Elephant Habitat
Restoration 

The majority of the community at this site are subsistence farmers  from castes that make it difficult to escape poverty. Few are able to earn an income through consistent work. When they do find work it is often that they are not paid in a timely manner.

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Era provides jobs that pay fairly and consistently for the community to be able to improve their livelihoods through reforestation.

Asian elephant forest habitats have been shrinking for decades, but he Jalthal forest is a rare oasis of forest in a vastly deforested region.The loss of habitat has increased the conflict between the human and elephant populations. Our reforestation work is helping increase the elephants' habitat. 
Elephants will sometimes leave the forest in the dry season to graze on communities’ crops and sometimes enter and destroy homes in search of food. We are collaborating with the Nepal Forest Service to carefully bring some native vegetation that elephants like into the forest as a part of helping keep the communities safe and keep the elephants thriving in their native forest home.

A unique aspect of this project is that some of the trees are donated to youth programs in which youth are given the opportunity to plant ornamental and fruit trees in their communities, at their homes, and along road sides.

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During this process youth are taught of the importance of their environment and are able to meaningfully benefit their community.

We asked the team how this project benefits them. The majority highlighted that the works allows them to improve their children's’ education. Families are able to get their children school supplies, young adults are able to afford college, and some parents are even supporting sending their children to University in India.

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These projects not only provide a thriving environment for the next generation to enjoy, but also provide a more economically stable upbringing for youth in the region.

This work is focused on restoring the Jalthal forest. This forest is an oasis of forest in a heavily deforested and populated agricultural zone in the Ganges Basin. Through restoring and growing this forest it provides essential habitat for many species of plants and animals.

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The forest also plays a vital role to rain patterns, erosion control, and improving conditions of the watershed. 

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Through community-led reforestation we can expand this forest and restore the region to its optimal balance for agricultural productivity and ecological health.

The Jalthal forest is home to many edible native ground plants. By increasing the forest cover these plants have more suitable area to grow in. Workers from the project cultivate the natural  crops after their restoration work and are able to sell these products in local markets.

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One of the biggest threats the forest in this region faces is invasive brush that depletes essential nutrients for the forests natural growth. Era works on removing this brush and the community is turning this biomass into briquette (a compostable biomass material). 

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These types of benefits create a system in which economic stability and the forest can exist harmoniously.