ong the poorest countries in the world (ADB, 2007). The vast majority of Nepalese live in rural areas, where they depend upon agriculture for their livelihoods and suffer almost double the rate of poverty (44 percent) of their urban counterparts (ADB, 2001). In less than a century, Nepal's population increased more than five-fold, to 27 million people (PRB, 2008). Population density is high in the fertile river plain known as the Terai, where 48 percent of the country's population lives in 17 percent of its total land mass (CBS, 2001). Due to high birth rates and internal migration from the highlands, the Terai registered the highest regional population growth rate (2.86 percent) in the 2001 census, significantly higher than the nationwide annual growth rate of 2.1 percent (CBS, 2001; PRB, 2008). The high birth rates are largely due to early marriage (42 percent of Nepalese girls aged 15-19 are married), which has a cumulative effect on fertility (De Silvade Alwis, 2008). Forests and Biodiversity Under Threat: Nepal's Terai Region The majority of Nepal's population is heavily dependent on the country's natural resources, especially its forests. However, this essential resource has declined dramatically since the 1950s, and deforestation continues. Between 1990 and 2005, Nepal lost 1.2 million hectares, or about 25 percent of its total forest cover (FAO, 2005). Grazing, human settlement, and firewood collection are the major threats to the forest. Almost 80 percent of Nepalese rely on firewood for heating and cooking, and most still use inefficient traditional stoves (WWF-Nepal, 2006). Many people graze their livestock in forests, which are also used for food, animal fodder, building materials, medicine, and income generation. Nepal is a treasure trove of biodiversity: Its 0.1 percent of the world's landmass hosts 2 percent of the world's flower species, 4 percent of its mammal species, and 8 percent of its bird species (MOPE, 2001). The Terai is home to flagship species such as the Bengal tiger, wild Asian elephant, and greater one-horned rhinoceros. Seventy-five percent of lowland Nepal's remaining forests are in the Terai (EOE, 2007). But this unique biodiversity is under threat: A recent study examining the causes of biodiversity loss in the Terai forests concluded that population growth was the most serious factor (Montayne, 2003). To stem these losses, Nepal was one of the first developing countries to adopt community forest management, which promotes better management by shifting control of forests from the government to the local communities that use them. Community groups of forest users charge membership fees, levy fines, and sell non-timber forest products in order to finance their operating budgets and fund development projects. Thirteen thousand user groups, which manage 1.6 million hectares of forest area across the country, have helped reduce the deforestation rate in Nepal by 3.7�5.0 percent a year (USAID, 2006). In parts of the Terai where forests have regenerated and wildlife has returned, community members have developed alternative incomes through tourism (� Judy Oglethorpe/ WWF-US). 2 Lessons From the First Generation of Integrated Population, Health, and Environment Projects Issue 18 March 2009 Forests for the Future FOCUS Online www.wilsoncenter.org/ecspfocus Livelihoods Outcomes: Study and Analysis of Changes in the Livelihoods of Bottleneck-Level Community Forest Users, a WWF report, explores livelihood gains among residents of the Terai Arc Landscape: http://assets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_livelihood_booklet_final__july8_08.pdf Detailed maps of the Terai Arc Landscape project, other WWF-supported projects in Nepal, and protected areas around the country can be downloaded from WWF: http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/asia_pacific/where/nepal/news/ maps_nepal/index.cfm The Root Causes of Biodiversity Loss in the Terai Arc Landscape: An Exploration of Factors Affecting Biodiversity Loss and the Relationship to Livelihoods, by Dawn Montayne: http://assets.panda.org/downloads/finalrootcausesre