Shrestha’s lifestyle and his down-to-earth attributes show that he believes in simplicity. Dressed in casual attire, he says that he is always seen in informal wears.
He shares one anecdote: When he was invited to a high-profile party many years back where the dress code stated that he wear formal attire. Instead of attending the event, Shrestha sent a package with a tie as a souvenir to the host because he felt that more importance was given to the tie and his attire than his presence.[break]
“I hardly wear formal clothes and I never wear a tie because I feel it just binds us from our freedom and the word ‘tie’ itself means ‘to bind,’” says Shrestha lightheartedly.
When he begins to tell his stories, the instances of his journey are stirring. A pioneer community forestry activist, he has dedicated his time and energy to this field for many decades and has significantly contributed to restoring forest resources in the country by mainstreaming community forestry movement at the national and international levels.
Bhaswor Ojha
After completing his PhD in education from Michigan State University in USA in 1987, he came back to work in his own country. He was also the recipient of the first ever Collaborative Partnership on Forests, “Wangari Maathai Award 2012,” named after Nobel Peace Prize winner, environmentalist Maathai of Kenya.
Upon entering his place near Dhobi Khola, which gives a hint of both a well-settled home and a full-fledged office, he leads visitors to his work area. A part of his home is used for Women Acting Together for Change (WATCH), which is one of the many organizations that he has established.
Brought up in Okhaldhunga, he studied in his hometown until SLC. “Having been brought up in a financially weak family, it was difficult even to go to school,” he says.
Shrestha started his formal schooling late. When he was nine years old, he was directly enrolled in grade three. For excelling in his studies, he received double promotions and completed his SLC when he was just fourteen.
Living truly to the saying, morning shows the day, Shrestha has always been ahead when it comes to his commitment to studies or work. He started working as a teacher right after his SLC to save money so that he could come to the capital for his further studies.
“I don’t set my aim too high but I believe in winning over the person who is right ahead of me. I never wanted to lag behind. That’s why I put my heart into my studies even as a kid,” he says. Apart from studies, he was equally active in extracurricular activities and literature.
He came to Kathmandu in 1961 and that was the first time he ever traveled in a vehicle. He was fifteen years old then. After completing his Bachelors in Education (B.Ed), he returned to his hometown in Okhaldhunga in 1967 and worked as principal of a high school for three years.
“It was during the Panchayat era. Which was why it would be hard to work actively in the education field. So I again came back to the capital,” he reminisces.
His career in Kathmandu started as a teacher at Vanasthali Vidyashram in Balaju. He was also involved in teaching Nepali to foreigners for ten years and his students even included representatives of UNDP. In the meantime, he got associated with New Era, a research organization, as one of its promoters.
“I wasn’t much happy with the results of researches of New Era as its impact wasn’t seen. The main job was also to evaluate government projects but its recommendation wasn’t implemented much. We didn’t have power, so there weren’t much constructive results,” shares Shrestha.
He then started doing researches on rural development. He gives an instance of how villagers in Jomsom were clueless about making use of apples that were growing there abundantly.
“There was a possibility of making brandy, pie and ciders from apples without wasting it. That was my first experience of how and what could be done with locally available resources and how it could be done under the control of poor local people,” he says.
In 1971, the terms “community forestry” was introduced. But in reality, communities had no role nor were involved in it, as forests were under the direct control of the Panchayat rulers.
Shrestha started researching and studied reports on the state of the forests in the country so that he could find ways to involve villagers, especially women, in strengthening the concept of community forestry.
“The main contention was that the forests were misused by the Panchayat and the Forest Department wanted to work for their own interests by using the forest resources,” he explains.
During the same time, the Nepal Australia Community Forestry Project was finding ways to include community participation.
Shrestha asked the then decision-makers to define words like participation, community and community forestry, as nothing had been done as per the concept of community forestry. A guideline was then formulated. In Pandey Village of Kavre, every house was visited to find ways to save its forests and how they could be handed over to the villagers themselves for protection.
“That was how the idea of community forestry was initiated and till now the same process is being followed,” he reflects.
He talks about how it was all about giving rights to the villagers to use their resources and making it work according to their decisions. “Humans have inherent rights to nature because since the beginning, humans and nature have been together. The state was formed only later.”
But his path was not easy. Forest employees accused Shrestha of encroaching upon their work. “They also thought that the locals were encroaching on their work. But I told them that they were the ones encroaching upon the rights of the villagers and they should return the forests to the locals.”
The Forest Ministry even circulated a notice banning Forest Department employees from attending any meeting where Shrestha would be present. “So, in that way I wasn’t invited at all,” he explains.
But Shrestha was relentless in his pursuit and became active in creating more participatory approach to community decision-making, reaching out to villagers and women and initiating the country’s first user-managed community forestry group called FECOFUN (Federation of Community Forestry Users, Nepal).
He has also established many grassroots-level organizations that have played key roles for the development of community forestry in Nepal, such as Natural and Organizational Resources Management Service (NORMS), Nepal Participatory Action Network of I/NGOs (NEPAN) and National Federation of Irrigation Water Users’ Association Nepal (NFIWUAN), to name a few.
“Until villagers have their ownership, nothing can be implemented, and we wanted to introduce the concept of “Hamro ban,” he adds.
Shrestha is someone who cannot stay content by limiting himself to just one work. He continues traveling extensively to villages where he sees various problems and initiates new ideas accordingly. He puts his dignity first and is least bothered about earning money or fame.
“As long as you run after money, money will run away from you, too. But once you stop caring about money, then it comes after you. This is what I suggest to all my friends as well,” he says.
He has a large family of three sons and four daughters who are all settled abroad. “I consider myself lucky that I got full support from my family and could dedicate myself to work. If I had concentrated more on family issues only, then that wouldn’t have been possible,” he says.
He also established Mahila Ekata Sangathan (Sex Workers Organization) to empower sex workers to be more aware of the importance of safe sex in order to reduce HIV cases.
“In fact, many accused us of promoting sex workers, and even our office was burnt by the Maoists in Butwal as they didn’t understand our concept. But that didn’t stop us from continuing our work,” he says.
Shrestha’s passion is to work for the socially ostracized and downtrodden people, especially in villages. Many of his organizations have been networking with the local people themselves.
“My main intention is to build ideas among the local people in order to make the plan sustainable,” he says.
Shrestha maintains a low profile and enjoys a simple life. His day begins at 4:30 in the morning, and after a bit of gardening, he starts working. There are only so many hours in a day and with numerous organizations and campaigns that need his attention, every minute is precious. He has no plans of retiring any time soon as he believes there is still so much more to be done.
nistha.rayamajhi11@gmail.com
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