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Who is Responsible for Deforestation and Forest Degradation In Nepal?

Nepal is a small mountainous country surrounded by India to the south, east and west with total land area of 147,181 km² and China to the north. The forest and shrub land together cover about 5.83 million ha which is 39.6% of the total land of the country (GoV/N, 1999). The country is rich in biodiversity because of its altitudinal and climatic variations. The forest resource is one of the imperative sources of income that is directly correlated with livelihood systems of the locals. About 25.5% of the total population is below poverty line (government information, 2010 , But some studies have noted that more than 38 % population is below poverty line) where 70% is estimated to be forest dependent.

Forest resources of Nepal are managed under different management model. Among them, community forestry management (CFM) is one of the renowned participatory schemes. About 15,000 Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) are legally functioning across the country. Nepal is in fact a leading country in institutionalizing the concept of CFM in national forest policy , with 35% of the total population of the country managing around 1.2 m ha or 25 % of the National Forest ( Kesheb Kanel 2004). The harmony among different ethnic groups, indigenous people and other forest dependent communities during the process and functions of the community forest management are enthusiastic and impressive. Because of the effective and efficient management model, community forestry has become a popular model of community development not only in Nepal but also to the rest of the world.

However, government is still reluctant to handover forest, in which the daily livelihood, to community. The data shows that more than 78% of the national forest area is still under government supervision that is severely affected by deforestation and degradation.

Nepal is under the political transition and rules and regulations of the forestry sector at the field level have seemed ineffective. Reports generated by media, parliamentary committee for natural resources and means and civil society organizations have indicated that the mismanagement and misguidance of Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFS) is the main cause of deforestation and forest degradation. Historical evidences show that Nepal's forest has always been suffered during the political transition. The current transitional state and the breakdown of the rule of law have allowed a nationwide network of timber mafia to be flourished.

Deforestation and illegal harvesting of the timber is much more serious problem in Nepal.

 Nearly 30 years after the state began to hand over the forest to local communities for protection, management and utilization, the community forestry appears to be a victim of its own success. The forests that communities nourished have become so valuable that some corrupted community leaders, political parties' leaders and government officials have been attracted by the timber mafias to plunder woodland.