DISCRIBE IN NEPAL FOREST

Nepal is a land of excessive disparities in both climate and geography; giving it has a distinctive topography ranging from lowlands with sub-tropical forests to arctic environment in the Himalayan highlands. The mere 150 kilometers stretch of land rises from near sea level in the south to over 8000 meters in the North. This simultaneously with the monsoon rainfall alongside the south facing slopes, has lead to the compacting of nearly all climate zones that can be located on planet Earth. Nepal as a consequence of these has been endowed with a great diversity of life-zones providing a home for a large variety of plants, birds and animals.

The Terai lowlands are distinguished by a belt of well-watered floodplains extending from the Indian boundary northward up to the initial slopes of the Bhabhar as well as the Siwalik Range. It is a rich habitation in the land with tall grasslands combined with riverine and hardwood Sal forest. Wildlife inclusive of musk deer, swamp deer, black buck, the royal Bengal tiger, blue bull, gharial, marsh mugger crocodile as well as the last breed of Asiatic wild buffalo. It is prosperous in birdlife as well.

Between 2000 and 3500 meters higher in the north lies the Mahabharat Range with its oak capped crests. The hills of this midland are sheltered by a moist temperate deodar, maple, oak, and even birch forest. The stunning multi-colored lmpeyan pheasant, which is the national bird of Nepal can be located here in.

Forest Nepal

                     

My small country Nepal attributing an angelic beauty is situated between two large countries called china in north and India in three sides.According to the census report of 2001 A.D the population of country Nepal is 2,31,51,423 and its area is 1,47,181.The population density of Nepal is 154 people in per sq.km but the valley and the plains are densely populated.
Nepal is a agro based country.Eighty percent of the people of Nepal are depend upon the agriculture .Although the people of various social group,various religions,they really practice "unity in diversity".The follower of one religion respect the follower of the another religion.Most of the people of the Nepal follow the Hindu religion,and rest of the people follow the religion like Muslim,Christian,Buddha etc.
Nepal is popular for the angelic beauties ,unique wonders and gifts in the world,although it is a land locked country.It is famous for river lakes and mountain.Tourist come here for relaxation in their holiday.The highest mountain peak Mount Everest in the world,fascinates many foreign tourist everyday.Through tourism we can earn foreign money which can be invest in development project.Nepal is rich in water resources it is the second richest country in water in the world.Many rivers flow from the mountain and it passes through the terai.Many brooks and stream serves the people in many ways.They are advantageous for irrigation,transportation,rafting,running hydroelectricity projects and so on.
It is said that "Hario Ban Nepal Ko Dhan".In fact we can get many advantages from the forest.Our country Nepal seems to be beautiful because of the green forest,but nowadays forest is being destroyed in many ways .But also many awareness program are conducted.National parks and wild-life reserves preserve many wild animals .Many tourist come here to watch them.
Nepal is a developing country .About 50%of the Nepalese people are literate .Many school and colleges have been running all over the country .Due to high percent of poverty Nepal many children do not go to school .
I feel proud to be the citizen of Nepal like country.We Nepali people respect each other.We are co-operative .I do feel most of the people love the nation.We feel the mother and mother lands are same .I do hope that our country Nepal will be best and famous country in the world.

