Project Details

Forest Restoration Gaidahawa Project (FRGP)

Overview of the Project
The project “Forest Restoration Gaidahawa Project” submitted by National Conservation and Development Centre (NCDC) to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ Germany) together with GEO Rainforest Conservation (GEO schützt den Regenwald e.V.) Hamburg; has been approved. NCDC is implementing the four - year project (1st May 2023 to 31st December 2026) FRGP in Gaidahawa Rural Municipality ward no.3, 4 and 5 of Rupadenhi District, Lumbini Province, Nepal. This project is funded by BMZ Germany through our close partner GEO, Germany. The project agreement between GEO, Germany and NCDC, Nepal was signed on 28th April 2023 with effective date of implementation as 1st May 2023.  FRGP will focus on restoring 100 hectares of degraded Sal Forest in coordination with DFO Rupandehi and three CFUGs.

Project area:           Gaidahawa Rural Municipality, Ward No 3, 4, & 5, Rupandehi district, Nepal
Funding agency:     Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ Germany)
German partner:     GEO schützt den Regenwald e.V., Hamburg
Local partner:          National Conservation and Development Centre (NCDC)
Duration:                 Four Years
Period:                     May 2023 – December 2026

Project objectives
The main objective of the project is sustainable, resource-efficient development of community forests through capacity building of local communities in Rupandehi District, Lumbini Province

The Project Area
The proposed Gaidahawa project area is located in Rupandehi District in Lumbini Province (Province No. 5, in the Terai). The district, which borders India, lies about 300 kilometres west of Kathmandu and covers an area of 1,360 km2 , with altitudes ranging from 100 to 1229 m above sea level. The administrative centre is Bhairahawa, about 45 minutes by car from the planned project area. With a total population of 1,118,975 and 822 inhabitants per km2 , Rupandehi is the third most densely populated district in the country (CBS 2021 preliminary report). The region is located in a subtropical climate zone with temperature fluctuations between 43°C in summer and 6°C in winter. The region receives 1391 mm of rainfall annually, mainly during the monsoon season from June to August. 

According to the preliminary 2021 census report, Gaidahawa had a population of 56,529 with 8612 house-holds in 2021 (average household size: 6.6). The two largest of the more than 50 ethnic groups are Madhesi (41%) and Dalit (21%). The most commonly spoken languages are Nepali (37%) and Bhojpuri (37%), followed by Awadhi, Tharu, Magar, Maithili, Sanskrit and three other languages. The majority of the population fol-lows Hinduism, the second largest group being Muslims. The majority of the population lives as small farmers under poor conditions. The main crops grown are rice, wheat, maize and mustard, while vegetables and fruit are produced only in small quantities.

Target Group
The last remaining natural forest area is under the direction of the Divisional Forest Office (DFO) Rupandehi and managed responsibility is shared by eight Community Forest Users' Groups (CFUGs). Their members include a total of 3,295 households: Nawa Durga CF, Shree P0hawa Manthadhari CF (Community Forest), Jitpur CF, Gaida Tal CF, Siddhartha CF, Sagarhawa CF, Aicha-wal CF and Matribhumi CF. Among them, NCDC will directly work with  Nawa Durga, Jitpur and Pohawa CFUGs and their active users.