A review of forest policies, institutions, and changes in the resource condition in Nepal

Gautam, Ambika P.; Shivakoti, Ganesh P.; Webb, Edward L.

doi:10.1505/ifor.6.2.136.38397

Cited by 106 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…Yet, all communities are not equally effective (26). Whereas community forestry has been linked to large-scale reforestation in Nepal (20) and Mexico (17), the large-scale, forced implementation of collective forestry in China in the 1950s has not prevented the sharp decline in the quantity and quality of that country's forests (27).…”

Section: Drivers Of Reforestationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the early 1970s, Nepal has proved a forerunner in implementing a variety of community-based policies of forest management (20). Conflicts arising from the Maoist insurgency have had serious adverse impacts on forest management over the past decade.…”

Section: Forest Change In Nepalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rich social, ecological, physical, and cultural heterogeneity in the region makes it difficult, if not impossible, to generalize trends across the entire country and identify a single linear trajectory of land-cover change. In the middle hills, where the population densities are the highest, there has been little reduction in forest cover since the early to mid-20th century, although there has been considerable deterioration in the quality of forest habitat and in wildlife populations (20). Major losses in forest cover have occurred in recent decades, but in the lowlands of the Terai, not in the hills (37,43).…”

Section: Forest Change In Nepalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the second category, community forests are managed by local communities organized into community forestry user groups. This program is now widespread in the Nepal middle hills and Terai plains and is commonly believed to have been successful in reversing much of the deforestation in the middle hills, although there has been wide variation in its implementation in different parts of the country and the program is not without its share of problems (20,37).…”

Section: Interrelationships and Independent Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This small mountain country provides an excellent context in which to examine trajectories of forest change, with extensive evidence of forest clearing in some regions and large-scale regrowth in others (18,20). The range of biophysical and ecological contexts, diversity of tenure arrangements, and number of user groups provide us with sufficient variation to be able to examine a range of contexts.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Drivers of reforestation in human-dominated forests

Nagendra

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

170

102

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Tropical forest habitat continues to decline globally, with serious negative consequences for environmental sustainability. The small mountain country of Nepal provides an excellent context in which to examine trajectories of forest-cover change. Despite having experienced large-scale forest clearing in the past, significant reforestation has taken place in recent years. The range of biophysical and ecological environments and diversity of tenure arrangements provide us with a context with sufficient variation to be able to derive insight into the impact of a range of hypothesized drivers of forest change. This article draws on a dataset of 55 forests from the middle hills and Terai plains of Nepal to examine the factors associated with forest clearing or regeneration. Results affirm the central importance of tenure regimes and local monitoring for forest regrowth. In addition, user group size per unit of forest area is an important, independent explanator of forest change. These variables also can be associated with specific practices that further influence forest change such as the management of social conflict, adoption of new technologies to reduce pressure on the forest, and involvement of users in forest maintenance activities. Such large-N, comparative studies are essential if we are to derive more complex, nuanced, yet actionable frameworks that help us to plan better policies for the management of natural resources.community forestry ͉ group size ͉ institutions ͉ monitoring ͉ Nepal I n recent decades, humankind has witnessed unprecedented destruction of forest cover, with its accompanying fallout on global climate, health, biodiversity, air quality, soil fertility, water flow, and other environmental variables. Deforestation also impacts the lives and livelihoods of the many millions of forest-dependent inhabitants around the world. Awareness of the extent of forest clearing and the magnitude of the ensuing problems have led communities, governments, and international organizations to create an array of protection mechanisms that range from government-owned protected areas to private conservation parks and community reserves. These plans have had mixed success, and it is difficult to unambiguously attribute success or failure to a specific formal mechanism (1, 2). Yet, conservation organizations, indigenous communities, and policy makers continue to engage in often heated debates concerning the presumed single best approach to conserve forest biodiversity (3).The remarkable dearth of reliable large datasets on forest change only exacerbates the already heated deforestation debate. Until recently, estimates by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations were used for most global studies. These data are based on information provided by government agencies in Ͼ200 countries and have been strongly criticized for providing an inaccurate picture complicated by variations in methodology and frequently changing baseline definitions of forest (4). More reliable assessments of rates of tropical d...

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Section: Drivers Of Reforestationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Forest Change In Nepalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Forest Change In Nepalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interrelationships and Independent Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Drivers of reforestation in human-dominated forests

Nagendra

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

170

102

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Forestry and Environment

Bhattarai¹,

Conway

2020

Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research

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There have been growing concerns in Nepal and other South Asian less developed countries (LDCs) with the acceleration of global environment changes due to continuing increases in greenhouse gas emissions and accelerated deforestation rates. Available literature on forestry’s dilemmas reveals that, except for the extreme temperature, moisture, and nutrient deficient situations, vegetation can (a) efficiently conserve elevated atmospheric carbon; (b) use the absorbed carbon in biomass production through the process of photosynthesis; and (c) if properly managed, can help to boost gross and net primary productivity of an ecosystem while mitigating global climate change. Within Nepal, conservationists, scientists, and administrators have expressed growing concerns about the rapid deterioration of the Himalayan environment because of deforestation, landslide increases, and large-scale downstream flooding. These processes are frequently linked together into a wide-ranging cause-and-effect drama of the Himalayan Degradation. Effective management of forest resources is considered one of the solutions to ameliorating environmental and land degradations. Recent Nepal’s government statistics show that Nepal’s total forest area has increased from 29 to 44%; however, forests are constantly facing new socio-environmental pressures from the growing population and from bulldozer-based development. Further complicating this issue, the statistics on Nepal’s forests have been disputed by various scholars. Nonetheless, through a set of policies, Nepal has been actively involved in the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, Plus Related Pro-forest Activities) programs since 2009 involving local communities to conserve and manage existing forests and creating new forest on non-forested lands through afforestation programs. If applied effectively, the full range of REDD+ activities can turn forests from a source of global warming emissions into a counteracting “sink.” REDD+’s incentives in the form of carbon fund allocations and can act as a development catalyzer, involving many communities in greening the denuded lands of Nepal while also generating employment opportunities at local grass-root levels. Government agencies, many private organizations, religious institutions, and over 22,266 community forestry user groups have been involved in the management of Nepal’s forests, and their activities are contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions through forest conservation as well as deriving economic benefits to local communities. Though mountainous Nepal contributes merely 0.027% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions, it unwillingly exports top fertile soils along the rivers flowing down steep to very steep gradients. Sedimentation from Nepal’s Himalayan region often clogs rivers and canals along the Indo-Gangetic belt and causes massive floods in the Indian state of Bihar before draining into the Bay of Bengal. Participatory natural resource management and the ecosystem services con...

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