KATHMANDU: Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Environment Geeta Chaudhary has said the government is prioritising community forest-based entrepreneurship, processing, marketing and the creation of green jobs.
Speaking at an event organised in Lalitpur on Monday to mark Community Forest Day, Chaudhary said community forests could contribute to national prosperity by meeting local needs, improving livelihoods, promoting entrepreneurship and creating employment through greater participation of young people.
She said the government would continue cooperation among all three tiers of government, local communities, the private sector and development partners to strengthen the forest sector economically, socially and environmentally, drawing on four decades of experience and lessons.
Chaudhary said the government was also giving priority to good governance, transparency, social inclusion and the digitalisation of the overall forest sector.
She said the government aimed to increase local incomes by promoting domestic products such as timber, bamboo and non-timber forest products, as well as through nature-based ecotourism.
The minister also said efforts would be made to reduce human-wildlife conflict by ensuring adequate food and habitat for wildlife within forest areas.
She called on all stakeholders to work together to make the campaign of “Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Forests and Prosperous Nepal” a success.
Community forest user groups that have played an effective role in forest conservation were also honoured at the event.
According to the Federation of Community aForestry Users Nepal, 23,089 community forest user groups currently manage 2,517,765 hectares of forest across the country.
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