V/AIDS) while away from their homes and families. In 2003, WWF-Nepal and its local implementing partner, the Community Forestry Coordination * All population and health data on the Khata corridor are calculated by WWF from data reported in the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (Ministry of Health and Population, New ERA, & Macro International Inc., 2007). Committee, an umbrella organization of several forest user groups, began to integrate health services into ongoing conservation work in Khata, with support from Johnson & Johnson. Initially, the project worked with the Nepal Red Cross Society, which trained volunteers in first aid and helped establish a community-run health clinic. The project raised awareness about HIV/AIDS and family planning; and improved the quality of sanitation and drinking water. The Khata communities appreciated these health activities, which helped build goodwill toward the project's partners and their conservation efforts-- particularly during Nepal's civil war between the government and the Maoist insurgency, when government health facilities were closed and local people, especially women and children, lacked reliable access to health services and supplies. The project's low-profile activities were able to continue, since the clinic and other health services were supplied at the local level. In addition, the health interventions contributed directly to conservation. Households in this area are so poor that a death or major illness can force 4 Lessons From the First Generation of Integrated Population, Health, and Environment Projects Issue 18 March 2009 Forests for the Future families to sell their land. Landless people are more dependent on forest resources and may illegally settle on forested land. To reduce the pressure on forests, WWF and partners tackled two other major threats: firewood collection and cattle grazing. A revolving fund provided loans to purchase biogas units and build improved cookstoves, which curb deforestation and reduce exposure to indoor air pollution. WWF worked with communities to remove cattle from the forest and replace them with a smaller number of stall-fed cows, which produce dung for the biogas digesters; provide milk that improves child nutrition; and boost household income through the sale of surplus milk (Oglethorpe, Honzak, & Margoluis, 2008). Yet despite the Khata project's health and conservation successes, forest restoration efforts were at risk because the population continued to increase due to early marriage and childbearing, as well as poor knowledge of family planning and low contraceptive use. On average, women in the Terai are 25 years of age and have three children before they begin to use contraception (CEDPA, 2008). The 2007 Demographic and Health Survey found that 20.9 percent of currently married women (1549) living in the mid-western Terai region, which includes the Khata corridor, have an unmet need for family planning. Root Causes of Biodiversity Loss in Terai Forests Over-harvesting of trees for fuel wood and timber: Increasing population, coupled with the lack of affordable alternative energy technologies, drives demand for fuel wood and thus deforestation. The extremely high dependency on wood for fuel also produces indoor air pollution and respiratory problems. Overgrazing of livestock: Increasing population, combined with decreasing size of land holdings per capita and the continued popularity of raising livestock, will continue to increase grazing's impact on Nepal's landscape. Encroachment and settlement: As the population grows, more forest is cleared for cultivation. The conversion of forests to fields increases soil erosion and flooding. Source: Montayne (2003). Integrating Population and Health Into Forest Management In 2006, USAID selected the Khata project to test whether forest user groups could implement family planning services and education in tandem with conservation, health, and sustainable livelihood activities. USAID observed that user groups were promising platforms for the introduction of PHE services because the