A municipal climate grant and long-standing collaboration with RECOFTC are helping community members in Nepal put adaptation plans into action.

Chautara Sangachokgadhi, a municipality in Sindhupalchok district, central Nepal, is backing community-led climate action with a grant of USD 14,615. The investment is helping implement forest landscape adaptation measures identified in a RECOFTC-led vulnerability assessment.  

With an additional USD 12,377 from RECOFTC, the community has launched a range of initiatives, including slope stabilization through bioengineering, recharge pond construction, forest fire risk mapping and livelihood support through goat rearing and mōsō bamboo planting. Funds have also been set aside to foster human–wildlife coexistence.

When heavy rainfall triggered floods across Nepal in September 2024, Chautara Sangachokgadhi’s new infrastructure held firm. “The bioengineering helped a lot in controlling water flow,” says Thakur Giri, chair of the Bedhigoth Community Forest User Group. “We are planning to build similar structures on our own.”

Sindhupalchowk district lies in the Sacred Himalayan Landscape, and our assessment mapped climate risks at the sub-landscape level. We guided a participatory process to prioritize responses and shared the results with local government officials, the Division Forest Office and members of a multi-stakeholder platform for biodiversity conservation.

Sita Thapa, deputy mayor of Chautara Sangachokgadhi, says, “We look forward to building on the success of these interventions and expanding them to other sites and wards throughout the municipality.” She notes that these results are the outcome of the municipality’s long-standing partnership with RECOFTC.  “The positive impacts will be far reaching. These interventions can become successful models for our municipality to scale in the future.”