KATHMANDU: Issues facing forestry ranging from conservation to infrastructure development were discussed amidst a program organized at Pavilion Media Hall at Durbar Marg today.

“Land ownership of the forest area cannot be handed over to the communities or an organization,” remarked Shakti Basnet, Minister for Forest and Environment (MoFE) at a program ‘Infrastructure Development and Forest Management’ organized jointly by the Ministry of Forests and Environment, and Institution for Strategic and Socio-Economic Research (ISSR). “We cannot fell down the trees to build new cities,” he said.

However, Anand Prasad Pokharel, former Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation insisted that trees should not stand as impediments in the much needed development of infrastructure in the country. “The government needs to come up with policies and regulation stipulating the immediate cutting down of trees as not to delay the development works,” he said.

Likewise, lawmaker Shanta Chaudhary suggested that the management of the forest should be human centric so that the people benefit from it.

When it comes to forest, afforestation alone is not the solution but that its conservation is equally important, stated Govinda Prasad Bhattarai, Acting General Manager at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

The program brought together stakeholders such as Purna Kumari Subedi, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture, Co-operatives and Natural Resources, Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Chairman of Law Justice and Human Rights Committee, Dr. Uday Raj Sharma, former Secretary of Government of Nepal, Dr. Krishna Prasad Oli, Member of National Planning Commission (NPC), among others.