TOPICS: Protect forests

REDD+, an ambitious climate change mitigating tool is being recognized as the most efficient tool to mitigate the trend of climate change all over the world and so is in the phase of adaptation in Nepal.

Nepal has approved its Readiness Proposal Preparation (RPP) and also has got membership of the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnerships Facility and is preparing a strategy for implementation of the mechanism in the country.

REDD (Reduction of Emission from Deforestation and Degradation) and + means Conservation, Sustainable Management of Forests and Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks. REDD+ was initiated in COP ( Conference Of Parties )under UN (United Nation) framework UNFCCC (United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change) in 1997 in Kyoto protocol and was formally established in 2007 at Bali.

The UN member countries among the world meet every year in COP under UNFCCC for the discussions of the global concern and climate change issues and the ways to mitigate the human induced climate change around the world.

The countries finally agreed on the mechanism that suggests that the developing countries and their emission from the forest are adding to about 20 % of the global carbon emission and climate change pattern can be minimized through the reduction of deforestation and its degradation of the forest within the developing countries.

As member of UN and one of the concerned countries on the global climate change impacts, Nepal is also looking forward to participate in the REDD+ mechanism.

Nepal had completed its initial preparation for the implementation of REDD+ in the nation. Pilot demonstration of REDD+ in the country was initiated in three district of Nepal (Chitwan, Dholakha and Gorkha) from 2011 with the financial support of Norwegian agency.

The pilot demonstration found exclusion of the local people in the governance, the restrictions on the use of the resources of the forest for the people who are fully dependent on the forest for agriculture, livestock’s feeding, the inequity of the funding to the people, and top to down approach of management which could destroy the existing forests.

As the forest resource is one of the major resource of the country, the forests should be conserved and protected. But before the actual implementation of the program in the country its potential impacts on the environment should be studied.