Top Stories»
Forest cover fast receding
KATHMANDU, JUN 04 -
Environmentalists feel that their campaign to conserve forestland is yet to strike a chord. Recent government statistics on deforestation and forest degradation buttress their view.
More than 100,000 hectares of forestland were destroyed in the last five months in different parts of the country particularly in Chure range and Tarai districts, according to a recent report of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MOFSC).
“The current rate of deforestation and degradation of forests shows the pathetic state of our forests which was not experienced even during the ten-year long insurgency period in the country,” said a ministry official who sought anonymity.
Some 88,000 hectares of “
forests were lost last year due to encroachment, deforestation and degradation. Besides, the
ongoing political instability in the country and unhealthy decisions made by the government are among the major concerns for the alarming rate of deforestation and increase in
illegal activities inside forests, according to the source.
“Non-transparent transfer of district forest officials to districts vulnerable to encroachment and illegal smuggling has boosted illegal activities in forests in Tarai districts,” he said. The Tarai and inner-Tarai districts contain the most productive forests in terms of contributing monetary benefits and are always attractive districts for officials to amass money.
The ministry had suspended four officials including district forest officers of Siraha and Ramechap last month who were found involved in timber smuggling.
Mainly Rautahat, Bara, Sarlahi, Sunsari, Kailali, Dadeldhura, Nawalparasi, Rupendhi and Dang districts saw a significant decrease in forest cover due to rampant deforestation, degradation and smuggling of forest products.
Ministry official Annapurna Nanda Das said the increase in demand for forest products had galvanised smugglers in felling of trees in Tarai and inner Tarai districts.
“Deforestation remained unchecked even in community forests which are regarded as the best example of forest conservation in the whole world,” he added.
Top Bahadur Khatri, national project manager of the Conservation of Sustainable Use of Wetlands in Nepal, said, “Even during the insurgency period, the forests were not under threat like they are now. It is a shame for conservationists and environmentalists like us who are working in this field for years.”
According to him, the greed for money among the local people, political parties, land mafias and other who are directly or indirectly involved in forests is another reason for the rampant felling of trees. “Forests are always in target of any political parties to meet its vested political interests either in the name of free land to the so called squatters or in the name of development,” Khatri said.
Meanwhile, the initiative taken by the government in the name of developing green road inside the community forests in mid-hills is also creating an opportunity for the smugglers to have easy access to the forests.
Bhola Bhattarai, general secretary of Federation of Community Forests Users’ Nepal said, the massive influx of people from hilly districts to tarai has created a huge pressure on the forest resources in tarai districts. “The unplanned settlements by the government At the same time, Bhattarai also accepted that a ‘small number’ of locals in the name of community forests are involved in carrying illegal activities inside the forests in tarai, particularly inside the proposed community forests which are not yet legally registered under FECOFUN. A total of 5,000 forests are awaiting approval from the government to be listed as community managed forests in tarai.
Out of total, 14,000 forests are handed over to community in the country, only nine percent oforests are managed by communities in Tarai and inner-tarai.
Posted on: 2010-06-05 08:50
Headlines
Advertisements
