GANDAKI, July 16:  The insufficient supply of timber has resulted in the outflow of millions of rupees to foreign countries in the import of timber, furniture, aluminum and steel, according to available data. Aluminum and steel are used as alternatives to timber. On the contrary, timber worth hundreds of thousands of rupees is found rotting in the forests of Nepal.

Trees of various species including pine in the community forests and the government protected forests are appropriate enough to use in making furniture. Cutting down a mature tree for commercial purposes, and planting 10 more tree saplings in its place could help expand forests, said forestry expert Dr Naya Paudel Sharma.  

According to him, timber and furniture worth millions of rupees are being imported from various foreign countries including China, India and Malaysia.

However, the lengthy and cumbersome policy to take timbers from community forests and costly supply have created difficulties for wood industries at home to purchase wood, he said, adding that in this regard, there must be coordination and cooperation among the government, the private sector and community forest users groups.

"Forests cannot be destroyed by felling trees in a scientific and manageable way. If things are managed in a scientific, planned and technological manner, it can be a good source of drawing foreign currencies from the export of forest products including timbers along with contributing to a healthy environment and an increase in carbon reserves."

The maximum utilization of natural resources with the adoption of the sustainable forestry management policy can make the country self-reliant in wood and create green job opportunities, he said. "Forest areas should become a basis for prosperity. But sadly, the returns from the forest areas spanning around 45 percent of the total area of the country are low."

The concept of community forestry management has become a milestone in Nepal's forest covers that were significantly reduced in the past due to deforestation, said Dr Sindhu Dhungana, member secretary of the President Chure Terai Madhesh Conservation Development Board. Community forestry is a branch of forestry dealing with the community management of forests from which local people can generate incomes from timber and non-timber products as forms of goods while giving them the majority say in decision-making.

According to available data, Out of the 44.74 percent forest covers of the total area of the country, 30 percent is managed by community forest users groups.

A study carried out in 2019 says Nepal can annually produce 120 million cubic feet of timber from the total forests of Nepal. Woods demand in the Nepali market is around 60 million cubic feet. The country can get an annual income of millions of rupees from the export of the surplus timber to foreign countries, said Dhungana. According to a report, out of the total forest covers in the country, forests have occupied over 5.9 million hectares (40.36 percent), and the shrub lands 48,000 hectares (4.38 percent).

Not only timbers, there has not been the effective utilization of valuable medicinal herbs, he said. "There is no alternative to connect forests with income sources and employment opportunities by adopting a policy of allowing the use and consumption of forest products in a facilitating way."

Forest covers have been gradually increasing in the country thanks to labor and contributions of community forest users groups, said Thakur Bhandari, central chairperson of the Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN), calling for the proper utilization of forest products to generate incomes.

Recalling that Nepal had put up its concerns about deforestation in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm of Sweden five decades ago, he said, "The Government of Nepal launched the concept of community forestry management with the aim of stopping deforestation. And the contribution of the community should not be forgotten." The governments of all the three levels should implement the slogan of 'Hariyo Ban Nepal Ko Dhan' (green forest; Nepal's wealth), he stressed.

At present, over 2.2 million hectares of forests across the country have been managed by more than 2.9 million households of over 22,400 community forest users groups. Labor and contributions of community forest users groups should pay off by properly utilizing timber, medicinal herbs and other forest products, he said. Stating that forest products could be a permanent income source through sustainable forestry management, he said, "Policies and regulations relating to forest, and the mindset of the stakeholders have posed a hindrance to the proper utilization of forest products."

However, the lack of proper management of forests has lately caused forest fires leading to the destruction of forest covers, wildlife, and medicinal herbs worth millions of rupees every year, he said. "Apart from timbers, there are other potential forests. There is a need to properly utilize forest products and medicinal herbs and carry out development of agriculture, entrepreneurship and eco-tourism after conducting a feasibility study."

Claiming that the government focuses on only expanding the conservation of forest areas instead of linking community forests with the country's prosperity, he stressed the need for collective efforts of the governments of all three levels to reap benefits.

Coordinator of the International Centre for Community Forestry Ghana Shyam Pandey, also former Chairperson of the FECOFUN, calls for making an action plan keeping in view the voices of community forest users groups, and their economic, social and cultural status.

Saying that it is getting late to make the increasing shrub lands productive, he said that there are possibilities of creating thousands of job opportunities by running agriculture forestry, furniture industries, medicinal herb processing industries, eco-tourism and carbon trade.

In the context that the use of firewood has been decreasing lately due to the easy access to LPG cylinders, experts suggest that fertilizer industries can be established in all seven provinces. Revenues could be generated by supplying timbers to the domestic and foreign markets by amending the existing unfavorable laws and acts, they said.

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