Nepal is known internationally for its successful community forestry programme, and the country has doubled its forest cover to over 45% in the last 25 years.&nbsp; But the opposite is true for densely populated urban centres like Kathmandu Valley which have turned into concrete jungles, with no remaining open spaces. Air pollution is increasing to hazardous levels, and the urban heat bubble means the temperature in the city is 2°C-3°C higher than in the outskirts. But there is a solution with a proven track record from similar densely populated cities in Japan — the ‘Miyawaki Method’ of growing local varieties of trees in any small patch of land in the city and turning them into compact forests. Named after Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki in the early 1970s, carefully selected native trees and plants grow in tiny plots of land, or even in household backyards. They regenerate degraded urban soil, and help restore some greenery and biodiversity back to sterile city centres. The group Lily Leaves has planted Miyawaki forests in six sites across Kathmandu, and is on a mission to green all the river corridors in the Valley. So far, it has planted more than 17,000 trees belonging to nearly 40 species in patches of land along the Bishnumati and Swayambhu, and is eyeing the UN Park area along the Bagmati. “It is extremely important to connect with nature and greenery in cities,” says Lily Katuwal of Lily Leaves. "Besides restoring nature, these forests also clean air pollution and reduce summer temperatures.” Unlike traditional reforestation where trees of the same species are planted in bulk at a distance of 3-4m, Miyawaki prioritises native varieties best suited to Kathmandu Valley’s microclimate. The saplings are packed densely together, spaced only 60cm apart. After they start growing, native grass and undergrowth also thrive. The most recent plantation was along the banks of the Bagmati in Sanepa where, in addition to camphor and jacaranda which are grown in the area, native species such as kabro (Ficus lacor), kanike (Forget-me-not), parijat (Night-flowering Jasmine or Coral Jasmine), chanp (Plumeria), harro (Ink Nut) and barro (Bahera) were planted. A new site in Kirtipur is being readied for the next plantation. Miyawaki has been carried out elsewhere in various parts of Nepal, primarily in Dhanusha which has seen forest regrowth that has brought back insect, bird, reptile and amphibian life.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120428_e70c196852945760d082fc73ee18ea6883d13c16186893c00c10fd0a0ea12105.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260402120428_e70c196852945760d082fc73ee18ea6883d13c16186893c00c10fd0a0ea12105" data-rendition-name="original" width="1201" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Planting seeds for a greener Kathmandu"> </figure>  EMPOWERING WOMEN Lily Leaves employs just 17 women, six of whom have hearing disabilities. Many have been neglected or abandoned by their in-laws for various reasons. They have a livelihood and learn new skills so they can also find jobs elsewhere.&nbsp; “We trained them in plantation and other skills including tailoring, as well as jewelry, bag and reusable pad making,” says Katuwal. “They are now experts in planting trees.”&nbsp; Lily Leaves gets support from Pipal Tree International in the UK and Nepal, and hopes that the idea of compact urban forest spreads. This is especially important in areas like Taudaha, which is an important stopover for migratory birds. Once noted for its aquatic and avian biodiversity, Taudaha has become lined with concrete and has turned into a loud picnic spot. Urban expansion has encroached upon what used to be the floodplain of the Dhobi Khola, Bishnumati, Bagmati and Manohara rivers. The open spaces along the river corridors are being turned into green belts haphazardly. For many wards, the concept of green space is to have cement pavements and ornamental hard-to-maintain potted plants instead of allowing urban forests to grow back naturally. “Apartment buildings and housing colonies that are being constructed can include green spaces that can increase the real estate and rent value of property,” Katuwal says. “Engineers designing the buildings can suggest such changes so that we remain connected with nature.” Although Lily Leaves needs to have permission from local ward and municipal councils before implementing any program, it continues to face challenges in ensuring smooth coordination.&nbsp; In one such plantation along the Bishnumati River corridor, for example, a heavy earthmover uprooted young trees that were just beginning to thrive. Despite this setback, Katuwal’s team returned to replant them. The land mafia often covets the last remaining open spaces in Kathmandu, deploying local strongmen to try to take them over. &nbsp;They tear down fences, uproot saplings and loot tools. There is a lack of awareness about the importance of greening the city. But now that the former mayor of Kathmandu Balendra Shah is prime minister, national awareness could translate into more urban forests not just in Kathmandu but also in overcrowded urban centres across Nepal. Says Lily Katuwal: “We just plant the seed in people’s minds. Once people in the neighbourhood see that restoring nature lifts their quality of life and increases land prices, there is support. That is when the power of a good example spreads, and communities build on the idea.” &nbsp;

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Planting seeds for a greener Kathmandu

In findings that have implications for Nepal’s protected areas, a new study has found that improving the landscape surrounding forest remnants can increase their ability to retain bird species — even in small or isolated forests.
For decades, traditional ecological theory has treated isolated and fragmented habitats as ‘ forest islands’, predicting species’ survival through area size and isolation.&nbsp;
But these models have long overlooked the nature of the matrix of farmland, vegetation, or open areas surrounding these habitat remnants.
Such isolated natural habitats can be found in Nepal’s buffer zones and the fringes of community forests. The study shows that such landscapes are critical, as species must move through, use, or avoid them when navigating between forested areas.
The <a href="http://tracking.uea.ac.uk/tracking/click?d=8MYmW7mKCe_pDHK0gufnd4135h9CEK9ecW1bs_ZY2c2VtsLk9TZkA9mtdXdfbkrQ_ArbffUyZMs8q3Gw9zphK1uEDizoBXdVpj92FYnX_YkWsLtY4L6Zty6ZL2EUIcnWCw2" target="_blank">research</a> published on Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides strong evidence that the quality and structure of the matrix play a crucial role in biodiversity survival.
The study was led by scientists from the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Farroupilha in Brazil, Slippery Rock University in the US, and University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK.&nbsp;
It shows that even modest increases in nearby tree cover can substantially boost the number of bird species that survive in forest remnants.
“This study clearly shows how high-quality surrounding landscapes increase species retention within forest remnants,” said <a href="http://tracking.uea.ac.uk/tracking/click?d=pVg8cp2ODeeuVS5IJq7Lsl8kfKtkBdELNH6sVVaqLNV5QoiDf-MUaq7WJe-WQBCn4vFy0xp-IzqHW4axYfM9vyk0f7VF_z_sEJbiNxvY3ZWK06Q84hKIx3DYWiXNs9kgkLXxCx-2NZv-4TCmREG6JFkLOl7VqiGtEOIEgVEYsfCNzVa0VBKdzLL_ufeN6lxa5Q2" target="_blank">Prof Carlos Peres</a> of UEA’s <a href="http://tracking.uea.ac.uk/tracking/click?d=eOv8flpEI55Dr2yTtxUGjWkuuYuciKFMR1pqBeIUaJg-sIg4LeIgwlKny1tQCqfplraf82tl1EwgwiFroclrgJ9y6wF49JNAcuqL_BtZroT50EsfWFuVJWAgOPkXhL0YlbvoBGOWdCD_Wg0X7vzPMEU6DTWGhEchSgfy_oKvkggoUE-LAjRlf4T2UU866zgYpg2" target="_blank">School of Environmental Sciences</a>. “Conservation gains from investing in a more hospitable matrix in agricultural and urban areas are far greater than previously realised.”
The study revealed that small forest patches retained significantly more bird species when surrounded by at least some tree cover rather than open water. Landscapes with greater surrounding tree cover supported richer bird communities overall.&nbsp;
Lead author Anderson Bueno from the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Farroupilha, said: “Habitat remnant size is not the whole story. Two forest remnants of the same size can support very different numbers of bird species - those surrounded by farmland with nearby trees may host more than twice as many species as isolated remnants within reservoirs.”
Indeed, the study showed that even small amounts of tree cover within just 300m &nbsp;of a forest remnant had a strong positive effect on species survival. Although the study was not done in Nepal, it has implications for buffer zones surrounding Tarai national parks where farms and urban buildup coexist.
Chase Mendenhall of Slippery Rock University hoped the study will support more effective land‑use policy and encourage governments and landowners to invest in wildlife‑friendly farming practices that support both biodiversity and agricultural productivity.
The findings highlight that, while protecting remaining forests is essential, restoring and improving the landscapes around them is also important. Planting native trees, restoring degraded vegetation, and creating wildlife-friendly agricultural land can dramatically reduce local extinction risks.
Human-modified landscapes now cover more than half of Earth’s land surface, increasing the significance of this study. The research team included 58 scientists from 19 countries to analyse results from 50 landscape-scale bird surveys across tropical and subtropical regions in the Americas, Africa, and Asia where natural landscapes have been heavily fragmented.
The unique design of the study compared two types of forest remnants: forest islands created by hydroelectric reservoirs, which represent the most extreme habitat fragmentation on Earth, and forest fragments embedded within terrestrial landscapes, often surrounded by agricultural land.
By comparing these contrasting systems, the researchers could quantify how much a more benign, tree-rich matrix can buffer species against local extinctions. More than 1,000 forest remnants were studies where almost 2,000 bird species were recorded, including critically endangered species.
The report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is titled <a href="http://tracking.uea.ac.uk/tracking/click?d=8MYmW7mKCe_pDHK0gufnd4135h9CEK9ecW1bs_ZY2c2r6PMIQ_jzL_CNMhAAeHgM-McOvX84Qk5c0jYTi0olrgtCl0TEP0iM4w3GMQlbjvOw8LVCWM18vSYS8nfif4QZ4ejxD8wBFM0OZC52VheA7vk1" target="_blank">‘High-quality surrounding landscapes mitigate avian extirpations from forest remnants’</a>.

