Public sector undertakings in monarchies are often named after monarchial portfolios, possibly due to its perceived patronage value. For example, botanical gardens and zoological parks in the UK and Australia are branded ‘royal’ to honor their monarch with concomitant objective of prioritization of the initiatives. Apparently, this tradition made its way into Nepal and prevailed until the monarchy was abolished in 2008.
Famous national parks, the national army, the national academy and the national science and technology development body, among many others, were all ‘royal’. The system has possibly been revived by the Chure initiative to which the president has agreed to lend his title.
A DESERVING CASE
Some might ask if it was at all necessary to borrow the title of the head of the state. However, I believe the distinctive nature of the Chure initiative required a distinct treatment. The symbolic value of Chure conservation is high for a political personality with his electoral constituency in the Tarai belt. An effective conservation strategy will result in a win-win situation, both for the country and the president.
Churia range, stretching all way from Mechi to Mahkali, links the easternmost part of the country with the westernmost part. By the same token, by running along the border of the Terai plains, it may be considered a separation between the plains and the hills, thus has a strategic value.
This geologically young and fragile mountain system is the source of shelter and livelihoods for the poor and vulnerable who have been displaced from their original habitats and are now scattered all along the range. Besides, this is the source of fuelwood, fodder, timber, herbs, sand and gravel, not only for the local population, but also for the large number of people downstream. The watershed function of the range is even more important for the Tarai plain—the age-old ‘bread basket’ of the country. It is a source of both ground and surface water in this important region of the country which is home to nearly half its population.
All efforts at sustainable development of the Chure range have failed. But a new program under the patronage of the head of the state offers some hope.
Its value in terms of biodiversity and ecological services also cannot be ignored. It harbors a number of rare flora and fauna species. But alas! The entire region is in a decline. The deforestation rate, at 1.3 percent a year, remains unabated. The area witnesses rampant forestland encroachments, reckless tree felling, haphazard sand and gravel mining, to the detriment of the forest ecosystem and the local population. Poor watershed conditions manifest itself in land degradation, forest product scarcity, depletion of surface and ground water, with severe consequences for the local population as well as those living in the plains downstream.
Chure’s value as biological corridor is enormous too. As the only remaining contiguous tract of forests from east to west, it is a migration route for threatened flora and fauna in the face of human interference and climate change.
PRIOR INITIATIVES
No wonder the need for its conservation was felt as early as the fourth plan (1970-1975). The then King Birendra issued a royal directive in mid 1980s for a special conservation initiative in Siraha, Saptari and Undayapur parts of Chure. The sorry state of Chure was also able to draw the attention of GTZ which eventually designed and supported the Chure Forest Development Project (ChFDP) in early 1990s. ChFDP ran till the turn of the century. But it, like the royal directive, also failed to make any significant contribution to forest regeneration in Chure’s southern fringes.
The start of a new scheme to conserve Chure under the initiative and patronage of the Right Honorable President, if pursued seriously, can provide new impetus to bring back life to this important landscape of the country.
GLOOMY PICTURE
After three years of the program’s launch, it may be interesting to look at how far the initiative has been able to achieve its objectives. There is not much to rejoice. The work of the two relevant departments—the Department of Forests (DoF) and the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management (DSCWM)—tend to be conventional rather than innovative. DoF efforts revolve around the flawed age-old practice of evicting the forest encroachers with the hope of replenishing the evacuated areas with new plantation.
Likewise, the focus of DSCWM has been on putting in place infrastructures like check dams and conservation ponds without much thought about whether the efforts are compatible with the local system, leading to unsustainable outcomes. Delays in program endorsement and budget release and lack of coordination between the two departments are the most common complains of the two departments.
The envisaged Coordination Unit has shown neither the will nor does it seem to have the kind of power needed to halt Chure’s decline. It appears that while the symptoms of deforestation and watershed degradation are being addressed, the root causes haven’t been looked into. Haphazard and one-time treatments are being sought to a problem that calls for strategic and systemic intervention.
DIFFICULT CHOICES
Treating the root cause, in effect, is based on two alternate, but not mutually exclusive, strategic measures. One is to take steps to eradicate the rampant poverty among the local population so that they no longer have to dig into their resource base. Another option is to relocate the population so that the region gets a chance to recover on its own. Either of these options are difficult for a number of reasons, lack of finance and political commitment chief among them.
ANY WAY OUT?
However, there is a way out. We might hunt for the clues to save Chure in the successful community forestry initiatives in the hills, where forests have thrived even amidst poverty. The common denominator for successful community forestry in the hills seems to ‘appropriate tenure’ and ‘appropriate and inclusive governance’. All successful community forestry programs in Nepal have succeed only on the back of well-tailored forest tenure (it includes ownership, tenancy and other arrangements for the use of forests) and a governance structure ultimately leading to handover of the resources to the respective communities.
By learning from our hill experience, the first thing we need to sort out is the tenure regimes of the agriculture and forest lands. The choice is between a) officially accepting the rights of local people on their agricultural land who so far are only ‘squatters’ in the eyes of law; or b) handing over the forests to the local communities and giving them the sole authority to manage and use them. These would be the bedrocks on which any future investments will be made.
Translating these goals into action, however, may not be easy. Accepting the rights of ‘squatters’ might pose legal hurdles and create a bad precedence. Likewise, handing over forests to local community might not be so straightforward. Unlike in the hills, Chure forests have very complex resource-people relationship. People’s settlements extend from the east to the west.
They have a stake in Chure as they are, directly or indirectly, dependent on its resource. Both options are complex and call for rigorous and sustained effort. Investment in hardware like plantations, gully control and check-dams may be important tasks but they surely cannot come before sorting out the tenure issues. A baby must learn to crawl before it can walk.
The writer is joint secretary at the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation
baraljc@yahoo.com
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