Eastern Himalayas

Building Successful Communities

Based on lessons learned over 30 years of experience in the Eastern Himalayas, WWF launched the Successful Communities Initiative to address the root causes for environmental degradation: poverty, population growth, lack of economic opportunity and inequitable distribution of resources

The goal of the Successful Communities Initiative is simple: to help local people improve their quality of life while achieving a sustainable balance between the needs of people and nature in the Eastern Himalayas. 

School children in Nepal benefit from WWF's conservation efforts.
© WWF-Canon / Matt WILKINSON

There are four thematic components to this initiative: Community Health and Education, Enterprise, Sustainable Resource Use and Local Governance. Of these four, the Health and Education is underway in three communities in Bhutan, Nepal and India with the generous support of Johnson & Johnson. The sites were selected because they are gateway communities, sitting at the threshold of the most important national parks or core protected areas in the Himalayas. They are also areas where WWF has a strong presence and high level of trust established, and where there are few or no other organizations.

WWF's Successful Communities Initiative is working with a number of partners, most significantly the local communities themselves. Other partners include the Bhutan Health Trust Fund, CARE Nepal, USAID, Johnson & Johnson, local NGOs and all three respective governments. Together we work to build healthy, well-educated communities that are empowered both physically and mentally to take control of their own long-term sustainable development. 

Four Components of a Successful Community

• Community Health and Education: Improve current health and education efforts to enable local communities to lead their own long-term development. 
• Enterprise: Create opportunities that improve incomes while conserving wildlife and habitats.  
• Sustainable Resource Use: Help communities effectively manage and restore natural resources. 
• Local Governance: Help local institutions acquire the skills to maintain and expand improvements in their quality of life.