Simon and Judith with VSO, Nepal: Once more Nepal's rural economy is propped up by Timber.

Ganggapurna (7454m) and its glacier tower over Manang

The sub-tropical forests of Lamjung give way to conifer woodland at 3000-4000m
in Manning district.

Recently a walk in the country has become more than just an opportunity for exercise, or a chance to visit some friends in distant villages. Countryside wanderings have been opportunities to gather wood for our small metal stove. Leaving the politics aside, the devastating earthquake of last April has been followed by a period of import restrictions for petrochemicals and cooking gas. Over the last couple of months people have had to develop coping strategies. No fuel for vehicles means no travel. No gas for the two-ringed cookers, that are the standard method of cooking, cannot possibly mean no eating. So the ever resourceful families, where they can, have reverted to cooking over wood.

Using converted fan to ignite charcoal, a woman prepares to cook maize cobs for sale.

A guesthouse owner proudly shows off her wood fired stove, together with the usual impressive array of spotless crockery.

More wood fuelled cooking. Flasks are used to store hot water, saving the need to reheat.

Not to be caught short we have also taken this option since having a new supply of bottled cooking gas will not be happening any time soon. On a recent wood foray, after two hours searching the pathways for twigs and fallen branches I have managed to fill a bag and am proudly returning to our flat with my spoils. Jude will be impressed. Just the river to cross via the leg strength sapping steel suspension bridge, followed by a climb up a couple of hundred steps and I will be home. As I turn the last bend before the river, my kindling gathering efforts diminish into total insignificance as I meet two women on a similar mission whose efforts have created two huge bundles of lumber that they are happily lugging home. I was never one to back down from a physical challenge and have carried these bundles in the recent past. I know that these women are making light of an extremely heavy task as their flip-flop shod feet navigate the uneven road, accompanied by a ceaseless stream of chatter.

Crossing the bridge with a heavy load can be tricky as the whole structure can swing
from side to side.

Jude and I have just recently returned from a short trip to Manang and Mustang, two districts north of Lamjung, which lie on the Tibetan border. Before you ask, the trip was largely made on foot. These inaccessible districts, besides being trekking destinations, have other things going for them, not least of which is a ready supply of timber.

Manang and Mustang are in the rain shadow of the Annapurna Himal. The arid slopes support conifer woodland, sparse tracts of hardy Juniper and colourful Berberis.

Prickly but colourful Berberis

Looking back to the Hindu settlement of Muktinath, despite the arid conditions trees are a strong feature.

All of the small home-stays we used were cooking over wood, with huge stock piles of split logs adorning every sheltered place around the timber houses. Having spent a few weeks every year back in the UK, since first being married, gathering, chopping and storing wood I have a great admiration for these ample wood stacks. Not only do they represent a job well done, but also a promise of fuel to warm houses and cook daal bhat during the long, cold, dry season that lies ahead. As a child, visiting the birthplace of my father, ‘The Birks” a livestock farm in the Yorkshire Dales, I saw similar piles of cut logs stacked in the old stone barn attached to the farmhouse, which must have fuelled the foundation of my fascination. There is also an artistic attractiveness to the stacks. Each Antony Gormley like wooden structure is unique and constantly changing from season to season. Every piece of cleaved branch with its grain ridged surface fitting closely to its neighbour within the pile. The gradual changes from deep okra and terracotta to the silver and greys of dry seasoned fuel ready for use. They appeal to me.

Timber is a vital building material, and wood stacks form a natural component of the structure. Pink buck wheat straw is stored on the roof.

Who wouldn't want this fine wood stack outside your home.

Juniper leaves dry in preparation for a puja (prayer)

Timber compliments Buddhist stupas on the roof of a house.

Back in Lamjung we had seen small gangs of men planking timber with framed two-man saws. Here in these districts there was another scale of operation. Still no sound of chain saws, just the gentle swoosh as the beautifully crafted, tapered blades sliced through the axe prepared logs to create planks and boards of varying size. Having in recent years spent time labouring in British woods for two family members, Nick and Chris, I know how much work goes into the basic jobs of felling and clearing. Here in Nepal there was no sign of a tractor or winch to help with moving these stems onto the cutting gantries. Everything is “hand-ball” with the only tools available being crowbars to lever, and poles on which to slid the rough timber together with the oldest of helpers…gravity. As with all saws the cut is made only in one direction, so the to and fro motion was unhurried and efficient, born out of many years of practice. Simple wedges are hammered into the cut which gives the blade "way" or rather prevents it from getting stuck. Another ancient device hung over the trunk end, the plumb line. These guys were certainly out to do a good job and not risk wasting their efforts. Nick had pointed out the real meaning of the term ‘under dog’. It is the name given to the timber man in the saw pit at the base of the saw .....with his eyes full of dust. Dotted through the woodlands, seasoning lumber was carefully airing ready to be extracted when the time and market demanded.

