Biratnagar, March 16

Forest users have started scientific management of forests in Morang.

Morang has 130 community forests, four partnership forests, 12 religious forests and 593 private forests. Users of four partnership forests and 22 community forests have adopted scientific techniques to manage forests. Other 23 community forests are also planning to adopt such techniques.

Morang District Forest Officer Dr Binod Prasad Devkota said scientific management of forests had become successful with direct participation of forest users. “It was very hard to manage the forests scientifically in the past. But, it has become easy now as users are actively involved in managing them,” Devkota said.

Scientific forest management started from Latijhoda Partnership Forest. When the idea was first introduced, Forest Management Committee had faced forest users’ obstruction. With the introduction of scientific forest management, forest users are active in preservation of forests. Community Forest Users’ Committee Coordinator Rudra Prasad Pokhrel said users were actively involved in forest protection.

With the implementation of scientific forest management, old trees are being felled and new trees are planted. According to Pokhrel, forests are segregated block-wise and managed. This process is called scientific forest management, said Pokhrel.

A forest is divided into four compartments and each compartment consists of eight sub-compartments. This is how the scientific forest management works.

In line with this management, old trees are felled, new trees are planted, trimmed and left. When new tree grows in one place, old trees are removed at other place and new tree is planted in place of old tree. The scientific management will bear fruit if the forest can be saved from cattle grazing and blaze.

Scientific forest management helps to produce timber as per the need of locals and create job opportunities for locals. According to Pokhrel, a partnership forest at then six VDCs — Sundarpur, Dulari, Dangraha, Sishwani Badahara, Hattimudha and Tankisinawari — has developed a system that allows around 15,000 families to use the timber products as well.

Of the timber produced at the partnership forest users can use 50 per cent timber while the government receives 50 per cent share.

A community forest, however, has to use 35 per cent of the total income for poverty alleviation in the community.

Forests, where scientific management has been adopted, are working for poverty alleviation. Of the total 185,500-hectare land, 55,500 hectares of the land have been covered by forest in Morang which means forests spread in over 30 per cent of the land in the district.

Forest officer Devkota says that scientific forest management helps maintain ecological balance.