Two forest officials and experts from each of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries except India and Pakistan are taking part in the meeting that began on Tuesday. [break]
The meeting, which is being jointly organized by the SAARC Forestry Center based in Bhutan, and Nepal´s Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation and the Institute of Forestry (IOF), is scheduled to hold an extensive discussion on maximizing benefits from the forest resources.
“Forest resources help transform socio-economic status of the marginalized groups. The meeting would discuss at length possible plans and programs for the purpose,” said Rajan Pokharel, Director at the Western Regional Forest Directorate.
“The experts would float the ideas on developing a forest policy that will focus on public welfare,” Pokharel added.
Professor at the IOF, Rridish Kumar Pokharel said that the meeting will come up with plan to overcome general public misconception that the forest gives them nothing except firewood and fodder for the livestock.
“There are so many hidden benefits. The forest helps control climate change, contain soil erosion, and saves the sources of water from going dry,” Pokharel added.
It may be noted here that the growing popularity of the community forest in Nepal has helped the general people understand the importance of the forest and learn the ways to benefit themselves from the forest resources.
Nepal has some 18,000 community forests, covering 28 percent of total forest area in the country, according to government statistics.
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