Protecting nature outside national parks

Money may not grow on trees, but much of our prosperity does.
Forests quietly support trillions of dollars in economic activity, millions of jobs, and essentials like the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the climate we depend on. In reality, the global economy cannot function without healthy forests.
Forests are far more than timber. They stabilise soils and regulate water vital for agrifood systems and industrial productivity, supply energy and a wealth of forest products, and create space for recreation and ecotourism.
The formal forest sector alone <a href="https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/4c8bd12f-d6b8-4755-a82f-1284c41bf012" target="_blank">contributes an estimated $1.52 trillion annually to the global economy</a>, while <a href="https://www.weforum.org/publications/nature-risk-rising-why-the-crisis-engulfing-nature-matters-for-business-and-the-economy/" target="_blank">more than half of the world’s gross domestic product – some $44 trillion – relies on nature</a>, including forests.
For more than 2 billion people, wood fuel is essential for cooking and heating, and hundreds of millions of people depend directly on forests for their livelihoods. Beyond wood, forests provide foods, medicines, resins, fibers, animal feed and ornamental plants that <a href="https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd6709en" target="_blank">support around 5.8 billion people worldwide</a>. These non-wood forest products are <a href="https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd6709en" target="_blank">worth at least $9.41 billion annually</a> and could grow much further.
By storing carbon, forests help protect economies from climate impacts that can cost billions. In Brazil, for example, converting tropical forests to farmland has reduced evapotranspiration – the movement of water from land to the atmosphere – by 30%, raising local temperatures and putting rainfed agriculture at risk. Without forests, global food production simply cannot sustain.
Forests are also part of the natural solution as the world starts to transition towards a bioeconomy based on climate‑friendly alternatives from more emission‑intensive materials such as steel, concrete and plastic. As populations grow, renewable, sustainable wood used in construction for housing can become a cornerstone of a low-carbon economy, while innovative products such as wood-based textiles, food packaging and even transparent ‘glass’ are already a reality.
This will mean increased demand for forest products which is already at record levels. For example, by 2050, the world may <a href="https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/897149ba-87f1-43e8-9514-e7adb6729d57/content" target="_blank">need 1 billion cubic metres of industrial roundwood, </a>more than the 4 billion cubic metres currently being produced each year.
As it is, forests are already under pressure. They are home to up to 80% of biodiversity on land, yet they continue to be cleared for other economic uses, even if <a href="https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd6709en" target="_blank">deforestation and forest degradation are slowing around the world</a>.
As climate change intensifies, the global economy of the future must look different: more sustainable, more circular, and more closely linked with nature. To get there, we need to bring protection and production together rather than treating them as opposites.
The <a href="https://www.fao.org/home/en/" target="_blank">Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations</a> (FAO) is working to promote the concrete steps needed to realise this vision of healthy forests that support livelihoods and deliver ecosystem services, including through sustainable products.
First of all, meeting rising demand does not have to mean taking more from nature than it can regenerate. Using wood more efficiently, smarter recycling and reusing wood products can reduce pressure on forests.
Long‑lasting uses, such as timber buildings, store carbon for decades, “stretching” each harvested log further. Sustainable forest management is vital to ensure that harvesting of timber and non-wood forest products stays within ecological limits and that forest ecosystems remain healthy.
International trade can also help balance global supply and demand, allowing regions with abundant forest resources to support those with fewer. But trade must be anchored in strong sustainability standards and governance to prevent deforestation and overharvesting of non-wood forest products and to ensure local communities benefit.
Incentive schemes and innovative financing can also help by rewarding those who protect forests and manage them responsibly, from smallholders to larger producers.
The growing bioeconomy, built on renewable materials like wood and bamboo, is ready to be scaled up and offers a promising path forward – as long as it remains firmly grounded in sustainable forestry. To that end, safeguards, clear rules and good governance are essential.
As we celebrate <a href="https://www.fao.org/international-day-of-forests/en" target="_blank">the International Day of Forests</a> on 21 March, one conclusion stands out clearly: without forests, there are no economies. The decisions made now will determine whether we can protect forests and, at the same time, build strong, resilient economies for generations to come.
Zhimin Wu is Assistant Director-General and Director of the Forestry Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

No forests, no economies

Earlier this month, Nepal received Rs1.6 billion from the World Bank as part of its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/will-nepal-ever-be-paid-for-saving-trees">Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)</a>, rewarding the country for increasing its carbon sink capacity. Nepal is the first in South Asia to benefit from this facility, and it is specifically to recompense the country for increasing forest cover in 13 Tarai districts between 2018-2024. “We are also trying to get another Rs13 billion from the facility while also preparing for free market-based carbon trading in the international market,” says Nabaraj Pudasaini of the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) Implementation Centre. Big emitters of greenhouse gases are under pressure to reduce their carbon emissions, and many have signed agreements to do so by investing in decarbonisation projects in developing countries. Countries that emit more than a specified amount of carbon would be able to buy emission rights from countries that emit less. Nepal is internationally known for its community forestry program which has been largely credited for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous">increasing tree cover to over 45%</a> in less than three decades. But this achievement had not been adequately recognised or rewarded internationally before. Forests, especially in the tropics, absorb and store large amounts of carbon while releasing oxygen in a process known as photosynthesis. <a href="https://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/">Preventing deforestation</a> and increasing canopy cover is considered a much more achievable goal than reducing emission in the scale necessary to limit global average temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. COP11 in Montreal in 2005 first proposed reducing carbon emissions by improving forest quality by halting degradation. By 2015, a new mechanism of financial assistance was created to help less developed countries with sustainable management of forests <a href="https://www.un-redd.org/">(called REDD+)</a>. Under this new mechanism, countries receive aid based on their efforts to prevent forest degradation and increase carbon sink, and in 2021 the World Bank was entrusted with implementing it. Nepal’s FCPF receipt this month was calculated on the basis of 2.4 million tons of carbon stored at a rate of $5 per ton. In the second phase, Nepal will receive more than Rs4 billion within the next year for storing an additional 7 million tons of carbon. Eighty per cent of this amount obtained from carbon trading needs to be spent on local beneficiaries and indigenous communities.&nbsp; But carbon trading is not easy, Nepal needs to prove that protected forests will not be destroyed in future.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="Greenbacks for greenery NT "> <figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  Explains carbon trading expert Yugan Manandhar. “Forests should be handed over to the community and shown that they are managed sustainably. Proving this will be particularly challenging; forest encroachment and degradation is rife in the Tarai.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke">Deliberate forest fires</a> have also added to the challenge because they increase carbon emissions and reduce the sink capacity of forests. The basis for the amount that Nepal received was set five years ago by calculating the carbon reserves of forests in the 13 Tarai districts. In the meantime, sustainable forest management, tree plantation, forest destruction and erosion control were prioritised to increase carbon reserves in those forests. Nepal is signing another carbon trading agreement during the ongoing Baku climate conference. The <a href="https://www.leafcoalition.org/">Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF Coalition) </a>proposes to sell the carbon stored in the forests of Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces. For this, Nepal signed the letter of intent three years ago at COP26 in Glasgow. The target is to store 70 million tons of carbon in 32 million hectares of forest in the three provinces per which Nepal will receive Rs13 billion in four years at $10 per ton with provisions to increase the rate if various conditions are met. However, the agreement in itself doesn’t guarantee the amount. According to the targets set by Nepal, forest degradation should be stopped and carbon reserves increased by protecting tree cover. Preparations are also underway for clean air carbon trade because it has offset fossil fuel use by introducing 30,000 electric vehicles. Nepal has been selected for the first round to receive $40 million within one and a half years through the Clean Air System of the World Bank. Given that most of Nepal’s energy mix is from biomass, replacing them with electric stoves can significantly improve health by reducing indoor pollution as well as strengthen the country’s capacity for carbon trade. “Nepal's goal now is to sell carbon in the free market where carbon credits are bought and sold based on supply and demand in an open and transparent manner,” adds Pudasaini of the REDD Implementation Centre. “Nepal can now set its own price and bargain with interested buyer countries and organisations.” Lately, India has been discussing setting up a carbon market. Nepal has exported Rs12.72 billion worth of electricity to India so far this fiscal year, which can be traded under Nepal’s carbon market. “Carbon trading can create significant economic benefits for Nepal, which will help reinvest in development and environmental protection projects,” says Manandhar. “But we must prioritise sustainable management of forests, cutting older trees and allowing regrowth as well as promoting electric stoves and electric vehicles.”

