Abstract. Rawal K, Subedi PB. 2022. Vegetation structure and carbon stock potential in the community-managed forest of the Mid-Western Hilly Region, Nepal. Asian J For 6: 15-21. Community forests (CF) play a crucial role in sustainable development and accumulate carbon to mitigate global climate change. The objective of this study was to evaluate the plant diversity, regeneration status, and carbon stock potential of two community-managed Shorea robusta-dominated forests in Nepal's Dailekh District, namely Bayeldhunga Pahapu CF and Bayeldhunga CF. A total of 76 sample plots were studied using a systematic sampling intensity of 0.5%. The density of species in the developmental phase was used to determine the forest's regeneration condition. Allometric equations were used to calculate the aboveground carbon store of tree species. Shorea robusta Gaertn. was the foremost species regarding regeneration and carbon storage in the studied forest areas, with high regeneration conditions. The seedlings, saplings, and trees in the Bayeldhunga Pahapu CF exceeded those in the Bayeldhunga CF. In both study areas, J-shaped reverse population curves were observed. This study provided details on tree species' regeneration condition, structure, proportions, and carbon sequestration capacity, which is critical for community forest management and conservation. The analysis showed that by altering the structure and proportions of community forests, community management has boosted the carbon storage of forests and enhanced forest productivity.
Forest fire is one of the leading causes of forest and wildlife loss. The objective of this study was to use satellite imagery and Geographic Information System techniques to assess the forest fire risk zonation map of the Aalital rural municipality. This rural municipality is a part of the Sudurpaschim province, Nepal; is prone to forest fires. Four fire risk zones were established in the study area i.e. very high, high, medium, and low-risk zone. Thematic layers were derived from topographic maps and satellite imageries. For the delineation of fire risk zones, a multi-parametric weighted index model i.e. the FRI (Fire Risk Index) method was adopted. The fire incidence data provided by MODIS were used to validate the resulting forest fire risk zone map. About 25.17% of the total study area lies under the very high-risk zone followed by 46.51% under high risk, 25.68% under medium risk, and 2.62% under the low-risk zone. It can be inferred that the majority of the area is at high risk of forest fire. This map of fire risk zone can help in disaster and forest management as valuable data to prepare effective measures for appropriate fire risk management in the area.
Deforestation and forest degradation (D and D), the most imminent threats to the survival of species and the viability of forests as a whole, is crucial to research its rate, as well as the underlying causes. The present study examined the rate and drivers that contribute to D and D in the Punarbas municipality of Kanchanpur district, Nepal. With the help of ArcGIS 10.8, an overall pattern and rate of D and D in the study area was identified using Land Satellite images from two different years (2000 AD and 2019 AD). 11 focus group discussions and 120 household surveys were carried out to collect data on key drivers of D and D. For data collection, stratified random sampling with a sampling intensity of 1% was used, and the Friedman test was applied for one-way repeated measures analysis of drivers by ranks. The study found that the annual rate of D and D of the study area from 2000 to 2019 AD was 0.63% and the major drivers were infrastructure development followed by illegal logging, agricultural expansion, livestock grazing forest fire, fuelwood collection, settlement/ resettlement, alien invasive species, and flood and landslide. Awareness programs are highly suggested to uplift the understanding level of local people, so they can act for themselves in the conservation of their local forest and ecosystem resources.
This study aims to assess the trend, extent, and impact of Human-Elephant conflict (HEC) in Sapahi and Kakadi villages of Bara district. Direct field observation, Household Survey (HHs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and Key Informant Interview (KII) were carried out during November and December 2016 where 11 wards were selected purposively from two village and 50 households from each village. Also, 12 KII and one FGDs from each ward were performed. SPSS 20.0, and MS Excel 2016 were used to calculate mean, percentage, frequency count, and chi-square test was used to determine the variation in people’s perception towards wild Elephant conservation. The total average damage of paddy per year per HHs was 834.1 kg followed by wheat 153.7 kg, and mustard 2.12 kg. The economic value of average annual crop damage per year per HHs accounted for NRs. 22669.70. Among total HHs, 84% of the respondents said that the trend of crop damage is increasing, 10% found no differences in crop damage, and remaining 6% said decreasing. During the last 5 years, 7 people were injured, and 6 were killed. The lighting fire, beating drum, and making noise were the local techniques used by all the respondents to chase away elephant for the mitigation of HEC. The farmers also guard their fields at night time. 60% of the respondents are positive towards elephant conservation and remaining 40% seems no significance for conservation. The compensation scheme for crop damage should be properly implemented in the study area to minimize the HEC. A sustained conservation education program especially focusing on female, farmers, and nomads are recommended to conserve wild elephants, and their habitat.
Understanding changes in Land Use Land Cover (LULC) is essential for managing and monitoring natural resources and development, particularly where urbanization is expanding. So, this study aimed to assess the level of changes in LULC of Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan city using temporal Landsat satellite imageries of 1996, 2008, and 2020 AD, and the key drivers of LULC change were observed through a purposive household survey (N=140) with a sampling intensity of 0.5%. LULC maps were generated using initial unsupervised and later supervised classification. LULC changes were computed using the post-change detection classification technique. LULC map of 1996 AD, 2008 AD, and 2020 AD showed accuracy of 84.44 %, 85.45%, and 83.64% with a kappa value of 0.8381, 0.8497, and 0.829 respectively. Bareland, Human buildup, and grassland were found to have increased by 13.34%, 5.07%, and 29.62% respectively while sparse vegetation, dense vegetation, and water bodies were found to have decreased by 44.10%, 17.82%, and 13.34% respectively between 1996 and 2008. Likewise, there was decrease in grassland area (-26%), dense vegetation area (-9.48%), sparse vegetation area (-5%), water bodies (-0.12%), and increase in Bareland (+20%) and Human buildup (+20.6%) in between 2008 to 2020. Eight key drivers of LULC, development of infrastructure, government policy, plans, and land market, forest encroachment, forest, and its products, political condition, economic opportunities, and hotel and tourism activities, were recognized in the study area. Further research is required to determine the specific ramifications of the aforementioned LULC change drivers, as well as the area's long-term viability.
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