Deforestation in Nepal Guruprasad Gautam

Abstract

Nepal is rich for natural resources, flora and fauna. Many natural resources are found, but they have not been properly used due to lack of the technology. Forest is the only resource, which is used from the ancient period. The relationship between human life and forest exists from the starting of human civilization. Forest is used to manure the fertility of soil, to control soil erosion and eradicate poverty. Conservation of forest means providing shelter for bird, animal and to maintain the environmental balance. In this article, the deforestation and forest degradation ratio of Nepal has presented of different Periods. The importance of forest has also showed by this analysis.

Key Words: Birta, Guthi, Environmental balance, Desertification, Forest Degradation, Land use system.

Introduction:

Among many natural resources, forest is the main important resources of Nepal. Some years ago, Nepal was called "the country of greenery wealth". But this true proverb has become the legend. The inhabitants of Nepal have highly deforested this wealth.

Traditionally, forest products are the main source of income in our country. In Rana regime (1903-2007 B.S.), the people were migrated to Terai for the export of the forest products, mainly to India.

The forest invasion in Nepal is in process for many years. In Rana regime, the forest area of our country, i.e. Terai was governmentally deforested for the purpose of

creating farming lands and export of forest goods to India. Before 2035 B.S. the Terai area was considered as the "area of malaria diseases".

Even the forest land was distributed to government officials, for their salary, to Brahamans for Birta and Guthi to many organizations like temples. After Rana regime and after the restoration of democracy (1990), the forest area of Neal was highly distributed by the government under the programs of landless-management commission and for "political victims" etc.

After the eradication of malaria, the deforestation process took it pace as a race. Many political periods helped this process to continue with greater speed.

Objectives:

The objective of this study is to explain about the deforestation of Nepal. The specific objectives of the study are as follows:

•to compare the forest situation in different years (1964/65 to 2011)

•to show the deforestation ratio and changing trends of forest degradation in different periods.

Methodology:

This study is based on secondary information, which are collected from the official documents and various reports. In this article, descriptive method is basically used and analysis is made on the available facts. The map, graph, diagrams and charts are used for the analysis of data. The proportion of distribution pattern has been given in

percentage. It is a re-analysis and re-tabulation of secondary information.

Deforestation in Nepal:

The deforestation problem is increasing in Nepal. This problem started from the Rana period, but it was not taken seriously in Rana period and after it in democratic period and till now.

After the forest survey conducted in 1952/54, it was taken seriously. In 2020 B.S. about 45% of land was covered by forest which decreased to the level of 33% in the year 2035 B.S. In this 15 years about 15 of the forest was lost in mountain and 78% was lost in Terai.

During the period 2021- 2031 (B.S.) about 137,600 ha. forest was invaded. In the year 2031 B.S., the forest area was about 34.19% (48,23,000 ha.). At this time the total area of Nepal was about 14,105,900 ha. In the year 2036 B.S., the boundary of Nepal was remarked and it’s exact area became 14,718,100 ha. According to the report published in the year1985/86, among the area 14,855,042 ha. the forest area was about 5, 618,052 ha. (37.8%). Among the total area 14,718,900 ha., the forest area was about 35% (5127031 ha.) which shows that the deforestation is yet in greater speed ( Forest Research and Survey Division 1990/91).

The above explained data shows the greater speed of deforestation in our country among the last thirty years. Due to rapid population growth in the country the cultivated land, grassland, shrub and are increasing but forest land is decreasing.

In the year 1964/65 to 1978/79 the deforestation rate was only 0.4% per year. Among this in Terai, the rate was 2% and in Siwalik it was only 1.1%. According to the master plan, the forest decrease rate was shown about 3%. In 1990/91 among the twenty Terai districts the decreasing rate was 1.3% and in the year 1956 to 1989 it was 3.9%.

In Nepal, about 84000 ha. forest land is invaded per year. This invasion process is in practice from many years but it took it’s highest level after the people’s movement 2046 B.S. and general election 2048. At this period about 33000 bigha forest land was invaded. In this period, about 60000 family cut down about 0.2 million trees illegally. For the supply of fuel wood only, about 1.2 million ha. land is destroyed within the span 15 years. The only one Janakpur_Jayanagar railway was constructed for the purpose of supplying of fire wood (Shrestha,1991:pp.234) According to the Master plan for the forestry sector, within last two decades about 5 million ha. forest has been destroyed and the remaining forest is also not in good condition.

The forest of Nepal is one of the important political issue. When the treaty between Nepal and India was invaded in 2045 B.S. then about 240 ha. land was invaded per day. During in the 5 months period about 3600 ha. forest was invaded.

Changing Pattern of Land Use System:

The first scientific survey of forest in Nepal was held in 1964/65. This was done by the method of vertical aerial photographs. According to this survey the total land is

covered by the forests area was about 6466900 ha. In which covered by tree crowns 59%, not covered by tree crowns 35% and shrubs land 6%. At that time about 56.21% of the total area of our country was covered by trees.

Land Use Pattern of Nepal (1964/65)

Types Area (in percent)

Forested land 56.21Cultivated land 31.31Grass land 6.89Other land 5.59

Source: Forest Statistics for Hill Region 1973, Forest Statistics of Terai and adjoining Region 1967.

But according to the survey conducted in 1978/79, the total area covered by the forest was 6084900 ha. Among which the area of forested land covered by tree crowns 47%, areas of forested land not covered by tree crowns- 43%, and shrubs land 10%.