Greenbacks for greenery

Despite lack of resources, war and instability, Nepal’s conservation achievements have won acclaim worldwide. From community forestry, our unique approach to conservation areas in fragile mountain regions, to integrating environmental protection with indigenous knowledge, Nepal has been a model.&nbsp;
As <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/conservation-vs-conservatives">our page 1 story in this edition shows</a>, Nepal has doubled its forest area in the past 30 years, 25% of the land area is protected, tiger numbers have tripled.&nbsp;
But now, Nepal has a forest minister hell-bent on undermining these gains. Forest and Environment Minister Birendra Prasad Mahato has proposed to auction <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-tiger-conservation-too-successful">Nepali tigers</a> through global bidding so they can be trophy hunted to generate revenue because, as he put it, “Nepal now has too many tigers and license to hunt will reduce human-animal conflict”.
Nepal was the first tiger-range country to nearly triple the population of its big cats from 121 in 2010 to 355 in 2022. This increase has indeed led to tigers coming out of parks to hunt livestock, but the solution lies in better management and setting up rescue centres for problematic tigers.&nbsp;
Mahato’s proposal violates international norms and treaties including the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) of which Nepal is a party. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-jungle-out-there">Tigers</a> are on Appendix 1 of CITES which includes species threatened with extinction. Nepal’s own National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act has listed tigers as fully protected species.
Nepal’s conservation pioneer, Hemanta Mishra, who helped convert Chitwan from a royal hunting reserve to a national park 50 years ago, told us: “The proposal is not just unethical and unscientific, it is irrational, illegal, illogical and unimplementable.”
Mahato claims to have received offers from American and Japanese hunters to pay millions of dollars to shoot a tiger and believes Nepal can finance the entire annual cost of his ministry with that money.
“I fear this kind of loose statement makes Nepal a laughing stock in the global conservation community,” Mishra told us. “It also dilutes the country’s unparalleled achievements in bringing endangered species such as the rhino and the tiger back from the brink of extinction.”
Mahato is from the Tarai-based Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) and has been pushing for other anti-conservation activities including amending EIA laws to allow infrastructure inside parks, the trade of restricted lichens with medical properties to favour businesses, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests">‘management’ of community forests</a> and the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/fight-or-flight">Nijgad airport project</a> that would destroy the last remaining native forests of the eastern Tarai.&nbsp;
The government is amending regulations to allow <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/balance-of-power">major hydropower plants</a>, hotels, resorts, paragliding and cable cars to be constructed within the national parks and reserves. The National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Manual 2030 (Fifth Amendment 076) and the regulations of six parks are being repealed and new regulations are being issued.
Now that poaching has been reduced, the biggest threat to Nepal’s national parks and other forests are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet">new roads, railways, transmission lines and irrigation canals crisscrossing them</a>. And a greedy government.
Nepal's protected areas are the main <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/wildlife-people-coexistence-in-nepal-national-park">attraction for nearly half the tourists visiting Nepal</a>. Domestic tourism has lifted the economy of villages outside parks, and 90% of the revenue of national parks come from tourism.&nbsp;
Any move to undermine the biodiversity of protected areas will not just hurt tourism jobs and incomes, but also damage the ecosystem. Head of World Wildlife Fund Nepal (WWF Nepal) Ghana Gurung has this to say: “Nepal stands as one of the models for conservation, and any sudden and drastic change will undermine those successes as well as hurt tourism.”&nbsp;
Allowing hotels and resorts inside parks could be an option if Nepal’s regulatory mechanisms were transparent and clean. But given the climate of corruption, poor governance and impunity in Nepal today, it would open the floodgates to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/naturally-nepal">commercialisation of nature</a>, and destroy hard-earned conservation achievements of the past five decades.
Tiger culling is such a ridiculous proposal that it does not even need refuting. Despite our successes, we are not out of the woods yet in conservation in Nepal. Population pressure in the Tarai, climate change, infrastructure, corruption and incompetent decision-making could unravel everything very quickly.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Sonia Awale

Don’t fix what ain’t broke

One of the few arenas for which Nepal has got well-deserved international praise is conservation. Nearly a quarter of the country’s area is protected, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/how-many-tigers-in-nepal">wild tiger population</a> has tripled in 12 years, rhino poaching has been curbed, and forest cover has doubled in the past 30 years to 45% of Nepal’s area.&nbsp; And that makes Forest and Environment Minister Birendra Prasad Mahato of the JSP salivate. He is the architect behind a series of proposals that could undermine Nepal’s hard-earned conservation achievements, forgetting that his portfolio is for protecting forests, not destroying them. Nepal was the first tiger range country to not just double but nearly triple the population of big cats. The minister now wants to auction tiger trophy hunting licenses because Nepal has “too many tigers”.&nbsp; “Beyond just the unethical and unscientific, the proposal to cull tigers is illegal, illogical and unimplementable,” says <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/Hemanta-Mishra-on-eco-tourism-in-Nepal,1029">Hemanta Mishra</a>, one of the founders of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/chitwan-national-park-handbook-book-review,1612">Chitwan National</a> Park in 1973, which rescued Nepal’s tigers and rhinos from the brink of extinction.&nbsp; “The proposal violates the CITES treaty and Nepal’s own laws. Even if super-wealthy foreigners shoot tigers in Nepal, they will certainly be breaking the laws of their own countries if they take the trophies back. In short, it ain’t doable,” says Mishra, who is now Global Ambassador at <a href="https://wellbeingintl.org/">WellBeing International</a>. Indeed, many find Minister Mahato’s assertion laughable that Nepal can earn up to $25 million through tiger hunting licenses and that would underwrite the cost of maintaining national parks.&nbsp; The tiger is on Appendix 1 of CITES, and Nepal is among 184 countries to have signed this international treaty. Nearly half of all <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/wildlife-people-coexistence-in-nepal-national-park">tourists coming to Nepal visit national parks</a>, and there are growing numbers of Nepali tourists also contribute to local jobs and income.&nbsp; In fact, 90% of the revenue of the parks is from tourism. Chitwan and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-tiger-conservation-too-successful">Bardia</a> are world class national parks and any loss of biodiversity would undermine tourism. Admittedly, the increase in tiger numbers has affected prey density forcing some to venture outside national parks and leading to contact with villagers outside. Expansion of forests has also led to crop loss from wildlife. There are protocols in place to deal with man-eating tigers, and crop damage by wildlife.&nbsp; The government is trying to dismantle other areas in which Nepal has achieved success, like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests">community forestry</a>, by allowing ‘management’ of trees. It is strongly backing the Nijgad Airport project that would decimate the last remaining native forests in the eastern Tarai, and it is drafting a bill to amend laws to allow resorts, hotels and infrastructure inside national parks. &nbsp; “Minister Mahato clearly has no understanding of how conservation works,” says environmentalist Babu Krishna Karki. “Someone who dreams of making a national park a source of revenue doesn’t know the first thing about conservation. How can he consciously spout such nonsense?”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230915050944_6bbe3df3771b76221ad7902060ee1f567309531f4254dc0376238eb56f2e1ed6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230915050944_6bbe3df3771b76221ad7902060ee1f567309531f4254dc0376238eb56f2e1ed6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Birenda Mahato Forest Minister"> <figcaption>Forest and Environment Minister Birendra Prasad Mahato. Photo: RSS(Photo: HARRAM BHETUWAL)</figcaption> </figure>  Minister Mahato has accused national park employees of colluding with wildlife poachers, and even blamed international development partners of making money from Nepal’s achievement in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nature-without-borders">tiger conservation</a>. Mahato was appointed forest minister in May by Upendra Yadav’s Tarai-based JSP and has been brazenly trying to find ways to cash in by allowing extractive projects inside national parks. Given this government’s lack of transparency and impunity for corruption, he may well get his way. “We have to be very careful not to kill the goose that lays golden eggs,” warns Ghana Gurung of WWF Nepal. “Tiger culling is an absolute no-no, and any decision to allow resorts inside national parks has to be consultative and transparent.” Indeed, Tarai national parks like Chitwan, Parsa, Bardia already face threats from encroachment, poaching, river pollution, and the climate crisis. Allowing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet">infrastructure like roads, railways and irrigation canals inside</a> them will further damage the ecosystem. &nbsp; Mahato has formed a task force under the Director General of the Forest Department Shivkumar Wagle to relax the restrictions to collect Tamarix dioica, a kind of lichen locally known as jhau that has medicinal properties. A ban has been in place in harvesting this shrub since 2010.&nbsp; Botany professor Krishna Kumar Shrestha says that some lichens found in branches of trees or on rocks are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/between-existence-and-extinction-in-nepal">rare species</a>, and as such should be studied thoroughly first. “We have to ensure the reproduction of those lichen species before lifting the ban otherwise we are destroying biological diversity,” he adds. Experts who have spoken against Mahato’s proposals are being sidelined by his ministry. &nbsp;Forest Secretary Rewati Raman Poudel was transferred after he raised objections and was replaced by Deepak Kharel of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Mahato himself has no background in conservation, and his only claim to fame is that he is the brother of Belarussian billionaire of Nepali origin Upendra Mahato, and was the chair of Machhapuchche Bank and has investments in hydropower.&nbsp; As minister, Mahato has also exerted pressure to pass the EIA of the Rs3 billion Pathibhara Cable Car project which is opposed by the local indigenous Yakthung Limbu people. He has also forced officials to ignore EIAs on several <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/balance-of-power">hydropower projects</a> in which he has investments. The National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act has provisions to operate facilities inside the park for tourism, but the regulation stipulates that any decision has to be transparent so it does not impact on the ecosystem. Under Nepal’s current governance climate, that is problematic.&nbsp;

