Category: News

Dr Birendra Kumar Karna, Executive Coordinator at ForestAction Nepal, participated in the planning meeting between ForestAction Nepal and University of Colorado at the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA from February 18-22, 2019. The aim of the meeting was to discuss options for the development of field research protocols and data collection instruments to be employed in new research project on local institutions for the governance of forest commons often suffer from problems of inequality, exclusion, and stratification that mirror existing village inequalities by ethnicity, caste, or gender. The knowledge generated was aimed at contributing to current policy discourses in the fields of forestry and investment in Nepal. His participation in this planning meeting is expected to facilitate further collaboration in the field of research between ForestAction Nepal and University of Colorado.

A district level inception meeting of EnLiFT 2 was organized on 3 February, 2019 at Dhulikhel Lodge Resort, Kavrepalanchowk to develop a common understanding among stakeholders regarding the project. The participants were the representatives from local government, FECOFUN, FEnFit, CFUGs and media.  The program was chaired by Mr Badri Kumar Karki, Chief, Divisional Forest Office (DFO) and the chief guest of the program was Mr Uddhav K.C., Chair of District Coordination Committee, Kavrepalanchowk. Presentations were made by Mr Badri Kumar Karki and Dr Naya Sharma Paudel, In-country Coordinator of Nepal for EnLift 2. The program proceeded with discussion session and ended with concluding remarks from Chair of Program.

A district level inception meeting of EnLiFT 2 for Sindhupalchowk was held on 6 February, 2019 at District Coordination Committee’s Meeting Hall, Chautara. The major objective of program was to develop a common understanding among stakeholders of project .The meeting was attended by key forestry relevant stakeholders including Divisional Forest Office, District Coordination Committee, local government, FECOFUN, CFUGs and Media. Ms Bal Kumari Shakya, Vice Chairperson, District Coordination Committee was the chief guest of the meeting and the meeting was chaired by Mr. Devi Pokhrel, Divisional Forest Officer. Pokhrel welcomed participants, introduced the event and presented the overall status of forest management in the district. It was followed by brief presentation on potential of pine forest management by Mr. Shambhu Dangal. Finally, Naya Sharma Paudel, the In-country Co-ordinator of EnLiFT 2, presented the objective, strategies, activities and expected achievements of the project along with its proposed sites. The participants commented and provided good feedback to the project implementation. With this inception, the project formally started in the district and opened up further actions at the site level. The inception workshop was a good opportunity to inform stakeholders and get their comments and feedback on it.

A District level pre-inception meeting was organized on 16 January 2019 at Kavrepalanchowk and on 17 January 2019 at Sindhupalchowk.The primarily focus of both the meetings were to reflect on preliminary field visit, develop common understanding and co-operation regarding project and plan further actions.

A District level pre-inception meeting was organized on 16 January 2019 at Kavrepalanchowk and on 17 January 2019 at Sindhupalchowk.The primarily focus of both the meetings were to reflect on preliminary field visit, develop common understanding and co-operation regarding project and plan further actions.

A total of 33 community forests from Sindhupalchowk and Kavre districts were visited as potential sites for EnLiFT II. In this reconnaissance conducted from 13 to 28 December 2018, the pine forests of sites were observed as well as the group dynamics and socio-economic status of CFUGs were assessed. The primary findings were communicated to Division Forest Office of respective districts. EnLiFT II is the action-research project focusing on Active and Equitable forest Management (AEFM), Good governance and Pro-poor small-scale forest enterprises.

A team of researchers from ForestAction Nepal have recently completed a five month long intensive field study in 113 Community forests in Central Nepal. The study was conducted as part of biodiversity impact evaluation of USAID funded Hariyo Ban II program. The study will contribute towards the broader analysis of the theory of change that assumes there is a link between livelihood interventions and improved biodiversity outcomes. The study was jointly administered by CAMRIS International, ForestAction Nepal and University of Sheffield, UK as part of USAID Nepal Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) project.

The study covered six districts – Syangja, Kaski, Tanahu, Gorkha, Lamjung and Chitwan, in Chitwan Annapurna Landscape (CHAL) in Central Nepal. The study spanned tropical to subalpine climatic zones between 200 to 3500 meter above sea level and covered gregarious Sal forest in the southern plain to the monodominant Rhododendron stands in the northern high mountains. Over 3300 forest plots, each of 314 m2 were sampled.

The data will serve as baseline data for impact evaluation of Hariyo Ban II program. The data will also be equally useful for analyzing temporal and spatial change in forest cover, tree diversity and composition, forest disturbance, biomass outtake, forest growth and carbon sequestration. All the plots are georeferenced, therefore can be revisited later to assess any changes in future.

USAID MEL project and the study team expects that results from this study will inform future biodiversity and livelihood support and economic growth programming, thus ensuring it more effectively contributes to the goals of the USAID Nepal Mission. The findings will also contribute to the broader knowledge base on the connection between sustainable economic growth and biodiversity conservation.

