Bardiya's Shiva Community Forest Up for the BBC World Challenge 2011

For generations, the Tharu community of farmers, residing along the forest area of the Shiva Community Forest in Bardiya has had to deal with unruly rhinos and elephants entering their farmlands and destroying their crops. The human-wildlife (people-park) encounters often turned violent and resulted in loss of life – both ways. But not anymore. The once-desperate farmers have found a non-violent method to deal with the dangers of the wild in things as simple and unlikely as the soothing green mint leaves and the daisy-like white chamomile flowers. These two plants would not only solve their problems but also change their entire lifestyle drastically. In 2002, they discovered that mint and chamomile, both plants repulsive to mega herbivores like rhinos, drove them away with just their smell. Soon, they had the plants bordering their farmlands and the jungles. The farmers no longer needed to sit around in their tall bamboo towers and keep a lookout for these wild animals. They had earned themselves some leisure and a sense of security. More was to follow. The two plants not only made for an eco-friendly defense mechanism against wild animals, they also were highly valued cash crops. Today, the farmers in the Suryapattuwa Village, where the project was first piloted, earn more profits from the essential oil extracted from these crops than from their traditional rice plantations. “Our primary goal was to reduce the conflict between the wild animals and the villagers,” says Mangal Man Tharu, Chairperson of Shiva Community Forest. “Every year, three to four people would be killed or severely hurt due to animal attacks, and huge parts of our plantations would be destroyed. But since we started planting mint and chamomile, such damages have been reduced to a great extent.” In 2003, with technical support from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal, the Shiva Community Forest User’s Group (CFUG) set up a distillation plant to extract oil from their mint and chamomile harvest. Now they have 12 such distillation plants processing the essential oil which they sell at the nearest market in Nepalgunj, and from where it is brought to Kathmandu and then exported to Europe. “This year, we sold our mint and chamomile harvest at Rs 1,400 per kg and Rs 22,000 per kg respectively,” said Tharu. Tilak Dhakal, officer at WWF, analyzes that their mint and chamomile harvests can fetch them three to eight times higher returns than what they previously got from their rice plantations. “More than 60 percent of the families of the CFUG were below poverty line. Currently, the users group earns an average of US$13,500 per year. The economic benefits have further improved their livelihood and they’ve been able to invest in other sectors such as education, tourism and even wildlife conservation,” he says. As the Shiva Community Forest lies in the Khata Corridor that connects Bardia National Park in Nepal and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in India, it is frequently used as a transit zone by endangered species such as the Asian rhinos, Asian elephants and even the Royal Bengal Tiger. Dhakal says the involvement of local communities was essential for the conservation of such species. Hence, WWF Nepal, along with other government and non-government institutions working together for the Terai Arc Landscape Project (TAL), helped pilot the mint and chamomile plantation project that would reduce human-wildlife conflict with the twin goals of wildlife conservation and community development. The community now manages a huge part of the grasslands to help in wildlife conservation for which they were awarded the Abraham Conservation Award 2011. They have also started eco-tourism with home-stay facilities. According to Tharu, the village has already brought in approximately 600 wildlife lovers and tourists this year alone. “The community now understands the importance of wildlife conservation which makes the task a lot easier,” says Dhakal. “The pilot project has proved successful here and set an example for other settlements and farming communities scattered along the protected forest areas of Nepal.” You can vote As the people of the Shiva Community Forest reap the dual benefits from their mint and chamomile plantations, the world has also taken notice of this innovative approach that has allowed wildlife conservation and community development to go hand in hand. Dubbed as the “Herbal Remedy,” World Challenge 2011 has short-listed the Shiva Community Forest’s project as one of the top 12 projects from around the world that demonstrate enterprise and innovation at the grassroots level and help in social and environmental benefits. The annual competition run by BBC World News and Newsweek in association with Shell will award the winning project with a US$20,000 grant, while two runners-up will each receive US$10,000 to help develop their initiatives. The winners will be determined by an online voting system that opened on September 26 and will close at midnight on November 11. The result will then be announced at an awards ceremony to be broadcast on BBC World News on November 26. Excited about the nominations, Tharu says that it has given them a kind of boost and also made them more serious towards their conservation goals. If they win, they plan to reinvest the amount in the conservation or education sector. A hopeful Dhakal adds that the prize money could be invested for hi-tech distillation plants that will help increase both the quality and quantity of their oil production and consequently their income.