Conservation vs Conservatives

Few ‘development’ projects have been as controversial in recent years as the proposed <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport">Nijgad International Airport (NIA)</a>, set to be built by logging thousands of hectares of forest.
Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli as Prime Minister revived the project in 2017 as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to catapult Nepal’s economic development. Experts, researchers and activists who questioned the destruction of a valuable transboundary ecology were trolled on social media as being ‘anti-development’.&nbsp;
In the years since, Nepal has been rocked by a never-ending series of corruption scandals involving top politicians and corporate houses. Two much-hyped new international airports in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport">Bhairawa </a>and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/pokhara-nepal-s-new-aviation-gateway">Pokhara</a> built at great cost were inaugurated amidst much fanfare, and have turned out to be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/15-points-for-and-against-nijgad-airport">white elephants</a>.
At a time when Nepal’s economy is in crisis, the NIA project has been exposed as being a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport">multi-billion dollar heist</a> by a cross-party alliance. Despite <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/building-nijgad-come-what-may">increasingly vocal public opposition</a> to the project, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said ‘site clearance’, which means logging the forest, will be completed this fiscal year. Tourism Minister Sudan Kirati is following through.
Nepal was never supposed to build the NIA on its own. It was designed as a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer) model, in which an international group would manage it for 25 years before transferring it to Nepal.&nbsp;
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Earlier government efforts at site clearance had been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/building-nijgad-come-what-may">halted by the Supreme Court</a> until an agreement with a developer was secured. In 2020, the tourism minister under the UML, Yogesh Bhattarai, announced that such a developer had been secured.
However, this was a boldfaced lie that was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/zurich-airport-international-opts-out-of-nepal-project">exposed in an exclusive report</a> in this paper. The minister was confronted about who was to build the airport, but there was no answer. Nepal’s political establishment then declared that the government would build it on its own, and committed $3.5 billion to a ghost airport.
A litigation around the project’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/megalomania-kleptomania">Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)</a>, which turned out to be a copy and paste job from a hydro power project, lingered.
Nijgad is not an airport project, it is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/megalomania-kleptomania">scam to log thousands of hectares of hardwood forests</a>. Even as an airport, it presents risks to the economy, ecology, food and water security.
Nepal’s bickering politicians are all united in this delusional project, and the basis for them to do so rests on a May 2022 Supreme Court decision on a public interest litigation on the EIA. The Court voided all previous plans and instructed the government to start the process anew, re-examine where the airport should be built, and conduct a new EIA.&nbsp;
Prime Minister Deuba’s government immediately hosted a high profile event in Nijgad to reaffirm commitment to NIA and commissioned a panel to study where the airport should be built. The panel immediately concluded it should be built as originally planned in Nijgad Forest.&nbsp;
How did the committee come to that conclusion so fast? Not surprisingly, the panel was led by Birendra Bahadur Deoja, author of a 2019 paper ‘Need for Nijgadh International Airport for Accelerated Development of Nepal’.&nbsp;
The panel’s development planning expert was Surya Raj Acharya, a longtime vigorous advocate for NIA. Rameshore Khanal, the influential former finance secretary, had tweeted after the initial Court ruling: ‘No matter how much we argue, building of Nijgad Airport is the only (satisfactory) ending’.
The panel did not have any expert on wildlife biology, Tarai and sal forest ecology, food and water security. Yet it quickly concluded Nijgad should be logged out with consequences for the ecology of the entire floodplain farm and forest region, and the last remaining native forest of the eastern Tarai be destroyed for an airport with no developer, financier or planned user.
The Deuba government used the Supreme Court decision to create a pro-Nijgad panel and give the impression it was following due process.
What next?
<ol>
 <li>&nbsp;Based on explicit bias and lack of expertise, the panel and its findings must be voided. Nepal’s development partners must challenge the government in meetings, by public interest litigation in court, and civil society in media and on other public platforms. The new EIA must be made public.</li>
 <li>Two brand new international airports are barely functioning. The government must provide the public and Parliament a cost benefit analysis of NIA that meets the highest levels of international scrutiny. It must list the committed developers, financiers and users, and prove Nepal’s right to use neighbouring airspace. Site clearance cannot begin until this process is complete.&nbsp;</li>
 <li>In 2021, a statement demanding accountability on NIA was drafted and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/importance-of-ecosystems-for-people-and-the-planet">signed by 11 of Nepal’s development partners</a>: Asian Development Bank, the United Nations, the World Bank and the Australian, British, Finnish, French and German Embassies. These organisations must now revisit their statement and find pressure points to compel the government to rethink its effort to bulldoze the project through. After all, they have committed $3.2 billion to Nepal’s Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) initiative. Now, the Americans must join the call since it is in line with the Biden White House’s position and the work of its Climate Envoy John Kerry. The US Embassy and USAID have invested in Nepal’s conservation, accountability, and food security. Considering this is a transboundary ecological issue, it is also time for ICIMOD to engage.</li>
 <li>Nepal has signed many international commitments on conservation, climate and sustainable development. These must be examined to assess the ecological implications of logging Nijgad Forest. Nepal has already disregarded NIA’s impact on the Tarai Arc Landscape under the World Bank’s REDD Emission Reductions Program. Violations to these agreements must inform public policy and the international funding discourse.&nbsp;</li>
 <li>The proposal to make Nijgad a conservation area <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nijgad-s-green-runway">that I proposed in this paper last year</a> must become a part of the public and policy discourse. Hemanta Mishra, Nepal’s pioneer conservationist said of that proposal: ‘The implementation of this concept would create a solid and continuous belt of a very high ecological and environment significance ecological site and a continuous belt of indigenous forest (and a carbon sink) all the way from Bara to Parsa and Chitwan to the Northern Banks and the Islands of Narayani in Nawalpur.’ It would also help Nepal’s economy while offering construction contracts for research facilities and wildlife crossings. Resettling the Tangiya Basti community, promised for a long time by state, should happen regardless of NIA.</li>
</ol>
For 7 years, Nepal’s political establishment has ignored activists, experts, media and the Supreme Court in a single-minded pursuit to log a pristine jungle for a project of dubious economic viability.&nbsp;
It has ignored an unprecedented statement signed by a large and important bloc of the international community. This defiance is a direct result of Nepal’s culture of impunity in which top politicians face no personal or political consequences for abuse of authority.&nbsp;
Nepal is on the verge of witnessing its greatest organised eco-crime led by the highest political powers in the land. The implications will reverberate beyond Nepal’s borders. Pushing this <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/economy-ecology-of-nijgad-airport">economically and ecologically suicidal plan</a> during a climate emergency and economic crisis will push Nepal towards a failed state.
Sadly, Nepal’s rulers are not on Nepal’s side.&nbsp;

