Category Archives: Completed Projects

Rupantaran Nepal was involved in MSFP from March 2013 in the five mid-western districts of Nepal. This
programme was implemented with the financial aid of MSFP Services Support Unit (through Embassy of
Switzerland in Nepal and remained till July,2016 . The key aimed of the programme was to improve the
livelihoods and resilience of poor and excluded people in Nepal. The core programme were implemented
in 23 districts of 6 lots. Rupantaran Nepal implemented MSFP programme in 5 districts of Rapti- Rolpa,
Dang, Pyuthan, Salyan and Rolpa (lot-V). The summary of overall achievements in lot-V were;
 Installed 881 improved cook stoves and Bio-gas plant which use less fuel, are efficient in terms of
time and labor and undertook perception survey toward improved cook stove
 Piloted and tested for Payment of Environment Services mechanism in 36 CFUGs of two VDCs and
accredited Plan VIVO certification, Supported more than 13,070 poor and vulnerable HHs to improve
their livelihoods with preparing Livelihoods Improvement Plan.
 Facilitated preparation of 51 LAPAs and its implementation support in collaboration with different
service providers and project/ programme. Likewise, 574 Community-based Adaptation Plan
prepared, integrated into operational plan and implemented
 Created Employment opportunity to 2223 personnel (Total 600,210 person days) through 68 Forest-
based Enterprise Development and developed market linkages of their product
 Built capacity of 27239 Forest Managers on GESI, SFM, Governance and Climate Change
Adaptation through training, coaching, mentoring and technical backstopping support.
 Completed Plantation in 190.6 Hector degraded and open land within CFUGs and LFGs and
conducted active forest management in 8614hector of CFUGs
Beside these progress, Rupantaran Nepal has commission various study to document the good practices
and learning which includes value chain analysis of selected forest based product, effect of migration in
forestry: A case of Rapti, documentation of climate change and mitigation, GESI, enterprises, governance
and sustainable forest- achievements, learnings, challenges and way forward.

Rupantaran Nepal outsourced to deliver climate change adaptation (CCA) with an aim to enhance
knowledge and skill of District Environment, Energy and Climate Change Coordination Committee
(DEECCCC) members on climate change adaptation and LAPA implementation and Climate Change and
GESI training. This assignment was conducted in June- July, 2016 in the Rolpa, Rukum, Mugu, Bardiya,
Kalikot and Dang districts and total 8 events of training were delivered.
Out of 8 events, 5 trainings were focused on the climate change adaptation and implementation of the
LAPA with aimed to enhance knowledge and skill of District Environment, Energy and Climate Change
Coordination Committee (DEECCCC) members on climate change adaptation and LAPA implementation.
3 events were focused on the climate change and GESI with aiming to enhance knowledge and skill of
District Environment, Energy and Climate Change Coordination Committee (DEECCCC) members on
GESI and Climate Change.
Both trainings were designed flexible package to tailor to DEECCCC member’s experiences, level and
customized based on the district context, issues and need. For this training, RN prepared power
presentations and a collection of climate change policies, strategy, guideline, manuals and reference
document and provided to all participants in USB drive.
The assignment activities were timely and effectively completed. Total 187 participants were attended in
these 8 events of training.

Rupantaran Nepal was actively engaged in the project “Enhancing Climate Change Resiliency of
Identified Climate Vulnerable Communities through Sustainable Management of Natural Water
Bodies (Ponds)” funded by UNDP-Small Grant Project (SGP) in Rampur VDC of Dang district. The
project aimed to enhance climate change resiliency of identified climate vulnerable communities through
sustainable management of natural water bodies of Rampur VDC, Dang. The project was implemented
from May, 2014- April, 2016 (2 Years). The project covered the capacity building on climate change
adaptation of stakeholders and communities, restoration of the natural water pond, implementation
climate smart agriculture technologies to improve farming system and income, conservation of the
biodiversity through forest fire control, controlling alien species and organic farming and promotion
renewable energy (Biogas and Improved Cook Stove). Rupantaran Nepal was acted technical
backstopping support and leverage financial resources to implement the project. The summary of the
progress were;

 Village Forest Coordination Committee (VFCC)- a multi-stakeholder mechanism was strengthened for
coordinated planning and implementation
 A basket fund was established within VFCC for implementation of rural energy initiatives, climate
change resource center and emergency responses
 1050 community households and almost every local stakeholders sensitized on the climate change
adaptation and mitigation
 Climate smart agriculture and water efficient technologies were demonstrated and promoted in
commercial agriculture
 2 public ponds were renovated and utilised it in multiple use commercial vegetable production, fish
farming and eco-tourism promotion and directly benefited 92 HHs through these intervention.
 Community forest users group prepared invasive species controlling plan and will be implemented
along with fire management activities
 Locally threatened bio-diversity species will be identified and FUGs prepare a plan and implement for
the protection of those species integrating into their periodic/annual operational plan
 Documented biodiversity status within two selected community forest group (CFUGs), published and
disseminated.

