Hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest are to be handed over to Nepal ’s rural poor, with help from a £40 million programme from the Department for International Development (DFID).
The ten-year National Forestry Programme will give Nepalese communities ownership of the thousands of hectares of forest currently under government control, helping some of the world’s poorest people to earn an income from their natural resources and put a stop to the rampant deforestation currently blighting the country.
Gordon Brown offered his support to the programme, launched less than a month before December’s crucial Copenhagen negotiations.
The Prime Minister said:
“Countries right across the world need to take urgent and radical action to tackle climate change. The poorest and most vulnerable countries need our help to do so.
“That is why we are announcing today a £40m package of support to work with Nepal to tackle deforestation. And with less than a month to go to Copenhagen , it is time for the world to step up and make the bold decisions we need to secure a global, comprehensive and binding climate change deal.”
The new landowners will be able to sell the wood, thatch, fruits and essential oils that the forests provide naturally. Similar existing projects have shown that communities who depend on the forests for survival are motivated to manage them in a sustainable way.
Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, said:
“ Nepal is on the frontline of the battle against climate change, with the Himalayan glaciers melting faster than anywhere else in the world. Rampant deforestation in the country is adding to the problem.
“By putting Nepal ’s forests in the hands of those who depend on them for survival we can help to put a stop to this tragic loss, and at the same time give more than one million of the world’s poorest people a route out of poverty.”
Nepal currently has the highest per-capita carbon emissions in South Asia , at 6.6 tonnes per person per year, and the vast majority of this is caused by deforestation.
The Government of Nepal does not currently have the capacity to monitor all of the nation’s forests, which cover 40% of the country, and has already handed over a fifth of Nepal’s forests to local communities to help counter this.
By allowing communities to earn a living from the forests, the programme aims to increase the incomes of 1.2 million people by 50 per cent. A projected reduction in carbon emissions could also raise around £10 million on the international carbon markets.
As well as the National Forestry Programme, DFID also announced a £10 million boost over the next five years to the Nepalese Government’s efforts to tackle climate change. This support will help to protect two million people from floods and droughts.
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