Environmental Benefits of Barren Land Lease in Nepal

Environmental Benefits of Barren Land Lease in Nepal Host: But there are also some important implications for the environment, a climate change expert based in Kathmandu thinks giving rights to the poor brings unexpected benefits. Claire Shakya: Well, poor people are given rights to graze their land. He finds almost immediately huge improvements in the management of that land which means that you get much more carbon capture either in the form of trees or in better soil management. And in the case of Nepal where they’re being given the rights to manage forest land we’re seeing massive increases in carbon capture through their management. Host: And there could be some benefits to farmers. Claire Shakya: If they’re able to sell the carbon in the carbon markets they’ll be getting between $80.00 to $150.00 each year for that carbon. Host: According to the government, it would be passing the advantages on to farmers like Som. Udaya Raj Sharma: If we restore our degraded lands we claimed our carbon credits. We can actually qualify for a carbon credit and if the chunk of money that comes through this mechanism, those people who have greened their land they will be the beneficiaries. Host: Som Bahadur, a long way of talking carbon credits. But he will begin working with Kavita in the coming weeks. Female: In the beginning when I see the land and the condition of the people I'm not very hopeful. But when I see the result after sometime I'm really mesmerized. All it requires is determination and hard work. Host: At least this time Som will be working for himself, not his landlord. Som Bahadur: I know it’s going to be very hard in the beginning and we’ll have to shoulder a lot in the days to come too. But personally I don’t think I’ll find it too difficult. Host: Lakshmi signed up to the leasehold forestry project five years ago. She has been busy, so busy that she didn’t get time to be married. Lakshmi lives with her sister. She is the family breadwinner. Two years ago, she was voted the secretary of her leasehold forestry group. But despite doing well, her life has not been easy. Lakshmi Tamang: My father was really old, about 84 years. I used to support him. I work in a carpet factory and send home 500 Rupees every month. I start even when I was 7 and work in Kathmandu and work for nine years. That was enough to pay the tuition fees of my two brothers. When I came home after nine years I found my brothers big enough to work in the carpet factory. They had started up to grade six and seven. We are ready to work so they could earn for themselves so I had to help my father. I wasn’t very clever nor have good ability though physically I was okay. We lived a very poor life almost hand-to-mouth. We suffered for each single rupee. Host: Lakshmi no longer has to count every rupee. She now earns between 200 and 500 rupees a day. That’s between $2.00 and $4.00 selling her buffalo milk and vegetables. It’s a good income but she puts in very long hours. Lakshmi Tamang: I wake up at 4:00 and have tea. Mother milks the buffalo then I go to the market to sell the milk and vegetables and come back home by 8:30. And then I go to work in the field. If there is no work in the field I work in the vegetable garden. If I'm free I sew clothes. I don’t rest at all. Host: At present she has two buffalos, four cows and 11 goats. All their product comes from the leasehold forest land she and her group started cultivating five years ago. Lakshmi Tamang: In the beginning there was nothing except some chiseled handicrafts. Locals would graze their cattle openly. It was totally barren and rocky. I never believe that the project manager would be able to do anything here. But after three years we have a nice, soil greenery everywhere with different types of grasses, bamboo and fruit trees. I realized that our income would increase. More than our income we had more technical knowledge. I’ve worked in a forest too I used to think. Earlier people said green forest is Nepal’s event but now I say green forest is Poor’s event. Host: Each month Lakshmi deposits money in the group saving scheme and each year she does the old buying and selling animals. Lakshmi Tamang: I always dreamed of installing biogas. With that aim I bought 100 chickens from the veterinary shop at a rate of 14 or 15 rupees. For one month I fed them with more than feeds and then I started giving them homemade feeds. It was my luck that I had 60 cocks out of 100. It was my luck, I can never forget that. Host: She now then installed her biogas but also constructed a fancy tiled bathroom and a toilet with her savings. Group saving schemes are not an original concept but they do work. People on the leasehold forestry group are encouraged to save anything they can. They then borrow at low rates of interest from the group savings. Lakshmi Tamang: So altogether I think I was able to spend about 70,000 rupees, about US$900.00 for the biogas plant, the toilet, the bathroom, the tin roof etcetera. Now I have thought of renovating my cow shed but due to lack of laborers I haven’t been able to start.