Policy Perspectives for Sustainable Forest Management Planning in Nepal

(A term paper on 601 SFM Sustainable Forest Management)

Submitted by:

Sadhana Chhetri

Roll No: 34

Registration No: 3-2-1-19-2024

M.Sc. 1𝑠𝑡 year 1𝑠𝑡 Semester

(2080-2082)

Submitted to:

Faculty of Forestry

Agriculture and Forestry University

Hetauda, Nepal

August, 2024
 ABSTRACT

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is essential for the long-term health of Nepal's diverse
forest ecosystems, which support biodiversity, livelihoods, and national development. This
review explores the policy landscape of SFM in Nepal, analyzing the evolution of forestry
policies, strategies, and their implementation challenges. Over the past several decades, Nepal’s
forest management policies have undergone significant transformations, evolving from
centralized state control to more decentralized, community-based approaches. The initiation of
envisioning SFM was made by First National Forestry Plan, 1976. Since, then various policies
and strategies including Master plan for Forestry, different forest policies (Forest Policy, 2000,
2015 and 2019) have emphasized SFM in different forest management regimes. Forest Act, 2019
and Forest Regulation, 2022 promotes adoption of appropriate silvicultural practices to ensure
SFM. Different periodic plans of Nepal have viewed SFM as a major revolutionary strategy for
forestry sector starting from thirteenth three year plan. SFM is also included in other cross
cutting policies like Climate Change Policy, 2019 and National Environment Policy, 2019 as a
means for carbon sequestration. Despite progressive policies, gaps in governance, resource
allocation, and stakeholder coordination remain significant barriers in implementation of SFM.
There is a need of adaptive, inclusive policy reforms and enhanced capacity-building efforts to
ensure the sustainable management of Nepal’s forests in the face of emerging environmental and
socio-economic challenges.

Keywords: Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), Silvicultural, Inclusive, Policy

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 4
OBJECTIVE ............................................................................................................................................... 6
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................ 6
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES .................................................................................................................. 8
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 9
RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 9
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 10
 INTRODUCTION

The concept of sustainable forest management is introduced as a broad conceptual instrument to

assess solutions to forest loss and degradation (Chetana, 2022). According to the international
tropical timber organization, sustainable forest management is the process of managing forests to
achieve one or more clearly specified objectives of management with regard to the production of
a continuous flow of desired forest products and services without undue reduction of its inherent
values and future productivity as well as any undesirable effects on the physical and social
environment (ITTO, 2011). Sustainable forest management has to keep the balance between
three main pillars

 Ecological
 Economic
 Socio-cultural (Burmaa et al., 2021).

Beyond the conservation of forests, sustainable forest management is crucial for maintaining the
long-term availability of forest products and ecosystem services, which ultimately enhances
human wellbeing. Sustainable forestry is also important in the fight of climate change (Iain,
2023).

A prerequisite of SFM is that removal of forest products does not exceed levels of growth (AI)
so that harvest rates must be set at sustainable levels (Chamberlain et al., 2019). For the purpose
of guiding each legal modalities of forest management towards SFM principles and effective
implementation, each method has its own set of specialized management rules and guidelines
(Chamberlain et al., 2019).

The process of forest management planning enables you to determine the resources and
possibilities on your land as well as your goals for the property in terms of long-term enjoyment
and financial benefit (Utah State University, n.d.). It refers to the systematic process of
developing and implementing strategies, policies, and actions to sustainably manage forests and
their associated resources. The purpose of forest management planning is to identify and
articulate the management goals for a given forest region as well as to outline the actions that
will be necessary to attain those goals. Today's forest management planning aims to offer society
with a variety of benefits, boost ecosystem resilience, raise water output, prevent soil erosion,
preserve biodiversity, enhance tree growth and vigour, and reduce the danger of natural
disturbances (Başkent, 2018).

The scientific forest management concept was initially focused on ‘sustainable timber production
and meeting economic objectives’. However, the scope has now broadened to include aspects of
social, cultural, and environmental values (FAO, 2016). The terms ‘scientific forest
management’ and ‘sustainable forest management’ have been used and understood
interchangeably in the global forestry scenario in recent decades linking management activities
to principles of sustainable development and focusing on the balance between three major
pillars: ecological, economic, and socio-cultural. In the Nepalese context, SFM is perceived as a
potential option for improving depleting forest quality and productivity, and for harnessing the
true economic potential of the forest resources (MSFP, 2015).

