By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Mar.11: Experts have said that a new plan was essential for forest management after the government recently abolished the scientific forest management (SFM) system.
Experts participating in Haka-Haki debate on challenges to forest management and timber supply organised by the Nepal Environment Journalists Group (NEFEJ) on Wednesday said that an alternative management plan was needed as soon as possible after the scrapping of the SFM system.
Speaking at the debate, Dinesh Raj Regmi, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepal Forest Products Industry Entrepreneurs, suggested moving ahead by resolving the complexities and problems of scientific forest management.
He said, “We should not create confusion by stopping the whole process just because there is a problem in one specific place.With the abolition of SFM, a question as to how timber be managed has arisen. At present, the timber to be extracted from the forest is around 110 million cubic feet, but timber worth Rs. 18 billion is coming from abroad.”
He also demanded that the sale and distribution of timber that was chopped during scientific forest management should be opened immediately.
Vice President of the Forest Technical Association Shree Prasad Baral said that the government scrapped the scientific forest management system without any plan. Baral demanded that scientific forest management procedures should not be scrapped without having an alternative to it.
Thakur Bhandari, secretary of the Federation of Community Forest Users Nepal (FECOFON), said that consumers wanted to manage timber simply and easily. “There should be public participation in forest management,” he said.
Bhandari further said that they were positive towards the right of the consumers to have easy access to firewood under sustainable forest management system.
Chief of the Forest Management Division of the Department of Forest Divesh Mani Tripathi expressed the government’s commitment to finding an alternative to scientific forest management as soon as possible. “The government is doing its homework for this,” he said.
Forest expert Dr. Binod Bhatta said that the concerned bodies should give priority to tree planting for sustainable management of the forest. “We have to plan and plant trees to manage it for a longer time,” he said.
Chairman of the NEFEJ Cosmos Bishwakarma said that concerned bodies should work together for the sustainable conservation of forests. He also informed that NEFEJ would hold such debate programme regularly.