Pitambar Sigdel & Subodh Gautam

Kathmandu – The Ministry of Forest and Environment has scrapped the President Chure Terai-Madhes Conservation Development Committee's efforts to secure billions of rupees in financial aid from foreign donor agencies and organizations for Chure conservation.

The Forest Administration has stopped projects worth billions of rupees in various sectors that the committee had discussed and initiated at various times and had brought the agreement closer. Nature Khabar has received details of projects that were stopped due to the non-cooperation and interference of the Forest Administration after the projects reached a decisive stage after discussions with donor agencies at various national and international forums.

‘The ministry obstructed not only the management of employees, but also the financial assistance that was close to the agreement. The donor agency that was ready to help informed the committee that it could not support the project, saying that the Ministry of Forests did not look positively towards the committee, a former official of the committee told Nature News. “There was even a long discussion about this last year in a meeting of the committee.”

A member of the committee says, “One project was about to be signed. During the climate conference in Dubai, a high-ranking forest official met the donor there. During the conversation, he said that the ministry did not know about the project. Despite knowing everything, things went wrong.”

The member says that the financial support was offered to the donor agency only after extensive discussions with the Ministry of Forests about this project. He says, “We were supposed to work in coordination with all the ministries. That was also the case. But they did not cooperate. All our efforts were wasted when the ministry ignored us.”

Similarly, the ministry had also shown similar non-cooperation in another project. A project was prepared to plant native forest species in 15,000 hectares in the Chure Terai Madhes region of Koshi, Madhes and Sudur Paschim Provinces to conserve Chure and help in carbon storage and biodiversity. An organization called VNV had even prepared to provide 15 million US dollars (about two billion rupees) in support. The forest leadership itself had not cooperated in this. An official involved in the Chure project says, “The secretary himself has not cooperated in this. The project was abandoned in the middle when the forest secretary did not cooperate during the final stage of discussions.”

The committee could not get another project to plant about 10 million bamboos after the forest administration did not cooperate. As a result, the national and international organizations coordinating the project were in financial and social trouble. This project was a 50 million US dollar (about 7 billion) project to improve the ecological system of the Kamala Mai (Sindhuli, Dhanusha, Siraha) and Mai (Ilam and Jhapa) river systems, for which international organizations including Seafor Indonesia and Refrestain France were coordinating. But the non-cooperation of the forest administration also stalled that work. The source says, ‘The organizations coordinating this had formally expressed their dissatisfaction with the unprofessional style of the Nepal government.’

According to the committee source, another rubber plantation project also did not receive the 25 million US dollar (3.5 billion rupees) that an organization called Harmony International was ready to give due to the delay of the forest administration. The project was prepared for Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari. This problem arose because the Nepal government could not complete the necessary procedures on time as per the expectations and needs of the donor agency. This was also discussed in the ministry.

‘After the project and the foreign donor agency proposed to work on Chure conservation through the committee, the source They were afraid that it would go there too and did not cooperate in the work, an officer involved in project writing in the Chure Committee told Nature News, after all, the ministry would also take the guardianship and leadership of the project coordinated by the committee. Its consent and leadership are mandatory, but why did they never cooperate?

Experts call this also a fight over resources. The official, who worked in the planning department of the ministry for a long time, says, "The forest administration does not want to let the project and the work, activities and committee that generate money go beyond itself as much as possible. This was also an aspect of that." According to him, in the last two years, many donor agencies have turned away when requesting consent from the ministry's International Coordination Department and Climate Change Division. A representative of an NGO who approached the Climate Change Division to obtain consent for a European Union project says, "We waited a long time. They did not even give consent. They did not even say no. We were not able to work."

According to the analysis of a former official who has worked in the forest administration for a long time, the main reason for this is financial resources. The forest ministry is liberal on the issue of resource decentralization. Otherwise, look, the Chure Uptanshil Project is under the ministry. On the other hand, there is the Chure Conservation Committee. Shouldn’t that project be taken to the committee and worked on? Climate change management has also been placed within the ministry. The Department of Environment is not allowed to work on this issue. There is no question of providing resources. On the other hand, the department has been unable to work due to lack of budget.