Ambika P. Gautam

Land use dynamics and landscape change pattern in a mountain watershed in Nepal

This study analyzed spatial and temporal changes in land use/land cover in a typical mountain watershed covering an area of 153 km 2 in central Nepal by comparing classified satellite images from 1976, 1989 and 2000 coupled by GIS analyses and also investigated changes in the shape of land use patches over the period. The results show an increase in broadleaf forest, conifer forest and winter-cropped lowland agricultural area and decrease in area under shrublands, grasslands and upland agriculture in between 1976 and 2000, although shrublands increased during the second half (1989–2000) of the study period. The number of forest patches decreased substantially in between 1976 and 2000 suggesting merger of patches in the latter periods due to forest regeneration and/or plantation establishment on lands previously separating two or more forest patches. A shape complexity index (SCI) used to study patchiness of land use indicated improved forest habitat in the watershed but increased mean deviation between actual and optimal SCI of forest polygons indicated higher edge effects at the forest patch level during the latter periods. One of the significant changes within non-forestry land use was increased fragmentation of lowland agricultural areas due to expansion of settlements and infrastructural development in the lowlands.

A review of forest policies, institutions, and changes in the resource condition in Nepal

SUMMARY This paper reviews the evolution of forest policies and forestry institutions in Nepal and tracks the accompanying trends of change in the countrys forest cover over the last century. Our objective is to provide an essential foundation to the policy reform process that is underway in Nepal and many other Asian countries. The review shows that before 1957 the Nepalese governments focus was on conversion of forestlands to farmlands, and extraction of timber for export. After the nationalisation of the forests in 1957 until 1976, policy-making efforts were oriented towards national control of forests through stringent laws and expansion of the forest bureaucracy. This approach failed as evidenced by widespread deforestation and forest degradation across the country during the 1960s through 1980s. Early efforts of the government and donor agencies to rectify the problem through reforestation and afforestation also largely failed, but these efforts paved the way for subsequent initiation of the participatory approach to forest management in the late 1970s. Since then, community-based forest management evolved continuously under the aegis of supportive forest policies and legislations. The present community forestry program has met with notable successes in some areas. However, the program has been confronted with some contentious issues in recent years including a policy debate over the suitability of forests in the southern lowlands (the terai) for community management and sharing of income obtained from community forests. These and some other issues surrounding the community forestry program are discussed and their implications for designing or improving future forest governance have been identified.

GIS Assessment of Land Use/Land Cover Changes Associated With Community Forestry Implementation in the Middle Hills of Nepal

Abstract This study analyzed the spatial and temporal changes in land use between 1978 and 1992 in a typical watershed covering 543 km2 in the Middle Hills of Nepal and used GIS to compare land use changes between village development committees (VDCs) with and without formally handed-over community forests during this period. The forest handover procedure followed the specifications of the national community forestry policy of Nepal. In the watershed, the total area of forested land (defined as high forest plus shrubland) declined by about 8% during the period. However, high forest increased over the study period, whereas shrubland cover declined. Between VDCs with community forests and those without, there were large differences in the rate of total forested area loss, with community forest VDCs losing less total forested area over the 14-year period. Moreover, in the group of VDCs with community forests, high forest area increased by 77%, in comparison with 13% for VDCs without community forests. Higher shrub loss in community forest VDCs was attributable to conversion into high forest via plantation establishment and natural succession. The results of this study indicate the positive impacts of Nepals community forestry activities on the extent of forest cover.

Conditions for Successful Local Collective Action in Forestry: Some Evidence From the Hills of Nepal

In the context of an ongoing debate on the type of institutions or tenurial arrangements that are appropriate for the sustainable management of common pool resources (CPRs), this article examines the role played by local institutions in determining the conditions of two forests located in the Middle Hills of Nepal. The institutional robustness of the forests’ governance systems is evaluated using Ostroms (1990) design principles that characterize the configuration of rules devised and used by long-enduring CPR institutions. The findings show that the two forests are different in level of historical degradation as well as present condition, and these differences are generally explained by the structural characteristics of the local institutions governing the forests. The analysis indicates that Ostroms design principles are useful for analyzing institutional robustness of local forest governance systems. However, some of the principles need modification or expansion if they are to be prescribed for forestry situations.

Ecological and economical sustainability assessment of community forest management in Nepal: A reality check

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the sustainability of community forest management, representing four forest types of two physiographic region Hills and Terai of Nepal. We assess the sustainability based on species composition, stand density, growing stock volume, and growth-to-removal ratio using inventory data of 109 permanent forest plots from four consecutive intervals of three to five years. In addition, forest users, forest committee members, and forest officials were consulted. We observed increment on the representation of economically valuable tree species in all forest types of both regions. The pole-size tree dominates in all forest types with declining number of trees and regeneration. In case of Hills forests, they were over-harvested until 2013 but were under-harvested in the recent period. In contrary, forests were under-harvested in the Terai. We found that ecological objectives of sustainable management are fully achieved while economic benefits remained unharnessed where harvesting is far below the growth. We conclude that maintaining a large number of trees may contribute to ecological but not on economical sustainability. We argue to rationalize annual harvest in all categories of the forest to enhance resource conditions together with regular benefits to the local communities.