Community Forestry in Nepal under Threat
|
KATHMANDU, August 13 (OneWorld) – The Nepal government's recent decision to impose 40 percent tax on revenue earned by community managed forests may shatter the country's thriving community forestry program and trigger widespread deforestation, warn environmentalists.
The cash-strapped government's controversial decision has attracted flak from both user groups and donor nations. During eight years of insurgency, despite the Maoist rebels massive destruction of local infrastructure, the community forestry program continued to flourish. In the last three years alone, the government handed over 10,000 hectares of forest land to more than 800 local communities in different parts of the country, who have been zealously safeguarding it since then. Over the last two months, the local forest office entrusted over 300 hectares of forest area to various local groups in the Maoist-ruled Dolakha district, 100 miles east of the capital, Kathmandu. Surprisingly, although the rebels have destroyed scores of government forest posts and forest offices, they made only sporadic attacks against community forestry groups. Protests the president of the Federation of Community Forestry Users Group Nepal (FECOFUN), Bhim Prasad Shrestha, "The government is destroying the community forestry program that had survived eight years of Maoist insurgency. We will fight against this irrational decision." Shrestha recalls that 20 years ago, when FECOFUN, an umbrella organization representing user groups, was invited to take over the forests, the hills were barren and prone to landslides. Since 1981, local communities were entrusted with the management and utilization of forests in Nepal. Some 1.06 million hectares of forestland were handed over to 12,673 Community Forestry Users Groups involving 1.4 million households. The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation estimates that over six million of Nepal's 23 million population have benefited from the community forestry program. "We have preserved the forests hoping some amount of money generated by selling forest products would be used for development activities in our community," says Nir Bikram Kirati, the chairman of a community forest users group in Morang district, 500 kilometers east of Kathmandu. Nepal's community forestry program based on the management of forests by local communities, is promoted by western donors including the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark and others. Emphasizes a botanist working with a conservation body, IUCN Nepal, Dr Tirthaman Shrestha, "It takes a decade to generate awareness among communities that forest is their own resource and its preservation will help them. The imposition of taxes will send a wrong message that they are not the owners." Agrees deputy director general of the community forest division at Nepal's Ministry of Forests, Keshav Raj Kanel, "The community forestry program has halted forest degradation and increased the areas of greenery." But he adds that, "We handed over 74 percent of forests to the communities, and it is natural to expect some share of their profits." Last year, the government sanctioned a budget of US $10 million to the Department of Forests. Half the department's budget was earmarked for community forests. The government is now eager to earn revenue from this sector, as official figures show it receives less than half a million $US as forest revenue. Protests senior technical advisor in the Department of Forests, Amrit Lal Joshi, "The decision is a major setback in the history of community forests. Motivated user groups are already devoting 25 percent of their revenue towards forest conservation, now they are being asked to part with another 40 percent. Why should they take care of the forests if they are not given control over its resources?" Joshi points out that along with protecting forest products, the user groups help to stabilize landslide prone mountains. In return, villagers generate financial resources by selling forest products, using the revenue to build schools, health posts, rural roads and so on. Traditionally too, communities in Nepal were entrusted with forest management. But after the nationalization of forests in 1957, the government took over all forest areas, leading to rampant deforestation, which caused soil erosion, flash floods and frequent landslides. From 1970 to 1980, Nepal lost thousands of hectares of green forest, and witnessed hundreds of landslides. According to a national survey conducted by the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, forest areas now cover 29 percent of total land in Nepal. But in a heartening sign, the depletion rate of 14 percent during the 1970s and 1980s, has fallen to less than seven percent, thanks to community forest programs. Forest is one of Nepal's major natural resources, providing 81 percent of total fuel consumption and more than 50 percent of fodder to livestock. "Any unilateral decision taken to ignore the interest of local communities will have far reaching consequences in forest management," warns Joshi. |
Printable version
Back to top
