OPERATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR NAWALPARASI DISTRICT (1995/1996 - 1999/2000) Prepared for Department of Forests Forest Research and Survey Centre July 1995 Babar Mahal, Kathmandu P.O, Box 3339ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OPERATIONAL SUMMARY .. 2 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS BACKGROUND.. OBJECTIVES METHODOLOGY GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DISTRICT... 4.1 Location and boundaries. 42 Land use.... 43 Topography.. 44 Geology and soil 45 Drainage... 46 — Climate 4.7 Historical background of forest management 4.8 Illegal felling and pileferage of wood. 4.9 Forest encroachment situation 4.10 Non timber forest prodact sunion 4.11 Wildlife situation... 4.12 Soil and water conservation situation 4.13 Institutional framework and infrastructure. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONCERNS.. 5.1 Demographic and Socio-economic situation . aa 5.2 Forest products demand. 5.3 Participation and involvement of local people 5.4 Possible socio-economic impacts... 5 Mitigation measures .. PRESENT STATUS OF THE FORESTS... Forest area statistics... Working circles. ‘ 6.2.1 Production forest, Stand-wise management 6.2.2 Production forest, Tree-wise management 6.2.3 Production forest: low priority . 6.2.4 Potential community forests/ leasehold forests 6.2.5 Protection forests wns. 6.3 Forest types and composition 64 Compartment information 65 Site class distribution... 6.6 Development class distribution 6.7 Regeneration status... 68 Plantation status... 6.9 Growing stock by development classes... MANAGEMENT STRATEGY ..10. 12. REFERENCES. MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS 8.1 Background..... 8.1.1 Growth of Sal... 8.1.2 Rotation age.... 8.1.3 Existing regeneration... 8.2. Treatment prescriptions: harvesting operation 8.2.1 Production forest, stand-wise management. 8.2.2 Production forest, tree-wise management. 8.3 ‘Treatment prescriptions: silvicultural operations 8.4 Preliminary Management Prescriptions... 8.4.1 Community forests/Leasehold forests 8.4.2 Protection forests.... 8.4.3 Non timber forest products... 8.44 Soil and water conservatio 8.4.5 Wild life management... 8.4.6 Protection and management of encroached area .. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT .. MARKETING AND AND SUPPLY ASPECT. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS.. IMPLEMENTATION, UPDATING AND MONITORING.List of Tables Table 1 Table 2, Table 3, Table 4, Table 5, Table 6, Table 7, Table 8, Table 9, Table 10. Table 11 Table 12, Table 13, Table 14, Table 15. Table 16, Table 17. Table 19, ble 20, Table 21. Table 22, Table Table 24, Land use of Nawalparasi district Extraction of NTFP in Nawalparasi district ict Forest Buildings and their condition .. Projection of fuelwood and fodder demand in Nawalparasi district . Forest area distribution Working circles .. Forest type distribution Site class distributio Development class distribution... Growing stock by development classes.. ‘Total growing stock by development classes ‘Timber proportion after rot reduction. ‘Timber proportion after all reductions. Desired diameter distribution in an uneven-aged TH forest Summary of harvesting volumes... Annual removals Royalty assessment. Annual revenue estimates. Manpower needs in harvesting operations . Harvesting cost estimates Manpower needs in silvicultural operations Cost estimates of silvicultural operations Summary of Cost and Benefits.APPENDICES 1 Relascope plot form 2. Classification and coding rules a District forest organisation chart 4. Forest types 5 Development classes 6. Development class situation 7. Volume definitions 8. Volume calculation components 9. Harvesting methods 10, Silvicultural treatments 11. Timing of harvesting ac 12. Economic species classification 13. Economic data used in the calculations 14, Investments and physical support 15. Financial analysis 16. Forest encroachment record of Nawalparasi district OPERATIONAL ANNEX Compartment register : Production forest Harvesting programme Removal breakdown and revenues Mandays of harvesting operations Costs of harvesting operations Silvicultural treatment programme and mandays Costs of silvicultural operations. FOREST MANAGEMENT MAPS. 1. Harvesting and silvicultural programme (1:25,000) 2. District forest map (1:100,000) OFMP PREPARATION TEAM MEMBERSABBREVIATIONS AAC AFO cm DEO. DFPSB FMUDP FORESC HH Heft HMGN IRR km mm MT m3 NPV NRs ob OFMP TCN pc ub Annual Allowable Cut Assistant Forest Officer ‘Annum ‘Current Annual Increment Community forest Centimeters District Forest Office District Forest Products Supply Board Forest Management and Development Project Forest Research and Survey Center Household Hoppus eubie feet His Majesties Government of Nepal Internal Rate of Return Kilogram(s) Kilometer(s) Millimeters Metric tonnes Cubic meter Net Present Value Nepali Rupees Overbark Operational Forest Management Plan ‘Timber Corporation of Nepal Village Development Committee Under barkACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This operational forest management plan for Nawalparasi district is submitted to the Department of Forests, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MFSC). With the very word ‘operational’ the plan is expected to be operational for the management, utilization and development of the forest in the district, ‘The Forest Research and Survey Center is highly delightful to prepare this plan and likes to acknowledge following institutions and persons for providing invaluable suggestions and support. First of all, the FORESC would like to thank with gratitude Mr Sri Ram Poudyal, Secretary, MFSC for the guidance and suggestion provided to us as the chairman of the steering committee and for the encouragement to carry out this work. We would very much appreciate and thank Mr Indra Singh Karki, Acting Director General, Department of Forests for providing the opportunity to prepare this plan and for invaluable suggestions and support during the work. Our sincere thanks are due to Mr Amrit Lal Joshi, Chief Planning Officer, MESC and Mr Sarad Kumar Rai, Forest Management Officer, Department of Forests for the valuable suggestion provided to us as the steering committee members without which the plans would not have come in this shape. We would like to thank Mr Dhruba Prasad Acharya, DFO and other field staffs of the district for sparing time for discussion on the plan and providing very useful and potential suuggestions, ‘The FORESC would like to thank Mr H. Seppanen, Mr O. Rautiainen and Mr A. Wikberg, FMUD Project for providing support and suggestions on technical matters related to the plan and for training the staffs on the relascope survey, these supports have been very much useful in adding on knowledge to the staffs on the new technique and field work. Also thanks are due to Mr. Risto Laamanen, FRIS Project and Mr. Peter McCarter and Dr. Janet Seeley, FRP for the support and encouragement. Finally the FORESC would like to thank its professional and field assistant staffs who were involved on various ways in the preparations of the plan, Some fresh rangers from IOF were also provided training for field work and were engaged. The listing of all the staffs are attached at the end, July 1995 Rajendra B. Joshi Act. Executive Director FORESCOPERATIONAL SUMMARY The operational forest management plan aims to manage the existing forest resources of Nawalparasi district to meet the different needs of forest products for the national economy and for local use. The district has 122,365 hectares of forest land including the Chitwan National Park. Over 66% of the total forest area of the district falls on Churia and Mahabharat hills. The entire forest area of the district is divided into different working circles: according to the management needs. The district has about 20,846 hectares of production forest which lie in the Terai plains. Of the total production forest area, about 60% belong to high priority treatment area based on their maturity and regeneration status. For the operational