3,188 hectares of forest area encroached in Karnali, only 163 hectares under control in a year
Hemanta KC, Nepal News Bank
Surkhet. In Karnali Province, 3,188.17 hectares of forest land has been encroached upon. The government data shows that a large area is still under encroachment despite efforts by the government agencies responsible for forest conservation.
According to Mahesh Nepali, information officer at the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment of Karnali Province, 3,188.17 hectares of forest land has been encroached upon in various districts of the province. In the fiscal year 2082÷83, encroachment of 163.03 hectares of forest area has been controlled. According to the district-wise data, the highest forest area has been encroached upon in Jajarkot. In Jajarkot, 1,225.5 hectares of forest area has been encroached. After that, 644.05 hectares of forest area has been encroached upon in Salyan and 417.96 hectares in Dailekh. Similarly, 265.74 hectares of forest land in Jumla, 255.66 hectares in Mugu, 152.97 hectares in Bheri area, 74.89 hectares in Surkhet, 72.2 hectares in Rukum West, 65 hectares in Humla and 14.2 hectares in Kalikot have been encroached upon.
These figures show that forest encroachment is not only a problem of one district but a state-wide challenge. A large part of the encroachment is concentrated especially in Jajarkot, Salyan and Dailekh. In these three districts alone, 2,287.51 hectares of forest area has been encroached. This is about 72 percent of the total encroachment as shown from the district data.
Encroachment is big, the pace of control is weak
However, the progress towards forest encroachment control has been challenging. According to the ministry’s data, 163.03 hectares of forest area has been removed in the fiscal year 2082÷83. Out of this, only 152.02 hectares have been controlled in the Bheri area. This is about 93 percent of the total area controlled in one year.
Similarly, 3.
5 hectares forest land in Kalikot, 2.3 hectares in Dailekh, two hectares in Mugu, 1.5 hectares in Surkhet, 1.05 hectares in Rukum West and 0.66 hectares in Jajarkot have been removed.
In Jajarkot alone, 1,225.5 hectares of forest area is under encroachment, but only 0.66 hectares have been controlled, according to the data. Although 644.05 hectares of forest area has been encroached upon in Salyan, the control data for that year is not available. This shows that the control campaign should be given priority in the districts where encroachment is high.
Forest encroachment is not just a matter of government land grabbing. It can also affect the forest area, biodiversity, catchment area and environmental balance. Conservation of forest areas requires data collection and anti-encroachment campaigns, along with regular monitoring, demarcation and effective action plan to prevent further encroachment.
The government bodies responsible for forest conservation should not only make public the area where the encroachment has been removed, but also the efforts made to prevent new encroachments and their results. Otherwise, the data of encroachment is collected every year, but the achievement of forest area conservation will be low.
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