Introduction

A three-year research project on the Interactions between the Environment, Society and Technology (INTEREST) has been under implementation in selected five multidisciplinary ecosystems in three South Asian Countries (Nepal 1, India 3, and Sri Lanka 1) from the year 2002. The main objective of this research is to generate knowledge dissemination tools that support improved ecosystem management for sustainability. The specific objectives of the project are to:
• understand and analyze local farmer and community ecosystem practices
• link this local knowledge to available scientific knowledge to analyze changes in the pressures between environmental policy, social challenges and technological innovation
• use a range of dissemination tools to deliver this new and improved knowledge to all levels of society thus strengthening the social and environmental knowledge base.

The Machindranath Community Forest, located at about 20 km west of Kathmandu at Naubise in Dhading District, is the representative site of this project in Nepal (Fig 1). This forest has an area of about 25 ha. A total of 278 households of 12 villages are the member of the Community Forest User Group (CFUG). About 10 years ago, the forest was handed over to this CFUG for the management and its sustainable use.

Methods:

Year 1 (2002): A household survey questionnaire was designed and field-tested. A total of 123 (44%) out of 278 member households of Machindranath CFUG were selected considering a fairly good representation of all settlements and the caste, class, and ethnicity. All households were divided into four strata based on caste/ethnicity. From each stratum, a little over 30 households were randomly selected. The questionnaire included: household characteristics, family details, agriculture, off-farm activities, energy, water availability, forest management, agro-forestry, and income and expenditure. The household survey results were computed/collated and analyzed to formulate key issues/questions and understand the existing situation of the area. A few focus group discussions and oral history sessions were organized to collect qualitative data. A seasonal calendar was prepared. Soil and water samples were collected from agriculture and forest and were analyzed at ENPHO. Biodiversity of the forest was assessed.

Based on Year I survey results, three key areas were identified which need further studies in Year II.

Awareness in community forestry: CFUG members were found to have low level of awareness regarding community forestry, Forest Act and Regulation, user rights, membership rules, roles and responsibilities, financial management, funds generation and utilization, savings and audits.

Use of chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides: chemicals were found extensively used for major agricultural crops e.g. rice and wheat farming, but more specifically in all types of commercial vegetable farming. Although dung and animal bedding are intensively managed for compost preparation, the compost available does not normally meet individual household (HH) fertilizer requirements

Drinking Water: Many HHs in the area experience shortage of clean drinking water. Fetching drinking water needs half an hour walk up to the source. No water purification method was found in use. Lack of sanitation is a common problem in most of the settlements.

After the review of Year I research work, awareness raising training on the issues listed above was identified as an intervention for Year II. A trainer was hired, who latter developed training packages. Participants were selected in consultation with the local people and field assistants. Three events of training, of 5 days each, were conducted covering as many as the settlements surveyed in Year I. A total of 72 participants, 45 male and 27 female, attended the training.

Realizing the requirement of a continuous data set for comparison between the years, a subset of questions from Year I questionnaire was selected and household survey was conducted in Year II as well. The purpose of Year II HH survey was to compare the level of awareness before and after the training. A total of 60 HHs (54 males and 6 females) were interviewed in Year II.