management purposes, the distribution of development classes and their respective growing stocks, harvesting area and removal, harvesting revenues, and cost of harvesting and silvicultural operations of high priority production forest are summarized below: Working circles Production forest (high and low priority) 20,846 ha 17.0% Potential Community forest/ Leasehold forest 8,962 ha 7.3% Protection forest 80,950ha 66.2% Chitwan National Park 11,607 ha 9.5% TOTAL, 122,365ha 100.0% Forest type distribution (production forest: high priority s 11,650.6 ha 94% STH 3019 ha 3% TH 898 ha 1% Sissoo 259.7 ha 2% TOTAL 12,392.0 ha 100% Jopment cla Open area - ha 0% Regeneration area - ha 0% Sapling forest - ha 0% Pole forest 182.7 ha 1% Middle aged forest 1,513.7 ha 12% Mature forest 10,695.6 ha 87% TOTAL 12,392.0 ha 100%Pole forest 49 m3/ha Middle aged forest 159 m3/ha 168 m3/ha Mature fores Average/Total 165 m3/ha Jarvesting area and removal (steamwood and tota Regeneration felling 616.0 ha Removal of shelter trees 182.9 ha TOTAL, 798.9 ha H ing revenues (NRs) Regeneration felling Removal of shelter trees TOTAL Costs of harvesting operations (NRs) Area segregation Fireline Regeneration survey Mother tree selection Measuring/marking Felling/bucking ‘Transport Scaling Stacking TOTAL, Costs of Silvicultural operations (NRs) Cleaning Weeding Regeneration protection Fencing Fireline maintenance TOTAL. iii 8,919 m3 241,162 m3 1,797,373 m3 2,047,454 m3 10,5803 m3 8,206 m3 114,009 m3 352,839,000 29,202,000 382,040,000 17,975 238,084 23,100. 46,200 179,753 4,560,369 23,941,935 402,205 1,132,161 30,541,781 1,497,938 3,795,750 3,159,000 3,174,451 239,406 11,866,5441. BACKGROUND Forest resources play an important role in the economic and social upliftment of the people. About 15% of the GDP is estimated to be derived from forest resources. Fuelwood from forest and shrubland constitutes country’s main energy resources amounting to almost seventy five percent of total energy uses.JIncreasing demands for fuelwood and timber, the maintenance of large number of livestock and the scarcity of alternate energy have increased pressure on forest resources. In this regard, an immediate action (preparation and implementation of the operational forest management plan) is needed to reduce the pressure on forest and save the environment from depletion. The operational forest management plan for Nawalparasi district describes the existing forestry situation and prescribes the actions to be carried out for the Protection, development and harvesting of the forest resources. This plan deals with the entire forest of the district excluding the Royal Chitwan National Park, however, main focus has been given to the production forest blocks.The compartment-wise forest inventory has been carried out in the production forest blocks of high priority and site specific treatments are prescribed to facilitate the implementation of the plan. The field form and data classification applied in the inventory are presented in Appendix | and 2 respectively. All operations are located on management maps. The operational plan with the help of the mangement maps could be useful for preparing an annual plan with estimates on harvesting volumes by timber assortments, cost and revenue and the manpower needs. Local people, especially, those living in and around the fringe of production forest blocks, play a great role in the smooth implementation of Operational Forest Management Plan (OFMP). Socioeconomic survey precedes forest management planning and serves as a basis of information for planning. Socioeconomic characteristics of the local population and local demand situation of forest products have direct relation to peoples’ acceptance and participation in the forestry operations. OBJECTIVES ‘The specific objectives of the forest management plan are determined according to “Technical Guidelines for the preparation of Operational Forest Management Plan” set forth by the National Forest Division of the Department of Forest. However, the overall objectives of the plan are to manage the district's existing forest resources under sustainable basis there by giving priority to the bio-physical and socio-economic situation of the area, In order to achieve the above general objective, the following specific objectives are set forth: * to develop the necessary baseline data so that production and conservation objectives can be properly implemented in a sustainable manner. * {0 prepare comprehensive operational forest management plan that incorporates information on all aspects of forest usage in a manner that will permit the development of an efficient and effective production forestry regime in the district* to collaborate with the people affected by the plans to ensure that the plans and actions are technically sound and confirm to the principles of the World conservation Strategy of Nepal. © to develop and implement sound silvicultural and harvesting regimes that will permit the effective utilisation of the indigenous tree species in a sustainable as well as environmentally and socially acceptable manner. * to ussess forestry related socioeconomic situation and explore ways to involve local people in OEMP operations as well as to provide opportunities for peoples’ participation in the OFMP. implementation. 3. METHODOLOGY The methodology developed by the Forest Management and Utilisation Development Project (FMUDP) was applied in the field work as well as in the preparation of the plan. The existing data and maps produced by Forest Resources Information System Project were utilised in the planning of the field work as well as calculating the total districtwise forest resource assessment. The ficld work was concentrated in the national production forest blocks and a detailed operational level forest management plan is prepared. The protection and potential community forests are identified and mapped out in the plan. The steps followed in the preparation of the Operational Forest Management Plan are described below: Preliminary land allocation ‘The main purpose of the allocation is to identify the forests suitable for Government production forests as well as potential community/leasehold and protection forests. District level forest inventory data, forest maps, aerial photographs and topographic maps were used as a supportive material for the land allocation. A consultation was also done with the district forest officers and other persons to accomplish this job. Photo - interpretation Aerial photo of scale 1:25,000 (magnification of original scale 1:50,000) taken in 1991 were used for photo-interpretation, This interpretation work for the provisional delineation of forest compartments onto the aerial photographs was carried out based on the criteria such as natural boundaries (agricultural land, rivers, aspect and slope, ridges, roads and accessibility), working circle, development class, production status, origin, species composition, stand density, canopy layer cover, soil type, management objective and harvesting viewpoints. During the photo interpretation, production forest of the district was classified into two priority classes viz high priority and low priority. High priority was given based on the criteria such as biologically matured stands (merchantable size), good regeneration with sapling and pole forest and big size of the forest block where as low priorty was given to the middle aged forest (small saw timber) and scattered production blocks.The location of unclear boundaries delineated in the aerial photographs were checked right in the field work. During the delineation process the field team was also acquainted with the characteristics of the forest area which facilitated the collection of compartment data and orientation in the forest. Forest resources inventory he inventory field work was carried out only in the production forest of high priority treatment areas of 12,392 hectares.The inventory was based on compartment-wise systematic sampling using relascope plot method. For calculating the relascope plots the area estimate for each compartment