Environment Friendly Safeguarding the Environment with New Innovations. Part of the papermaking process is to cook Daphne bark along with wood ash since fuel wood is needed for this cooking procedure, the project has promoted two improved techniques to reduce wood consumption. The first is the use of caustic soda in the cooking process, which both reduces the quantity of wood ash required and speeds the breakdown of lokta fibre. Cooking time (and therefore fuel wood consumption) is cut to 2-3 hour boiling period, instead of two boiling periods totaling 5-7 hours. This reduces fuel wood consumption by 50-70%. As a result of its promotion by the projects, all papermakers use caustic soda supplied by BCP. The second improvement is the introduction of more efficient stoves for cooking lokta. The stoves reduce fuel wood consumption by 10-25%. As of 1989, 150 improved stoves had been provided to project participants at a subsidized rate of 50% the original cost. In addition to these improvements, a number of nurseries and plantations have been funded in the project area. The community development programme funds the nurseries and plantation Programme is funded by the community development Programme. The Nepali Handmade Paper, Community Development and Lokta Management Workshop held at Baglung in 1993 realized the need to conduct environmental awareness programmes for the participating farmers and local people. The workshop recommended that farmers use only dry wood and branches to cook lokta fibre. It also recommended that caustic soda effluents be prevented from discharging directly into rivers and near by water sources. The post-meeting held at Baglung during the same period decided to prepare a detail work plan under Kaski and supervision and controlling office /agriculture development bank, pokhara to establish community nurseries and conduct fuel-wood plantation programmes.