JANAKPURDHAM: The Forest Directorate of Madhesj Province has reclaimed 442 hectares of encroached forestland during the fiscal year 2081/82 (2024/25), according to officials.
The reclaimed areas include 175 hectares in Sarlahi, 111 hectares in Saptari, 54 hectares in Bara, 45 hectares in Parsa, 30 hectares in Dhanusha, 12 hectares in Rautahat, 10 hectares in Siraha, and 3 hectares in Mahottari.
Despite this progress, Forest Directorate Director Jagganath Prasad Jaiswal said that 16,599 hectares of forestland across all eight districts of the province remain under encroachment.
Speaking to the national news agency RSS, Minister for Forest and Environment Sanjay Kumar Yadav emphasized that administrative mechanisms alone are not sufficient to address forest-related challenges. He stressed the need for political will and coordination with local bodies.
Ministry Secretary Uddhav Bahadur Ghimire stated that subordinate offices have been directed to act firmly to prevent further encroachment, adding that sufficient human resources would be mobilized for coordinated monitoring and enforcement.
Although forests cover 45 percent of Nepal’s total land area, Madhes Province lags significantly behind, with only 3.72 percent of its land under forest cover, according to the directorate.
Of the province’s total 202,202 hectares of forest area, 89 of its 136 local governments currently have no forest area at all. Nationally, around eight percent of the total forestland is affected by encroachment.
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