Managers

The Nepalese Government¿s forestry agency is the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, which is responsible for policy formulation and planning for sustainable forest management, wildlife, soil conservation and watershed issues, biodiversity and plant resources management. The Ministry has five distinct departments, each with specific management responsibilities impacting on forests:

  • Department of Forests
  • Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management
  • Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation
  • Department of Plant Resources
  • Department of Forest Research and Survey

The Department of Forests is responsible for the management, demarcation, control and conservation of national forests, as well as conservation and utilization responsibilities for private and community managed forests.

The Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation is also responsible for supervising the operations of several forestry related parastatals and development boards. These include the Timber Corporation of Nepal, which is responsible for marketing logs harvested in government forests and the Forest Products Development Board, which carries out commercial scale plantation establishment for fuelwood and poles. The Forest User Groups (FUGs) comprise a prominent institutional collective responsible for management and utilization of community forest areas. Around 87 percent of Nepal¿s forests are owned by the state. Almost all of the remainder are forests owned by community Forest User Groups. Forest User Groups are represented at a national level by a Federation of Community Forest Users in Nepal (FECOFUN).

Public participation in forest management

Community forestry is a major focus of evolving forest management principles in Nepal, particularly in the mountains. The 1988 Master Plan for the Forestry Sector established the concept of Forest User Groups, to which the user rights of specific tracts of forest would be ceded by the government. This definition and allocation of formal management and user rights to community-based groups, was designed to halt rapid rates of deforestation and degradation that arose from the absence of management in open-access forests (the ¿tragedy of the commons¿ effect). To date, more than 10 000 Forest User Groups have been recognized and more than 600 000 hectares of forests have been placed under User Group management. It is estimated that as much as 3.5 million hectares of Nepal¿s forests could eventually be placed under community management. The government envisages a federation of Forest User Groups being strongly organized at district and central levels, and having significant input in shaping government policies on forestry.

The Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project was started in 1992 with technical assistance from FAO/UNDP. The Leasehold forestry programme gives the opportunity for marginalized people in the community to improve their livelihoods through income generating activities. Degraded areas of forest land are handed over to small groups through a lease agreement with a duration of 40 years. The key objectives are to raise the income of families living mostly below the poverty level in the hills, and to improve ecological conditions by minimizing deforestation in the fragile hills of Nepal. A participatory approach is the basis for the implementation of the project. The project is specifically designed to supplement the efforts of the government's Community Forestry Programme. Its primary activities include:

  • the distribution of forest land to the poor;
  • planting of trees;
  • establishing veterinary services for livestock;
  • creation of income generating environment through training and increased facilitation of loan flows.
last updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2009