"Hariyo ban Nepal sarkar ko dhan"

When the government nationalised the country?s forests in 1961 it took away control over resources from local communities. Within 15 years, Nepal had lost much of its midhill forest cover, the country was sliding towards desertification, and there were dire predictions that all forests would go by the year 2000. Luckily, in the 1980s along came the community forest initiative which allowed villages to lease the commons, protect their forests so they could use it sustainably. Villagers started protecting their forests again, they stall-fed cattle so the animals wouldn?t forage in the undergrowth. Soon, mountains that had been nearly denuded, started to regenerate and by the year 2000 Nepal?s midhills actually had more forest cover than in the 1950s.

Nepal?s community forestry experience is regarded as one of our greatest success stories, and is being replicated throughout the developing world. The model was built on the need for grassroots democracy, environmental protection and decentralised decision-making to strengthen each other. And it worked. Unfortunately it seems to have worked so well that the central government now wants a share of the revenue from the forests that the villagers have protected.

In 2001, the government promulgated an ordinance to collect 40 percent of the income from community forest users in the tarai area. Following a writ petition by the users, the Supreme Court ruled against the decision. Now, far from withdrawing the rule for the tarai the government has extended the 40 percent requirement to all community forests all over the kingdom through Royal Ordinance in the budget. Environmentalist and grassroots activist, KK Panday shakes his head in dismay: ?It took us 30 years to correct the mistake of nationalising forests in 1956, now we are going to repeat that same mistake.? There are now more than 13,000 community-based forest user groups covering 1.4 million families throughout Nepal. Their members are elected by the community, and most are effective and accountable looking after the villagers who entrusted their forests in their hands. There have been numerous cases of village men, women and children staying awake all night to guard their forests when the saplings are young. Some villagers have paid with their lives to guard their trees, others have been burnt trying to save their forests from fires. Revenue from community forests generated local income for VDCs which they ploughed into building schools, paying teachers, and repairing health posts. Farmers originally didn?t like tying up their cattle and buffaloes, but suddenly found that if everyone stall-fed there was enough grass and fodder in the forest for everyone. In almost every survey done since community forestry went into effect, family incomes and wellbeing have improved.

?We told the people, this is your forest, protect it and you can use it for the good of your community, and they did. They trusted us. Now we are going back to them and saying sorry, boys, it?s not yours after all,? says Hari Prasad Neupane.....