As we all know, water is a necessary part of everyday life all over the world. However, in the Himalayas, it is an especially valuable resource, as 1.5 billion people enjoy clean water that comes from its glaciers, lakes and rivers. Unfortunately, the Himalayas are at the same time threatened by climate change, infrastructure development and deforestation that affect the river flows and the amount of water streaming down.

Still today, forests cover around 30 percent of our planet, but big parts of them are vanishing every year because of deforestation. That happens partly because of human action such as agriculture and illegal logging, but also unintentionally, when wildfires and overgrazing contribute to it. As forest soils lose the protection of sun-blocking tree cover, though being naturally moist, they quickly dry out.

The greater the watershed tree cover, the healthier the children

Poor water resources and diarhheal disease are severe problems especially in the poorest parts of the world: according to World Health Organization (WHO), on a global level even 361,000 children are estimated to die of it every year, and every fourth death of a child under the age of five is caused by unhealthy environments because of poor access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation.

The connection between watershed quality and individual health outcomes of children was also recently proved by a global study, led by the University of Vermont and supported by the WWF. The study looking at 300,000 children in 35 countries across Africa, South America and the Caribbean and Southeast Asia noted that children who live in river basins whose watersheds have greater tree cover are less likely to experience diarhheal disease that can be fatal.

Understanding this strong connection between forest quality, water quality and human health, helps us to better manage our river basins.

Apsana Bika, 9 years old, along with her mother (background), uses the community water spout to shower and wash in the Kerunge Khola Village of the Chitwan Annapurna Landscape (ChAL) of Nepal. Source: WWF

Investing in human health

We at Kemira are also committed to sustainability: we want to help our customers to improve their water efficiency, but we also want to do our share for the whole planet. As water is at the core of everything we do, we found it natural to start cooperating with WWF Finland in the Himalayan river basins.

Our investments in healthy forests and rivers improve human health in fragile Himalayan areas. The forested catchments in the area supply a great proportion of water for domestic, agricultural, industrial and ecological needs in upstream and downstream areas, however, their existance in the area is constantly under threat.

The donation helps WWF in securing the vital water resources for more than a billion people in India, Nepal, China, Pakistan and Bhutan. New community forests are put up in cooperation with local people, who also receive guidance on sustainable forest management practices and good forest governance. To name a few achievements of last year, 333 hectares of degraded forest went under restoration in Nepal through fencing, plantation and forest users’ capacity building. In Chitwan and Kanchanpur, around 4,383 households and 266 forest-dependent workers were provided with skill based training and toolkits. By 2021, WWF aims to expand and protect the community and protected forests in the area significantly and contribute to even better management and restoration of thousands of hectares of degraded forest.

Portrait of Harigala Almathir and her son in the Abukhairani municipality ward n. 9, of Amdandabeshi, Nepal. Harigala works as a community mobilizer of Sahuliyat Community Forest and Animal Development Programme. She has three children, and is head of the CFUG. Harigala makes a lot of money through broom grass; her income was 35,000 Nepalese rupees last year. Broom grass helps anchor steep soils and keeps sediment from the river, and once harvested, makes a strong, useful broom sold locally. Source: WWF

Fighting climate change needs cooperation – we thank WWF for their valuable expertise and look forward to hearing from the next achievements as time goes by!