Kashish Das Shrestha

Fight or Flight

Four people from Arghakhanchi and one from Dailekh died this week from injuries sustained while trying to put out wildfires fanned by high winds near their communities. Ten more people were injured in a forest blaze in Dailekh’s Aathbis Municipality. <a href="https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov">NASA satellite</a> data shows that there were wildfires in 1,196 locations in the last five months, out of which 808 of the fires were under the Division Forest Office, while 388 were in national parks. Of the 808 fires within the purview of the district forest office, most occurred within the Lamjung Division Forest Office.&nbsp; Meanwhile, forests in the Chitwan National Park and the buffer zone have recorded 100 fires: the most out of any protected area. Bagmati Province, with 278 fires, had the highest number of wildfires. More than 80% of wildfires in Nepal occur during the dry season between February to May, reaching its peak in mid-April. According to the Department of Forestry and Land Conservation, wildfires burn 200,000 hectares of forest area in Nepal each year, causing an estimated loss of more than Rs2 billion annually.&nbsp; According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), 769 people have died and 2,568 have been injured in 18,791 wildfires in Nepal from 2013 to 2023, and the financial loss has been worth more than Rs22 billion.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023051305058_f33b72d5e950a541269b97c934872ec83c8017f4aebd0bcf8ca0749d45a6edf9.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023051305058_f33b72d5e950a541269b97c934872ec83c8017f4aebd0bcf8ca0749d45a6edf9" data-rendition-name="original" width="1707" height="721" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfire map"> <figcaption>Infrared hotspots detected by the NASA FIRMS Satellite over Nepal on 12 May at noon. Map: NASA FIRMS</figcaption> </figure>  One reason there are more fires is because there are just more <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/while-the-forests-are-burning">forests</a>. Nepal's forest cover doubled in the past 30 years, and since they are strictly protected there is a lot of dry flammable material in the undergrowth. Anil Pokharel, executive head of NDRRMA, says that wildfires have increased tenfold in the last decade and that there have been five times as many wildfires this year than there were last year mainly because of a prolonged winter drought. “We did not expect that there would be such a large number of forest fires this year,” adds Pokharel. “It has been horrific.” Deputy secretary and wildfire expert Sundar Sharma says that inadequate record-keeping measures mean the actual numbers of wildfires are higher than official figures. The lack of detailed study of wildfires has also meant that there has been no preparation and preparedness plan, and by the time work starts, it is too late. Rameshowr Marhatta, joint secretary at the NDRRMA, says that even as fires rage across the country, the authorities have not been able to do much more than provide first response. “Right now, we have just been delivering fire fighting equipment from district to district, and as such we have not been able to properly study the wildfires,” he adds. “This is because we lack manpower, and Sundar Sharma is the only wildfire expert we currently have on the team.”&nbsp; According to the report, Amplified Drought Trend in Nepal Increases the Potential for Himalayan Wild Fire by Binod Pokharel, associate professor at Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Water and Meteorology, wildfires in Nepal will increase by 12% by 2030, 30% by 2050, and 50% by the end of this century as the climate crisis intensifies along the Himalaya.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke">Nepal is going up in smoke</a>, Kunda Dixit  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230513040524_605dd833321532552ebb333b3c72b36d89c61875c272e0af23152ce7a3c68e6e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230513040524_605dd833321532552ebb333b3c72b36d89c61875c272e0af23152ce7a3c68e6e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfire NT"> <figcaption>Wildfire seen spreading through Nuwakot's Bidur municipality.</figcaption> </figure>  It’s getting hot out here&nbsp; Most of the wildfires are human induced. Early summer is the peak season when herders and farmers set fire to crop residue or pastures to make greenshoots grow when the rains come. But with long winter droughts, the slopes are tinder dry and the fires spread out of control when they are fanned by up-valley winds. Strict rules to protect national parks and community forests also means there is a lot of dry biomass in the jungle floor, which makes it easy for forest to spread -- especially where highways pass through nature reserves like Bardia, Chitwan, or Parsa. “In the past, forest fires used to be naturally occurring, but at present, they happen increasingly due to human factors, either unintentional or deliberate,” says forester Bhola Bhattarai, “People have been known to set fire to the forests to hide evidence of theft of flora and fauna, smuggling, and even to plant new plants.” Research conducted by Monash University in Australia found that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/protecting-nepals-forests-from-fires">climate change directly contributes to increasing wildfires</a> globally. An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine noted that climate change helps fuel oxygen and fire sources. Climate change has also brought about changes in rainfall patterns, leading to more frequent and prolonged droughts across the world. A 2021 report published in German Watch had Nepal as the ninth most vulnerable country in the world to the effects of climate change. But lifestyle changes have contributed just as significantly to increasing wildfires, says Nurendra Aryal, chief conservation officer of the Api-Nampa Conservation Area. Mass migration from villages to cities and outside Nepal has meant that forest management has fallen behind, undermining traditional practices that helped in preventing forest fires. Indeed, across Nepal’s villages, the practice of collecting and managing dry leaves, twigs and branches, and firewood that litter the forest floors and barren farmlands which catch fire quickly during the dry season have been all but abandoned. Managing dry leaves and twigs has become a major challenge. Cattle-rearing has stopped, and consequently, the number of people dependent on the forest for their livelihood has decreased.&nbsp; “Our traditional practice of collecting forest and farm debris and utilising them must be encouraged,” says Aryal. “The leaves, for instance, can be collected and turned into charcoal and then sold.” An apathetic government Nepal’s Ministry of Forests introduced the Forest Fire Management Strategy in 2010, but the implementation has been lax. A budget of Rs13 billion has been assigned to the Ministry of Forests this fiscal year. Of this, only Rs22 million has been set aside for wildfire management. Meanwhile, Rs1.6 billion has been allocated for the NDRRMA, out of which Rs5 million has already been spent on wildfire control so far. The government sends about Rs500,000 annually to each forest office for wildfire control. A part of it is used to purchase firefighting equipment including fireproof jackets, helmets, gloves, backpacks and the like, while some of it goes towards conducting awareness programmes.&nbsp; “Aside from budget gaps, Nepal’s forest offices lack up-to-date resources as well as qualified personnel to fight wildfires,” says wildfire expert Sundar Sharma. “We cannot partake in effective and result-oriented work as long as we do not have an integrated management system and a responsible institution.” Nepal Police, Nepal Army and the Armed Police Force have been coordinating with forest research and training centres under the Ministry of Forest to control wildfires. But the efforts will be successful only if there is sufficient budget, necessary equipment and skilled human resource, says Rajendra Khadka of the Armed Police Force. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/high-and-dry">High and dry</a>, Ramesh Kumar  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230513040524_1945e7fd8846d48d59d088dbc7c65eef30b708f27e26cc696e06691948a0eb4b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230513040524_1945e7fd8846d48d59d088dbc7c65eef30b708f27e26cc696e06691948a0eb4b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfire NT"> </figure>  Meanwhile, the government has been trying to control fires with water bombing helicopters, which is not very effective. “Rather than have manpower and up-to-date equipment, the government has been conducting unnecessary stunts by using helicopters to fight wildfires, which is expensive, cumbersome, and impossible to send to every single affected area,” says Lokraj Nepal of the Chitwan Forest Division. Those who set forest fires are punishable under The Forests Act, 2019 and can be imprisoned for three years, pay a fine of Rs60,000, or both. However, authorities have no information about how many offenders have been prosecuted so far. the culprits in the deadly Arghakhanchi fires this week have not yet been identified. In 2020 the government rendered its Scientific Forest Management Guideline, 2014 null and void, effectively banning the collection, transportation and felling of wood. Consumers now have no incentive to protect the forests and this has led to an indifference towards wildfire control and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke">increased forest fires</a>, say experts. However, Sadhu Ram Chaulagain, president of the Hetaunda chapter of the Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal, refutes such claims. He says: “The truth is that the drought during last year’s winter and the increasing wildfires have stretched out local manpower thin. Otherwise, our community has a deep connection to the forest.” Pravin Bidari, chief of the Forest Division Office, Bardia says that more than half of the 281 community forest users in his division have been actively fighting wildfires, a sentiment which is echoed by Bharti Pathak, president of the Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal. “It’s not like anyone can sleep in peace while fires rage around their house. But one is not able to do much without technology or adequate manpower,” she says, adding that if the government were to provide advanced equipment to more than 22,000 community forests across the country to facilitate wildfire control, locals would not have to show up at the scene dressed inadequately— armed simply with buckets and sticks. "Local and provincial governments have shown no desire to coordinate with us," Pathak continues. “After the fire is over, they will send someone over to hold a wildfire-related awareness program, and consider their job done.” Nepal lacks a clear policy on wildfire control, and as such, there has long been confusion over authority and jurisdiction in all three tiers of the government. Home Ministry spokesperson Jitendra Basnet argues that the NDRRMA carries more responsibility over fire control than the ministries. Meanwhile, Devesh Mani Tripathi of the Department of Forests and Soil Conservation, which is under the Ministry of Forests and Environment, says that since the provincial government has the authority to manage national forests, wildfire control should also fall under its purview. "A large amount of money has been sent to the provinces for fire control, so it is them who have a major role to play,” says Tripathi. Bagmati province has had a forest department since 2018, while the Madhes province has recently begun smart patrolling in forests. But much as the provinces have made efforts, Tripathi says, a lack of budget and an abundance of legal hurdles have caused problems. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/central-nepal-engulfed-in-smoke">Central Nepal engulfed in smoke</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230513040528_61c9236284ca305eb1e7043fa14dd810ded58699cfe4075c5e89e535513db89a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20230513040528_61c9236284ca305eb1e7043fa14dd810ded58699cfe4075c5e89e535513db89a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1350" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfire NT 4"> <figcaption>Police work to put out a forest fire in Tanahu's Bandipur Rural Municipality. Photo: RSS</figcaption> </figure>  But the real issue lies with the fact that the government is yet o take wildfire control seriously, says Sundar Sharma: “So far, we haven’t had an accountable authority to oversee wildfire control. Our forests will continue to burn and Nepalis will continue to suffer as long as we do have an institutional body to address the disaster.” <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains">Increasing wildfires </a>also threaten Nepal’s diverse ecosystems, putting biodiversity at risk. Alternatively, when fires raze the habitats of animals, it has led to an increase in human-animal conflicts. &nbsp;But while western Tarai is most impacted by wildfires, Nepal’s low-risk Himalayan region has not been spared. Much of yarsagumba, cypress trees, birch trees and other vegetation have been lost to increasing fires in the Himalaya where it takes up to 15 years for a plant to grow by one meter.&nbsp; “There is such diversity of species in the Himalaya even within relatively small areas that it is impossible to undo the damage caused by wildfires,” says Narayan Ghimire, an associate professor at the Department of Botany at Tribhuvan University. “We risk losing it all if something is not done.” In the Manaslu Conservation Area, 200 hectares of land have been subject to wildfires caused by yarsagumba hunters and cattle herders who believe that setting fire to the land will cause the grass to grow. Manaslu Conservation Area chief Pashupati Adhikari notes that situations like this are the result of an inactive nature conservation fund. Annapurna Conservation Area has also seen an increase in wildfire this year, affecting the habitats of musk deer, snow leopards, and the Himalayan bluesheep. “Large animals may be able to escape wildfires, but animals with young babies and birds that have just laid eggs will not abandon their offspring and will perish, as will small reptiles, insects, and ants,” explains ACAP head Lokendra Adhikari. In the Tarai, construction of fire lines, early warning systems, and fire control patrol dispatched to 67 locations within the protected area have helped greatly in controlling wildfires, says Chitwan National Park chief Jil Bahadur Pun. Says Pun: “Having fire lines has meant that the wildfires do not spread from one location to another, which is why there has not been a big threat to the biodiversity in Chitwan National Park so far.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/wildfires-in-nepal-cause-air-quality-to-plummet">Wildfires in Nepal cause air quality to plummet</a>