was determined from the aerial photographs using a transparent dot grid. The plots in every compartment were then assigned based on the area of each individual compartment, Total of 1021 relascope plots were measured in the area mentioned above. The locations of the Plots were assessed and marked onto the photos during the photo-interpretation. The plots were distributed systematically to cover the entire compartment. The field co-ordinator allocated the compartment(s) for surveying to each crews. The compartments were numbered according to the crew code and running number (Al, A2, B1, B2, etc.). The forest area was then surveyed by taking a number of relascope plots. The regeneration survey plots were also measured on the Plots and half-way between the plots making twice the number of relascope plots (reduced by 1) in every compartment, The location of the first plot was determined with the help of aerial Photos in the field. After the measurement of the first plot the aspect and distance to the second blot was determined on the aerial photo using a compass. The distance between plot to plot was measured by using the foot steps of the crew (surveyer’s stepping). It was varied from 50 mts to 300 mits based on the number of plots and size of the compartment. ‘The data for each compartment in the relascope plot form included the classification of some of the main features of the site and the forest, measurement of some forest characteristics and Fegeneration potential as well as a treatment prescription (silvicultural operation and harvesting method (0 be applied) for the forthcoming implementation period. The classification and respective codes were applied according to the FMUDP survey procedure while recording the field data in the relascope plot form. The forest inventory field work was completed in one month (from mid March to mid April of 1995) by five crews. One crew consisted of two forest technicians and one labour. ‘The field work was supervised, monitored, cross-checked and co-ordinated by the field co-ordinator thoroughout the field work. Socio-economic Survey Available secondary information were gathered from the central as well as field offices and all the primary data were collected from the field. Four representative VDCs were selected from four strata of VDCs located in and around the fringe of the production forest. Field survey method was used to enable the researcher to gain in-depth insights and perspective from the local people in the OFMP. At the household level, the household list of four VDCs was obtained from the local offices. Stratified sampling was done in order to ensure respondents’ selection comprised of representatives of all ethnic groups and castes and inclusion of as much as 50 percent woman respondents residing in the VDCs.Data were collected using a semi-structured interview schedule for the houschold and a set of checklist for key informants. Examination of available secondary information, observation visit to the areas, informal discussion with the community residents and focus group discussion, were also conducted in order to learn the actual status of local socioeconomic situation, forest products consumption pattern and perception of the local people regarding the proposed intervention through implementation of OFMP. Field survey was completed in April and May of 1995 with the assistance of hired interviewers who received training before conducting the interviews. The data collected from primary and secondary sources were tallied, tabulated and analyzed. Simple descriptive statistical tools were used to present the general findings of the study Identification of environmentally sensitive areas Environmental impact study was not carried out because of the resource constraint. However, environmentally sensitive areas were identified in the production forests during the field inventory. In addition, environmentally sensitive areas such as river belts, erosion prone areas and eroded areas within the district were identified based on the visual interpretation of aerial photographs. Processing of the inventory data ‘The relascope plot data were summarized by calculating the averages which represent the entire compartment. The compartmentwise data were subsequently entered into the Excel-spreadsheet programme for computing the results. Existing FRIS data available for the district were also analysed by using an inventory programme. Preparation of forest manage nt maps A forest management map was prepared by incorporating the forestry elements onto an up-to- date topographic map, the most important of them being the final compartment and possible sub-compartment boundaries. The compartments selected for treatment during the implementation period are further divided into sub-compartments in order to adjust the size of the annual treatment areas to meet both practical and environmental requirements. Digitized mapping softwares such as TOPOS and ARC/INFO were used in the preparation of management maps. Relevant thematic maps are appended in the final plan document. They include harvesting and silvicultural treatment programme (at the scale of 1:25000). Compilation of the management plan The plan was prepared by incorporating the components discussed above. The details for harvesting and silvicultural programme for five years are presented in the plan. The draft report was submitted to the Department of Forests and DFO Nawalparasi for their comments. Final report was, then, prepared by incorporating the comments received from series of discussions with the DFO, the Department of Forests and the steering committee.4. | GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DISTRICT 4.1 Location and boundaries Nawalparasi district is located between 83° 36" - 84° 35’ E longitude and 27° 21° - 27° 47° N latitude, The district is surrounded by Chitwan in the east, Rupandehi in the west, Palpa in the north and India in the south, Administratively, the district belongs to Lumbini zone of the Western Development Region. The district is accessible throughout the year. The Mahendra highway passes east to west through the middle of the district. The district headquarter is located in Parasi about 20 kms south from the highway. 4.2 Land use ‘The total geographical area of the district is 219,510 ha, of which the biggest land use form is forest. Agriculture and urban land cover an area of 90,446 ha (41.2%). The different land use of the district is presented in Table 1. The area given in the table below does not tally with the data mentioned in the LRMP report and district profile because of the changes occured in the political boundary of the district during early 80s. The area of the district has been calculated from the digitized map which was based on the aerial photographs of 2047 B.S. (1990) and topographical map of the district of 2043 B.S. (1986). Agriculture and urban Forest Chitwan National Park ‘Scrub and grass | Rivers (Water bodies) Table I. Land use of Nawalparasi district 4.3 Topography Topographically, the district can be divided into three regions: Mahabharat hills, Churia hills and the Terai plain. The Churia hills, which form the northern portion of the district, are very rugged and often precipitous having all gradients and aspects. The slopes of the southern side of the hills are often very steep. The lower portion of the hills generally have easy gradients whereas the higher regions are often rugged, steep and precipitous. The terrain from the foot hills to Nepal- India border is almost plain, and cut by rivers and small streams from north to south, The elevation ranges from 91 meters to 1936 meters above mean sea level. The inner valley forms part of the district. A ridge of the hills cut the district into two separate plain areas. 