One year on from devastating earthquake, residents rebuild livelihoods, use broom grass to combat landslides and effects of climate change
Exactly one year ago, on April 25, Nepal was shaken by an earthquake, which killed almost 9,000 people and damaged 600,000 homes across the country. The Chandni Mandan village in eastern Nepal's Kavre district was hit hard by the cataclysm, which destroyed or severely damaged traditional water sources.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is working with local communities to help them build resilience to disasters and rebuild their livelihoods.
Collecting water has become a daily struggle for the inhabitants of Chandni Mandan. Mayadevi Thiwari, 33, spends up to seven hours a day fetching water for her family.
“We have to make two or three trips to get water. If we don’t do that, we have to spend money to buy water from the water trucks. We spend up to 200 rupees for water daily,” she said.
Unable to afford e water for his milking cow, Bhagta Bahadur, 69, was forced to sell it at a loss of NPR 20,000.
“The cow was a source of income for me. But I have to rely on water trucks for water for the cow and that becomes expensive. If I can’t give my cow its daily water requirement, I also get less milk (to sell),” he said.
Working with the Government of Nepal, the joint Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI) of UNEP and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) designed a pro-poor green recovery and rehabilitation plan for Chandani Mandan after consulting villagers. It focused on the needs of local women. The plan includes rainwater harvesting, building tanks and solar-powered lifts to channel water from the downhill Indrawati River and training women in alternative livelihood skills like sewing.
“Water shortage and landslides were the priority. We worked with them to develop a green recovery plan,” said Ek Raj Sigdel who helped implement the PEI support to Chandni Mandan.
Harnessing broom grass for climate resilience
Some 200 kilometres West from Kavre, in the Panchase region another community is adapting to a different kind of threat – climate change.
Known as the “kingdom of the wild orchids”, the Panchase region of Nepal offers spectacular views of some of the highest peaks in the Himalayas. Its dense forests and rich biodiversity attracts pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.
But the landscape is changing. Water resources are drying up, the vegetation is shifting and landslides are increasing as climate change begins to take its toll on this mountain ecosystem.
Residents have found an ingenious solution to these problems – broom grass. In the rural settlement of Damdame, resident Laxmi Gurung explains how common grass that can be grown on severely degraded land has helped to protect her village from the frequent landslides it suffers.
In May, countries will meet in Nairobi for UNEA 2 – the world’s de facto “Parliament for the Environment” – to come up with ways to tackle some of the most critical environmental issues facing the world today. Key to the debate will be the vital role that ecosystems play in reducing the impact of climate change while boosting human health, livelihoods, jobs and sustainable growth.
In Damdame, residents have already begun to realize the role that ecosystems can play in safeguarding their future.
Three years ago, Gurung and other members of the local mothers group in Damdame were part of a UNEP and partners ecosystem-based adaptation initiative to climate-proof their mountain ecosystems.
Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) seeks to restore, conserve and manage ecosystems in a way that helps people adapt to the impacts of climate change.
As part of the project, residents learned that cultivating broom grass (Thysanolaena maxima) would not only revive their lands, which have been degraded by rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and drying water sources, but also prevent landslides and provide a new climate-proof livelihood for them.
The hardy, indigenous plant grows easily in dry conditions and its strong webbed roots control soil erosion, reducing the risk of landslides. The broom grass, which can reach heights of three metres, can also be made into sweeping brooms that can then be sold. Its leaves can be fed to livestock.
“We were not aware of many things and EbA experts showed us how we could improve. Broom grass, for example…initially we only used it for fodder,” Gurung said, discussing the benefits of the UNEP‑supported “Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA) in Mountain Ecosystems Project”, which was implemented between 2013 and 2015 in Panchase.
The tips provided by the EbA project, which was implemented by UNEP, UNDP and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with government and civil society partners, have also improved local farm productivity. “At first we didn’t see much change, but over time, it made a difference. We were able to generate additional income from this,” Gurung said.
Dil Bahadur Batthurai of the Panchese Protected Forest main council joint secretariat, a project partner, said: “We built a demonstration site and showed villages how broom grass can be used and the multiple purposes it can be used for – the dried stalks can be used for firewood, leaves for fodder for livestock and can be turned into brooms that villagers can sell. Growing broom grass, tea and coffee are alternatives we are offering to villages, especially when the land is fallow.”
Young men are leaving Panchase villages like Damdame in growing numbers as climate change makes the mainly agriculture and livestock-based local livelihood options less and less attractive.
The Himalayan region is one of three global sites for the EbA project, which is also being piloted in the climate-vulnerable Andes in Peru and Mount Elgon in Uganda.
The EbA project has restored dried ponds and water sources, boosting farm production and incomes. It has also helped to regulate flooding and reduce downstream river sedimentation while lowering the risk of landslides.
As part of the project, locals have learned new livelihoods, such as beekeeping and ecotourism. Food and access to supplies of clean water have improved as a result of the projects, which women and marginalized social groups have been active in planning and implementing.
About UNEA
The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is the world’s most powerful decision-making body on the environment and responsible for tackling some of the most critical issues of our time.
The assembly’s focus on the environment gives it the power to improve human health, wellbeing, livelihoods, jobs and sustainable growth. Thanks to UNEA, the environment is now considered one of the world’s most pressing concerns alongside other major global issues such as peace, security, economics and health.
In May, hundreds of key decision makers, businesses and representatives of intergovernmental organizations and civil society will gather in Nairobi for UNEA-2 [hyperlink: http://web.unep.org/unea] at the United Nations Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi.
The assembly will be one of the first major meetings since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement. The resolutions passed at UNEA-2 will set the stage for early action on implementing the 2030 Agenda, and drive the world towards a better, more just future.
