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

2. 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

3.   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.

4. APPIIC’s Support 2006/07 – 2015/16 2016/17 – 2017/18
Hand over ha/year
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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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:

8. 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)

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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. Heavy seedlings mortality

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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