Kathmandu, February 16

The first national workshop on silviculture is going to be organised in Kathmandu from February 19 to 21. The objective of the workshop is to identify and analyse evidence-based silviculture practices piloted and implemented in various types of forests by government and non-government organisations.

The Department of Forest said that a total of 150 participants, including 10 foreigners, would attend the workshop.

Silviculture is the art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, and quality of forest vegetation  with the objective of utilising the full range of forest resources.

Successful silviculture depends on clearly defined management objectives.

However, silviculture is often confused with managing stands and forests purely for timber. Silviculture is also used  to manage forests for wildlife, water, recreation, aesthetics, or any  combination of these or other forest uses.

Director General of the Department of Forest Krishna Prasad Acharya said at a press meet today that the workshop would create a common understanding among participants on appropriate silviculture prescriptions for different types of forests.

“We hope that the workshop may assist us and the participants in preparing guidelines on how to drive forest management, and on how to not only increase forest areas but also increase production of forest resources,” Acharya said.

Acharya said that the workshop will provide prescriptions for developing detailed guidelines based on agreed silvicultural prescriptions for various forest types.

A forest resource assessment report of 2014 reports a five per cent increment of forest area in 20 year’s time from 1990 in Nepal.

Despite this increment, there has not been much improvement in the quality and productivity of forestland, mainly due to subsistent forest management practices.

As a result, the full potential of forests in the country has not been harnessed. Although several silviculture practices have been demonstrated here in the past, these practices could not be scaled up due to differences in understanding of the importance of silvicultural interventions.