Policy Vacuum Stalls Forest Management in Sudurpashchim, Threatening Livelihoods and Resources

Kailali. Since the abolition of the 'Scientific Forest Management' working procedure in the fiscal year 2077 BS, hundreds of community and partnership forests in Sudurpashchim have been caught in a vortex of policy uncertainty. The inability to carry out any technical work for forest conservation, other than collecting fallen and uprooted trees, has resulted in lost local employment and severely impacted forest protection and management.

According to Hitu Chaudhary, Chairman of the Muktakamaia Community Forest in Kailali, local employment opportunities have been lost due to the halt in forest management. A similar problem is observed in the Singhpur Community Forest in Kanchanpur. Jograj Chaudhary, Chairman of this forest which first implemented scientific forest management in the district in 2074 BS, warned that if the provincial government does not introduce a new sustainable forest management policy, forest operation will become difficult, potentially leading to the situation where they might have to return the forest to the government.