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  • Title: Bhorletar: the sustainable village.
    Author: Rowley J.
    Journal: People Planet; 1993; 2(4):14-9. PubMed ID: 12287332.
    Abstract:
    The village of Bhorletar, in the middle hills of Nepal, is run by an elected Village Development Committee (VDC). It consists of 9 wards with a total of 3000 people. The village center is growing fast, with 35 new houses built in the last year. Bhorletar is 1 of 8 villages selected by the National Planning Commission and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to develop and test a system of local environmental planning. The effort is a central part of the National conservation Strategy, which began in 1983. The task of drawing up environmental plans for Bhorletar and 7 other villages was begun in 1990 with the help of 2 nongovernmental organizations and the IUCN planning team. This included drawing up land use maps on forest patches, trees species, landslides, cropping patterns, and hazard-prone areas. Finally, an environmental plan based on this profile was defined by the villagers themselves and approved in meetings. Each village selected its own activities and was granted project funds to supplement the work of men and women from the village. These activities included community forest conservation; improved fuel-wood stoves; new latrines; protective dams and afforestation; improved roads; vegetable gardens and marketing; and a new health post. There is no health post in Bhorletar, and the nearest hospital is a 7 hours' walk away. Contaminated water, poor diet, and a polluted environment are the main causes of a child death rate of around 100 per 1000. Most of the women and girls were too busy with household and farming chores to attend the planning meetings or school. According to the profile, 99 men and only 5 women were practicing family planning. The only family planning commonly available has been an annual vasectomy camp. Women find sterilization services almost impossible to obtain, though they are increasingly using Depo-Provera injections at a health center in the adjoining village. Bhorletar's experience, and that of the 7 other villages, has proved that local communities can plan and carry out their own development programs.
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