4.4 Geology and soil ‘The geological formation of the district is alluvial plain with characterstics similar to the gangetic plain of India in the south while it is tertiary Siwalik in the north, The Siwalik hill is composed of coarsly bedded stone, crystalline rocks, clays and conglomerates. In between the alluvial plains and Siwalik hills is the dry zone commonly known as the “Bhabar tract”, composed of boulder gravels and sand.oil of the Terai flat plain is derived from the old as well as the new alluvium carried out by ts from the hills and mountains in the north. The soil ranges from loamy sand, sandy foam, loam, silty loam and clay loam. The soil in the north of Nawalpur is acidic and reddish whereas the soil of northern Parasi is brownish and yellow. 4.5 Drainage Main str us and rivers of the district are Girwari, Arun, Binay, Jharahi and Turia which are Perennial.They flow from north to south and drain the district. One of the biggest river Narayani 's flowing from north-east to south-west at the southern border of the district. There exists one main lake named Sanai at the Sanai VDC of the district. 4.6 Climate ‘The district experiences tropical, sub-tropical and mild-temperate type of climate according to the altitudinal variation, Climatically, the year can be divided mainly into three seasons such as cold, hot and rainy season. May and June are the hottest months, the average maximum temperature is 28.9 degrees celsius. The coldest months are December and January when the temperature falls down to 20.5 degrees celsius on an average. Maximum rainfall occurs during the monsoon season (June- September). The average annual rainfall is 1500 mmv/year. Dew falls from December to February. 4.7 Historical background of forest management The forest, before 2020 B.S. (1963), was intact and quite natural in its condition. Particularly, Nawalpur was very famous for flora and fauna at that time. After 2020 B.S. (1963), the overall situation of the district have changed because of the eradication of malaria, establishment of the resettlement office in the district, east-west highway construction and political disturbances. The flow of migrating people increased day by day from the hills to the plain from the near by districts, As a result, the forest of the distict was encroached and degraded every year. There is no good record of forest management activities in Nawalparasi district. However, the forests have supplied various types of forest products to the local and Indian market for many yeurs both legally and illegally. Trees were marked selectively and were auctioned by the Department of Forest. Moreover, the timber smugglers harvested the best trees. No attempt had been made so far for the improvement of the forest and its growing stock. In the year 2021 BS (1964), an attempt was made to gather the data on forest resources. A few forest inventory plots of the district were measured in 2022 BS (1965) but that was for the purpose of gathering the overall data on forest resources of the country. A forest working plan was prepared in 1966 for the Lumbini Forest Division which also included this district. But it was never implemented except occasionally mention it occasionally for its growing stock statistics. A forest scheme was also prepared in 1988 for a period of five years. A number of activities, such as planting, removal of overmature trees, training and extension work took place during this period, The district was intensively inventoried in 1992 making use of 1989/90 aerial photographs and the inventory report was published in 1993. Basedon this data a forest working scheme of the district was updated by the DFO in 1994 for a period of five years. 4.8 Illegal felling and pileferage of wood ‘The forests of Nawalparasi are affected a lot from the illegal felling and smuggling of good quality trees. Smuggling and illicit felling are mainly caused by open international boarder, transport facility, unemployment and lack of alternatives. The best selected timber is usually smuggled to India, So far as the smuggling is concerned, outsiders from remote ares and from across the border come to the forest fringe villages during the felling season and are involved in timber smuggling. The main routes of smuggling of the timber are Triveni- Bhaisaloton, Mahespur- Thutibari, Bhujhawa- Laxmipur, Bisnupura- Bargadawa. Under the current rules and regulation, the local people are allowed to collect one head load of firewood per day from the forest from the dead and dried twigs and branches. However, due to the absence of such ‘materials in some areas they collect from the green trees. Illicit felling is done place mainly for the houschold needs and business purposes. Majority of the illicit felling has been observed in the fringe forest. However, there are cases of illicit felling in the interior forest by gang members. Local saw mills have encouraged smuggling through investments in the net work. Smuggling timber in the form of ready made furniture is also quite common With the opening of east west highway and other road linkages the economy of the district has gone up through an increasing mobility of the people. As a result many new hotels and resturants have come up in many market areas of the district. These hotels and resturants need a lot of firewood to cater their clients. They consume large quantity of firewood and therefore many people are engaged in the illegal collection of firewood from the forest and selling them in the town. ‘The implementation of the forest management operations prescribed in this plan will create a variety of job opportunities to the local people. This ultimately helps in stopping the general practice of illegal felling. 4.9 Forest encroachment situation ‘The forest of Nawalparasi has suffered from the resettlement programme which was started by the government in 2022 B.S (1965) to settle the landless people as well as the forest encroachers. It is good that these settlement offices were dismissed in 1989. However, many people from the hills and mountaifs have settled in the forest. Encroachment is mainly in the fringe areas. According to Bhattarai (1988), about 4,560 hectares (404 ha in Bardaghat ilaka, 3,121 ha in Arunkbola ilaka and 1,035 ha in Kawasoti ilaka) of the forest land has been encroached by 6,073 families. The details are presented in Appendix 16. In addition, after 2046 about 137 hectares of forest area have been encroached by 632 families where small hut and cottage have been built (Nepal S, 1994). Many encroachers have been driven away by District Forest office through legal actions and at places the degraded forest fringes along the encroached areas have been fenced and planted with trees to enrich them.According to the Forest Research and Survey Centre (1994), the forest area in Nawalparasi speciullly in the plain was 51,000 ha in 1964, In 1978 it was 35,600 ha and in 1990 according to the satellite image interpretation, 25,600 hectares. The rate of deforestation in the first period ic 1964 - 78 was 2.4% per year and it remained 2% per year during the second period 1978 - 1990. Approximately, in 25 years half of the forests of Nawaparasi has either degraded or been converted into other land us 4.10 Non ber forest product situation ‘The Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) are one of the important revenue earning items of the district. At present, the major forest products like timber are harvested below their potential and their export is neglible. The non timber forest products, in this regard, can play a major role in earning more revenue for the country, by applying better management practices to mobilise the resources in the country. One of the problems of NTFP related inventory is the definition of products or plant species that should be included in the inventory, as the field work easily becomes too costly if inclusion of too many products is attempted. In order to gain up-to date record on the most common NTEP, District Forest Offices and HMG Custom Offices are considered as the main data sources. The NTFP available and collected from the district include khar, thakal, sabai grass, amriso, bamboo cane, bet, leaf litter for cattle bedding, bhorle leaves, sal leaves, fruits like amala, harro, barro, bel, tarul, mahuwa, ritha, sal seed and spices and herbs like tejpat, satabari, asparagus etc The other important products dalchini, bark