New trees in the mountains
Over the last decades, the mountain forests of the Himalayas have disappeared to a large extent which has led to massive landslides and the loss of living space for the residents of the region. In order to work against this effect, we have been planting trees since 2010 that have reconsolidated the soil.
Again, Bhakta offered a piece of his land, as he did for the hospital ward, and a tree nursery was established. It is operated by the inhabitants of Tashinam who are volunteering their time. In the planning phase, a Nepalese forester was called in as an expert who would chose endemic trees that blend in with the surrounding ecosystem. More than 1000 trees have been planted by now. In 2015, the pines have already grown as tall as a man.
Meanwhile, many individuals have adopted the idea and have planted trees themselves – our project has caught on. In fact, people not only plant pines for firewood, but also deciduous trees whose foliage can be used as fodder. As high as 1500m, we even spotted recently planted orange trees.
In the neighbouring village Simigaon, tree-planting initiatives have developed without our involvement and they also have their own tree nursery by now.
We continue to support all of this.
As an accompanying measure, we are currently planning to provide the inhabitants with special furnaces that run with considerably less firewood than conventional ones – this will also contribute to the protection of the slowly regrowing tree population.