Forests experts Dr Gilmour from Australia and Mahat had started community forest in Sindhupalchowk district in 1978 when most of the forests were lost due to encroachment and deforestation. The concept has now helped in developing hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest.
Government records show that community forests occupy a whopping 25 percent of the total area of Nepal which makes it the country with the largest proportion of community forest with respect to its area. Community forests make a major contribution in the total forest cover of 39.6 percent in the country apart from raking in millions of rupees in herbs and forest products.
“We took a long time to teach the locals about running and using forest through a community,” reminisces Dr Gilmour, who first used the concept in Thokarpa forest. “The astonishing progress that Nepal has made in between has proved exemplary in the world. I feel immense happiness in the fact that the world is copying our model,” Dr Gilmour added.
“Nepal has become number one in community forestry in the world now. It is a matter of pride for Nepal and world that Nepal made a revolution in forest conservation at a time when the rest of the world is struggling with destruction of forests,” Dr Gilmour stated.
He said the work done by the community for the community has reestablished the lost meaning of the saying ´Hariyo ban Nepalko dhan´ (Nepal´s treasure: Green forests).
He said the concept has filled hills barren for centuries and hundreds of acres of grassland in the Tarai with green forests. “Even rocky terrains in the Himalayan region now have green vegetation,” Dr Gilmour claimed.
Director General of the Department of Forests Krishna Chandra Poudel feels the concept has helped Nepal regain her green forests lost during the Panchayat regime. “The process of deforestation that became a campaign during the politically unstable phase between 1979-90 has been neutralized by this revolution that started at around the same time on a small scale,” Poudel said.
Government records show there are around 15,000 community forest groups in Nepal looking after 1,250,000 hectares of community forests which account to roughly 25 percent of the area of Nepal.
The central hilly region has made the greatest progress in community forest. “The central hills have been successful in the campaign due to favorable socio-cultural and geographical conditions,” Poudel stated adding that the pioneering Thokarpa is the biggest community forest in Nepal.
The concept has also helped in female liberalization apart from providing financial gains to the communities, Poudel said. “Many schools have been established, scholarships and skill-oriented vocational training for women have been provided through community forests,” Poudel said.
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