We are leveraging a public–private–community partnership working with the private sector company Dabur Nepal Pvt. Ltd, the Taalkolla community forest user group (CFUG) and the Gwallek-Kedar women’s cooperative through an agroforestry project in Baitadi district, Nepal on timmur or Nepalese pepper (Zanthoxylum armatum). This hardy plant grows in fertile, barren, and degraded areas and is in high commercial demand in Nepal, India, and Europe.The Regional Forest Directorate of Sudurpashchim province has provided overall direction and advice for project implementation. Both the Baitadi Divisional Forest Office and Dabur Nepal provided timmur saplings for plantation and Dabur continues to provide technical support for in situ production of saplings. The Taalkolla CFUG planted 2,500 timmur saplings in 10 hectares of land, will continue to provide land and labour resources, and will benefit from the sale of timmur in the long term. Also benefiting from the sale of timmur are 350 members of the Gwallek-Kedar Women’s Cooperative, who were provided two saplings each to plant in their home gardens.

We plan on widening this agroforestry project in the Kailash Sacred Landscape and beyond as well as encourage more public–private–community partnerships.