Calibrating Nepal’s scientific forest management practices in the measure of forest restoration

Background

Forest ecosystems play a crucial role in maintaining terrestrial biodiversity, serve as the largest carbon sink, and support the livelihoods of millions. Despite their importance, human activity has degraded over 2 billion hectares of forests worldwide, causing a loss of tree species and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. In response, policymakers around the world set ambitious targets to restore degraded lands by 2030 and beyond. Since the mid-20th century, Nepal has actively implemented programs to address deforestation, primarily through community-based forestry. These programs successfully reversed deforestation and conserve forested areas. However, they often neglect the quality, productive potential, and biodiversity of protected forest landscapes. To fill these gaps, Nepal endorsed Scientific Forest Management (SciFM) programs into their restoration efforts. This approach uses intensive silvicultural practices to balance increased timber production, jobs, and economic growth, ensuring forests remain sustainable and multifunctional.

Goals and Methods

This study examined the impacts of SciFM on regeneration establishment, tree species diversity and richness, land productivity, and forest carbon using a mixed-methods approach. The researchers reviewed six policy documents, analyzed literature on forest management in Nepal published after 2010, and consulted forestry experts to gather insights on SciFM's perceived impacts. They collected quantitative data from forest inventory plots in the Lumbini Collaborative Forest, a Sal (Shorea robusta) dominated forest, including both managed and unmanaged blocks. The researchers measured key metrics such as regeneration density, species richness and diversity, plant growth, basal area, and soil properties. They applied t-tests, Pearson’s correlation, and stepwise regression to evaluate the quantitative data, and used content and discourse analysis to interpret the qualitative findings.

Conclusions and Takeaways

The study found that SciFM effectively promotes Sal regeneration but negatively affects biodiversity, soil properties and nutrient content, and carbon sequestration in the short term. These findings show that Nepal’s current SciFM implementation does not fully align with its broader restoration objectives and must recalibrate its SciFM program to balance timber production with ecological restoration goals. Researchers should focus on long-term monitoring of forest health, optimizing felling intensity to balance timber production and ecological sustainability, and refining logging practices to minimize soil disturbance. To prevent biodiversity loss, future SciFM strategies must promote mixed-species forests.