest mountain ranges of the world.
Timur seeds to be used in cookingYoung buds of timur fruit
A CLIMATE-RESILIENT LIVELIHOOD OPTION
Working with the Falgu Community Forest User Group (CFUG), and with support from the Mountain Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA) Programme, led by the Department of Forests and UNDP, the community has established a timur plantation, on abandoned grazing land.
A full grown timur
plant can yield more
than 1 kilo of fruit per
year, and once the plant
is fully grown (within
3-4 years of planting),
the fruit can be
harvested every year.
One kilo of timur fruit
can generate 10,500
Nepalese Rupees, which
amounts to about $100
USD – a significant
amount of money for
people who tend to live
on less than $2 USD per
day.
Community members have
also constructed
compound walls to
control open grazing of
livestock, protect
grassland and forests,
and ensure the survival
of the newly established
timur plantation. The
plantation has
significant buy-in from
the local community;
more than 25 percent of
the labour involved in
the construction of the
compound wall came from
local volunteers.
The compound wall is 1462m long and took approximately 5 months to construct2,000 seedlings have been planted in Dhimruk Ko Chaur, mainly timur, but also 360 seedlings of Bakaino (fodder species)A value chain analysis study was published by the project in 2014.
SOWING AND REAPING: SEED AND HARVEST
“The thing about climate change and adaptation, we know that responding to it will take some time. We have to be patient. Everyone will get a livelihood option, everyone will get the support of their community user group, and help with adapting to climate change as well.” Tara Gurung, Falgu Committee Forest User Group, Chairperson.
FOREST GROUPS GIVING A VOICE
Nepal’s CFUGs have been involved in protecting and restoring 1.3 million hectares of forests and grasslands since they were formalised in 1993. Numbering around 18,000 in total, they provide an impressive example of multi-stakeholder participation and social inclusion.
For example, the Falgu CFUG is a unique case in which roughly 95% of its members come from the most marginalised caste in Nepal, the Dalit. Generally, there are not many livelihood opportunities available for Dalit, as weak socio-economic standing bars them from ownership of land. They therefore often work as labourers in the village or migrate outside of Nepal in search for work. However, due to the Government Decree, community forestry now provides a vital window of opportunity for them to to use the community forest towards supporting themselves through income generation activities.
Established less than a decade ago, the Falgu CFUG is now enabled to cultivate abandoned, barren land, restoring greenery and vital ecosystem services, controlling erosion, and ameliorating poverty.
MOUNTAIN EBA PROGRAMME
The global Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA) in Mountains Programme is a partnership between UNDP, UNEP and IUCN, with funding from the German Government (BMUB)’s International Climate Initiative. By using sustainable management, conservation and restoration of ecosystems, as part of an overall EbA strategy, the Programme aims to reduce the vulnerability and enhance the resilience of select fragile mountain ecosystems and their local communities to climate change impacts. The promoted EbA measures carefully take into account anticipated climate change impact trends to help communities continuously adapt to a changing climate and increasing uncertainty. This global partnership also involves national and regional government agencies, civil society and local communities in three countries (Uganda, Nepal and Peru).
“I am very satisfied with the EbA Programme. I am grateful for this work and the opportunity. I look forward to these plants providing us with financial and health benefits.” Tara Gurung, Falgu Committee Forest User Group, Chairperson
The activities supported by UNDP in Dimruk ko Chour are part of a broader suite of EbA measures supported by the Programme in Nepal. In the long run, this site is expected to restore the degraded ecosystem and produce not only ecological, but also economic, social and health benefits for the community.
For more information on the EbA work, please visit: www.undp-alm.org/projects/mountain-EbA and www.EbAflagship.org andwww.np.undp.org/eba.