In a bid to promote greenery and protect the environment, the government had spent millions of rupees for planting trees, but the result was far from satisfactory.
According to the Department of Forest, around 10 million saplings were produced in 60 districts in the last three years. Among them, the District Forest Office has planted 4.7 million saplings. Apart from that tree plantation drive is being carried out by producing saplings from nursery.
Around 1600 saplings are planted in one-hectare land. The recent data of Department of Forest shows that the saplings were planted in around 18,750 hectares of land in the last three years. But the forests have not been expanded. Sindhu Dhungana, spokesperson at the Ministry of Forest, said that the forests have not been expanded as expected because the saplings died few days after they were planted due to the failure to protect them. She said, “The old method of plantation should be reviewed.”
According to experts, wildfires and open grazing are the main reasons behind the failure of the saplings to survive after plantation. Former Director General of Department of Forest Rajan Pokharel said that the tree plantation will be successful if the concerned authority controlled the encroachment and plant the saplings aged three-four. “If we plant the saplings aged five-six months, it will not survive. Instead of that we don’t have the culture to protect the saplings after planting them,” he said, adding, “Around 90 percent tree plantation has become successful in China and India because they plant big trees.”
The tree plantation has started in Nepal since the establishment of Tree Plantation Project office in Hattisar, Kathmandu in 2015. According to the masterplan for the Forestry Sector, 1988, the government had planted 47,000 saplings and communities had planted 21, 900 saplings from 1963 to 1984 in 68,000 hectares of land. But that could not expand even half of the forests.
The Sagarnath Forest Project was established in 1978 with an aim to provide woods to the people of central and eastern Tarai region. Under the same project, woods were distributed to the people of Rautahat, Sarlahi and Mahottari by destroying 13,000 hectares of forest. Almost all the trees were felled for timber. The objective of the project was to supply woods by planting trees in that 13,000 hectares of forest. Among the 13,000 hectares of land, the squatters encroached 3,000 hectares of land in Murtiya of Sarlahi. The government has not been able to evict the squatters from that place yet.
The encroachment of land in the name of squatters has been growing at an alarming rate in recent time. According to the Forest Survey Report- 2015, the forest area is being encroached in Tarai at the rate of 1,810 hectare every year. The main reason behind this is the political protection of land encroachers.
Saplings should be protected
It is not necessary to plant saplings every year. Rather the authority should prioritize the protection of saplings planted in the previous years.
The District Forest Office had expressed its dissatisfaction when the old trees of timber were cut down in Saljhandi-based Lumbini Community Forest in Rupandehi in 2012. The forest office had felled down more than 600 trees planted in around nine hectares of area while starting the sustainable forest management program. “The officials were also scared about the consequence of cutting down the trees,” said Yagya Murti Khanal, then Under Secretary at the Ministry of Forest. “But the growth of the saplings was better our expectation after the onset of rainy season.”
Though 600 trees were felled down, around 6,000 trees with more than 10 feet tall are growing in that place.
The District Forest Office has continued the sustainable forest management program and cut down old trees planted in 58 hectares of forest area. A new jungle has been created in that place from the saplings that grew itself.
No need to plant trees
Some said that tree plantation is indispensable for the development of forest while some believe that forest will be developed from the saplings that grew itself.
We can take the example of Rupandehi, If the forest management project is taken ahead effectively then tree plantation is not necessary to develop the forest.
The forest area of Nepal has been increased to 44 percent from 39 percent. The main reason behind this is conservation of community forest. After 1992, the government had started handing over the forest to the community to control deforestation. “The community forest become successful as there was no grazing and fire in the forests that were protected by the community,” said Bharati Pathak, Chairperson at the Federation of Community Forest Users Group Nepal.
Former Director General at the Department of Forest Dr Rajan Pokharel said that the forest will be expanded naturally without plantation if the concerned authority controlled the encroachment and intervention.
Forestry expert Krishna Pokharel said that tree plantation is necessary in the places like open field or in the hills where there is less chance of growing natural saplings.
