KATHMANDU: The fourth national seminar of District Forest Officer (DFO) kicked off here today. DFOs from 75 districts across the country gathered here to discuss on an array of issues confronting the forestry sector.

"The deforestation and encroachment is rampant and its control is possible only when the DFOs stand firm against the political pressure from different parties who want the forest to be used for different purposes," said Deepak Bohara, Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC), addressing the inaugural of the seminar.

Foresters assembled here said the seminar was first of its kind to be held where they are discussing future strategies to conserve the forest and table them in the national fora.

"Although three similar seminars had been conducted in the past, they were simply paperwork. This one will see a rigorous discussion sector wise," said Devesh Mani Tripathi, President, Nepal Forester's Association.

The latest MoFSC data suggests that 88,367 hectare of forest land has been encroached upon in the Tarai. The data on the encroachment of forest in hilly and mountain districts are, however, sketchy due to the dearth of reliable information.

The DFO's seminar came a day after the different associations under the MoFSC, blamed the government for not concentrating on core conservation efforts. The associations had expressed their disappointment on politicising the forest issues."All the pertinent issues will be discussed during the seminar,” said Tripathi, adding that the seminar will come up with some clear-cut ideas on how to move forward to save forest from the onslaught of encroachers.