Environmental policy and administrative management

Although the geology of the Siwalik and Mahabharat is fragile and prone to landslide and flood, the local land use practices are also equally to blame. Slash and burn agriculture practiced by the indigenous Chepangs and Tamangs in increasingly shorter fallow period on the steep slopes of the areas is associated with deforestation, loss of biodiversity, threat of forest fires, emissions of greenhouse gases, and serious soil erosion, leading to a significant decline in land productivity. Other inefficient practice such as plantation of maize in steep outward terrace has also led to significant loss of topsoil thus increasing surface run off. The consequent alluvial deposits in the river valleys have triggered the rise of riverbeds threatening the very existence of the near-by settlements. The three dimensional feature of the hills and mountains, although an opportunity in some respect (which is further discussed in the incoming section), can also pose a threat due to the complexity in management (particularly due to the possibility of landslides and soil erosion). Besides, the source water becomes increasingly scarce as the altitude grows, infrastructure building becomes more expensive on a per unit basis, settlement patterns are more scattered thus increasing the cost of service delivery. The indigenous slash and burn cultivators, mainly Chepangs and Tamangs, are regarded as the most marginalized and resource poor group in Nepal. High food insecurity, low female literacy, low access to basic social services, high population density on fragile natural resource base and recurrent natural disasters like famine, landslide and floods are the common poverty induced ailments in the area. Due to lack of knowledge and resources, they adopted a sort of negative coping by gradually reducing the cultivation cycle from 3-5 years to virtually annual cycle, consequently inviting serious soil erosion problems affecting not only themselves but also those living in the connected lowlands. Thus the project aims to improve local livelihood by introducing sound land use practices and build their resiliency in coping the adverse condition in the landscape.

Nepal