Sustainable forest management aims to maintain or enhance the contribution of forests to human
well-being, both in the present and for future generations, without compromising ecosystem
integrity. It is widely accepted as the overarching objective for forest policy and practice (Sayer
et al., 1997). However, the complexity of the problem and the diverse interests of stakeholders
pose significant challenges to the application of sustainable forest management. Forests are
recognized for their multi functionality, but trade-offs among different services often hinder their
simultaneous delivery at sustainable levels (Wang & Fu, 2013). Therefore, effective forest
management strategies must incorporate actions that maximize the provision of specific
ecosystem services while minimizing adverse impacts on other services (Martín-López et al.,
2014). Decision-making processes in forest management are influenced by the perception of
relevant criteria and the varying importance assigned to them by different social groups or
stakeholders. The interests of these groups in utilizing forests play a crucial role in shaping their
perspectives and priorities (Diaz-Balteiro & Romero, 2008). Developing objective and
comprehensive management actions that consider the full range of issues and incorporate long-
term strategic planning is a challenging process due to methodological and terminological
constraints (Fisher et al., 2009).
 OBJECTIVE
To review the policy perspectives of sustainable forest management planning in Nepal.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

Nepal is in the early stages of sustainable forest management implementation. With assistance
from the Food and Agricultural Organization and the Finnish International Development
Agency, efforts were made in the 1990s to implement sustainable forest management in the Terai
region, and as a result, operational forest management plans were created for a number of
districts in the Terai and Siwalik (Bhandari & Lamichhane, 2020a). In the pathway to sustainable
forest management, scientific forest management implementation was started in a few
cooperative and community forests in the districts of Kapilvastu and Rupandehi in 2011
(Bhandari & Lamichhane, 2020a). Following agreement on the operating plan and the transfer of
the forest to the local community forest as a collaborative forest, Tilaurakot CFMG and MSFP
started implementing SFM practices on 25 hectares of land (Dipak & Jayasawal, 2016). Due to
increasing stakeholder dissatisfaction and governance issues, especially over-harvesting of
timber, the government of Nepal has banned the harvesting, collection, and sale of scientifically
managed timber, effective as of date May 28, 2020 (Basnyat, 2021). Silviculture based
sustainable forest management is adopted at present modifying scientific forest management and
addressing issues associated with it.

Various act and policies at various times have emphasized SFM in several ways;

 Sustainable forest management was envisioned under Nepal’s first national Forestry Plan
formulated in 1976 (Dipak & Jayasawal, 2016).
 Master Plan for the Forestry Sector formulated in 1988 for 20 years, emphasized
sustainable forest management in various forest management regimes (HMGN, 1988).
 The Forest Act 1993, provisioned the development of operational plans for
implementation of forest management interventions (HMGN, 1993).
 Forest Policy of 2000 emphasized sustainable forest management in the block forests of
the Terai and Siwaliks (HMGN, 2000).
 Implementation of sustainable forest management initiated supported by policy decisions
following the fifth national workshop on community forestry 2009 (Bhandari &
Lamichhane, 2020b).
 Nepal’s twelfth and thirteenth three-year plans 2011-2013 (2067/68- 2069/70 BS) and
2014-2016 (2070/71- 2072/73 BS) respectively, prioritized sustainable management of all
types of forests, adopting scientific and participatory approaches to increase forest
productivity and ecosystem services (Dipak & Jayasawal, 2016).
 Sustainable forest management was recognized as a key pillar to achieve ‘forestry for
prosperity’, a long-term vision of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation
formulated in 2013.
 Forestry Sector Strategy 2016 (2072 BS) has a vision of sustainably managed forest
ecosystem and has included a strategy to revise forest management planning from a
sustainable forest management perspective. It focuses on revising environmental
legislation, for forest management planning to create and incentive structure for
sustainable forest management by different stakeholders. The strategy also targets to
bring 50% of forests in the Terai and Siwalik, and 25% of forests in the mid-hills under
sustainable forest management by 2025 (MOFSC, 2016).
 The fourteenth three-year plan 2017-2019 (2073/74-2075/76 BS) prioritized increase in
forest productivity and forest products through participatory and sustainable forest
management (NPC, 2017).
 Forest policy 2019, aims to increase forest productivity and production of forest produce
through sustainable forest management (MOFE, 2019).
 Climate change policy, 2019 considered sustainable forest management planning as a
means to increase carbon sequestration (MOFE, 2019).
 Strategy to develop sustainable forest management directives/guidelines has been built by
National Environment Policy, 2019 in order to conserve biodiversity (MOFE, 2019).
 The Forest Act, 2019 has highlighted that the GON can enforce land use plan in any
specified forest area in order to make sustainable management of the forest (GON, 2019).
 Forest Regulation, 2022 has prescribed use of appropriate silvicultural system based on
indigenous knowledge, community participation and governance to ensure sustainable
forest management (GON, 2022).
  The fifteenth five-year plan 2020-2024 (2076/77-2080/81 BS) prioritized significant
increase in the contribution of forestry sector to national prosperity through optimum
utilization of forest resources, sustainable forest management and entrepreneurship.
 The recent sixteenth five-year plan has included sustainable forest management as major
revolutionary strategy for forestry sector (NPC, 2024).
 Nepal's Long-term Strategy for Net-zero Emissions, 2021 focuses on development of
sustainable forest management directives/ guidelines to implement SFM.

