Meena Poudel works in the forest early in the morning. She picks up dead leaves and sticks from the ground under the trees. Other women work with her. They collect all the dead plant material. This material can cause forest fires. But now they use it to make fertilizer.
Meena is 41 years old. She leads a group called the Binayi Community Forest User Group. This group takes care of the forest. The women make fertilizer from the leaves and sticks. They sell it to farmers. Now Meena can pay for her son to study at university in Kathmandu. She can also pay for her family's food and needs. Before, she had no money of her own.
Twenty women collect forest material and make fertilizer. They make more than 60,000 kilograms every year. Farmers buy this fertilizer. The government also buys it. This work gives money to 400 people in the area. Most important, the forest has fewer fires now. Last year, fires went down by 70 percent.
In Nepal, communities can take care of forests. The government gives forests to local groups. These groups protect the forests and use them. In 2020, there were 22,266 groups like this in Nepal. They took care of 41 percent of all forests. About 2.9 million families were part of these groups.
Dead leaves and sticks on the forest floor cause big fires. Nepal has more and more forest fires now because of climate change. When women remove this dead material, fires happen less often. The forest is safer.
The fertilizer helps farmers. They do not need to use chemicals. One farmer used three types of fertilizer on the same land. Only the fertilizer from Binayi worked well. Another farmer, Anant Prakash Shrestha, said the fertilizer helped his crops. Diseases were fewer. His crops grew better.
The group got help to start this work. The local government gave them money. In 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization gave them 25,000 dollars. They taught the women how to make fertilizer. They helped them make a business plan. They helped them sell their fertilizer.
Research shows that when women help manage forests, the forests get better. Groups with many women leaders have healthier forests. Groups with only women leaders have the best forests.
Other women in Nepal also make money from forests. In one place, women make bowls and plates from sal leaves. Sal leaves fall from trees naturally. The women collect these leaves and make plates. They sell them to restaurants and shops. These plates are not plastic. They break down in nature.
In Dangisharan, 21 women make leaf plates. They sew leaves together with bamboo string. Then they use a machine to shape them. Last year, they made 108,000 plates. Each woman earned 155,640 Nepali rupees. That is about 1,150 dollars. Before, they made fewer plates and earned less money.
The new machine helped them make more plates. Ms. Sita Dangi said the old machine was slow and broke often. The new machine makes many sizes of plates. Now hotels and restaurants buy them.
The plates are used everywhere now. People use them at celebrations, weddings, schools, and offices. The government banned plastic plates in two towns. Now people use sal leaf plates instead.
Sal leaf plates are good for nature. They break down completely. The leaves come from the ground, not from cutting trees. Making them uses very little energy.
Many people in Nepal use forest products to live. They collect leaves, plants, and wood. About 700 types of plants give forest products. About 150 of these are sold to other countries.
Community forests help families in many ways. They help children eat better food. Children are healthier and grow better. Forests give families money and food.
Now in Dangisharan, plastic plates are gone. Women earn good money. In Nawalpur, Meena Poudel still picks up leaves in the forest. She turns dead leaves into fertilizer. This helps the forest and her family.