More pre-monsoon forest fires in Nepal

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216af9c7e80680e0ba9a7jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A fire engulfed major parts of Nagarkot's Datadol forest in April 2021. Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>March 2022 was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/north-indian-heat-wave-hits-nepal/">one of the hottest recorded in the Subcontinent</a>. April also saw sweltering conditions in Nepal’s Tarai plains.This is the season for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">forest fires</a>, and the hot and dry conditions once again fanned the flames across Nepal. Here in Dhanusha district, forest fires have spread to forests that local communities have painstakingly protected.  Wildfires do not just destroy nature, but also <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wildfires-in-nepal-cause-air-quality-to-plummet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduce air quality</a> which is already poor due to emissions from vehicles and industries.Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries to the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/it-is-getting-hotter-on-the-roof-of-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> impact of the climate crisis</a>, and besides adapting to its impact it should also be doing its part to reduce emissions and increase forest cover.That is however not the case. In fact, all three levels of the government have failed to show any genuine commitment to fulfil <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/4-months-after-glasgow-nepals-goals-look-iffy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pledges Nepal made at COP26 in Glasgow</a> last year to attain net zero carbon by 2045 and to have 45% of its area under forest cover. <figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216b29c7e80680e0ba9a8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> Locals trying to put out a wildfire making way through the forests near Phoksundo Lake in April 2021. Photo: BIJAYABAR PRADHAN</figcaption></figure>In fact, the opposite is happening. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ukraine-climate-and-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fossil fuel consumption</a> is going up exponentially, and illegal logging has also similarly increased. The remaining forests are being decimated by these annual wildfires, which are becoming more extensive because of prolonged drought caused by climate change.Nepal’s<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> community forestry program</a> is internationally acclaimed, and it has helped double the country’s tree cover in less than 25 years. But under the new federal structure, community forests have been caught in a grey zone because of confusion over jurisdiction. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/taking-away-forests-from-communities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tussle</a> between local communities, and the district forest offices have added to deforestation. Illegal logging has also similarly increased, all of which threaten to undermine past gains.  Rangers earlier used to patrol the forest to trim or remove undergrowth to prevent fires, and local communities were encouraged to protect woodlands and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/while-the-forests-are-burning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">help extinguish fires</a>.  <figure><img width="1500" height="692" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216b69c7e80680e0ba9a9jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>A hardwood forest in Rautahat district on fire in March 2021, one of many big flare-ups that smothered Central Nepal in smoke. Photo: MUKESH POKHREL</figcaption></figure>After the federal transition, these practices have gone into decline and the undergrowth is full of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/no-smoke-without-fire-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inflammable dry leaves and twigs</a>  In some areas, there is no incentive to protect the forests anymore. However, some forest-dependent communities have taken up the responsibility and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-unsung-heroes-of-conservation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stepped up to conserve trees</a> since the Division Forest Office has not. A successful example of this positive trend is the Bhati Ghari community forest here in Mithila Municipality.  The community has acted fast to stop fires in their forests from spreading before they caused major damage. With support from मैकगघ foundation, <a href="https://www.pipaltreefoundation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pipal Tree Organisation</a>, and our own <a href="https://mwt.org.np" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mithila Wildlife Trust</a>,  local volunteers have planted 56,000 saplings of 36 types in degraded land. Their effort even won them the Ganeshman Singh Community Forest National Prize, the first community forest in the Tarai belt to be given such an award. Elsewhere in Dhanusa district, the Mithila Wildlife Trust has become the first to successfully implement the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mini-forests-to-make-kathmandu-more-liveable/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Miyawaki Method</a> of intensive afforestation in Nepal. This new plantation technique can quickly turn wastelands into lush forests while reviving indigenous plant species.  <figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216b99c7e80680e0ba9aajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Warm and dry winter has sparked forest fires across the Himalaya that raged for months from late 2020 to early 2021. Photo: NABIN LAMICHHANE/RSS</figcaption></figure>Most <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildfires</a> are caused by careless disposal of cigarette butts, funerals inside forests and locals not extinguishing flames after picnics. Livestock owners also deliberately set the undergrowth on fire believing that it will bring up fresh new shoots of grass when the rains come. Farmers also have a role in increasing wildfires as they <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-transboundary-haze-affects-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">set fire to residual straw after harvest</a>, not realising that it can be composted to make bio-fertiliser. Some forest fires are set by poachers to clear the vegetation and catch wildlife for smuggling.The global climate crisis is also disrupting the water cycle. This has directly impacted rainfall patterns, leading to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">extreme weather events</a>. The 1993 Forestry Act allows villagers to protect, manage and utilise their forests. It gave them a sense of ownership, and an <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/community-forest-comes-in-handy-earthquake-reconstruction,2927" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">incentive to protect and conserve</a>. It is this community spirit that can also control the fires that are threatening past gains. However, the federal and provincial governments must also do their bit in controlling wildfires. They must allow local decision-making, and equip rural municipalities and wards with resources to continue protecting their forests. Dev Narayan Mandal is the founding chair of the Mithila Wildlife Trust.