Effective forest management planning requires interdisciplinary collaboration, including

expertise in forestry, ecology, economics, sociology, and policy. It's important to note that forest
management planning should prioritize sustainability, maintaining ecological processes, and the
well-being of both the environment and the people who depend on it.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Nepal has developed a wide range of policies and strategies aimed at fostering sustainable forest
management. However, there are several issues and challenges hindering to achieve situations as
prescribed in policies. Some are discussed below;

 Many management and operational plans have been developed for the category of
government forests. However, the department of forests has not yet been able to
implement any of them.
 During last decade, forest management strategies in Nepal have become more
conservative. For example, the 19 operational forest management plans (OFMP) prepared
for 19 districts to allocate about 50 percent of the forests for protection purposes (Ranjit,
2019).
 Government of Nepal has handed over about one-third of the total forest area to over
30,000 forest user groups. However, only about 69,000 ha of forests in 11 districts are
under active forest management to date (Poudel, 2018).
 (Baral et al., 2020) have studied that in community forests, the silvicultural
recommendations were the same in all plans and were not influenced by the
socioeconomic status of the users, forest conditions, or forest management goals.
 Additionally, neither the forest bureaucracy nor the forest users followed the plans and
guidelines for managing the forest.
 There is a lack of a favorable operational environment to scale up sustainable forest
management and increase forest product supplies (MOFSC, 2016).

CONCLUSION

Sustainable forest management (SFM) in Nepal is integral to balancing environmental

conservation, socio-economic development, and the livelihood needs of local communities.
Over the years, Nepal has developed a range of policies and strategies aimed at fostering
sustainable forest use, with community-based forest management serving as a cornerstone of
these efforts. However, inadequate policy enforcement, conflicting land-use priorities,
insufficient financial resources, and the impacts of climate change have threatened the
sustainability of forest ecosystems. By addressing existing policy gaps and aligning national
strategies with global sustainability goals, Nepal can achieve both ecological integrity and
socio-economic prosperity through its forest resources. It should prioritize sustainability,
maintaining ecological processes, and the well-being of both the environment and the people
who depend on it. Ultimately, a robust, inclusive, and adaptive policy framework is vital for
ensuring that Nepal's forests are sustainably managed for the benefit of current and future
generations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to ensure sustainable forest management, it is crucial to consider economic, social and
environmental values of forests along with silvicultural systems and practices.

 Government should recognize commercial potential of the forest and give priory towards
allocating proper silvicultural system for particular forest types.
 Enhance and enforce existing forestry laws and regulations to promote sustainable
practices, prevent illegal logging, and ensure community participation.
 A well-designed forest management plan in Nepal should be adaptive, inclusive, and
considerate of ecological, social, and economic dynamics.
  Use management activities in appropriate areas and at appropriate times to ensure
achievement of objectives.

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