Results

Year I (2002):
1. The average HH size was 6 (male: female=1:0.9) with literacy rate of 60%.
2. The principal occupation of the people is subsistence farming (45% of the total HHs). The major grains produced are paddy, maize, wheat, and millet. Vegetable is produced in large quantities and is marketed mainly in Kathmandu. The average land holding is 0.15 ha.
3. Chemical fertilizers are extensively used. The ratio between chemical fertilizers to compost is 1:21. Each household spends Rs. 75,000 on chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides per year.
4. 76% of the HHs involve in off-farm economic activities; 44% work as laborers, 23% in services and 19% in business.
5. Water required for cooking and drinking purpose is estimated at 37 liters/day/HH. 88% HHs use water from tap for this purpose, except the remaining 12% who depend on a well. The people also collect water from the river, streams and water springs (Kuwa). In the dry season, people experience shortage of water. No water harvesting technique is used to store water for the dry season. Diarrhea and dysentery is a common problem in the monsoon season.
6. Because of the small size of the community forest and a large number of member HHs, community forest can not cater the needs of HHs for forest products. However, fuel wood remains the major source of household energy for cooking and heating for 94% of the HHs. Agro-forestry is a common practice.
7. The awareness level on various subjects related to the community forest was found to be low. Women's participation in community forestry was also minimal.
8. The pH in the agricultural land ranges from 4.5 to 5.8 whereas this range is 3.6 to 4.4 in forest. The texture of soil for both agriculture and forestland is silt loam. Organic matter content (%) in the agriculture land ranges from 0.02 to 1.8 whereas in forest it ranges from 0.3 to 1.2. The nitrogen content (?g/gm) in the agriculture land ranges from 0.3 to 0.7 whereas in forest it ranges from 0.3 to 0.5. Phosphorus content (?g/gm) in the agriculture land ranges from 0 to 18.3 whereas in forest it ranges from 6.7 to 20.7. Potassium content (?g/gm) in the agriculture land ranges from 11.5 to 32.8 whereas in forest it ranges from 13.5 to 64.8.
9. The pH of water is within the range of WHO standard for drinking water. Turbidity is quite high in most of the samples. Hardness and the content of chloride, ammonia, and nitrate is very low. Bacteriologically, all samples were found contaminated with faecal matter.
10. Major tree species in the forest are Pinus roxburghii, Shorea robusta, Syzygium cumini, Schima wallichii and Castanopsis indica. The total stem volume per hectare for the Machchhindranath Community Forest is 52m3.

Year II (2003):
1. After the training conducted in Year II, about 22% of the HHs (out of 60 HHs) adopted compost making. A total of 35 HHs started practicing SODIS technique for drinking water purification and remaining 25 HH did not due to lack of time (22HHs), laziness (1 HH) and alteration of taste of water (1 HH). 5 HHs who initially started practicing SODIS gave up later.
2. The awareness level on different aspects of in community forestry has increased after the training (Table 1). Similarly, the training on user's rights and responsibilities has increased users ability to monitor implementation of rules as listed in community forestry constitution (Table 2). Compliance of rules by executive committee in the decision-making process has also been increased (Table 3).

Table 1: Awareness level of Machchhindranath Community Forestry User Group

Subjects regarding community forestry	Awareness Level (%)
	Ignorant		Partially aware		Fully aware
	2002	2003	2002	2003	2002	2003
Forest user’s rights and responsibilities	9	13	23	62	68	25
Responsibility of CFUG executive committee	6	10	30	70	64	20
Membership rules	7	8	28	60	65	32
Forest products price	5	7	25	55	70	38
CFUG’s savings and accounts	5	5	12	23	83	72
Income CFUG	10	15	39	73	51	12
Expenditure CFUG	10	13	26	68	64	19
Forest Act	3	0	12	17	85	83
Special provision in the community forest constitution for women, disadvantaged, immigrants and the victims	1	2	9	3	90	95

Table 2 Implementation of rules as listed in community forestry constitution

Implementation level	Forest product harvesting		Penalty		Grazing		Benefit sharing
	2002	2003	2002	2003	2002	2003	2002	2003
No	15	0	15	0	15	0	7	0
Fully	76	85	76	92	76	92	73	88
Partially	9	15	9	8	9	8	20	12
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Table 3 Compliance of rules by executive committee in decision-making process

Compliance level	Fund investment (%)		Product distribution (%)		Penalty (%)		Watchman selection (%)
	2002	2003	2002	2003	2002	2003	2002	2003
No	6	0	6	0	6	2	13	27
Always	74	68	73	80	78	85	61	20
Often	18	18	19	10	15	10	20	6
Rarely	2	14	2	10	1	3	6	47
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

 

Conclusions:
The level of awareness regarding community forestry, use of agro-chemicals and its impact on human health was low in Machindranath Community Forest User Group. This level has raised to some extent after the intervention of awareness raising training in the second year. However, it is yet inadequate because many members still remain at the partially aware category. The outcomes of enhanced awareness have yet to be reflected through improved management and governance of community forest. Excessive and indiscriminate use of insecticides and pesticides still continues basically to sustain production largely dependent on the use of chemical fertilizers. This may result into the gradual loss of immunity in the soil and crops towards pests and insects. This trend could be stopped and soil productivity could be restored through the use of compost. Compost making from unused green materials and drinking water purification through SODIS initially has been well taken up by the households. It is yet to see how beneficial people find these technological innovations to sustain them in the long run. Also, there is a need of probing of sanitation and environmental health at the household level.

Acknowledgement is given to the European Union for funding this project.