of bilauni, sikkakai, Jeevanti, mushroom, Chirayito etc, are also collected from the forest. According to the Forest Working Scheme (1994), the extraction of minor forest products in the district during the last five years (F.Y. 2046/47 to 050/051) are given in Table 2. Name of MFP Fiscal Year 046/47_[_ 047/48 (048/49 049/50_[_050/51_| Total(Kg) Dalehini 6,000 10,900 10,450 9,350 4,250 40,950 Satawari 3,700 20,050 36,033 11,460 8,815 80,058 Chirayito 710 - : 174 zi 884 Kukur tarul : 5,000 : - : 5,000 Jiwanti - 4,625 1,510 6,189 3,530 15,854 Sikakai phal 20,630 E 3,400[ 29,500 53,530 Bilauni barks : 125 : - 500 625 Sikakai 3 10,000 1,705 : 2,500 14,205 Pipla zi 5 - : 100 100 Mushrum E 5 457 : : 457 Ritha : : : 2,598 650 3,248 Tawar Z = : = 4500 4,500 ‘Table 2. Extraction of NTFP in Nawalparasi district For the collection of these non timber forest products, permits are being issued by the District Forest Office. The original aims of the collection permit system are to control of volumes to becollected in any particular area, so as to prevent over-exploitation of a plant, and to collect revenue to HMG through royalties which are fixed by species. For the collection of sabai grass and sal seed, permits are issued to the Bhircuti paper mill and Sal seed factory of Parwanipur respectively for the certain years as per the decision of the Department of Forests. 4.11 Wildlife situation Nawalparasi district is rich in flora and fauna. Royal Chitwan National Park also extends its area into this district, which is about 11,607 ha (about 5% of the total area of the district). Wild animals are abundant in the forests of Nawalpur and along the Narayani river near the National Park. ‘The main wild animals in this area are rhino, tiger, leopard, deer and wild boar. In the other areas of the district, wild animals are limited because of the high population pressure, encroachment of the forest and illegal hunting. ‘The important birds in the district are peacock, jungle fowl, ducks, grey headed fishing eagle, ickoo, common Koel, parrot, goose, partridge,owl etc. Specially the forest of Daunnae is famous for birds. Wildlife poaching and illegal hunting of the animals and birds has resulted in the dwindling of the wildlife situation. The habitat of the animals are also being destroyed due to the pressure on the forest for land and other forest products. 4.12 Soil and water conservation situation Majority of the area of the district is covered with hills and mountains. Steep hills in the siwaliks and mahabharat are fairly eroded. Almost all the rivers and streams are flowing from north to south. These rivers are often flooded during the monsoon and destroy the adjoining area. At the time, they deposit sand and gravels on the fertile land. This phenomenon has caused serious damage to the agricultural land. Therefore it is necessary to protect the uphills to reduce the sedimentation in the downstream. ‘The siwaliks and mahabharat hills in this plan are classified as the protection area. Initiation of intensive management of the production forests in the plain area may decrease the local pressure in the siwalik hills, which ultimately helps to reduce the erosion hazard. 4.13 Institutional framework and infrastructure The forestry organization of Nawalparasi district falls under category 1 according to the new Barghat, Arunkhola and Kawasoti. There are fifteen (15) range posts under all the three ilaka offices. Altogether 190 regular posts are allocated to run the forestry administration and forest protection work of the district. Nawalparasi is one of the most accessible districts of Nepal. It is connected to Kathmandu through Prithivi highway and Mahendra highway. There are numerous seasonal roads linking to the villages of the district. The District Forest Office (DFO) is located in Parasi which is the headquarter of the district,Most of the buildings under the District Forest Office are in good condition. However, some has to be newly built and maintained. The DFO has its own building in Parasi and is just enough to accomodate all the district forest office staff. Haka Forest Offices have no enough space to accomodate their staffs and therefore building expansion or new construction is largely needed Some of the problems in the Iakas and Range Posts are lack of communication and transport facility for protecting the forest effectively. Details of the buildings and their condition are ented in Table 3, Two pickup and three motorbikes are the only vehicles in the district forest ifice for patrolling the forest. The condition of the equipments is not very satisfactory. n District Forest Office DFO Quarter Parasi Poor Needs construction AFO Quarter Parasi Good Needs maintenance ‘Armed guard camp Badera Good Needs maintenance Haka Office, Barghat Barghat Good Newly constructed AFO Quarter, Barghat Newly constructed Sunwal Range post Amroth Range post, Bayabasahi Range post Daunnedevi Range post Barghat Good Ramwapur Needs maintenance Daskhatta Needs maintenance No building | - Needs construction Newly constructed Triveni Range post Needs maintenance Needs construction _| AFO Quarter, Arunkhola Dumkibas Range pi Needs construction Needs maintenance Needs maintenance ~ Needs construction Needs construction Needs construction No building Dumkibas AFO Quarter, Kawasoti No building _| - Needs construction Danda i Kawasoti Good Newly constructed No building _| - Needs construction Nobi Tribhuyantar Range post Maharaja Range post Devehuli Range post Rajhar Range post Bhedabari Range post Needs construction Needs maintenance Gaidakot Needs maintenance, No building _| - Needs construction ‘Armed Guard camp, Barghat Armed Guard camp, Arunkhola_| No building _| - Needs construction Juard camp, Kawasoti__] No building Needs construction ‘Table 3. District Forest Buildings and their condition5. | SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONCERNS 5.1 Demographic and Socio-economic situation The total population of Nawalparasi district estimated in 1991 was 436,217 with 72,565 households and population density of 201.8 per square kilometre. The district population growth rate was 3.52, Tharus were the predominant population followed by Magars and Brahmins. All migrants from the hills were called Pahadiya. Magars, Brahmins, chhetri, Kami, Gurungs and Kumuls were the dominant communities among Pahadiya. Muslims who counted 14,613 were minority occupants in the district. Ethnic groups residing close to the forest were Pahadiya and ‘Tharus. ‘The average family size per sampled household was 7.18 and overall literacy was 53 percent. It was learnt that the male literacy rate exceeded the female literacy rate (59.5% for male and 40.5% for female). Of the total households surveyed, family structure of 38 percent households was joint, where as the structure of the rest was nuclear, Subsistence farming was the major source of livelihood of the population supported by small scale business enterprises and other livelihood activities such as tea shops, tailoring and blacksmith works. A small portion of the population in the surveyed area were deriving their basic income from job in government and private enterprises and small scale business. Of the total households 63 percent were just enough to maintain their household expenses. Only 13 percent of the respondents were in well-to-do condition who could save from their income. The rest 24 percent of the sampled households were underemployed due to insufficient landholding and seasonability of agricultural activities. OF the total respondents, 65 percent owned khetland, 26 percent also owned bariland and rest had to depend working on the land owned by others as shared tenants and on parti-ailani land (abandoned government and community land). Butfaloes, goats and cows were the principal domestic animals in the area, The feeding pattem for livestock was primarily grazing on their own land as well as in forest and community land and to some extent stallfed. The source of energy for cooking and heating was fuelwood. A negligible portion of the population was using kerosene and