Community forest and people
December 3, 2024
Hello and Namaste, It’s me Anju Kumari Dhakal, the Communication Coordinator Officer at Plantation Initiative Nepal. As per the office rules, I need to visit the sites to collect stories and photographs. Then I decided to visit sites of Jhapa District. I chose eastern sites because plantation program was initially started in 2015 at Jhapa and I wonder how those forest look like. Three nursery sites are there in Jhapa District i.e. Kamaldhap Nursery, Sundarpur Nursery and Laxmisthan Nursery. The produced nursery plants from Kamaldhap Nursery are planted in Kamaldhap Rampokhari community forest. Similarly, Sundarpur Nursery to Manakamana community forest and Laxmisthan Nursery to Laxmisthan community forest.
I had a solo trip to Jhapa for the first time and it was amazing trip ever. I had a warm welcome in the house of Tulasa Niraula, Nursery Manager, Sundarpur Nursery to stay. I visited the Manakama community forest together with the nursery managers team. They showed me nursery sites and plantation sites. They were so happy to show their results of the hard work. I was just feeling their proudness and love towards the forest. Their different charm to guide me to the forest made me feel proud to be the part of this big project. They shared those areas used to be like desert with a very hot wind before plantation and now they felt the change in climate. It is cooler than before and there is also a rainfall.
In every steps we had conversation on the forest, nursery, their time schedule and dedication.
Let’s go for the Forest Journey
Plantation Initiative Nepal collects and distributes the different seeds to respective nurseries. The nursery managers receive those seeds and treatment of seeds are carried on if needed. Before sowing seeds, land is prepared, soil sand and clay are brought if necessary and the bed are constructed. Those nursery beds are fenced. Then, those seeds are then sown in the prepared seed beds and polybags. Plantation initiative Nepal prioritize women involvement in the polypots filling and other nursery development (Jan-May) works like transferring of seedlings from nursery bed to polypots, watering, weeding and grading etc. In the month of June/ July those plants are then planted in the plantation sites. Regular monitoring and other plantation works are carried out in the plantation sites too. In this way the plants grow up with time and become a tree and a forest.
” We planted trees, we feel proud to see their heights.”
When I listened this from the Nursery Managers, I had goosebumps’. They were really proud to be an audience of a forest journey. Starting from the mud and seed to the tree makes them happy and satisfied and they told those trees are their babies which made me realize happiness is in the hard work, sweat and dedication.
