The Green Dream Initiative

Green is COMMITTED’s Dream to relieve urban and semi-urban areas of Nepal, especially Kathmandu Valley from ongoing environmental deterioration. All urban and semi-urban areas of Nepal need help on the environment. However, the case for Kathmandu Valley is more compelling. The urban areas of Kathmandu Valley are most densely populated in Nepal.

We recently initiated the Green Dream initiative with a goal to restore natural resources, increase green cover, preserve open space, and build parks for Kathmandu’s residents in public-private partnership.

Open space and passive and active recreation space known to Kathmandu residents are what our forefathers built around places of worship and other similar. As these monuments and places of history age, it is necessary that we preserve their stability by not treating them as recreational facilities. Even these places of historical importance have ostensibly disappeared in the midst of the population surge, which has increased from 995,966 in 2001 to currently at 1,442,271. Some affluent and privileged children are lucky that the private schools they attend provide active recreation. Where will unfortunate children spend time as a part of their active and passive recreational need? Kathmandu Valley’s youth are already misled into becoming partners in crime and actions that negatively impact their communities. Where can they spend positive quality time when their adrenaline is running high? Hectic urban life has detached bonding between the elderly and the youth. They need outdoor places to gather and spend quality time with other community folks. Where can they go? Due to the surge in population and scarcity of space for recreation, historic monuments, plazas, and gathering places are falling apart. How can we provide alternate sites to prevent this from happening? Where will we find open spaces and parks in the next decade when the population is expected to double (2.5 million)?

COMMITTED in collaboration with environmental NGOs, government bodies, and local community members seeks to launch the following programs to provide for environmental and health related interdependent components critical for healthy communities.

• Children, Parks, and People Program
  Build pocket parks to provide opportunities for children, youth, and adults to indulge in active and passive recreation. The goal is to create venues for vibrant communities to play and gather to spend quality time away from the urban chaos.
• Re~Leaf Kathmandu Program
  Plant trees where possible to improve environmental health and the city’s aesthetics. The goal is to increase tree cover throughout the streets and public places of Kathmandu as well as advocate for and encourage property owners to increase green cover.
• Life in Streams Program
  Clean and restore rivers and streams of Kathmandu Valley to their natural condition. The goal is to restore the natural resources, improve environmental conditions, help reduce global climate change, and provide residents opportunities to enjoy the natural environment.
• Cash for Trash
  Formulate cooperatives comprised of unemployed persons to organize, collect recyclable material, and sell as a means for their personal livelihood. The goal is to reduce poverty, improve Kathmandu’s environment, assist in MSW management, and help reduce global climate change.
• Breathe Right
  Kathmandu suffers from construction and earthen dust problems owing to inadequate standards and regulations pertaining to building and road construction. The program goal is to educate the public, local government bodies, and affected communities of the issues and to help alleviate the problem through establishment of construction and building codes, cleanup, and citizen guardianship programs.
• Environmental Education and Advocacy
  The Environmental Education and Advocacy pertains to all the programs under the Green Dream Initiative. In addition to increasing environmental awareness to the public through public media and door-to-door to campaigns, advocating for environmental education as a subject at all school levels will be a high priority. The program will initiate campaigns to advocate for the establishment and of adequate environmental laws at the national government level and enforce through building codes and other regulations at the local government levels.