LP gas for cooking purpose. However, electricity as well as kerosene were the main sources for lighting. Traditional and fuel inefficient stoves were popular for the households in general. Major and only source of forest products was the government forest for the population. About 92 percent of the respondents admitted that they had no problem in getting the forest products as per their requirements. Where as 8 percent of the respondents had experienced difficulty in getting required quantity of forest products. Fuelwood, fodder and leaf litter were mostly collected by adults of both sexes, where as collection of timber, poles, and agricultural tools were traditionally male activities. Adult females were found to be involved in collecting leaflitter, bedding materials and NTFPs. uHowever, some children were also found involved in the collection of fuelwood, fodder and leaflitter. Forest products consumption rate varied with proximity and locality to the forests. The nearer the forest the higher was the consumption, The residents of the forest-fringe area had, although not all the legal and formal, privilege of access to government forest and its products. The average per capita household fuelwood consumption for the study area was 2340 Kg. of fuelwood and 3210 Kg. of fodder. For the calculation of the average figures for the entire district, the estimated annual consumption measures 195002 MT of fuelwood and 274170 MT of fodder. Occurrence of illicit felling for household needs and business purposes mainly in the fringe forests near Nepal-India boarder had been all the time a major problem for the district forest office staff. High price of timber and lucrative benefit from this business were the main causes of motivation/attraction for some individuals to smuggle timber and fuelwood to other parts of the district and also to India. Occurrence of non-stop forest fire each year during dry season caused by forest grazers and grass cutters had been seriously hampering regeneration establishments in the forests. Gradual and steady rate of encroachment and grazing were also equally important factors that had adverse impacts on the regeneration growth and forest restoration in the district. 5.2 Forest products demand From the household survey analysis it has been found that the quantity of forest products collected from the forest decreases with the increase of distance of forest from the house.Generally, most of the fuelwood was collected from the forest and fodder came from the farmland. The average per capita household fuelwood consumption for the study area was 2340 Kg. of fuelwood and 3210 Kg. of fodder. The annual requirements of the district will reach 231,825 and 325,942 MT for fuelwood and fodder respectively in the final year of the plan implementation, if no substitution by other energy sources takes place. Thus, private and community forest plantations should be encouraged to reduce the pressure on the government forest in the long run. Necessary activitities for the introduction of improved stoves and/or fuel efficient stoves should be carried out in the district. Potential alternative energy sources, such as biogas, kerosene and coal are of utmost importance in order to complement the fuelwood supply mostly in the market and accessible areas. The projection of fuelwood and fodder consumption for the entire district is presented in Table 4. Fuelwood (MT/HH) Fodder (MT/HH) 1995 500,956 83,334 195,002 274,170 1996 518,590 86,268 201,866, 283,820 1997 536,844 89,304 208,972 293,811 1998, 555,741 92,448 216,328 304,153 1999 575,303 95,702 223,942 314,859 231,825 325,942 ‘Table 4. Projection of fuelwood and fodder demand in Nawalparasi district,According to Bhattarai (1988), the timber consumption of the district is 0.08 m3/head/annum. Presently, there are about 6 saw mills, 37 furniture industries and 17 brick and tile factories. The wood demand for these industries and factories is too high to run them in their full capacity. Their demand survey in this study is not included. 5.3 Participation and involvement of local people Immediate action to control fire and grazing is of utmost importance so as to ensure a fully stocked and desired secondary forest after regeneration felling. Hence the District Forest Office in collaboration and with the involvement of local population, should develop an appropriate mechanism to protect each regeneration block. A thorough and meaningful participatory sion among district forest officials, local VDC and party leaders, women's group, interest groups, opinion leaders, social workers, teachers, forest goers and concerned individuals should be held in order to generate a variety of suitable options for regeneration protection and to come up to an agreement between forest officials and local villagers on their contribution and involvement in protecting the newly established forests from fire and grazing. The possible options such as employing paid watchmen and organising and effective local protection-cum- beneficiary group for each regeneration area, would be worth thinking as and where applicable. Involving local communities in the protection and management of forest keeps much value in the effective implementation of OFMP. Local peoples’ participation should be encouraged in the decision-making process to regulate the distribution rule or equitable distribution in order to share protection responsibility as well as to share benefits coming out of the OFMP implementation. Certain percentage ( 5-10% ) of income from the sale of forest products should be used for the community development activities.This would prosper an idea of joint forest management system resulting to a feeling of shared responsibility between district forestry personnel and local villagers. This process would also enhance the value of the forest resources as well as strengthen the trust between them. Following forest products should be allowed to the villagers to collect at free of cost during the harvesting and silvicultural operations: NTFP such as grass, fruits, seeds leaves, medicinal plants and mushrooms, Uncommercial fuelwood, Bark from sawlogs, 50% of the branchwood volume, All residues, tops and lops from a regeneration felling, and Forest products desired from weeding, cleaning and fireline maintenance. ‘These products would satisfy the local needs, if not fulfill their demand to a great extent. Forest operations should be carried out through locally employed manpower. For this purpose, a fair selection mechanism should be developed with the cooperation of local community organisation So as to ensure equity consideration, ‘The estimated number of mandays of off-rain jobs (150 days) in harvesting and silvicultural operations about 205, 311, 397, 502 and 602 for the Ist, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and Sth years of OFMP 13implementation respectively. Thus, on an average about 403 mandays of seasonal/off-rain jobs would be created annually in tending, harvesting and logging operations only if sustainable allowable cut is annually harvested. Aside from this, significant number of jobs would evolve in fuelwood collection and newly emerging service sectors. Local people should be trained to enable them to participate in the forestry operations safely and efficiently. During the tenure of OFMP implementation, the major areas of local employment are envisaged as follows: * protection of regeneration establishments harvesting operations Jogging and transportation ‘operation of depots other service sectors e.g., forest based industries, tea and food shops ete. 5.4 Possible socio-economic impacts OFMP implementation can certainly play a role in improving the living standard of local residents through direct and indirect employment as well as through direct and indirect employment as well as through the percentage of income share accrued from the sale of forest products. Purchasing capacity of the people may increase considerably through the income generated out of employment. Road system may improve and develop because of logging and transportation activities to be carried out during OFMP implementation. Conflicts may arise between OFMP personnel and local people. The OFMP operations may disturb the traditional uses of forests and thus hurt the sentiment of the communities. Due to lack of trust on forestry officials and lack of experience in re-establishing once cut over forest area, the local communities may resist to regeneration felling. Clearfelled area always attracts squatters and hence it leads to a problem of forest encroachment, thereby creating obstacles for carrying out further OFMP activities. 