Nepal | < Asia & the Pacific

Resource Conservation and Utilization Project (RCUP)
Funding source: USAID

The Resource Conservation and Utilization Project (RCUP) was a multifaceted
and integrated project that attempted to curtail the rapid degradation of Nepal's
environment. The RCUP strategy incorporated two primary approaches: the
implementation of resource conservation practices and social changes in
resource utilization patterns to restore and protect soil, water and forest
resource bases; and to build the capacity of the appropriate Nepalese
institutions to train adequate numbers of skilled technical and supervisory
natural resource management professionals.

Project activities concentrated on five primary areas: institutional development,
development of energy alternatives, range management, agricultural system
improvement, and watershed management. Forty-three Nepali participants have
received Masters and Doctoral degrees through this project and have assumed
positions of leadership in various Ministries and in the Institute of Renewable
Natural Resources (IRNR). Construction activities resulted in 174 new office
buildings in three regional centers, and in supervision of construction at the
new Pokhara Campus of IRNR.