Community Based Management of Forest Resources in Nepal

Santosh Rayamajhi, PhDProfessor/Research Director

Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

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Presentation OutlineA. Forests and Forest Management in Nepal

1. Nepal’s forests and forestry

2. Evolution of Community Forestry (CF)

3. Forestry sector contribution and challenges

4. Practice of silvicultural systems in Nepal

5. Conclusion

B. Case Study: Kankali Community Forest Timber Harvesting

1. Introduction and location

2. Research methods and analytical framework

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Harvesting practices

3.2 Effects of Harvesting in the CF

4. Conclusion2

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32 Terai

Churia

MM

HM &HH

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23

38

32 Terai

Churia

MM

HM &HH

Forest Shrub Rock/barren Agriculture land

1. NEPAL- Geography and ForestsTotal country area 14.7 M ha45% forest cover; earlier 40% 40% (5.9 M ha) forest and 4% scrubland32% managed by the community68% under the government control

Forest cover in different regionsLowlands (<1000m) (Terai=7%, Siwalik Hills=23%)Mid-hills (1,000-3,000m)=38%Highlands (> 3,000m)=32%

35 Forest Types (broadly merged in 10)

1. Tropical, (<1000 m)2. Subtropical broad-leaved (1000-2000 m)3. Subtropical conifer (pine) (1000-2200m), 4. Lower temperate broad-leaved (2000-2700m

W, 1700-2400m E)5. Lower temperate mixed broad-leaved,

(1700-2200m)6. Upper temperate broadleaved (2200-3000m)7. Upper temperate mixed broadleaved, (2500-

3500m)8. Temperate coniferous (2000-3000m)9. Sub-alpine (3000-4100m)10. Alpine scrub forests (4100m<)

Diverse Forest Types of Nepal

Transitional location between Paleartic & Indo-Malayan RealmMeeting point of Eastern & Western HimalayasDiverse topography (75m - 8848m) Climatic zone (Tropical to Arctic)11 bio-climatic zone from tropical to nival (Dobremez)35 Forest types (Stainton); 75 Vege-tation types; 118 Ecosystem types (T10, C13, MH 52, M 38, O5)

Transitional location between

Unique features of Nepal contributing to rich diversity

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Distribution of Major Forest Types of Nepal

0 5 10 15 20 25

Tropical Mixed Hardwood

Upper Mixed Hardwood

Lower Mixed Hardwood

Shorea robusta

Pinus roxburghii

Quercus spp.

Pinus wallichiana

Abies spectabilis & Abies pindrow

Acacia catechu & Dalbergia sissoo

Betula utilis

Cedrus deodara

Picea smithiana

Cupressus torulosa

Tsuga dumosa

Juglans wallichiana

%

Source: DFRS, FRA 2015

Single Participatory, Use right, Ownership

Decentralization(Populism)Privatization

Forest Management Approaches in Nepal

Ignorance, Restriction

Centralization(Nationalization)

Area increased/ Degradation

Fragmentation, Misuse

DegradationArea Reduced

Actio

n / O

utpu

t

Conversion to Private property Deforestation Protection /

Underuse

Scientific Forest Management / Silviculture System

Before 1951 1957 After 1970s

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2. Evolution of Community Forestry

Before 1951: Large area of the forests was administered as private property 1957 - 1993: Forest was controlled as state property following forest nationalization

Concept of participatory forestry emerged (1976)1993 onward: Large area of the forests has been managed by the local communities as Community Forests

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Trend of Forestry Evolution

(Source: Kandel 2010)8

Forest5.96 M ha (40.4%)

National forest5.95 M ha

Community managed forests

1.81 M ha

Community forests

1.69 M ha 19 K FUGs

Leasehold forests43 K ha

7.5 K LUGs

Religious forests20 K ha?

Collaborative forests 68 K ha26 CUGs

Govt. managed forests / Block

forests4.02 M ha

Protected forest134 K ha 8 PFUGs

Private forest2.3 K ha

Forest Management Regimes in Nepal

Community Forestry as a high priority programCommunity Forest (CF) is the part of the National Forest handed over to the Community Forest User Group (CFUG) for its protection, development and utilization.

