A Term paper

on
" LHF reclaim degraded forest land and improvement of
ecological condition in Nepal, justify with example. "

Prepared by
Mr. Rakshanda Sedhain
M.Sc. 1st Year 2nd Semester
Roll No.: 27

Submitted to
Faculty of Forestry, AFU, Hetauda, Nepal
2022
A term paper on 601 (NRM) Community based forest management and governance
module for the course Curricula of Master Degree in Forestry at Faculty of Forestry,
AFU, Hetauda, Nepal.

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Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Objectives: .................................................................................................................................................... 5
Methodology:................................................................................................................................................ 5
Findings: ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Conclusion and Recommendation: ............................................................................................................... 7
References: ................................................................................................................................................... 8

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Abstract
In Nepal, leasehold forestry has a long history and is regarded as one of the most creative
and well-known initiatives to fight poverty and restore the hills' degraded forests. By
addressing the causes of degradation, significant improvements in ecosystem health, land
cover, productivity, and the availability of useable forest have been made. Less free
grazing, fewer fires, and widespread planting of regionally suitable trees, grasses, and
herbs, including non-timber forest product species, have all enhanced the health of the
forest. Before the program started, the majority of leasehold sites had significant
degradation. Invasive weeds like Lantana camera and Chromolaena odorata were
frequently dominant on the sites, which made it difficult for native plants to naturally
regenerate. As part of the effort, several of the locations had invasive weeds removed and
were then planted with broom grass and other types of fodder plants. Before leasehold
forestry, the average ground cover in new sites was roughly 32%. After one complete
growing season, this expanded quickly to 50% and then progressively to virtually full
coverage in locations after seven years. On their leased forest area, almost 61% of the
LFUGs reported an increase in the canopy and ground cover of native and other valuable
plant species. Soil erosion has decreased as a result of the increase in plant cover.

Keywords: degraded land, forest restoration, plant diversity

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Introduction
By leasing damaged land to certain underprivileged people, the Leasehold Forestry and Livestock
Programme seeks to enhance both forests and lives. The Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage
Development Project (HLFFDP), which is praised for having significant effects on both trees and
livelihoods, launched it in 1993. (Ohler 2003; HLFFDP 2003). The project was then made a
national programme, extended for another 10 years and expanded to cover 26 additional districts
of Nepal. Although considered successful, several studies also have shown that the programme
had negative impacts on the poor including exclusion from use of leasehold forest and a reduction
of benefits from the leasehold forests as a result of the implementation of the programme (Grinten
and Dhakal 1997; Baral and Thapa 2003; Joshi et al. 2000; and Bhattarai et al. 2004; Thoms et
al.2006).

The leasehold forest approach seeks to enhance forest regeneration in degraded areas while
alleviating rural poverty. Under this new system and up to 2014, the Nepalese government handed
over around 41,730 hectares of state-owned, virtually open-access, degraded forest lands to
Leasehold Forest User Groups (LFUG) - groups of 5 to 15 of the poorest and most vulnerable
households. Each household was eligible to receive around one hectare of land in the form of a
group lease contract valid for 40 years, with a provision to extend it for another 40 years. Leasehold
forestry households were allowed to cultivate perennial and multi-purpose plants, enhancing their
income in a sustainable manner from livestock (mainly goats, due to improved fodder availability)
and from planting and selling non-timber forest products mixing grass/forage and trees.

In exchange, the government required that households protect their forest lands against
degradation from open grazing, forest fires, soil erosion, etc., while enhancing the regeneration of
trees, shrubs and grass. Leasehold forestry has been promoted in Nepal since 1993 through the
Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project (HLFFDP) and in 2004 by the
Leasehold Forest and Livestock Development Programme (LFLP). The latter was implemented in
22 mid-hill districts of Nepal, with a target of 44,300 poor households. In this framework, LFUGs
received support for the preparation of forest management plans of five or more years based on
landscape approaches and were provided with technical advice and training by the District Forest
Offices, in order to help them in restoring the forest on their plots. The groups were also provided
with basic inputs, such as tools, seeds and goats, to reduce investment costs, and had access to
micro-credit 5 opportunities to start income-generating activities. The interventions were followed
by the Multi Stakeholder Forestry Programme (MSFP), a ten-year programme signed in 2012 to
tackle poverty and climate change which aimed at lifting an estimated 1.7 million people out of
poverty by working with existing and new forestry groups of various kinds and creating an
additional 80,000 jobs.

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Thus this paper will provide the baseline information regarding the impact of leasehold forestry
programme in reclaiming the degraded forest land.

Objectives:
The major objectives of this paper is:

1. To analyze the LHF reclaim degraded forest land and improvement of ecological condition in
Nepal.

Methodology:

This includes reviewing documents related to the objectives such as research, articles, papers,
case studies, journals published and unpublished reports, and websites. Furthermore, essential
information was downloaded from related website.

Findings:

Analyzing the data of 147 households of Makawanpur and Kavre districts, Ohler (2000)
reports that the ground cover of the degraded land increased from 32% to 78% within a period of
six to seven years. The growing stock and species diversity also substantially increased in the two
districts. The percentage of increase in species diversity was found to be 57 in Makawanpur and
86 in Kavrepalanchok (IFAD 2003:22). Similarly, NPC (2005) reports 644 plants per hectare,
which includes 253 poles and 56 trees, as against the baseline data, which counted maximum 20
trees per hectare during the hand-over.