An inception workshop for the project entitled ‘Enhancing livelihoods from improved forest management in Nepal’ kicked off in Lalitpur on 3 December 2018. The workshop was attended by the Secretary of Ministry of Forest and Environment Dr. Bishwa Nath Oli, His Excellency Australian Ambassador to Nepal Mr. Peter Budd, representative of the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research Dr. Norra Devoe, Chief of Planning Division at the Ministry of Forest and Environment Dr. Sindhu Prasad Dhungana, Joint and Under Secretaries of the Ministry of Forest and Environment, representatives from the University of Adelaide and University of New South Wales, among others.

EnLiFT-2 builds on the momentum, lessons and successful partnerships formed in EnLiFT-1. With two Universities in Australia – University of Adelaide and University of New South Wales – the project in Nepal will be led by ForestAction Nepal and will work in partnership with the Nepal Agroforestry Foundation, Department of Forest, Forestry Research and Training Center and RECOFTC.

A two day training on Google Earth Engine(GEE) was jointly organized by ForestAction Nepal, Resources Himalaya Foundation and East-West Centre,Hawaii from 3rd to 4th December 2018 at ForestActions premises. This hands-on workshop was aimed for training in accessing and analyzing temporal, spatial tree cover data through range of processing techniques on open-access dataset of cloud-based GEE platform. Along with understanding of GEE , the new 25-year Nepal tree cover/change dataset including its methodology, accuracy, and derived products, and access and use of Hansen et al. global forest cover dataset were discussed during the training.The training was facilitated by Jamon Van Den Hoek (Oregon State University),Alex Smith(University of Bern) and Kaspar Hurni(Oregon State University). Total of 18 participants from academic and research field were directly benefitted from the training.

“An International meeting on Twenty-five years of community forestry: Mapping tree dynamics in Nepal” science meeting was held at Hotel Annapurna from 29th November 2018 to 30th November 2018. The meeting was jointly organized by Resources Himalaya Foundation, ForestAction Nepal and East –West Center. The meeting was attended by representative from various INGOS, NGOs and governmental organizations. The inaugural session of the program was chaired by Professor Ram Bahadur Chhetri.

The first day of the meeting had three technical sessions. The first technical session for the first day was chaired by Professor Pitambar Sharma, second technical session was chaired by Dr. Ambika Gautam and the third technical session was chaired by Dr. Jeff Fox. The major topics that were covered during the first day were land cover change in Nepal and forest cover change in Nepal. Ms. Samata Manandhar, Researcher from ForestAction Nepal presented on the topic “Community forestry in the changing rural dynamics in Nepal” during the third technical session.

The second day of the meeting had two technical session. The first session was chaired by Jamon Van Den Hoek and the second session was chaired by Professor Krishna R. Tiwari. The major topics that were covered during the second day were Forest Monitoring and Drivers of Change in Nepal.

A half day interactive workshop on “Rice Cultivation in Nepal” was organized by Forest Action Nepal on September 30, 2018 at Hotel Greenwich Village, Lalitpur. The main objective of the workshop was to discuss on the issues of rice farming focusing on the hurdles of rice value chain development in Nepal. Representatives from Ministry of Agriculture, NARC, IRRI, farmers’ network, media and other stakeholders concerned with agriculture participated in the event. Ms Sarada Thapa from ForestAction gave a presentation on “Rice Value Chain: Where did we Fail?”. The highlights of the presentation being the background of the rice cultivation in Nepal, import and export status of rice, production and productivity status, scenario of rice value chain and its challenges and opportunities in Nepal. After the presentation, the floor was opened for the discussion. The major issues raised in the workshop are listed below:

• Government should increase investment in research and extension.
• Change in food habit of people has led to increased demand of rice in market.
• If hybrid variety is the solution, we should develop it in our country rather than bringing it from other countries. But still it very much necessary to conserve and preserve our local rice cultivars.
• Fragmentation of land has led to decrease in size of holding which affects mechanization of farm.
• In order to stop the youth migration, it is much necessary to create an environment where our manpower enjoys being engaged in farming and they do not even think about going abroad.

A half day workshop entitled “Rice Cultivation in Nepal: Opportunities and Challenges ” was jointly organized by Forest Action Nepal and FAYA Nepal on August 13, 2018 at Hotel Devotee, Dhangadhi. The main objective of the event was to discuss on the issues, opportunities and challenges of rice farming focusing its status on province 7 of Nepal. Honorable Minister Ms. Binita Chaudhary from Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Co-operative of Province 7 was the chief guest of the event. Honorable members of parliament, local representatives, farmers, media persons and stakeholders concerned with agriculture participated in the event. A presentation on “Rice Value Chain in Nepal ” was made by Ms. Sarada Thapa, ForestAction Nepal. Background of rice cultivation in Nepal, its import/export status, production/productivity, scenario of rice value chain in Nepal and its challenges and opportunities were highlighted in the presentation.

Presentation was followed by the open discussion. Major issues of rice farming raised and discussed are listed below:

• Loss of local and indigenous rice cultivars.
• Change in food habits.
• Decreased land and soil productivity.
• Subsidy allocated by government has not reached to the actual farmers.
• Promotion of organic rice farming as it reduces the cost of production and improves the productivity of soil.
• Technology such as SRI should be given emphasis.