Whenever a speech is made about deforestation, officials never miss pointing out that refugee camps and kamaiya settlements on government property have contributed to the mess. But at a community forest in Kanchanpur, it is the refugees and Kamaiya that are protecting the forests.

Sixty families of freed Kamaiya Tharus and internally displaced have turned the Janahit Mahakali Community Forest into a model for grassroots forest management. In a forest north of the East West Highway, where trees were depleting due to massive deforestation by wood mafia and erosion, the community has planted over 8,000 bamboo, timber and hardwood trees since 2004. Locals have also benefitted by producing more than a hundred tonnes of ginger. This unique system of agroforestry has raised living standards, while conserving forests. The community has donated Rs 100,000 to the nearby Udaya Higher Secondary School to provide free education for students from the ninth to twelfth grade, and Rs 40,000 to Kanchanpur Campus?all from the sale of forest products. Members of the community can buy oxen on interest-free loans, flood control embankments have been built, VDC roads have been gravelled and a new child welfare centre built.

The chairman of the group adds that one of the biggest achievements has been the protection of the forest and wildlife. "We haven't just protected trees," he says, "we have seen more deer than ever before and even tigers and leopards have returned."