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Community Forest that grant wishes


CF enables house under construction
Tashi Wangchuk aged 32 lived with his family in his in-law’s house for last decade or so in absolute harmony. With same bloodline, children played in the same dusty ground; family ate from same pots and lived under same roof. However, with time, the size of the family grew more in numbers and that is the time when he realized he got to nuclearize and construct his own house for his family. But with no easy access to timbers and the credit facilities, it remained a glimmering hope in embers never able to realize for atleast couple of years.  
The inception of Zhasela Community Forest in Minjay Geowg under Lhuntse Dzongkhag rekindled his glowing hope when he could enroll himself as the member of the Community Forest Management Group (CFMG). Soon after the Community Forest (CF) became operational, he availed the timbers required for house construction. The establishment of the CF helped him gain easy access to not only the timber requirements but also other forest products. He could avail all these products easily at low royalty fees without having to visit more offices.
But just when he was sure he is ready to construct the house with all materials collected, he realized constructing a house isn’t anyone’s piece of cake. The reality differed immensely when it appeared not as easy as he contemplated especially when it demands huge capital investment. He was stuck again. His timbers started rotting when exposed to all nature’s tantrums in the name of seasoning. What little cash he had was spent in extracting timbers from the forest and transporting till construction site. He explored funding sources from all possible sources. Local merchant charged higher interest rates and he was never aware of the procedures for applying from financial institutions.  
CF enables house under construction
 In the meantime, the CF, to which he was a member, started generating income. The fund sources included income from royalties, fines, penalties and compensations. But the lion-share of the income was generated by selling logs, planks and finished products to outsiders as permitted by the approved Management plan. The fund was deposited in the CF saving account in the bank. The fund accumulation reached all time high of almost Nu. 376,840. That is when with the help of the extension agent devised a strategy and mechanism to revolve the fund in order to not only make it dynamically beneficial to the members but also grow. 
During one of the annual work planning and general meeting, the CFMG unanimously decided that instead of hoarding the money in the bank which fetched very low interest, the saving could benefit the community in many ways. So, the idea of CF fund lending scheme was given birth. Under the scheme all CF members can avail the loan upto 50,000/- at the minimal interest rate of 5% per annum with the convenient installment period.
This came as a boon and a blessing in disguise to Tashi Wangchuk. He immediately, with 10 other members availed the maximum loan ceiling and got to work. Today, he is the proud owner of a two storey building towering just above the house of his in-laws. With the decent roof over his head, he is able to lead a happy and prosperous life with his family. The Zhasela Community Forest answered his prayer and granted his wish of owning a decent house. 


Hence, the CF not only helped reduce the poverty which is the main focus of the tenth five year plan but also fulfilled one of the objective of incepting their Community Forest which is to help generate income and uplift the living standard of the beneficiary. With the seed money already is place; the capital accumulation is here to grow with time. The CF activities are already in full swing to generate more income without compromising the limitations and requirements set in the Management plan.

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