British Council’s Road to COP26 campaign has planted 20,000 trees to offset the Government of Nepal’s emissions from COP26 participation. Together with governmental, civil society and private sector partnerships, Road to COP26 campaign planted 5000 trees in Godavari municipality earlier this year and a closing programme for its 15,000 trees drive in Dhulikhel Municipality was hosted on 7 September.
“On World Environment Day 2021, the British Embassy made a commitment to offset emissions from the Government of Nepal’s participation in COP26 in the United Kingdom. We are happy the latest milestone from Road to COP26 campaign places us closer to our goals while nurturing a host of additional benefits for surrounding communities and the environment in the long run,’’ says Nicola Pollitt, British Ambassador to Nepal who announced the commitment last year.
The closing event was hosted by plantation partners Association of Family Forest Owners Nepal (AFFON), and the Green Intelligence (GI) at Hotel Arniko, Dhulikhel. The programme featured presentations on the next steps and acknowledgements of contributors. Partners shared details of how they intend to monitor the plants and create resources for more effective tree plantation.
“British Council has facilitated partnerships between diverse institutions to apply media/arts and creative solutions to hopefully inspire more effective plantation drives. This has made this environmental action more accessible and engaging and able to generate a wider impact. We are happy that we are adding to more legacy through our recent partnerships’’addsShahida MacDougall, Country Director of the British Council
“Family forests are a major channel to mitigate climate change impact and practice adaptation at the community level. In Dhulikhel, we worked to mobilise farmers across multiple wards and raised their awareness of agroforestry. The plants, including fruits, nuts, spices, and herbs, the farmers have received from us are intended to yield additional income in the long run,” explains Mr Jograj Giri, Chairperson of AFFON about creating community benefits beyond offsetting goals of the campaign.
The pilot campaign of 5000 trees was administered by Story Cycle with support from Godavari Municipality and Nepal Art Village. The Department of Forest and Soil Conservation, and the Ministry of Forest and Environment partnered with Story Cycle to develop the Tree Plantation Toolkit in the lead-up to COP26 to help make plantation events more accessible. The print version of the Toolkit (in Nepali) has been distributed to over 30 governmental organisations in three provinces.