We never cease to be amazed by how quickly nature makes an appearance at our forest restoration sites, both in urban and rural settings. Curious birds seem to arrive almost as soon as the planting begins, as though they are coming to inspect what is going on.

We had another example of this over the weekend, when a rare bird for Kathmandu — a Rosy Pipit — appeared at our latest urban forest site beside the heavily polluted Bagmati River, which runs through central Kathmandu. My colleague (and ace photographer) Dev Narayan Mandal was there to capture the title image. This species is usually seen at higher altitudes, yet there it was, grubbing around on the banks of the Bagmati. This comes as a great encouragement to us as we continue working to restore biodiversity to the Kathmandu Valley, and to clean and cool the air, through our Urban Nature Programme.

This is the first forest we have planted along the Bagmati and the sixth that our social enterprise partner, Lily’s Leaves, has established since July 2023. Over the weekend, Lily’s workforce — made up of young deaf women — planted 6,000 native saplings across an area of 4,200 square metres. This planting, however, has been the culmination of months of work that has involved clearing rubbish from this public land, deep excavation, composting, and fencing off the site. The photo below shows the newly planted saplings being mulched.

This forest has been planted using the rapid-growth Miyawaki Method of reforestation, which Pipal Tree and its partners, Mithila Wildlife Trust and Lily’s Leaves, have been pioneering in Nepal since December 2021. The method encourages trees to grow up to ten times faster than those planted conventionally. As a result, it should take just three years for this site to become a lush forest, although we will need to manage it closely and irrigate it in the meantime.

Our unique Urban Nature Programme is funded through three main sources:

• The Big Give matched-funding platform, through which we raise funds for our environmental projects primarily via the Christmas Challenge and Earth Raise spring campaigns

• Gifts in Wills

• Donations made in memory of loved ones – In this case, we have been especially grateful to receive donations in lieu of flowers in memory of my sister-in-law, Beth Holmes, who passed away in January, and support from the forthcoming Three Peaks Challenge in May, organised by friends and family of Joe Greenslade, who tragically took his own life in October. See this link. We will also remember and honour the late Sir Alec Reed, Founder of the Reed Foundation and The Big Give, who passed away last December. This is in recognition of all that The Big Give has meant to Pipal Tree, accounting for 70% of our annual income.

Our next Big Give campaign, Earth Raise, launches on 22 April with a target of £200,000. To achieve that goal, we still need to secure £14,500 in matching pledges by 27 March, which can then incentivise – and be matched with – online donations made during the campaign week of 22–29 April. If you or your organisation are able to help with a pledge, please do get in touch with me and I will gladly explain what is required. It is very straightforward to organise if you can find the funds to help us out.

Finally, huge congratulations once again to my colleague Mrs Lily Katuwal KC for her leadership and coordination in establishing another urban forest. Lily is unrivalled in her ability to get things done by encouraging the community to join in this tremendous challenge. On Monday, the weekend’s activity was rounded off with a small event at which Lily had the opportunity to address an audience that included two of Kathmandu Valley’s four mayors — those of Kirtipur and Lalitpur — both of whom are keen to do all they can to support our initiative.

Lily encouraging local support through her speech