Vicious forest fires in Nepal raise climate change questions

The forest fires that flared unusually viciously in many of Nepal's national parks and conserved areas this dry season have left conservationists worrying if climate change played a role.
At least four protected areas were recently on fire for an unusually long time. Satellite imagery from US space agency NASA showed most of the big fires were in and around the national parks along the country's northern areas bordering Tibet. Active fires were recorded in renowned conservation success stories like the Annapurna, Kanchanjunga, Langtang and Makalu Barun national parks. The extent of the loss of flora and fauna is not yet known.
Press reports said more than 100 yaks were killed by fire in the surrounding areas of the Kanjanchanga National Park in eastern Nepal. Trans-Himalayan parks host rare species such as snow leopards, red pandas and several endangered birds.
More than the loss of plants and animals, the carbon dioxide emitted by the fires was a matter of concern, according to Ghanashyam Gurung, a director at WWF's Nepal office. Some of the national parks in the plains bordering India were also on fire, but those caused less concern among conservationists and forest officials. "Fires in the protected areas in the plain lands can be controlled easily because we have logistics and manpower ready for that - and that is what we did this time," said Laxmi Manandhar, spokesman for Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. "But in the national parks in the Himalayan region, we could hardly do anything because of the difficult geography. Nor do we have facilities of pouring water using planes and helicopters."
Forest fires in Nepal's jungles and protected areas are not uncommon during the dry season between October and January. Most of the fires come about as a consequence of the "slash and burn" practice that farmers employ for better vegetation and agricultural yields. But this time the fires remained out of control even in the national parks in the Himalayan region where the slash and burn practice is uncommon. In some of the protected areas, the fires flared up even after locals and officials tried to put them out for several days.
So, why were the fires so different this time? "The most obvious reason was the unusually long dry spell this year," says Gurung, just back in Kathmandu from Langtang National Park to the north of the capital. "The dryness has been so severe that pine trees in the Himalayan region are thoroughly dry even on the top, which means even a spark is enough to set them on fire."
For nearly six months, no precipitation has fallen across most of the country - the longest dry spell in recent history, according to meteorologists. "This winter was exceptionally dry," says Department of Hydrology and Meteorology chief Nirmal Rajbhandari. "We have seen winter becoming drier and drier in the last three or four years, but this year has set the record."
Rivers are running at their lowest, and because most of Nepal's electricity comes from hydropower, the country has been suffering power cuts up to 20 hours a day. Experts at the department said the severity of dryness fits in the pattern of increasing extreme weather Nepal has witnessed in recent years.
Had it not been for recent drizzles, conservationists say some of the national parks would still be on fire. They point to "cloud burst phenomena" – huge rainfall within a short span of time during monsoons, and frequent, sudden downpours in the Himalayan foothills – as more examples of extreme weather events. "Seeing all these changes happening in recent years, we can contend that this dryness that led to so much fire is one of the effects of climate change," said Rajbhandari.
Anil Manandhar, head of WWF Nepal, had this to ask: are we waiting for a bigger disaster to admit that it is climate change? "The weather pattern has changed, and we know that there are certain impacts of climate change."
However, climate-change expert Arun Bhakta Shrestha, of the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), was cautious about drawing conclusions. "The prolonged dryness this year, like other extreme events in recent years, could be related to climate change but there is no proper basis to confirm that. The reason [why there is no confirmation] is lack of studies, observation and data that could have helped to reach into some conclusion regarding the changes."
Indeed, there has been no proper study of the impacts of climate change on the region: not just in Nepal but in the entire Hindu Kush Himalayas. This is the reason why the region has been dubbed as a "white spot" by experts, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Limited studies have shown that temperature in the Himalayas has been increasing on average by 0.06 degrees Celsius annually, causing glaciers to melt and retreat faster. The meltdown has been rapidly filling up many glacial lakes that could break their moraines and burst out, sweeping away everything downstream. In Nepal and neighbouring countries, these "glacial lake outburst floods" and monsoon-related floods resulting from erratic rainfalls are at present the most talked-about disasters in the context of climate change.
If conservationists' and meteorologists' latest fears mean anything, forest fires may also be something that would be seen as one of the climate impacts.
In the wake of the 2007 United Nations climate change conference in Bali, Nepal has been preparing to join an international effort known as Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). But if the forest fires it saw this year became a regular phenomenon, the country will instead be emitting increased carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - a case of climate science's not very aptly-named "positive feedback".
• Navin Singh Khadka is a journalist with the BBC Nepali service. He has a sustained interest in environment, with a focus on climate change vis-a-vis Himalayan ecology

Kankali Community Forest in Nepal

The Kankali Community Forest is located in the foothills of the Mahabharata Range in Chainpur Village Development Committee (VDC). Due to the volatile political situation during the year of 2046 B.S. in the country, the high encroachment in the forest and, the illegal harvesting of the woods, the Kankali Community Forest was once a degraded and almost like a naked forest and gone forever.
However, when the people living in the lap of the forest suffered the problems of landslides, the life for survival became complicated and the people began to migrate in other places. Hence, community realized the importance of biodiversity and took an initiation for the forest conservation since 2047 B.S. The Kankali Community Forest was once the headquarter of Chitwan district as well. The District Forest Office (DFO) of Chitwan on 2052 B.S. has legitimately handed the forest over the user community.
Presently, the total user members of the community forest are 1830 households, which covers all the (1-9) wards of Chainpur VDC. The user members of the forest having different ethnicity are Tamang, Darai, Chepang, Bote, Kumal, Brahmin, etc.

Adventures in Nepal: Nagarjung Forest Reserve 62

Hiking to Nagarjun or cycling?