5.5 Mitigation measures Possible holy trees used for worshipping and other heritage sites will be identified and protected from any disturbances. The VDC officials and local people will always be informed before any treatment or operations, Workers for forest harvesting and silvicultural operations will be locally recruited exclusively from adjacent villages. They will be employed fairly from different households. . Locally organised protection-cum-beneficiary groups will be fully empowered and mobilised to protect the regeneration areas from possible encroachment. The local groups will be supported by the OFMP personnel as well as district forest personnel. In case of necessity, DFO force will be employed to ensure full protection and desired plan implementation. 46. PRESENT STATUS OF THE FORESTS The total forest area of the district is 122,365 hectares. Based on slope, the forest under more than 100% slope is about 80,950 hectares which falls mainly on siwaliks and mahabharat hills. The area covered by each of the forest is presented in Table 5. res jore than 10% crown cover Scrub and grass Chitwan National Park Table 5. Forest area distribution 6.2 Working circles The breakdown of the entire forest area of the district into different working circles is shown in Table 6. According to the breakdown, the production forest working circle has been divided into ‘wo priority classes viz: high priority teatment area and low priority treatment area, High priority treatment area are mainly considered in this plan being an urgent need for active management and thus has been divided into two distinct management categories: stand-wise management and tree-wise management. The stand-wise management working circle includes natural forest (all $ and STH forest types), all the plantation forests as well as TH forest types with a significant sal regeneration. The tree-wise management working circle includes the TH forest types where the sal regeneration is absent or lower than the planting density (2000 seedlings/ha), Production forest: high priority * stand-wise management —---__| {12,302} * twee-wise management —-- | {90} Production forest: low priority _ 8,454 | Community forest/Leasehold forest 8,962 13 ction forest 80,950 66.2 | National park management 11,607 Table 6, Working circles 6.2.1 Production forest, Stand-wise management ‘The stand-wise silvicultural system is recommended for mainly the sal forests. Stand-wise forest management deals with forests composed of individual stands in which tree originate at about 15the same time. The forest area consists of a different stands of different age and size which are called management units or sub-compartments, When converting an unmanaged un-even forest into a stand-wise ‘one, the easiest metod for ing stability and sustainability is to use area control. The annual regeneration felling area is determined by dividing the total forest area by the rotation age. In a well managed forest the growth data can be obtaind and volume growth can be used to maintain the sustainability. ‘The ultimate aim of this management system is to convert the natural forest with a sufficient natural regeneration potential into stand-wise sal dominated forests with about 20% of mixed Terai hardwood species. This will also restore the original sal dominance to the forest deteriorated by heavy utilization of sal trees in particular, The total area under this working circle is 12302 ha. Silvicultural harvesting in the stand-wise working circle can be divided into two principal types of operations: singling or thinning of the immature forests which are to be further grown and regeneration fellings of the biologically matured stands which do not fully utilize the potentiality of the soil Harvesting prescriptions are based on the development classes determined for each compartment during the field inventory. These classes are based on a defined rotation period at the end of which the most valuable crop is harvested. all the intermediate operations are, therefore, aimed at enhancing the growth and value of the final timber size crop. These include singlings and thinnings where the supressed and co-dominant trees disturbing the growth of the final crop are gradually removed. The stocking of a compartment should, however, not be reduced to make the forest under-productive and susceptible to damages. Appropriate thinning regimes should, therefore, be developed by the the time the young forests become more prevailing. By applying ‘See beings the total value yield during the rotation period will be maximized. 6.2.2 Production forest, Tree-wise management ‘Tree-wise management using the selection system can be applied in the Terai mixed hardwood (TH) forests with an absent or poor sal regeneration (less than 2000/ha). The species composition may vary from place to place but there seldom is any species which dominates the others. Also the regeneration in such forests consists normally of several species, which commercially have about the same value. The area under this management working circle is about 90 hectares, 6.2.3 Production forest: low priority Production forest of low priority covers an area of 8,454 hectares in the plains (less than 40% slope). These are located at various places in the district in small blocks. Presently, these forests fall under the category of development class 4 (middle aged forest). Detailed inventory of these forest is not carried out for the active management. However, these forests should be included in the next plan considering their potentiality for the production forest management system, 166.2.4 Potential community forests/ leasehold forests The potential community forest/ leasehold forest areas are the fringe areas in the vicinity of the villages situated in the plains or hills. Most of the scattered and isolated patches of poorly stocked forest, and accessible scrub and grassland have been allocated in the potential CF/LF. ‘The management of these forest could be undertaken by the group of local people to meet their daily needs of fuelwood and fodder, and other industrial purposes, While managing these fringe areas by the community/ leasee, the pressure on the production forest blocks can be reduced, The total area allocated for the potential community forest/leasehold forest working circle is about 8962 hectares, which is 7.3% of the total forest area, According to the record of Nawalparasi District Forest Office, about 443 hectares of community forests have been handed over to the users of 19 villages. The size of the community forest handed over to the users is varying from 2 hectares to 67 hectares for its management. Some of the protection forest situated in Daunne and other plices of the district can also be allocated as a Potential leaschold forest if some community or the group of people come with appropriate action plan Protection forests Forests on the siwaliks and mahabharat hills, as well as along the river side are put under protection working circle. The main objectives of these forest are: to maintain a vegetative cover to protect the steep hills from erosion, to improve the forest cover and protect watershed and to meet the requirements of forest produce for local use. The protection forests except the Chitwan national park is about 66 percent of the total forest area of the district. These forests are not allowed for commercial management because of the non reachibility and unstable geological character. Therefore, no inventory has been carried out in these forests. 