Protecting Nepal's forests from fires

<figure><img width="960" height="540" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203f89c7e80680e0b2837jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: MITHILA WILDLIFE TRUST</figcaption></figure>Imagine living next to a tiny forest the size of a tennis court right in the middle of Kathmandu, which makes the whole neighbourhood look clean and green. The forest is dense and layered with several different species of indigenous trees, shrubs, fruits and herbs. Butterflies, bees and birds return to the vibrant ecosystem.This is not fantasy, but an actual possibility for an over-urbanised city where there are very few open spaces left.First developed 40 years ago by a <a href="http://akiramiyawaki.com">Japanese botanist</a>, the ‘Miyawaki method’ of reforesting allows densely packed carefully selected trees to grow in tiny plots of land in urban centres like Kathmandu, or even in household backyards.The result is a self-sustaining forest rich in biodiversity in a few short years that can serve as a network of new lungs for a polluted city. In <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/empowering-nepalis-during-covid-19-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dhanusa district</a>, the Mithila Wildlife Trust has become the first to successfully implement the Miyawaki method in Nepal. “These are high density forests which act as natural air conditioners, and they can bring down the ambient temperature by 2-3°C. And the ecosystem is so diverse that it also allows plants, insects and birds to thrive,” says Dev Narayan Mandal of the Trust.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-can-up-forest-cover-to-45-by-2030/">Nepal can up forest cover to 45% by 2030</a>, Nepali Times <img width="960" height="540" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203fb9c7e80680e0b2838jpeg.jpg" alt="">Mithila Wildlife Trust last month planted trees in 2,580 square feet of land in Janakpur using this technique, and there are already calls from forestry offices in Mahottari and Makwanpur who want to implement the technique in their districts.  “I even got calls from a few individuals in Kathmandu who want to use the method in their compounds,” says a visibly-enthused Mandal, a recent recipient of the International Environment Warrior and World Neem Warrior awards. Unlike traditional reforestation where trees of the same species are planted in bulk at a distance of 3-4m, Miyawaki prioritises native varieties and those most suitable to the specific climate of the area. The saplings are also packed densely together at a distance of 60cm from each other.This means the trees are densely packed, and quickly grow into forests that serve as oxygen generators for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/breathing-can-kill-you/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cities with dirty air</a>. They also help revive indigenous plants, and since the canopy is multi-layered, it means the trees do not all mature at once.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous/">Tree-mendous</a>, Peter Gill <img width="960" height="540" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203fe9c7e80680e0b2839jpeg.jpg" alt="">Mandal says the forests can grow 10 times faster and are at least 20 times more diverse and 30 times denser than traditional replanted forests. But the real attraction is that they do not need large tracts of land, but can grow in small plots only 30m x 30m in city cores.Nepal is an international model for a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">successful community forestry </a> program that saw the country’s tree cover double in the last 25 years to nearly 40%, but in the cities the greenery has been replaced by concrete jungles.  Trees have been cut to make way for hard, dry surfaces like roads, sidewalks, pavement, buildings and parking lots, all of which <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/preparing-for-kathmandus-heat-waves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">absorb and retain heat in ‘urban heat islands’</a>. And when residents rely on air conditioners to cool their homes, it becomes a vicious cycle as the outside temperature goes up even more.  What little is left of public land in Kathmandu and other major cities are being built over.  Communities rallying to turn open spaces into leafy parks are opposed by municipalities whose idea of a park is to have fountains, concrete pavements and shops.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/will-nepal-ever-be-paid-for-saving-trees/">Will Nepal ever be paid for saving trees?</a>, Mukesh Pokharel <figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204029c7e80680e0b283ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Mandal sees immense possibilities for Kathmandu to replicate his pilot plot in Janakpur: “It can be replicated along the Bagmati, and other empty spaces. Government offices and corporate compounds can also use the Miyawaki model.”Following Mithila Wildlife Trust’s Miyawaki experiment in Janakpur, the team is preparing another 100mx100m abandoned plot nearby to plant with 30 types of native plants. After the initial investment to source saplings, fertilise the soil with compost and cow dung, the forest grows to be maintenance-free within two years.“In the long term, the Miyawaki method is more cost effective because it results in high yield layered forest as well as revive indigenous plants at the time of climate crisis with 100% survival rate,” says Mandal.The solution to air pollution, solid waste disposal and shrinking open spaces lies in urban reforestation, which in turn can beautify and clean up our cities.A simple cost-effective technology, the Mikawaki method needs support from communities and local governments – both of which Dev Narayan Mandal has garnered in Janakpur.  He says, “The best thing about Miyawaki is that it can turn urban wastelands quickly into lush forests.” Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/protecting-forests-is-crucial-to-cure-pandemics/"> Protecting forests is crucial to cure pandemics</a>, Melissa Vida

Sonia Awale

Mini forests to make Kathmandu more liveable

‘One early morning, we heard the ambassador’s wife cry out, “Ram, Ram, Ram!” A disaster has befallen Nepal!” She had heard on the radio that a fire had consumed Singha Durbar." This is not about the arson attack on 9 September 2025, but the one on 8 July, 1973. It started in the South Wing of the then single-largest building in all of Nepal. It took two days to bring the blaze under control, requiring the use of explosives to demolish one wing to protect the imposing western facade. As Bhekh Bahadur Thapa recalls in the English translation of his memoir A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy, he was then on leave from the Nepal government serving with the IDRC in Ottawa.&nbsp; He had already served as Nepal’s Finance Secretary at age 25, went on to be Finance Minister and Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. He was already younger than some of the GenZ ministers in Nepal’s present RSP government. Thapa, now 89, was at the launch of the book in February which was attended by former diplomats and bureaucrats. After speeches by panelists, there was a question from the audience about how Thapa had managed to be the diplomat he was, managing Nepal’s international relations on the world stage.&nbsp; Writer and journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay, who was moderating the panel, responded by going into the section of the book where we see Thapa as an ambassador to the US, playing tennis with White House officials, cultivating a network of contacts to project the identity and welfare of Nepal, and making it possible for a state visit by King Birendra to Ronald Reagan’s America. The book is full of anecdotes that suggest Thapa was a clever and strategic diplomat, always calm and unruffled, easily making friends in high places with his maturity and engaging sense of humour. Thapa’s memoir is heavy on details about Nepal’s administrative history during the years he was active in public service, serving as minister and ambassador under three kings: Mahendra, Birendra and Gyanendra, and alongside five prime ministers.&nbsp; Aside from an insider look on how certain treaties, development deals and research projects in Nepal came into fruition, Thapa goes into great detail about his personal and professional relationships with the kings, ministers, ambassadors, foreign leaders and politicians.&nbsp; As a reader, one is struck by the level of detail around the events that unfolded in Nepal over the years during Thapa’s tenure. Was Thapa recording a journal over the years of the events and the conversations that transpired, or were they committed to his phenomenal memory? Either way, the reader gets a glimpse of Nepal’s recent history from the early days of the Panchayat, through the People’s Movement and the democracy period, the Maoist insurgency, Royal Palace massacre of 2001, and Gyanendra’s coup of 2005.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1584" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How to win friends and influence nations NT"> </figure>  Not enough is said about the political parties of the time whose presence led to the way Nepal’s multiparty democracy came to be shaped. The book keeps its focus on the administration and the key figures around it, mostly those in the Panchayat era. Towards the second half of the book, we do start to hear about political parties, but not in great depth. Another figure whose presence in the book is conspicuously less prominent is that of his wife, Rita Thapa — the person who seems to have rescued him every time financial quandary or family care became a challenge. Yet, we do not see her as a full person. Perhaps because of the personal tragedies in his life, the children are also barely mentioned.&nbsp; The book is therefore less personal and more technical. Throughout, we learn about Thapa’s thinking as he navigated the world of diplomacy to win him the trust of those who mattered. There are tips here for a new generation of Nepali officials and diplomats about how much commitment and focus is needed to be good at one’s job and serve the national interest. This book adds to tomes that have been written on Nepal’s fragile relationship with India. ‘India has always wished for Nepal to remain dependent on it,’ writes Thapa, who served as Nepal’s ambassador to India and later in the Eminent Persons Group &nbsp;on Indo-Nepal relations that has been allowed to languish. The book has several insights into the Indo-Nepal trysts with diplomacy and agency.&nbsp; China’s role is also recorded, viewed through conversations during a visit to Beijing, but all that was before Nepal’s neighbour to the north emerged as a world economic and military power. The book also has such sudden instances of quirkiness and humour. For instance, we see a young Thapa in America explaining to a government official why he would like to return to Nepal instead of settling down in the US. “Because, Nepal is beautiful,” he said. The text is immaculate and does not read much like a translation, credit for which clearly goes to the team that put the edition together: translator Prawin Adhikari, &nbsp;Anagha Neelakanthan and Bhekh Thapa’s daughter, Manjushree. As Nepal enters a new era of governance and diplomacy, A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy should be essential reading for students of political science, economics and foreign affairs who can gain a fresh perspective on the country’s trajectory.&nbsp; There are dozens of forgotten state secrets recorded in the book, but the reader must also remember this is a story told from one person’s perspective and there may be others.&nbsp; So, what really made Thapa the diplomat he was? I met him in 2004 at the Kantipur TV studio when he was serving as king Gyanendra’s foreign minister. He was there for a studio interview, and I was just done with my English newscast.&nbsp; He surprised me at the door: “Pratibha! I’ve been reading your articles in The Kathmandu Post. You must keep writing.” I thanked him, glad to have been noticed for my work by a stranger. That was perhaps one of the things that set Thapa apart — he excelled at staying close to those in power, while also noticing those who were not.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Book details"> </figure>

