KATHMANDU, JAN 21 -
In an effort to conserve wetlands and ensure their sustainable use through mobilisation of stakeholders, the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) on Thursday formed a national wetlands committee.

The committee has the forest minister as its chair and officials from the National Planning Commission and sectoral ministries, including agriculture, environment, energy and irrigation, tourism, local development and industry as members.

Chief of the MoFSC’s planning division Dr. Annapurna Nand Das said panel’s objectives are to provide strategic and policy guidance by ensuring inter-sectoral coordination and play a catalytic role for mainstreaming wetland issues into national policy and planning frameworks.  As an apex body, the panel will foster inter-sectoral coordination and assist the sectoral ministries in the development of adequate legal measures in favour of wetlands. It will also help create an enabling policy environment for cooperation, collaboration and participation of stakeholders.

“Wetlands are a highly productive and dynamic ecosystem providing an excellent habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna, but not enough attention has been paid towards their conservation,” maintained Das. “Wetlands, which cover about 2.6 percent of Nepal’s total area, are degrading at an alarming rate.” With support from the Global Environment Facility and United Nations Development Programme, the MoFSC launched a five-year project targeting two Ramsar sites — Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve and Ghodaghodi Lake Complex.

Post Your Comment

Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory.

* Full Name

* Address

* Email Address

* Comment
[Some of the HTML tags you can use : <b>, <i>, <a>]

* Captcha

Get another CAPTCHA code