Using a frame saw to give the thin blade some rigidity.

The 'under-dog'.

In Manang this temporary gantry is built in the forest, close to the felling site. The tapered saw cut only on
the down stroke.

The forest workers live alongside their work.

A superb stack of hand cut planks season on the forest floor.

Our experience was not going to end there as we were astonished at the huge range of other uses for the forest and forest products. The woodland floor provides grazing for goats and cattle, whose neck bells echoed around the standing timber like distant wind chimes. Bracken and leaves are gathered to bed cattle and as a plentiful source of composting humus to feed the potato crops grown at over 4000m.

A Buddhist puja. The burning of Juniper leaves at a small stupa.

Leaves of the ancient Juniper scrub that clings onto Himalayan rock faces are burned daily as a Buddhist puja or prayer. The heavy scented smoke coils across the prayer carved rocks as we leave Upper Pisang on route to Manang.

Bracken for livestock bedding dries on rocks and timber stacks.

Two Manang women arrive back after an early morning chore of gathering conifer leaves for compost and wood for burning.

A simple but common timber house. This district is dominated by a culture which has its origins firmly based in neighbouring Tibet.

This man carrying two doors and several bits of rough timber must be an osteopath's nightmare. His wide load prevented walking straight, the only option a sideways shuffle for tens of kilometres!!!!!

A pony and mule supply train cross melt-water using a lovely wooden bridge. These ancient practices are still a lifelines for most communities.

Simple carved ventilation slots in a door.

Decoration with the fundamental Buddhist colours blue, yellow, red white and orange.

A beautifully crafted ladder from a solid trunk.

Two children look on as a herd of goats gets sorted into various night time sheds. They will all join back together again the next day for grazing. The amazing thing is that apart from the odd exception most knew which house they belonged to and made there own way home as the herd entered the settlement.

Some miles up the road we reach another enterprise that flourishes even at this altitude. Apple orchards, behind high timber fences, stretch out on both sides of the track. Having recently read Roger Deakin’s “Wildwood. A journey through trees” I am aware that the apple tree’s very beginnings were possibly high on mountainous slopes in the central European massif, but not quite at this altitude. We stop for a chyaa and chat about the trees with the young Gurung man whose family own the 65 thousand saplings that have been planted and which will be trained along the wire frames. Full of amazement we learn that the three main varieties are Golden Delicious, Gala and Fuji, and that his full-time staff of fourteen swells to over a hundred during the picking season. Since our home is in Somerset it all sounds very familiar when he explains his plans to make cider. We round off the conversation with his final idea of having a goat herd to eat the apple pumice, their milk being used for cheese making. Feeling we have gone full circle I give the usual advice of keep things simple and give the goats plenty of water. We trudge away towards Manang but not before exchanging emails and discussing the possibilities of a visit to advise.

Jude makes her way between apple orchards. A little unexpected at 4000m above sea level.

The young trees are cropping well.

A more traditional orchard near Muktinath, but still fruiting well.

The arid mountains of Upper Mustang lie ahead. Irrigation is critical in the valley bottoms where
rice, buck wheat, apples, peaches, apricots are some of the wide range of crops cultivated.

Using the dry conditions apples, apricots and other fruits are preserved.

Dried apple widely available.

Nepal is faced with a fuel supply crisis, which if the press are right, could wreak more damage to the nations economy than the earthquake. It is difficult to estimate how much the economy has slowed since we are still in the Dashain festival season when things are generally quieter.. Factories are being forced to close, cafes etc. are unable to cook food for sale and transport is being so hampered, all of which are all signs of underlying difficulties. However, our short trek did reveal some undisputed evidence that there are only a few trekkers willing to make the visit. Tourism, a vital industry to Nepal's well being, is being hurt.

These are resilient mountain people for whom everyday life is hard. One thing that has not changed is their reliance upon the forest clad slopes. Today’s economic situation is forcing an increase in that dependence, and a reversal of some hard fought changes in woodland management practices that were designed to conserve this valuable resource. The last time fuel shortages on the scale gripped Nepal was twenty years ago and it took fifteen months to correct itself. Any repeat of these timescales will have a damaging effect on Nepal’s woodlands and the communities that depend upon them.

These high altitudes suit the Yak. Their milk is used for ghee, cheese, curd and butter. Coloured Yak hair tags are threaded through the ear to identify the animals owner.