Kathmandu, September 25:

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide $400,000 to support a Center of Excellence at the Institute of Forestry under the Tribhuvan University in partnership with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VA Tech).

The Centre, which will be named in honour of the conservation icons who lost their lives in the September 23 helicopter crash, will provide quality training in conservation and prepare future generation of environmental leaders in Nepal, USAID-Nepal stated in a press release today. USAID-Nepal envisions that the centre will strengthen the capacity of IOF to educate leading researchers, faculty and professionals in forestry and natural resource conservation, the statement adds.

Special emphasis will be placed on mentoring women and providing scholarships to students from marginalised communities to help them better integrate into IOF, the statement reads.

The centre is expected to attract world-class international faculty to Pokhara to collaborate on teaching and applied research and the students here would have good opportunity to benefit from professional exchanges and mentoring activities, it adds.

USAID is also contributing $150,000 for construction of a micro-hydro power project in Ghunsa, near the site of the accident which will provide electricity to nearly 80 households and serve as a memorial.