Why is the Private Forest Program Stunted in Nepal?
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Why is the Private Forest Program Stunted in Nepal? Kishor Aryal
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Arjun Rijal2 Tek Maraseni3,4 Manisha Parajuli5 ●
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Received: 24 April 2020 / Accepted: 23 July 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Private forest (PF) program has the potential to be one of the most efficient forest management programs in Nepal but it has not gained the momentum compared to the other forest management regimes. Considering this, this paper aims to portray policy provisions, existing institutional arrangements as well as landholder experiences and perceptions over the existing mechanisms of PF registration, management, and forest product harvesting. Using the Sudoorpashchim province of Nepal as a case study, we conducted policy and literature reviews, key informant interviews, household surveys, and field observations. We found only 300 PFs registered in the Sudoorpashchim province, with lowland districts having the highest proportion (87%). Institutional arrangements and procedures for timber harvesting and selling were found to be lengthy and complex, with this being a major issue for PF owners with small forest areas. Government initiatives are inadequate to facilitate PF development due to poor implementation of policy provisions, as well as the lack of appropriate incentives and program packages. Despite a very small government investment in PF development, we found the return from PFs in terms of timber supply to be substantially higher than other forest management regimes. Among others, PF owners perceive the cumbersome regulatory procedures and lack of technical support to be the most pertinent factors responsible for the limited growth of PFs. Based on our results, we have discussed and recommended a number of policy and institutional measures to mainstream PF development programs, in order to support economic prosperity of the nation. Keywords Private forests Institutional arrangement Policy awareness Forest product harvesting Timber supply ●
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Introduction Forest resource management practice is characterized by patterns of resource distribution, traditional and customary rights, and, to an extent, governing rules of the countries
Supplementary information The online version of this article (https:// doi.org/10.1007/s00267-020-01343-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Kishor Aryal [email protected] 1
Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment, Dhangadhi, Sudoorpaschim Province, Nepal
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Provincial Forest Directorate, Dhangadhi, Sudoorpaschim Province, Nepal
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University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
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Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000 Lanzhou, China
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Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
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(Lescuyer 2013; Bhattarai 2017). Different countries are employing their best possible institutional arrangements for effective and sustainable forest management, ranging from individual farmers and c
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