My latest trip was out to Nagarjun Forest Reserve just outside the Kathmandu City. I must say I had plenty of fun and exercise as well. Well, to be trouthful, I hiked with my mountain bike up the hill and rode down hill.
I started early in the morning with some friends from Thamel. We rode to up til the Nagarjun Reserve entrance and rested while contemplating whether to ride or hike. It was about 32 km to reach the top and uphill, so we packed quite a number of bottled water in our backpacks.
At the begining, we all rode as the uphill was gradual and the road was metalled. But after the dirt-road started and the the slopes got steeper, we couldn't continue riding as we hadn't cycled for years and the heat was getting to us. We walked most of the way up and only cycled on less steep slopes. One of the guys had muscle cramps and had to stop for quite sometime before he was able to get up again.
By the time we reached halfway up to the top, we realised that we were out of water. Water! we were all exhausted and thirsty, no way we could make it to the top. After resting for some time, we decided that it will be best that we turn back.
Riding down the hills was a thrill after such a long gap cycling... but it was tiring as well as we had to grip the handles tightly and control the bikes going down at high speed on dirt-road. Luckily, no one had any accidents and all reached the exit of the reserve safely but thirsty.
As soons we got out of the reserve, we looked around for water, but only found a lady sitting by the road selling watermelon. What more did we need... this was the first time that i really enjoyed eating watermelon... imagine being thirsty for a few hours and getting to eat those juicy melons.

A future for the people and forests of Nepal | Cancun feature material

The impact of climate change is already being felt in forest communities across Nepal. Land is lost as glaciers melt, flash floods hit and landslides increase. Crops are destroyed due to erratic rainfall, drought and forest fires.
But people are finding ways to adapt their way of life. With the help of UKaid, community groups are saving their forests: replanting trees and using alternatives to firewood. They are starting to make money from the forest without doing it harm, providing a better future for them and the environment.
As the UN conference in Cancun enters its final few days, hear first hand how Nepal’s forest dwellers are overcoming the challenges of climate change.

Core Facts

1. The world’s poorest people will be hit first and hit hardest by climate change. People in developing countries are already suffering from flooding, rising sea levels, drought, crop failure and the destruction caused by natural disasters.
2. The UN summit on climate change in Cancun, Mexico runs until 10 December 2010.
3. The summit will be a key point in the international negotiations for a global climate change deal. Progress on this deal is crucial to tackling global poverty.
4. The community projects featured here are part of Nepal's Livelihoods and Forestry Programme supported by the UK Government.
5. In Nepal, greenhouse gas emissions are small but it is among the most vulnerable nations to climate change.
6. 75% of people around the world living on less than $1 a day depend on forestry products in some way for their livelihoods.
7. The Nepal forestry project has lifted some 433,000 people out of poverty and captured 2.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
8. Find out more about the Nepal forest programme in a free to use news story at 
9. All photos are free to use and must be credited. First three photos: Arjun Kumal / DFID. Fourth photo: Sibongile Pradhan / LFP / UKaid.
10. More images are available as part of a full gallery complete with captions - please contact Ginny Reid.

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NEPAL Communities Take Up Cudgels for Forest

Shankar Prasad Ghimire, 87, is proud of having led his community's efforts toward forest conservation.

 Tired of walkingSuch dramatic backdrop of dense forest cover gives this former bureaucrat reason to be proud. As chairman of the Kafle Community Forest, he helped transform the once dying forest into a 94-hectare green treasure trove in Lamatar village in Lalitpur district, 13 kilometres south-east of Kathmandu.

"Those were the difficult times," Ghimire tells IPS, referring to his green crusade. "Some people simply refused to be part of the mission to rebuild the forest."

Used to collecting firewood and timber from the forest for cooking, most people in the village were in no mood to end their habit two decades back. Alarmed by the incessant felling of trees that had rendered the once dense forest into a near desert, leaving very few trees and shrubs behind, the Department of Forest decided to hand over the enhancement and management of the forest to Ghimire and a few others in 1990.

Begun in 1978, the handover of community forests intensified after the success of the pro-democracy movement in Nepal in 1990, particularly following the promulgation of the community forest policy under the revised Forest Act of 1993 and Forest Regulations of 1995.

But many people were unwilling to give up the habit of picking up firewood and timber and other forest products (like fodder for their cattle), which was easy, though illegal.

