FOREST CLEARANCE AND REPLACEMENT IN BRIEF UDAY R. SHARMA, PhD, Consultant

STRUCTURE CONTEXT STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS ACHIEVEMENTS AND SUPPORT ROLE CO-WORK WITH MOFE STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS ACHIEVEMENTS AND SUPPORT ROLE NEW PROSPECTS FOR ORGANIZED PLANTATIONS CONCLUSION

  BOTTLENECK Forest clearance delay has been identified as one of the major bottlenecks affecting major infrastructure projects in Nepal Goal: Develop mechanisms to rapidly obtain forest land for nationally important, growth enhancing infrastructure projects and to effectively manage new compensatory plantations.

APPIIC’s Support 2006/07 – 2015/16 2016/17 – 2017/18 Hand over 213.68 ha/year 1256.54 ha/year (Nearly 500% more) Took 2-3 year for decision Less than one year some exceptions 2063 Forest Guidelines, many issues Increased clarity in 2073 Forest Guidelines Only land-for land compensation Opened the gate for land for cash compensation APPIIC STARTED TO “CO-WORK” WITH MFSC SINCE AUGUST 2016

ARUN 3 and Upper Karnali FOREST GUIDELINES, 2074, PROVED INSUFFICIENT WHEN PDA BECAME INVOLVED PM AS THE CHAIR OF IBN DIRECTED DURING ITS 27TH BOARD MEETING TO FURTHER REVISE FOREST AND PA GUIDELINES WITHIN THREE MONTHS WITH INVOLVEMENT OF CONCERNED STAKEHOLDERS

STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS Harmonizing Procedures Legal Framework Revisions Forest Replacement and Fund Flows Awareness Raising and Capacity Building APPIIC has taken the holistic approach: Not just Forest Clearance, but also Forest Replacement

ACHIEVEMENTS Forest Guidelines, 2074: Despite criticisms, the Guidelines has several improvements over the earlier Guidelines Updated Guidelines has resolved number of outstanding issues: APPIIC’s role reflected in half of the issues The Guidelines introduced option & principle of “land for cash” The Guidelines can be made better:

Forest Guidelines … Evaluated the effectiveness of current Forest Guidelines: Report proposes 11 measures for revision of the current Guidelines to make it more effective Support to MOFE to develop NPV-based evaluation criteria, standard norms and templates to operationalize the cash compensation related article of the Guidelines (Article 9)

PA Guidelines Support to DNPWC in drafting the Protected Area (Forest clearance and replacement) Guidelines. The new guidelines will incorporate the Net Present Value payment provision Revised draft of PA Guidelines is under review by DNPWC Learning of Study Tour to India being incorporated in the PA Guidelines

DEVELOPER PAYS NPV + Lease/year + Cost of compensatory plantation + 5 years of management NPV is X5 for NP/Reserves; X2 CA Destructive project pays more: Hydro power Cement 100 ha 100 ha 80 ha 5 ha

Suggested Mechanism Steering Committee Plantation Authority DEVELOPERS Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation Department of Forests and Soil Conservation Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation Forest and Watershed Division of MFSC Divisional Forest Offices Offices of Protected Area Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation Department of Forests Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation Forest Enterprise and Management Division of MFSC District Forest Offices Offices of Protected Area Steering Committee Forest Product Development Board Receive payments Procure private land Undertake plantations Maintain plantations for five years FEMD DoF DNPWC FPDB Plantation Authority Receive payments Locate degraded forest land Undertake plantations Maintain plantations for five years Hand over forests to DFOs Secretary/FEMD DoFS DNPWC FPDB Relevant activities Receives request for forest and Park land Receives request for forest and Park land DEVELOPERS Assessment and delineation of land Agreement Forest clearance Handover of land Periodic monitoring Assessment and delineation of land Agreement Forest clearance Handover of land Periodic monitoring

National Plantation & Forest Product Development Authority Authority can resolve several outstanding issues related to Replacement Independent institution created by separate Act of the Parliament Finds degraded sites for planting, including village enclaves within protected areas or national forests Receives all funds paid by developers directly into its account to execute works

Authority: Forest Land Bank Authority can create FLB especially when land-for-land compensation is involved APPIIC commissioned a study which prompted MOFE to provide option of land-for-cash compensation in the updated Guidelines The land parcels received for compensation in the past were found mostly scattered all over the landscape and were difficult for DFOs to manage, and not particularly useful for forestry purposes.

Heavy seedlings mortality

CONSOLIDATING SUCCESS Help revise current Forest Guidelines and PA Guidelines with NPV and new compensation mechanisms Pre - Feasibility study to establish National Authority has been completed and findings presented to MOFE Provide inputs in the drafting of Federal Forest Policy and Act

CONTEXT OF FEDERALISM Success of easing this bottleneck hinges on effective federal forest policy and act: All diversions of forest to non-forestry uses must have the prior permission of the Federal Government National Plantation and Forest Product Development Authority (NPFPDA) be established by the Federal Act Provinces execute the actual plantings, care-taking and getting financial returns

APPIIC ROLE AT FEDERAL AND PROVINCE LEVELS Help the Authority carry out commercial plantations in each Provinces Build Capacity and raise awareness at all federal and province levels Solicit start-up fund to establish the Authority Help modernize the Authority offices, especially by setting up effective financial and administrative system

Conclusion This is an opportunity to begin an era of organized large-scale commercial plantations in Nepal. It should be considered as a win-win between Green and Brown Sectors