6.3 Forest types and composition ‘The forests of the district are categorized into the following three distinct types: Sal forests (Forest types $ and STH) Sul is the predominant species found in this type. Other associates are Asna (Terminalia tomentosa), Bahera (Terminalia belerica), Banjhi (Anogeissus latifolia) and Dillenia pentagyna, Very few shrub plants and ground vegetation can be observed in sal dominant stands. This is the main forest type in the district and it dominates about 82% of the forest area, Terai Mixed Hardwood Forests (TH forest types) This type of forest is comprised of mixed hardwoods other than sal, and occurs mostly on the bottom lands along the streams. The most common species are Terminalia tomentosa, Adina cordifolia, Bombex malabaricum, Lagerstroemia parviflora, Trewia nudiflora, Albizia lebbek, Anogeissus latifolia, Acacia catechu, Schleichera trijuga. Sal is also found in the scattered form. This is the second biggest forest type in the district and it covers about 15% of the forest area. 7Sissoo-Khair Forests (SK and KS) ‘This type of forests exist along the river banks where the new alluvial soils are deposited. The Khair forest is more common in the drier areas. Delbergia sissoo are predominantly found in this district. This forest type forms about 3% of the forests, In the production forest: high priority area of the district, Sal (S) is the main forest type. Other {ypes are Sal-Terai hardwoods (STH), Terai hardwoods (TH) and Sissoo. The area distribution of which are shown in Table 7. The entire forest type classification is shown in Appendix 4, Forest_types Sal-Terai Hardwood (STH) ‘Terai Hardwoods (TH) Table 7. Forest type distribution 64 Compartment information ‘The compartment information of high priority production forest is presented in a register containing all the relevant data for each forest compartment, The compartment registers for each working circle are presented in the Operational Annex. More detailed data regarding the expected removal, revenues, cost and manpower requirements needed to complete the proposed operations in the production forest area are presented in the harvesting and silvicultural treatment programmes in the Operational Annex. 65 Site class distribution Site classification presented in the silvicultural guidelines based on the dominant height and the age was applied. In the absence of accurate age-data the average age of 75 years has been applied in the site class assessment for the production forest. The majority of the forest compartments fall in class 2 (top height 27-33m) as shown in Table 8 Site class ‘Table 8. Site class distribution6.6 — Development class distribution A classification based on the development stage of each forest compartment has been introduced for the new OFMP and is presented in Appendix 5. The classification is based on the aim to initiate stand-wise forest management in the mixed sal forests, The development c distribution of the compatrments belonging to the production forests is shown in Table 9. The forest in most of the compartments are quite matured. Sapling forest Pole forest 183 1 Middle-aged forest 1514 12 | Mature forest Table 9. Development class distribution ‘The stand-wise management describes systematic management regimes and defined rotation Periods. In the absence of the management system in these forests at Present and due to selective felling applied in the past, the development class distribution has become skewed as the Proportion of young forests is quite negligible as shown in Table 8. The influence of active management in future can be expected as presented in Appendix 6. If the regeneration activities continue as prescribed during the forthcoming 5 and 10-years Periods, the structure of the forest will improve as depicted in the situation after 10 years, It can be further noticed that even if the regeneration activities continued as planned for the following 30 years, the proportion of mature forests will remain as prevalent as at present. As a result of efficient management the age and development class structure will, however, gradually approach optimum where all classes are represented as they appear in a normal forest where production Capacity is utilized in full. In those conditions, volume growth of the forest is also maximized and sustainable production ascertained. As depicted in Appendix 6, it will, however, take a number of yeurs of systematic managment untill the development class structure will be normalized resulting in optimum growth and regular harvesting yield both from thinnings and regeneration fellings. 6.7 Regeneration status The regeneration status of each compartment is indicated in the compartment register of the plan, Sceilings were recorded in two height classes in the field work under and over 1.3 meters. The higher seedlings (saplings) represent a more established regeneration. The number of sal seedlings on the ground, in addition to the biological maturity of the forest, was an important criteria in identifying the locations for regeneration fellings. The average number of sal seedlings in all compartments in the production forest is about 64,000/ha. 19‘The results of the FMUDP trials demonstrate the success of natural regeneration if biotic factors and fire have been eliminated by fencing and firelines. Although the growth of sal seedlings at the juvenile stage is fast after the regeneration felling, uncontrolled grazing and forest fires will Pose a serious problem for successful regeneration, Protection of young, best growing stands through their first 2-3 years will, therefore, be the most challenging task of the future. Based on these observations it can be concluded that in most cases the number of seedlings is more than sufficient for natural regeneration and only the best ones can be selected for further growing. 6.8 Plantation status According to the record of District forest Office, the plantation forestry in the district covers an area of 3323 hectares which is distributed in various places. The first plantation was carried out in the fiscal year 2034/35 by the Timber Corporation of Nepal. After that various plantation activites were carried out through Afforestation Division, Terai Community Forestry Project, Fuel Wood Corporation, Butwol Plywood and Leaschold program. Plantation through contract ‘was also initiated by the District Forest Office during the fical year 2048/49. So far 150 hectares have been planted through contract.The main species planted in the various places are Sissoo, Khair and Teak. In the production block of high priority about 183 hectares of plantation is included together with the shelter trees (mother trees). The management of these forest will be ied out under the stand-wise management system. 69 — Growing stock by development classes ‘The total growing stock in the different development classes of the production forest is presented in Table 10 and 11. The average standing volume is 165 m3/ha of stemwood and reaches 216 m3/ha when branchwood is included. A formula based on the study by Pukkala and Sharma, 1990 has been used to estimate the branch to stem ratio. The total growing stock in the Production forest is about 2,047,454 m3 of stemwood and 2,674,198 m3 with branches. The sal proportion of the standing volume is about 75%. According to the inventory report of Nawalparasi (FORESC,1993), the mean growing stock of the forest is estimated at 168m3/ha with bark. This figure is very low compare to the mean growing stock 216 m3/ha (stem wood and branch wood) calculated in the production forest of the district at present (1995). Total of 1021 relascope plots were measured during the forest inventory of the production forest area of 12392 hectares. The standard error of total standing volume is estimated to be 8%. The results are, however, based on random sampling formula which slightly overestimates the standard error as the comparment-wise inventory resembles systematic sampling. According to Lindgren (1984) , bused on his study on plot sampling of Swedish forest compartments, the overestimation is some 25%. 20