How to win friends and influence nations

This is the 91st episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. I have still not come to terms with the reality that my daughter Ruby Thakur is now the Deputy Speaker of Nepal’s Parliament. Sometimes, when I am walking, the thought hits me, and I cannot believe it.&nbsp; Things changed for my daughter in a very short time. I had dreamt that the best my daughter could achieve was a good engineering job. Fate had bigger plans for her. She is no longer just my daughter, she is the nation’s daughter. Nepal’s daughter.&nbsp; My children’s education was always my foremost priority. That is the main reason I went overseas for employment. I realised the value of education while working in Saudi Arabia. In my office, colleagues with good education earn $8,000 per month working on computers. Those with low education toil outdoors in the heat for much lower wages. A good education or skills can change everything. I am in Nepal on vacation and will soon return to my job. Ruby is all set now. But I still have to take care of my other children's education. As the eldest son, I myself never got a chance to prioritise my own education. I dropped out in Grade 7 because I had to take care of my ageing parents and younger siblings. I have done all kinds of jobs. I worked in a landlord’s field for a share of the harvest. Even now my wife and I farm for the land owner and have to give away half of what we grow.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120444_051b61e01a5189af538aa1e011acd3e2b38d5f42825116b2afd325d93d0c519b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260413120444_051b61e01a5189af538aa1e011acd3e2b38d5f42825116b2afd325d93d0c519b" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> <figcaption>Sogarath Thakur during a break in Nepal with wife tending to his farm.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120448_8a1c3ac3fd559026bc6f981cc8dc82cb8ad09a3a4f55fb9f6f7fd5f49c3d5571.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260413120448_8a1c3ac3fd559026bc6f981cc8dc82cb8ad09a3a4f55fb9f6f7fd5f49c3d5571" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> </figure>  Then I worked as a barber, my family’s line of occupation. I went door to door cutting people’s hair and later worked in a relative’s saloon. Hairstyles were simple back then, and I got to keep half the fee. I also worked in a brick factory where I was paid weekly. &nbsp; I married when I was 16, and my wife was a year younger. As my family and responsibilities grew, I had to migrate leaving behind my three children including Ruby who was just three months old.&nbsp; I went to Qatar where I continued working as a barber. It was a large saloon and the standards for cleanliness and professionalism were higher. I had to hand over 70% of my daily earnings to the employer. I had to rely on my colleague to translate what the customer wanted. But I slowly became fluent in Arabic. I used to jot down words in Nepali and Arabic and memorise them. In Qatar, customers even came at night for haircuts, and people stayed up late. I would work till 3AM.&nbsp; Communicating with my family was one-way. I would go to Bismillah and ask someone to type out questions to my family about their whereabouts, how the harvest was that season. I would offer very little information about my life in Qatar because it was not easy. What was the point of getting them all worried? What could they do? I never received a letter in return, so throughout my time in Qatar, I never knew how my family was faring. When I appeared in the village after five years without any advance notice, it was a bittersweet reunion, and I had no gifts. I still remember how unfamiliar my village felt when I came home after so many years. I had to ask for directions. When I came home, Ruby was already in school. I had left her in my wife’s arms five years prior. I missed her growing up, and did not even see her pictures. My wife had to introduce her to me as her father. But it took just 15 minutes for her to warm up to me.&nbsp; The Arabic skills I had picked up in Qatar came in handy when I remigrated two years later to Saudi Arabia. I worked as a labourer in the desert heat, but once my company found out I spoke Arabic, I was hired for an indoor job as an office boy. The struggle in Qatar had paid off. I worked in an air conditioned office serving tea or coffee, doing bank runs or getting documents signed and photocopied. I have worked in the same company for the past 20 years, sending money home.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120448_f083fa873a6d77b19c8b0bdde623415c643a151fb550c57ff4e52b3c2431355f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260413120448_f083fa873a6d77b19c8b0bdde623415c643a151fb550c57ff4e52b3c2431355f" data-rendition-name="original" width="5712" height="3213" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120452_5ccd9a01ee05ce26b71381725108215d0f0d3806508b0cb482aabcfea09bbaef.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260413120452_5ccd9a01ee05ce26b71381725108215d0f0d3806508b0cb482aabcfea09bbaef" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="3024" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> </figure>  My wife is not just my children’s guardian, but also mine throughout the two decades I was away. I trust her with all my earnings, and she manages our household finances well. She makes sure that the children’s school fees and other expenses are paid on time. These days, with video calls, things have become much easier for me to stay in touch with home.&nbsp; When Ruby told me she wanted to do an engineering diploma, I was happy. Later, her friends inspired her to join politics so she started getting involved with Shram Sanskriti Party. I first found out she got the proportional representation nomination through social media while on my work duty in Saudi Arabia. I was so excited, but even more so when she was elected Deputy Speaker. I was back home in Dhanusha on my vacation at the time.&nbsp; We are overjoyed and waiting for her to come back to the village for a visit when she gets a chance so we can celebrate properly with everyone. I plan to go back to Saudi Arabia as originally planned, I have a good job and will work for maybe five more years. Ruby has taken 75% of the load off my back. She can help take care of her siblings.&nbsp; I sleep at 8PM every day and wake up at 5AM to exercise before my day in Saudi Arabia begins – I have stuck to the same routine for the last two decades and it has worked well for me and my health. I have a good rapport with my boss who is an Egyptian. My requests to resign have often been met with counter-offers to stay on. My honesty and hard work have won me the company's trust. I will go back and resume working as I have, despite my daughter’s huge achievements. I am still a farmer’s son, a simple man who has to fulfil his family responsibilities. My colleagues in Saudi Arabia are aware that Ruby is Deputy Speaker in Nepal’s Parliament, they are all happy for me and have congratulated me. This time, when I go back, I have promised them that I will throw a bakhri party to celebrate my daughter’s achievement.

The nation’s daughter

Nepalis are insured but not covered

At 6 feet and one inch, Hira Bahadur Ghalan was exceptionally tall for a Nepali. In 1936, when people came to his Tamang village near Tistung looking for porters, they recruited him on the spot. This was no ordinary job, Hira Bahadur would lead gangs of 30 or more porters to carry cars bought by Rana rulers from Bhimphedi to Kathmandu.&nbsp; Those were the days when the only motorable roads in Nepal were in Kathmandu, but the capital was not connected to anywhere else by road. So, before cars could carry people, people had to carry cars. More Nepalis had carried cars than ridden in one. The porters were paid Rs5 for the job, and sometimes the Rana owners gave Hira Bahadur a Rs25 baksheesh. One of the cars his community helped carry was a 1939 Daimler Benz gifted by Adolf Hitler to King Tribhuvan to woo Nepal away from the British. The rusted dusty vehicle is now in the Narayanhiti Palace Museum.&nbsp; Hira Bahadur hauled cars for 25 years until his knees gave way, he died at age 90 eight years ago — the last surviving car porters of Nepal from Chitlang Valley.&nbsp; Hira Bahadur Ghalan had three sons and three daughters, one of them is Maila Kaji Lama, who at age 68, is a chauffeur in Kathmandu. His son, Manjil Lama is a pilot with Summit Air, flying to remote Himalayan airstrips. Three generations of one family worked in professions that followed a century of transportation history in Nepal. &nbsp; After the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-long-and-winding-road-to-india">Tribhuvan Rajpath was finished in 1957</a> and the ropeway upgraded, Hira Bahadur was out of a job. He tilled the family farm, watching trucks and buses headed to and from Kathmandu on the hairpins.&nbsp; As a child, Maila Kaji was fascinated by cars and wished one day to be able to drive one. After he failed Grade 8, he came to Kathmandu in 1975 and got a Rs20/month job at a petrol station in Maiti Devi. “I watched King Birendra’s coronation and was impressed by the glamour of Kathmandu, and decided to stay here,” Maila Kaji says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041816040_a1a41e47dec8500727702f700e43af625f059043cbcd283f13b247344b3a20aa.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2026041816040_a1a41e47dec8500727702f700e43af625f059043cbcd283f13b247344b3a20aa" data-rendition-name="original" width="1974" height="1608" loading="lazy" alt="car carriers"> <figcaption>Maila Kaji</figcaption> </figure>  Former minister Ramesh Nath Pandey used to bring his Volkswagen Beetle to the station, and Maila Kaji started taking care of his car. Later, he drove a Russian Jeep for former minister and geographer Harka Gurung. Along the way, he fell in love with the daughter of a Brahmin colleague, and married her. “My father back in Tistung did not approve of our inter-ethnic marriage, and not speak to me for five years,” Maila Kaji recalls. Manjil Lama grew up in Kathmandu, and did well in science in school. He had wanted to go the US to become a pilot like his friends, but was denied a visa.&nbsp; “The visa officer told him I did not earn enough,” says Maila Kaji, “so I sold some property and sent Manjil to flying school in the Philippines.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041816040_e9091162840baa6d182de2d7cc6f09e43ec9cfd9a9b6e71e7e7b14bc72da3537.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2026041816040_e9091162840baa6d182de2d7cc6f09e43ec9cfd9a9b6e71e7e7b14bc72da3537" data-rendition-name="original" width="1434" height="1754" loading="lazy" alt="car carriers"> <figcaption>Manjil Lama</figcaption> </figure>  After returning to Nepal, Manjil Lama now flies Let 410s of Summit Air to difficult air strips like Lukla and Simkot, and has logged over 2,000 hours. He has to go to the Czech Republic regularly for simulator training. Says Maila Kaji Lama: “My father worked hard carrying cars to raise us, I started from scratch to become a driver to support my family, and my son is now a pilot with experience in flying in the world’s toughest terrain.” &nbsp; Watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvT3iTi8yw4" target="_blank">video clip from S Dillon Ripley here</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260419020448_40f8b1bdaace08106ca5c24819b6e7a34fb2109a9a3ec5c6ac179b3309e686ed.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260419020448_40f8b1bdaace08106ca5c24819b6e7a34fb2109a9a3ec5c6ac179b3309e686ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="900" height="1582" loading="lazy" alt="car carriers"> </figure>

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