CF land belongs to the governmentCFUG use and manage the CF CFUG and DFO jointly regulateCFUG operates thru committee CF has set of Forest Operation PlanCF OP revision every 5-10 yrs

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Nepal’s Community Forestry Profile Total number of CFUGs = 19,361Number of women only CFUGs = 1072Total number of households involved = 1.7 million

(33 % of the total population)Total area of CF handed over = 1.8 million ha

(32 % of the Total Forest area) Total forest area = 5.9 mill. ha; potential CF area = 3.5 mill. ha)Average size of CFUG = 113 HHAverage size of the CF = 86 haAverage CF area per household = 0.76 ha.Percent of women in the CFUG Committee = 25%CF area in Mid-hills=67%, High mountains=20%, and Terai=13%

(Source: Department of Forests, Community Forestry Division) 11

Forest People Interface

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Agriculture together with forestry sector contributed 35% to GDP with 80% employment (Tenth five year plan 2002-2007)

Forestry sector alone contributed 15% in the GDP of which 5% is contributed by NTFPs (MoFSC 2009)

Energy source: timber/firewood 64%, (CBS 2011) whereas timber/firewood 65% in previous census (CBS 2001).

Firewood contributes 78 % of the total energy in 2008/2009 and demand is increasing by annual rate of around 2.5 % (WECS, 2010).

10-15 thousand tons of raw NTFPs are traded annually; Annual export of NTFPs from Nepal is worth US$ 9–35 million (Edwards 1996, Olsen 2005, Subedi 2006).

10-100% of households collect medicinal plants and other NTFPs contributing up to 50% of the family income (MoFSC 2009)

Agriculture together with forestry sector contributed 35% to GDP

3. Forestry Sector Contribution & Issues

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Key issue and challenges

Lack of resources: Not equipped with modern equipmentsWeak infrastructure, Dearth of scientific data, Poor enforcement capacityFinancial burden < 2% national annual budget share

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Complexity in sale of forest products – cartelling, over harvesting, illegal trade e.g. timber, NTFP, Stone mining, red sander smuggling, etc.

Key issue and challenges

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4. Practice of Silviculture System in Nepal

Selection; Tarai, MidhillsIrregular shelter wood ; Tarai, Midhills

Uniform shelter wood; TaraiClear felling; Sagarnath / Tarai

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a. one stand harvested per cutting cycle

a= volume just after harvestb= volume just before harvestc = amount of harvestd = amount of reserve growing stocke = cutting cycle.

…Practice of Silviculture System in Nepal

Classical Selection System

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Tree Stand Improvement Blocking (Based on felling cycle; usually 5 years)Silvicultural Operation involves:

Dead, Dying, Diseased, Decayed, DeformedExploitable sizeUser DemandWeeding/cleaning/thinning/pruning

…Practice of Silviculture System in Nepal

Classical Selection System

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162

148

124 22

5

165

0

75

150

225

300

Mean Stem Volume (m3/ha) FRA, 2015

GS – timber production – a measure of forest productivity

Mean GS – highest in HM and HH, lowest in Middle Mountain

Middle mountain forests needs intensive forest management

Compared with mean GS of 178 m3/ha (NFI 1994) result in a loss of 77.5 M m³ (2.8 B cft) stem volume over the period of 20 years equivalent of 504 B NRs (5 B US$)

Whom to blame for this loss?Source: DFRS, FRA 2015

…Practice of Silviculture System in Nepal

Dependency on Forest Resources

Increased in Forest Cover

Changed in Forest Management Strategy

(Decentralized/Community focus)

Changed in Forest Management

Approach (Participatory/Collaborative)

Changed in Silviculture Practices

(Selection---Irregular Shelterwood)

5. ConclusionIn Nepal

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20051978

Forest Restoration

Degradation of 1.56 M ha of forests to shrub during the early 1980s led Nepal to change the definition of forestry development.

Master Plan for Forestry Sector (1987-2007):gave successful rehabilitation program - Participatory Community Forestry

GS 161 tree per haVol 352 m3 per haAAC 13.2 m3 = 7 trees per ha

Q. Manage this forest within the limit of AAC ? 22

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Effect of Timber Harvesting Practice on Forest Stand Condition of Nepal

Santosh Rayamajhi1 and Sony Baral Gauli2

1Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal2Institute of Silviculture, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria

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1. IntroductionCommunity forestry remains on the priority in Nepal for decades

Forest Management Plan are prepared for ensuring sustainability of the forest; however focus on timber

Harvesting is still guided by conservative mindset “Rukh ropau Ban Jogau" (Plant tree conserve forest)”

Timbers in the forests are being harvested generally for subsistence purpose

Effect of current harvesting practices, especially on forest stand condition is less examined

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How timber harvesting are being carried out?What is the extent of timber harvesting? How forest stand condition is changing?

How current timber harvesting practices in the community forests is affected on forest

stand conditions?