From above two surveys, we see that about 382000 ha. forest land was lost at the period 1964/65 to 1978/79. This loss is about 5.9% of the total forest area.

The formal forest statistics of Nepal was published by LRMP in the year 1985/86. These data can be considered as the true indicators. This survey was completed by the method of satellite imagery. According to this survey the total forest area of Nepal was about 5616800 ha., which was less than 7.69% of the data published in 1978/79

Land Use Pattern of Nepal (1985/86)

Types Area (in

Percent) Forested land 42.0 Agricultural land

26.5

Grass land 11.8 Other land 19.1

Source: LRMP, Land Utilization Report 1986.

Land Use System of Nepal (1964/65)

Forest Cultivated

Grass Other

Land Use System of Nepal (1985/86)

ForestAgriculturalGrassOther

Land Use System of Nepal (2001)

Forest Cultivated

Grass Non-cultivated

Shrub Water/ Lake

Like wise1990/91 AD the twenty districts of Terai region were surveyed and combining these data with those of the Mountain region the total forests area of our country was about 5127031 ha. i.e. 35% of the total area of the country. This information is less than 8.72% ( 489769 ha.) published by LRMP.

Land Use Pattern of Nepal (2001)

Types Area (in Percent)

Forest land 29.0Cultivated land 21.0Grass land 12.0Non- Cultivated (Barren) land

7.0

Shrub land 10.6Water / Lake 2.6Other 17.8

Source: Environment Statistics of Nepal, 2011, CBS Kathmandu.

Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal has published the land use pattern of Nepal in 2011. In this report, the Forest land has covered only 29% in total area of Nepal. The difference between1990/91 to 2001 is 858831 ha. (16.75% less than 1990/91). According to above information in different date the forest is going to decreased in greater speed. About 50% forest area has deforested during the last half an century. The following Line graph present the Slope gradient of forest degradation ratio of Nepal

.

1964/65 1985/86 1990/91 20010

10

20

30

40

50

60

Deforestation Trend of Nepal (1964-2001)

Year

Fore

st C

ove

rage A

rea (

in P

erc

ent

Causes of Deforestation:

Deforestation is one of the major problem at present. The deforestation which is effect from the very beginning is mainly due to following two reasons:

i) Natural reason,

ii) Man-made reason.

The reason is called natural, if it is deforested due to natural disaster, likewise if the reason is due to human-beings then, it is called man-made reason. Many natural disasters are also due to human nature e.g. the forest is largely invaded by men and the land becomes barren and then natural reasons like flood, landslide, soil erosion etc. destroy the forest land.

Following are the main reasons which cause deforestation, (i) Agriculture, (ii) Forest Trade, (iii) Population Pressure, (iv) Un-controlled use of Forest, (v) Scarcity of forest conservation, (vi) Scarcity of alternative energy sources, (vii) Increase in unemployment, (viii) Increase of personal selfishness in peoples.

Factors leading for Deforestation in Nepal

Population Growth Deforestation

Land Scarcity

Policy Failure

Effects of Deforestation:

Deforestation being one of the major problems of human beings affects their life. The effects can also be categorized in to the following two heads:

a. Direct effect, b. Indirect effect. a. Direct effect:

If deforestation continues then there will be scarcity of fuel like firewood, construction materials for the forest, raw materials for the forest industries, food and fodders for domestic animals etc.

b. Indirect effect:

The indirect effects are like natural imbalance, loss in natural beauty, soil erosion, landslide, unbalanced rainfall, desertification, destruction of wild animals and birds, loss of soil fertility etc.

Due to deforestation, another natural effect is that about 24 crore cubic meter soil goes to India and Bangladesh through rivers. The rate is supposed to be 30-100 m.ton per hectare. For the construction of one finger soil about 100-400 years is necessary ( Nepal, 2049: p 95 )In our country, due to deforestation about 1.7 mm. fertile soil is destroying per year, 47% erosion and landslide are due to natural causes. About 81% of fuel is supplied from the forest in the form of fuel wood. About five crore ton green plants are consumed per year.

Conclusion:

The forest resources among many other natural resources, Which is in use for many years, is in poor condition naw. The proverb " Haryo Ban Nepalko Dhan" ( Greenary forest is the wealth of Nepal) which was very famous few years ago, now seems odd. Due to increasing deforestation, the wealth of nation i.e. green forests are decreasing per year. If we exclude the protected area,

then we will get only 15% of land covered by forests. Forests has become the main source of economic activity from lower class people to reach people. The uncontrolled use of forests is in practice.

The forest land which was about 56.21% of the total land in the year 1964/65 is decreasing in a fast rate. Forest area was 42% in 1985/86, 35% in 1990/91 and only 29% in 2001. This increasing rate of deforestation has become the great challenge for our country.

There seems a high imbalance between forest situation and environment. To balance environment more than 43% land should be covered by forest. But unfortunately Nepal has only 29% of forest land. For environmental balance it is necessary to increase the forest land by 14%.

The migration rate from hills and mountains is very high, which is the main reason for invasion of forests. Terai, which is the favourable land for forest is being forest less due to man-made causes. The desertification rate is also increasing in our country. The Terai where we had dense forest a few years ago is now becoming forestless.

Among the many fuels, forest resource is the main source. About 81% or above of the total consumed fuel is available in the form of fuel wood. This process also increases the deforestation rate. This shows that it has become necessary to manage alternative source of energy or other sources of renewable and perpetual energy (solar, biogas, wind energy etc).

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