There is a reason political parties jostle for the forest ministry during government formation. It is considered among the most lucrative ministries, alongside the equally coveted Ministry of Commerce and Supplies and the Ministry of Local Development. Millions of rupees change hands every year during transfer of forest officers, as ministry top honchos leverage to get their near and dear ones placements in ‘green’ districts. Billions more are made in kickbacks from timber smugglers. True to its previous form, the forest ministry once again transferred over 100 forest officials on Saturday. According to ministry officials, the reason for the latest transfers is to give deserving forest officers ‘good posts’.
On the face of such blatant misuse of power, it was about time something was done to curb this insidious trend. On Sunday, there was some much-needed light thrown on the murky forest bureaucracy when the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a corruption case at the Special Court involving 196 defendants, who stand accused of involvement in embezzlement of Rs 430 million of the proceeds from the sale of timber from 108 community forests in Dadeldhura district. In terms of the amounts involved, this is the biggest corruption case filed by CIAA with the Special Court.
Such strong measures have been long overdue. The heavily forested 22 Tarai districts have lost nearly half the green cover in the period 1965-1980, in what was essentially state-sponsored timber smuggling. The trend continued unabated after the success of Jana Andolan I, as the political parties replaced the panchas as chief beneficiaries. The situation got even worse during ten years of conflict, as the state’s priority shifted from protection of the country’s natural resources to safety of its people from ‘terrorism’. Sadly, even after the 2006 political change things have not improved, as the tumultuous transition politics has taken its own toll on forest cover from Jhapa district in the east to Dadeldhura in the west. The latest CIAA initiative thus comes as a breath of fresh air. Now the CIAA must also look into the latest spate of transfers; forest minister Yadubansha Jha stands accused of abusing his position to muscle through suspicious transfers.
The government cannot act fast enough. Reports of massive deforestation have been pouring in from right around the country, thick and fast. A national forest area in Bara district is facing rampant deforestation, with timber smugglers working in cahoots with local law-enforcement bodies. In Doti, Maoist cadres, District Forest Office staffers, members of community forests and local traders are joining forces to smuggle timber from Gaguda VDC-based community forests. If this decimation of Nepal’s forest cover is not halted, the country could face severe ecological and climate challenges.
According to environmentalists Nepal needs at least 40 percent forest cover to maintain ecological balance; but the country’s forest cover has fallen to under 25 percent, an alarming level by any standard. Unless strong measures are taken to break the nexus between corrupt politicians and the timber mafia, things are likely to get worse before they improve. For a start, the Special Court would do well to hand those proven guilty with strong sentences, which could act as a strong deterrent for those involved in this illegal trade.
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