The Multi-Stakeholder Forestry Programme is the product of the first multistakeholder design process to be undertaken in Nepal’s forestry sector. The Programme will build on the achievements of over 20 years of forestry work of the Government of Nepal supported by the UK, Switzerland and Finland. The Programme is designed for 10 years and to be implemented in two phases. NRs 4.45 billion has been agreed as joint grant funding assistance by these three donors for an initial 4 years.
Joanna Durbin is currently attending the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa.
GODAVARI, Nepal, Nov 21, 2011 (IPS) - Nepal’s joint forest management system has taken such deep roots that the country’s prolonged political instability has had little effect on it.
"We’re doing well anyway," Ganesh Bahadur Silwal, 65, general secretary of the Godavari community forestry group, tells an international audience seated in an arc around him in a concrete hall in the scenic Godavari valley, 14 km southeast of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.
The story of forests and payments for not cutting them in Nepal began in 2003 when the Dutch government funded research on how communities could teach living to conserve forest for the trees can absorb the carbon dioxide released from burning biofuels. The research was conducted in conjunction with regional partners in East and West Africa, Papua New Guinea and the Himalayas. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) dealt with research in India and Nepal.
While a number of researchers and organizations in the US and internationally have highlighted the potential impacts of mitigation efforts on tenure, there remains minimal information and best practice on how to practically address these issues at the field level. Emerging interventions to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhance forest carbon stocks (REDD+) pose potential opportunities and risks for the rights of rural populations in developing countries.
Gone are the days of talking only about timber and other forest product in the context of the forest. With these products as it is, another opportunity growing in the forests is carbon. Interestingly, the standing trees could deliver money without dying, and help communities invest on climate-change adaptation.
KATHMANDU, Jul 4, 2011 (IPS) - When Bina Tamang was told that she could earn money by not felling trees in the tiny forest that serves as the source of fuel and fodder for 65 families in her area, the 27-year-old was incredulous.
That was two years ago. In June, when Tamang was informed that she and over 100 other groups like hers, that have been sharing forests as community property, had been awarded cash incentives worth 95,000 US dollars disbelief gave way to joy.
KATHMANDU: Sita KC with a team of field researchers and community forest users group of Dolakha has hiked through dense forests in Dolakha. Guided by the team of forest rangers and other experts, KC and representatives of different community forests in Dolakha have spent days in Charnawati Watershed area spread over 5,996 hectares of forest land to determine how much carbon is stored there.
“Charnawati sequestered a total of almost 4.6 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2011,” said KC proudly.
International Day for Biological Diversity is celebrated worldwide on May 22 to further our understanding of biodiversity issues. This year, the International Day for Biological Diversity highlights ‘Forest Biodiversity’ to complement the International Year of Forests 2011, declared by the UN General Assembly. The International Year of Forests gives us an opportunity to renew our awareness of the state of the world’s forests, and to realize their role in greening the environment, sustaining life, and providing for people’s needs and wellbeing.