"I had to persuade my folks real hard," Ghimire says, grinning broadly with a glint in his eyes. During the first few years of the 10 years that he was at the helm, the retiree had to personally take up plantation of broad-leaf trees and neem trees, known for their multiple uses provided their long-term benefits are not sacrificed for short-term gains. Bamboos were planted as well. The land was nearly barren due to massive deforestation and degradation, fire and landslides.

"We used to jump over shrubs when we were kids," says Sharad Ghimire, a college student and member of the community forest group, pointing to a piece land that was rendered barren before it was transformed into a lush expanse of trees and other plants.

"What you see in front of you," he says proudly, "is the result of efforts by the local community, government laws and I/NGOs’ (international and non- governmental organisations) expert guidance."

Data from the Department of Forest show 1.1 million hectares (22 percent) of the total forest land has been handed over to the locals to manage and enhance in keeping with the Forest Act, which guarantees non-interference from the government forest office so long as the community forest user group (CFUG) complies with the Act (1993) and the Regulations (1995) and the Community Forestry Operational Plan.

Under this plan, the local community that agrees to manage the forest prepares a five- to ten-year master plan to protect, conserve and enhance forest products. Since timber and firewood are still so central to a local community's day-to-day living, they would first determine the sustainable reserve of timber and firewood and then sell the surplus to the community members.

The plan also sets out which trees could be felled, which areas are permissible for cattle grazing, among others. The plan is not just about forest but also about the livelihood of the people who help conserve the forest.

Based on the community forestry concept in Nepal, control over forest resources is devolved to community-based user groups.

At present 1.6 million households are involved in the conservation and sustainable management of forests across the country. Together they make up 15,000 community forestry groups across the country, based on data from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

ICIMOD is a regional centre committed to promoting an economically and environmentally sound mountain ecosystems and serving the countries comprising the Hindu Kush-Himalayas region, namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Burma, Nepal, and Pakistan. Its study further shows that community forestry prevents deforestation and forest degradation, increases forest cover and soil organic carbon, or the amount of carbon stored in the soil.

A study undertaken by ICIMOD in three community forestry sites in Manang district (in high Himalayas) and Ilam and Lamatar in Lalitpur (in mid Himalayas) between 2003 and 2007 shows an increase in carbon storage in the community forests.

Carbon storage mitigates the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global warming by capturing carbon dioxide.

The mean annual increment of carbon in these forests covered by the study is 7.04 tonnes of cabon dioxide per hectare. Put simply, it means cuts in emissions (with fewer trees cut) and more carbon sinks (with more forest cover due to plantation).

Carbon sinks are natural or manmade reservoirs that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

"The community forestry is really gaining momentum to revert the deforested and degraded forests to greenery," says Eak Rana, project coordinator of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) programme under ICIMOD.

REDD is designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Rana cites a 1994 National Forest Inventory – a field survey of Nepal's forests by the government with the help of its Finnish counterpart – which showed that from 1978 to 1994, the forest area of the Himalayan country had decreased at an annual rate of 1.66 percent. The conduct of a new survey, again as a collaboration between the governments of Nepal and Finland, is slated to begin July this year.

"The importance of community forestry, thus, cannot be overstated," Rana says. Community forests, he stressed, play a vital role in regaining old- growth forest conditions, based on studies, including that of ICIMOD.

Tree biomass normally stores half the weight of carbon. Thus, a tree saved (not burnt and decomposed) prevents the release and sequestration capacity of carbon, which is chief among the greenhouse gases contributing to global warming.

Biomass essentially consists of forestry and agricultural waste.

Experts who conducted the ICIMOD study argued that deliberations at the international policy level on climate change must ensure that the REDD policy awards credits not just for reduced deforestation and forest degradation but also for sustainable management of forests and forest enhancement efforts.

Bhola Bhattarai, general secretary of the Federation of Community Forestry Users in Nepal – a network of more than 12,000 community forest user groups in the country – says it is time the developed nations recognised the efforts of countries like Nepal and award them credits.

The United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen last December, which failed to produce a legally binding climate change treaty, came up with a consensus on REDD Plus, or reducing emissions from forest degradation and deforestation in developing countries.

Under the scheme, financial rewards are given to countries for keeping their forests intact. The rewards will come in the form of carbon credits or financial payment by carbon emitters.

"We are currently undertaking carbon accounting and a capacity-building programme in three districts in mid-hills," Bhattarai says. Once the study is completed, he adds, governance and payment system of Nepal's forest users can be achieved.

After all, there has to be a reward scheme for community forests that result in carbon enhancements, not just efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, says Rana.