Multifaceted forest management for biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation: a case study of mid hills of Nepal

People and plants share the same ecosystem and have very delicate interactions or inter-dependency. More than 80% of the population of Nepal live in rural areas and are highly dependent on forests for their various needs. Due to their close affinity, rural people are very knowledgeable about different uses of plants and their knowledge has been transmitted to younger generations. This knowledge helped them in meeting their needs and also contributed to biodiversity and environment conservation. Due to its multi-dimensional importance, conservation of traditional knowledge has become an important aspect of biodiversity conservation.

A large part of the rural population depends on non-timber forest products (NTFP) for part of their livelihood. It is therefore a challenging task to design an effective biodiversity conservation strategy in economically impoverished but biologically rich areas. In rural areas in particular, the use of alternative forest products for own use or exchange is pervasive and in many instances household livelihood strategies are closely linked to the availability and use of such products. Forest resources are also important sources of income, and there is a great degree of involvement and dependence on these resources among the rural poor. However, people’s decision on income-generating activities based on NTFP is affected by a number of factors. They include resource base situation, loss of customary rights on resources, competition, access to resource base, market, prices and patterns of demand. The growth of domestic urban markets and improvements in rural infrastructure are significantly influencing factors to NTFP market.

This study investigates the contribution of NTFP to rural household livelihood and potentials of expanding benefits for poverty alleviation. The study also examines traditional knowledge about the use of plants as an important part of people-plant interaction. To examine the impact of human dependency on forest, inventory was carried out using quadrate plots of different sizes, and the management situation was evaluated. The specific objectives were: (i) to investigate the traditional knowledge distribution and transmission of knowledge regarding plant use, (ii) to investigate the forest resource base for assessing the status of important plant species and impacts of human interference, (iii) to investigate the contribution of NTFP to household economy and potentials of increasing benefit, and (iv) to examine the forest management and identify issues related to management.

The study was carried out in Wards no. 3 and 4 of Shaktikhor Village Development Committee of Chitwan District in Central Nepal, the first inhabited by the ethnic group Chepangs and the second also by non-Chepangs. The research strategy chosen was a single-case study including several qualitative and quantitative methods.