our story
Supporting a range of cutting-edge projects in Nepal as cost-effectively as possible, ensuring that the maximum amount of funds get to the point of need.
HOW Pipal tree was born
a triumph over tragedy
The journey of PIPAL TREE
In Nepal you will find a Pipal Tree at the heart of many towns and villages. Sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists, it acts as a focus for the community to meet for worship or just to chat. The tree is a perfect symbol of our work in Nepal that embraces community and environmental interests, as we engage with local people to hear their needs and hopes for the future.
January 1999
Philip Holmes resigned from a successful military career to begin charity work in Nepal following the tragic death of his first wife, Esther Benjamins. Setting up a children’s charity in Esther’s name, his early work involved rescuing innocent children from inside Nepal’s prisons.
February 2004
Philip move to live Nepal and what was supposed to be a three years relocation turned into eight years of incredible dedication to the marginalized communities of South-Nepal.
March 2004
Philip planned and led a ground-breaking programme that shut down two cross-border child trafficking routes permanently. His work spelt freedom for over 1,000 innocent Nepalese children whom we rescued from inside prisons, the dangers of the streets and from child slavery. The latter activity involved our launching cross-border raids on Indian circuses which were hair-raising to say the least, but also, unmissable.
“The outcome of the programme was the permanent closure of two cross-border child trafficking routes. This is an unprecedented achievement that, unlike money, can never be taken from me. I can help you to achieve lasting results and a sense of fulfilment too.”
Philip, Founder and CEO of Pipal Tree
August 2012
Dev Narayan Mandal, who will become Philip’s closest associate and Pipal Tree’s implementing partner, returned to live in his home District of Dhanusha. He left behind a senior appointment at SOS Animal Rescue in Delhi to start from scratch and set up The Mithila Wildlife Trust (MWT). His motivation arose from his horror at seeing how the forest in had loved as a boy - The Dhanushadham Protected Forest - had been ravaged by illegal felling. He was determined to reverse the damage.
“Nepal’s community forest management has already become a global model for forest restoration efforts elsewhere.”
Dev, Narayan Mandal, CEO & Founder of MWT
September 2015
🚀 Birth of Pipal Tree
In 2015, ChoraChori (former name of the NGO) is tranformed into Pipal Tree. This has a broader remit and reflected Philip’s growing interest in environmental and community issues. In fact, for him, the environment had become the “elephant in the room” that had to take priority over all other activities.
February 2020
Dev and Philip finally meet, and together they will take a major step forward through a continuous and deep partnership that is now, more than ever before, leading us to scale up our projects, notably concerning the environment.
October 2020
Lily Katuwal KC founded the Kathmandu-based social enterprise, Lily’s Leaves, which has become the second implementing partner of Pipal Tree. Lily combined her vocational training experience with her business acumen to set up training for women in jewellery, tailoring and life-skills.
June 2021
🚀 our first reforestation project
We planned to reforest 32 hectares of community forest in the Chure range with a 2.5-year project, funded by a grant from The Gemma and Chris McGough Charitable Foundation and the Nepal Department of Forests. The project provides employment, benefits the environment, and ultimately provides livelihoods to the local community through ecotourism and sustainable use of forest products. Since then, the project has pretty much run linke clockwork, leading to an extension of its initial aim.
July 2022
We are supporting the education of children from marginalized communities and the lowest castes in south Nepal, giving them a chance to escape the cycle of poverty and, for girls, the misery and dangers of child marriage. We will build facilities and meet running costs to deliver quality education.
What Now ?
Philip lives in Devon, where he run Pipal Tree from home. We continue to rescue and support children, including child rape victims. We have now turned his attention to an even greater challenge that hasn’t gone away; the Climate Emergency. Nepal is very much in the frontline of the crisis, with its Himalayan glaciers melting and increasingly erratic weather patterns that are having a severe impact on agriculture and the rural economy, while causing both floods and drought as natural disasters.
We are responding by supporting rural and urban reforestation programmes that help redress the balance while providing employment to vulnerable people, including through ecotourism and the sustainable use of forest products. Many of these people are from the so-called “untouchable” community. And we link this work to the education of children, developing youth climate activists – perhaps we’ll inspire Nepal’s Greta Thunberg of the future!
wE SCALE UP
Ready ?
Test Your Knowledge in 2 minutes
Try out our new quiz about the Madheshi people in Nepal. Through those questions, we hope you will get a better understanding of the catastrophic situation they live in.
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© 2022 Pipal Tree, Three Ways, Ledstone, Kingsbridge, Devon, UK, TQ7 2HQ
Registered charity number: 1159770
Registered charity number: 1159770
