Budgeting and handover of Nibuwa-Tankhuwa watershed management plan

Background

Water scarcity is a major issue in Dhankuta Municipality, eastern Nepal, with growing concerns over the long-term supply and maintenance of water sources for a growing population. Dhankuta Municipality and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) conducted joint action research on the application of the incentives for ecosystem services (IES) approach, from 2015 to 2017, to identify the willingness of downstream communities to pay upstream communities for watershed conservation.

Based on this initial work, the municipality recognized the need for planned investment in watershed management to sustain ecosystem services and to improve the well-being of people living in the watershed. Hence, the municipality and ICIMOD developed a watershed management plan in partnership with the Department of Forests and Soil Conservation and the Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Office in Dhankuta. As the Nibuwa-Tankhuwa Watershed (NTW) encompasses both Dhankuta Municipality (wards 1-8) and the Chattar Jorpati Rural Municipality (wards 2 and 3), there was a need for common understanding among the municipalities, and agreement on collaborative actions for watershed management.

The watershed management plan was prepared based on the research and participatory consultation involving communities and key stakeholders of the NTW between 2018 and 2020. The plan is expected to bring together diverse and critical stakeholders, and different line agencies with the aim to foster a common understanding of watershed issues. Six components have been proposed in the plan – each having a set of activities which can be integrated into sectoral plans and activities of different institutions, including the municipalities.

With the finalization of the watershed management plan, this workshop aims to bring together all the stakeholders to share the plan, and discuss and finalize the activities, budget, and the roles of various stakeholders in its implementation. At the end of the workshop, the plan will be handed over to Dhankuta Municipality and Chattar Jorpati Rural Municipality.

Objectives

• Identify and finalize the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders
• Share and validate the activities and budget of the plan
• Hand over the final plan to Dhankuta Municipality and Chattar Jorpati Rural Municipality