Community Action
Eastern Himalayas: Communities Conserving
Woman stirring cattle dung into a household biogas plant near Chitwan National Park in the Terai, Nepal.
© WWF / Judy Oglethorpe
WWF led a community conservation project that enhanced health and livelihoods while conserving the forests of Nepal's Terai Arc. We trained volunteers to provide important first-aid services and family planning education while promoting fuel efficiency for cooking. Our conservation work also provided better access to drinking water and sanitation systems.
The Terai Arc connects 11 parks and reserves across the foothills of the Himalayas. In the west, the Khata Corridor links Nepal's Bardia National Park with India's Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, providing a vital biological passageway for many species. While the Terai Arc is rich in biodiversity, its local communities
What is Biogas?
Biogas, or methane, is a natural gas used for cooking in a gas stove. In Nepal's Terai Arc communities, each household can supply its own biogas by installing a biogas plant, where cattle manure and toilet waste are mixed with water and dumped in an airtight underground pit that can hold approximately 1,600 gallons.
In these anaerobic conditions, methane starts forming, where it can then be piped into a gas stove inside. Biogas is pure methane, clean and odorless. It burns better than wood, resulting in faster cooking times.
As the need for firewood is a major cause of deforestation in Nepal, biogas use helps conserve forest cover.
suffer from poverty and poor health. Lacking other options, the growing population puts severe pressure on the forest through activities such as livestock cultivation and the collection of firewood. Health problems are numerous, and include poor access to family planning, contaminated drinking water, respiratory disease caused by smoke from indoor cooking fires, injuries from wild animal attacks and the growing prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
Much of WWF's work in the Terai Arc has been done through Community Forest User Groups, who manage forest resources in a sustainable and equitable way for the benefit of communities and conservation.
Along with other local groups, WWF is working with the Nepal Ministry of Health, Nepal Red Cross and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) to improve well-being and livelihoods, help couples have the family size they desire, and restore the forest. WWF established a health clinic and trained community volunteers as family planning peer educators and first-aid responders. They are a valuable community resource - leading training sessions on health, nutrition and family planning, treating people attacked by wildlife and working to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
Replacing fuelwood with biogas in the home greatly reduces pressure on forests and lowers the incidence of respiratory diseases in women and young children.
© WWF / Judy Oglethorpe
WWF and its local partners have also dug wells at safer depths and equipped them with special filters to reduce levels of naturally-occurring arsenic and bacterial contamination. Livestock are being removed from the forest and relocated near homesteads, allowing the forests to regenerate while still enabling the local population to cultivate a source of income and milk.
New toilets have been built in the most needy households, decreasing contamination of drinking water and improving sanitation. Family latrines drain into biogas plants that provide fuel for clean-burning stoves, reduce respiratory diseases and save time for women who walked long distances to gather firewood. Women now focus more on childcare, other household work, and income generating activities - often based on sustainably-used natural resources.
Better access to family planning is helping couples choose the timing and size of their family. This improves the health and welfare of women and children, gives children better education opportunities, and reduces pressure on forests stemming from an expanding population.
