A growth area – quite literally – within our Urban Nature Programme in the Kathmandu Valley has been the establishment of two Lily’s Leaves sapling nurseries in 2025. Funded primarily through the The Big Give, these nurseries enable our social enterprise implementing partner, Lily’s Leaves, to grow the saplings required for reforestation projects from seeds and cuttings. This reduces our reliance on plants sourced from the Department of Forestry or private nurseries. The former typically supply timber-producing species, while the latter tend to offer exotic, non-native plants that are popular for gardens. Neither option is suitable for the needs of our urban forests, where the primary goals are improving air quality and restoring biodiversity.
This initiative remains very much a work in progress, with the nurseries at Tikathali and Swayambhu being brought into operation as rapidly as possible. So far, Lily’s team has planted seeds from 54 native species, with a further 15 species scheduled for sowing in the coming week. This effort is linked to a developing seed-collection programme in surrounding forests. Over time, this will become critically important as we seek out rare and endangered native species—both to prevent local extinctions and to strengthen biodiversity. It is often these rarer species that attract new birds and insects into restored forest habitats.
To give a sense of scale, in February Lily’s Leaves sowed 15,000 seeds at the Tikathali nursery and 7,500 at Swayambhu. Once the nurseries reach full production, they are expected to produce 35,000 to 45,000 saplings per month. In addition to supplying our own projects, surplus saplings could potentially be sold to other organisations engaged in forest restoration and climate action, creating an income stream for the Lily’s Leaves social enterprise.
Seedling trays at the Swayambhu nursery, with plenty of shelf space for more!
Our Kathmandu valley Urban Nature programme has been funded through a combination of gifts in Wills, in memoriam (donations in lieu of flowers at funerals) and The Big Give.
