From fire hazard to green gold

Meena Poudel y el grupo de usuarios del bosque de la comunidad de Binayi recolectan las hojas y la biomasa forestal que antes avivaban los incendios. Ahora las transforman en fertilizante orgánico, con lo que han creado un negocio proactivo que convierte los riesgos en una oportunidad. © FAO/Bibek Dulal

In the quiet forests of Nepal's Nawalpur District, a revolution is taking root with the most unlikely tools -- cutters and compost heaps. A group of women in Binayi Triveni are turning what was once one of the region's greatest threats into a promising economic opportunity.At first light, Meena Poudel, 41, bends low beneath the spindly canopy of Sal and Beech trees, her hands rustling through the forest floor's quilt of crisp, bronze-dusted leaves. Their edges are brittle and sun-scoured, curled inward like sleeping insects.

Around her, other women move with quiet coordination, slicing through the bramble and deadwood with blades dulled from daily use. The forest breathes easier with each sweep— the tangled underbrush that once fed wildfires now gathered for something new: a slow alchemy into organic fertiliser.

Meena’s work has not only built a thriving local economy but has also contributed to a 70 percent reduction in forest fires over the past year. What began as survival has become stewardship, and a local economy built leaf by leaf.

"By removing unnecessary material from the forest floor, we have significantly reduced the risk of fires,” she says. “With fewer fires, the environment has become cleaner, which has also had a direct positive impact on human health. “Additionally, the bio-fertilisers we produce after processing the material are ‘organically pure,’ making them safer for human health and more suitable and environmentally friendly." Continue Reading