Rupantaran Nepal was outsourced to conduct Training of Trainers on Climate Change Adaptation and Gender and Social Inclusion to government and non-government officials for Adaptation for Smallholder of Hilly Areas (ASHA) programme funded by IFAD and implemented by Ministry of Forest and Environment (MOFE) from January- February, 2016. The assignments were located in Salyan, Rukum, Jajarkot and Dailekh of the Karnali province of Nepal.

The main aim of the training was to strengthen and enhance knowledge and skills to deliver the same nature of training in village level and contribute to facilitate in LAPA preparation and implementation processes with integrating GESI approach effectively. In order to achieve this aim, following specific objectives were set as mentioned below:

• Describe fundamental concept of climate change, climate change science, mitigation and adaptation
• Explain major impact of climate change on six thematic areas as identified by NAPA at three different scale
• Describe local, national and global level initiatives/efforts to response major impacts climate change
• State concept of mitigation and adaptation and describe principle and its steps of local adaptation plans for actions
• Explain fundamental concept of Gender and Social inclusion and address issues in LAPA preparation and implementation process
• Describe the needs, approaches and process of Enhanced LAPA preparation
• Explain and practice different participatory tools and techniques of vulnerability and adaptation capacity assessment for LAPA preparation process.
• Explain basic principles of Training and its methods to deliver effective training.

The assignment activities were successfully completed timely. Under this assignment, Rupantaran Nepal designed a concept note including curriculum matrix and agreed with the ASHA-PCU. Based on the curriculum, RN facilitated 4 events of residential training at Salyan, Dhailekh, Kalikot and Nepalgunj (for Rukum district). Total 120 government and non-government officials were trained on the climate change, vulnerability and capacity assessment, adaptation planning and budgeting, GESI and training facilitation techniques. RN adopted participatory and learner centered adult learning approaches and methods which had provided ample opportunities to share the experiences, knowledge and skills among the participant. The duration of the training was 5 days. Based on these events, RN prepared a training manual to facilitate village level similar training by mobilizing the trained human resource.

Rupantaran Nepal facilitated Training of Trainer on Climate Change Adaptation and LAPA
implementation to the District Energy, Environment and Climate Change Coordination Committee
(DEECCCC) members of 14 Nepal Climate Change Support Programme (NCCSP) districts of Far-
western Region (Achham, Bajura and Kailali) and Mid-western Region (Dailekh, Jajarkot, Kalikot, Dolpa,
Jumla, Humla, Mugu, Bardiya, Dang, Rolpa and Rukum). This assignment was undertaken in July and
December, 2015. Total 56 participants were trained on the training techniques and climate change
adaptation.
The aims of the assignment is to develop trainers who can deliver the training activities more
systematically and effectively so that trainings could be rolled out to different levels using a cascade
approach. More specifically
 To facilitate two of Training of Trainers on Climate Change Adaptation and LAPA implementation
 To prepare a trainers guide to facilitate climate change adaptation and LAPA implementation training
on the experiences of these event’s experiences.
The assignment activities were timely and effectively completed. In this assignment, Rupantaran Nepal
undertook consultation with NCCSP officials to unpack the expectation of the assignment. Likewise a
curriculum was designed and agreed with NCCSP Central Team and Ministry of Population and
Environment senior officials. The assignment delivered in two events at Dang on July, 2015 and
Nepalgunj on December, 2015. For this training, RN prepared PowerPoint presentation, photo
documentation report and training event report. On the experiences and learning the training a trainer’s
guide was prepared and submitted to NCCSP.

This is a 2 years project funded by UNDP GEF SGP and is being implemented in Rampur VDC of Dang district. The project aims to enhance climate change resiliency of identified climate vulnerable communities through sustainable management of natural water bodies of Rampur VDC, Dang. It includes capacity building of local community and stakeholders in climate change adaptation and mitigation through CAP process, restoration of natural water pond for developing climate change adaptive/resiliency capacity of climate vulnerable households, promotion of improved practices and technologies for mobilization of local resources and income generation of target households and conservation of biodiversity through forest fire control, controlling alien species, promoting organic farming and alternative energy technologies.

Rupantaran Nepal has signed MoU with Rupantaran to provide technical backstopping for the effective implementation of the project.

Rupantaran Nepal undertook the task of consolidating the LAPA initiatives which was started in Livelihood and Forestry Programme (LFP) districts in early 2009 in order to mobilize community institutions to respond to the adverse impact of climate change. The LAPA and CAP initiatives have achieved significant progresses in terms of sensitizing vulnerable households and building their adaptive capacity. The initiatives have also tested and promoted institutional mechanism for ensuring collaboration and synergy among agencies at the local level. Important lessons have emerged during piloting and so have challenges in terms of institutionalizing and mainstreaming these initiatives. The project started from January to March 2012.

The consolidation process is necessary to identify sustainable process, mechanisms and modality of facilitating community based adaptation at local and district level. Consolidation will also harmonize the LFP/IFP learning with LAPA framework recently endorsed by Ministry of Environment. It is considered that this consolidation could also provide strategic roadmap for DFID and EU supported NCCSP and other donor-supported projects in facilitating the local level adaptation planning and delivery.

