The Nepal Diaries - Part #14 - Planting trees in the middle mountains

in life •  7 years ago 

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Hey there Steemians!

Its been a while since I wrote a post for the Nepal Diaries. So what am I up to? I am working for a NGO in the middle mountains of Nepal. We are focusing on the reforestation of degraded landscapes. The region I am working in (Dhading) was struck heavily by the earthquake in 2015. Thousands of people lost their homes and until today, you can see reconstrcution going on everywhere. Let me show you what life looks like over here :)


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Even without natural catastrophes, people have a pretty hard life here. Until 15 years ago, everybody could cut down the forests as they pleased, resulting in a massive deforestation of the arid area. The lack of trees caused devastating landslides and a shortpass of firewood. Our project is funded by the GEO, the biggest german nature magazine and aims to teach and support people on their way to sustainable forestry.


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I am currently based in a little village, hours away from the next big city. We are teaching locals on how to properly plant and care for trees, which tree species they should use and how they can improve their income by establishing non-timber forest products such as coffee, cinnamon and things alike. I really enjoy my work here and I got the impression that I am actually helping people which is a great feeling. There are downsides to it (I cannot see rice anymore) and I am missing proper friends and all of the western comfort.

Please excuse the poor picture quality, I had to downsize drastically and it still took me hours to upload via my phones internet. It is surreal to be able to read and post on Steemit, on the corner of civilization. I am soon to be back in Kathmandu and got some awesome projects to share with you.

Keep your head up and plant some trees,

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It's so good to feel worthy and useful. Great project!