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CFUG handed over 1995

Operational plan revised

2013

Forest origin Natural ForestsForest Area 749.13 haForest type Shorea robusta

(Sal)Forest development stage

Pole dominated

Number of blocks 5

Number of households

1967

Considering Existence of time series forest inventory data

S. robusta Jackson, 1994; Miehe et al., 2015 & Pandey et al., 2014

Studied Community Forest

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2. Research MethodsCase Study

Mixed methods approach

Use of Forest Inventory - (Panel data of 2005, 2010 & 2013) Forest inventory in 2016 following the previous protocolContent analysis- FMPs of two periods (2005-2016)CFUG records analysis (Harvesting and distribution)Harvesting operation observation

Focus group discussions

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Analytical Framework

Species composition Tree stand condition Regeneration condition Growing stock volumeGrowth to removal ratio

Forest harvesting practices

Stand diversityAnalysed by

Species type– High commercial

value (Shorea robsta)– Low commercial value

(Other species)

Tree fellingExtraction

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3. Results and Discussions

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3.1 Harvesting Practices Timber harvesting once a year

From November to May Selection felling

Based on annual increment (1% increment of GS; with harvest of only 40% of the annual increment)Removal of dead, disease, decay and deformed trees all over the forest, especially over mature trees

Harvesting practices not according to the plan

Delay on harvestingHarvested quantity is less because of administrative orders

Harvesting largely based on local practices

Species competitions not taken into account Tree Harvesting is conservative 31

Major Activity in CF: Wood extraction

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Harvesting Quantity Constant harvesting based on annual increment but reduced in the second plan Low harvesting result due to delay in obtaining permits or special decrees in relation to timber harvesting

Do we trust our own design? 33

… Harvesting Practices …

Wood extraction: tree size

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Increment took place mainly in 10-20cm diameter class, but wood extraction was mainly taking place in larger diameter classes 5 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95

2005 21.128 31.392 6.5039 4.8232 11.931 4.3044 12.639 5.1387 6.5427 4.77062010 19.009 46.731 6.8903 4.894 10.236 4.5386 11.563 5.6094 7.1765 2.6932013 18.141 60.258 8.1743 5.0706 10.277 4.6987 11.656 5.7722 7.0502 2.9363

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Volu

me

cbm

/ha)

… Harvesting Practices …

Changes in standing stock (2005-2010)

Stock decreases due to conversion of forest land to other land uses and selective felling in natural old forest, and stock increases in the regenerating young forest

SiteStanding

stock V2005

Changeof stock V2010

Annual values Incrementsurplus

Extraction:IncrementIncrement Extraction

[Forest area] [m3] [m3] [m3yr-1] [m3yr-1] [m3yr-1] Ratio

(749 ha) 86,195(115 m3ha-1)

+ 15,638(136 m3ha-1)

5,805 1603 4202 0.2835

… Harvesting Practices …

Species composition of the valuable species increased Regeneration condition of the forests is decliningLimited number of saplings and in declining trends

-

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

2,005 2,010 2,013 2,016 2,005 2,010 2,013 2,016 2,005 2,010 2,013 2,016

Seedling (<2 cm) Sapling (2-4 cm) Establish Saplings

No/h

a

Regeneration conditions

S. robusta Others Overall36

Dominated by 10-30 cm dbh class treeMature tree of S.robusta declining Limited mature tree in forests even required for seed production Mature tree confined within less accessible area Tree conditions and quality improving

1357

9123 27 6 17 4

1204

158

23 23 7 10 8

1160

265

28 19 9 10 9

1341

499

66 24 12 13 110

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

10-20cm 20-30cm 30-40cm 40-50cm 50-60cm 60-70cm <70cm)

No/h

a

Tree Diversity

2005 2010 2013 2016 37

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

2005 2010 2013 2016

Growing stock volume

S. robusta Others Overall

Growing stock volume of all tree are increasing

Ad-hoc-guidelines and circulars limiting harvest was main reasons of GS volume increment in successive years – e.g. celebration of timber holiday in 2010

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4. Conclusions

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ReferencesForest Management

Scientific Forest Management Guideline 2071 (2015)

Forest Policy 2071 (2015)

HMGN/MFSC. 2002.

Introduction to Forest Resource Management

MPFS 1988,

Kandel P 2010,

GoN/MoFSC 2014, Fifth National Report to Convention on Biological Diversity, Government of Nepal

Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal

GoN/MoFSC 2009, Forth National Report to Convention on Biological Diversity, Government of Nepal

Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal 40

Thank you ...

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Floor open for Discussion