Objectives:

•  To document key learning and reflections of the CAP and LAPA process generated from piloting and implementation
•  To build ownership of district based stakeholders on the CAP and LAPA initiative by initiating district level sharing and discussion workshop
• Reflection paper consolidating learning and reflection of district on LAPA and CAP piloting

Interim Forestry Project (IFP) is the succeeding project of Livelihoods and Forestry Programme (LFP). The project started from July 2011 to April 2012. The overall objective of the project is to provide continued forestry and livelihoods services to forestry groups in 18 ex-LFP (Livelihoods and Forestry Programme) and ex-NSCFP (Nepal Swiss Community Forestry Project) districts, focusing on promoting multi-stakeholder governance, enhancing livelihoods of poor, excluded and climate vulnerable communities, helping to enrich the forest resources and environmental services along with the monitoring, reporting and communication.

The project followed different approaches according to area specific context and practices. Activities are delivered through local implementing agencies [NGOs, Networks] in close coordination with local government.  Joint monitoring with local stakeholders was performed to ensure the effectiveness of this project.

The project locations are distributed across 18 districts of Nepal.

• Central:Ramechhap, Okhaldhunga, Khotang
• East: Dhankuta, Terhathum, Shankhuwasabha and Bhojpur
• West: Baglung, Parbat, Myagdi,
• Terai :Kapilvastu, Rupandehi and Nawalparasi
• Midwest: Dang, Salyan, Pyuthan, Rukum and Rolpa

Project activities:

• Management of NGO partners and local implementing agencies
• Fund management and achieving value for money
• Promoting good governance in  forest user groups
• Creating and strengthening multi-stakeholder forums at VDC and DDC levels
• Ensuring active and inclusive targeting of poor, excluded and climate vulnerable households for social and economic empowerment
• Capacity development of forest users groups
• Strengthening and stimulating  sustainable forest based enterprises
• Enhancing forest resources and environmental services
• Helping forest users groups and theri networks to develop and implement climate change adaptation plans through the process of social mobilisation

Climate Adaptation Design and Piloting is an HTSPE/ Department for International Development (DFID) funded 11 months project started from June 2010 to April 2011.

Rupantaran Nepal undertook the design of the Local Adaptation Plans for Action (LAPA) for the forestry sector in Sukrauli VDC of Nawalparasi district, Dhungegadi VDC of Pyuthan district and Ransi VDC of Rukum district. The assignment was carried out with the purpose of preparing LAPA in three distinct ecological zones and assessing any constraints, the reach up and draw-down mechanisms and documenting the key lessons learnt from it.

Objectives:

• To review and update tools for climate change vulnerability assessment
• To assess the role of forestry institutions in integrating climate change adaptation into development planning
• To assess the appropriate finance and service delivery mechanisms to reach the most vulnerable
• To identify specific interventions to build the adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable communities in the Midwest region

Community Adaptation Plans of Action (CAPA) to LAPA and a direct LAPA were the two modalities adopted during the LAPA process. CAPA was prepared at CFUG level and later synthesized to VDC level LAPA in Pyuthan whereas the LAPA at VDC level was directly prepared for Nawalparasi and Rukum.

A total of nine CAPAs and three VDC level LAPAs were prepared. Specific tools and techniques (Participatory Well Being Ranking (PWBR) and Forest User Groups Categorization Tool) were reviewed and assessed in the context of climate change. The roles of local institutions including the CFUG, PILMG, VFCC and MoFSC line agencies (DFO and DSCO) as well as broader planning institutions  (VDC, DDC AND MoA line agencies (DAO and DLSO) were reviewed. The most appropriate finance and service delivery mechanisms that reaches the most vulnerable was identified along with the identification of the interventions that would enhance the adaptation capacity.  In addition Rupantaran managed and facilitated two regional consultation workshops on LAPA framework to finalise the framework at Nepalgunj and Pokhara.

Rupantaran Nepal with support from Livelihoods & Forestry Programme initiated Payment for Ecosystem Services in 8 VDCs of four districts (Dhankuta, Rupandehi, Baglung and Dang) in Nepal. The PES districts were selected in close coordination with REDD Cell, Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) and the project VDCs/VFCCs/FUGs were selected in close consultation with DDC. In general, the project was designed to enhance livelihoods and reduce the vulnerability of poor rural people through equitable and sustainable management of forests and other tree resources. It was a 6 months project started from January 2011.

Specifically, the project had two broad objectives: 1. contribute assisting rural communities to access additional financial resources from PES (in the form of Plan Vivo credits). 2. To enhance learning and capacity building of local communities, government and non –government stakeholders on carbon financing project development and implementation under the PES system of Plan Vivo Standard.

The project takes a landscape approach and implements its project through local level multi-stakeholder bodies like District Forest Coordination Committee (DFCC)/ Village Forest Coordination Committee (VFCC), VDC etc. Linkages and coordination with government institutions and non-government bodies (FUG Networks, DFOs, DDC/DFCC and REDD Cell) is important in project implementation. In addition, it adopts social inclusion, good governance, gender mainstreaming, community forestry processes and technical forestry principles as major approaches while developing and implementing the project.