Although the figures for ecological improvement represent only a few leasehold forestry sites,
there is a general consensus that the trend of improvement is positive. Such positive impact on
the forest cover and quality has been attributed to the stall feeding of more than 95% of the
livestock due to the project's intervention (ibid). However, in some highland areas, grazing in
leasehold sites resulted in further degradation of land with a conversion of forest to shrub land
and grassland (IFAD 2003). Leasehold forestry is well established in Nepal and considered one
of the most innovative and widely recognized programme for combating poverty and
rehabilitating degraded forests in the hills. Significant achievements have been made in ecosystem
health, land cover, productivity and availability of useful forest by addressing the causes of
degradation.

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 Forest health has been improved through less free grazing, fewer fires, and widespread
planting of locally appropriate trees, grasses and herbs, including non-timber forest product
species. Food security and other components of rural livelihoods such as community
infrastructure, microfinance and institutional development were also improved. Furthermore, the
initiative helped drive key policies and catalyzed spill-over impacts in favor of poor rural people
– impacts that can still be witnessed today. Impact studies from FAO, for example, have shown
that between 25,000 to 30,000 hectares of degraded forest were rehabilitated by LFUGs, changing
unproductive grassland to sparse forest (+300% of forest cover). Leasehold forests revealed to be
the most rapid model to create new forest areas when compared to other forestry regimes (e.g.
community forestry, private forestry, and government forests). Furthermore, broom grass and
other forestry plantations replaced low-productive cultivation, providing more uses for the
communities and playing a stronger role in supporting their 7 livelihoods. More than 95% of the
groups have seen an improvement in the usefulness of the forest, and over 40% have seen a very
significant improvement, in terms of access to the forest resources, increased forest cover (60–
70% against 20% at the beginning) and availability of green fodder and forage.

Figure 1: Increase in plant species diversity in two leasehold forests (based on NFRI 2000 a&b; Ohler
2000).

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 Figure 2. Increase of vegetative ground cover of leasehold forests (based on Singh and Shrestha 2000).

In terms of benefits to the environment, ecosystems and climate, leasehold plots sequestered more
carbon (ranging from 7.43 to 20.07 mt/ha) than control plots (3.3 to 16.87 mt/ha) and there have 8 been
increases in green vegetation (91% of the LFUGs); forest health (93%); movement of birds (94%); plant
diversity and richness (86%); improved varieties of forest species (78%); increased wildlife movement
(76%); and increased number of trees in the farmland (78%); improved control of landslips (45%) (Fortun,
2021).

Conclusion and Recommendation:

Leasehold forestry is well established in Nepal and considered one of the most innovative and
widely recognized programme for combating poverty and rehabilitating degraded forests in the
hills. Significant achievements have been made in ecosystem health, land cover, productivity and
availability of useful forest by addressing the causes of degradation. Forest health has been
improved through less free grazing, fewer fires, and widespread planting of locally appropriate
trees, grasses and herbs, including non-timber forest product species. Most leasehold sites were
severely degraded before the programme began. Sites commonly had very sparse tree cover and
were dominated by invasive weeds such as Chromolaena odorata and Lantana camera, which
prevented the natural regeneration of native plants. Under the programme, many of the sites were
cleared of invasive weeds and planted with broom grass and other fodder species. Average ground
cover in new sites before leasehold forestry was about 32%. This rose rapidly to 50% after one
full growing season, and gradually increased to almost full coverage in sites after seven years.

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About 61% of the LFUGs reported an increase in canopy and ground cover of native and other
useful plant species on their leasehold forest land. The increase in vegetation cover has helped
reduce soil erosion.

References:
Baral J. C., and Thapa, Y. (2003). Nepal’s Leasehold Forestry for the Poor: The other Side of the Coin.

In Timsina, N. P. and H. Ojha Eds. (2004). Case Studies on Equity and Poverty in the Management of

Common Property Resources in Nepal. Proceedings of the National Workshop on Management of

Common Property Resources and Equity: Exploring Lessons from Nepal, May 28, 2003.

Bhattarai B., Ojha, H. and Humagain, Y. (2004). Is Leasehold Forestry Really a Pro-Poor Innovation?

Evidences from Kavre District, Nepal. Journal of Forest and Livelihoods, 4 (2), February 2005.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). (2012). Leasehold Forest User Group

Categorization: An assessment of the group performance (TA for LFLP, GCP/NEP/062/FIN).

Fortun., Patricia Rodriguez. (2021). Leasehold Forestry in Nepal: Restoring Forests and Livelihoods.

Grinten, P. v.d., and Dhakal, H. H. (1997). Household Impact Study II Volume: Main Report. Hills

Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project, Kathmandu, Nepal.

HLFFDP. (2003). Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project: Interim Evaluation. Volume

1 Main Report. IFAD- Office of Evaluation, Italy.

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IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development). (2008). Combating poverty through better land

and forest use: IFAD’s contribution to sustainable forest management. www.ifad.org/operations/

gef/climate/forest.pdf

Kafley., G and Pokharel., K. (2017). Pro poor Leasehold Forestry: A Community based Tenure Regime

in Nepal.

Ohler, F.M.J. (2003). The impact of leasehold forestry on livelihoods in Nepal. Paper presented to the

XIIth World Congress of Forestry, Montreal, Canada, September 21-28.

Singh, B.K. & Shrestha, B. (2000). Group Site Information Report of the Leasehold Groups. Kathmandu:

Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project. 10

Thoms, C., Karna, B., Karmacharya, M. (2006). Limitations of Leasehold Forestry for Poverty Alleviation

in Nepal. Society and Natural Resources, 19:951-958.

Yasmi.Y & Hancock. J. (2014). Productive Landscape Through Leasehold Forestry in Nepal