Chhatraraj Timilsaina, Secretary of Pachulli Community Forest Consumer Committee located in Kamalbazar Municipality-5 of Acham, was arrested on the charge of felling community forest by setting up fake documents.

It is alleged that since the Chairman of the Forest Committee, Jaiprakash Upadhyay, has been out of the district for 6 months, when the meeting of the committee has not been held, on February 12, 2081, the General Assembly decided to sell the forest produce, and it is alleged that he got permission to sell 13,000 kg of bark (stems, leaves, bark) from the Division Forest Office, Achham. Chairman Upadhyaya said, "The attendance of the meeting held a year ago was documented as the general meeting on February 12th."

Janak Padhya, head of Division Forest Achham, says, 'From the preliminary investigation, it is said that a fake document has been made, for further investigation, the work is being done to take statements, conduct a survey, and get an opinion from the working committee.' These latest developments are only the officials of the consumer committee who are leading in the protection of community forest and are involved in exploiting forest resources.

The community forest campaign that started in the 2040s is known as a successful conservation model in Nepal. After transferring the forest area under the state ownership and protection to the community as a community forest to protect, enhance and utilize it, this campaign has been getting global discussion after the consumers from all over the country became active in making the forest area greener. But recently, when the consumers are slowing down, the vultures of selfish people are starting to look at the forest that the community once protected as their own property and it seems that the community forest is getting worse. 

After the zeal of forest protection among the consumers has started to decrease, the risk of landslides and fires has increased along with felling, while the biological diversity within the community forest has also started to face challenges. 

In July last year, Karna Bahadur Vick and Tekraj Ojha, members of the Forest Consumer Committee, were arrested for their involvement in the felling of the Ratopani community forest, which is connected to the Chure range of Kailali. The Division Forest Office recovered 300 cubic feet of sal wood from the said community forest area.

Kailali is also the district that earned infamy throughout the country in deforestation. From the perspective of biological diversity, extensive deforestation and encroachment has been taking place for a long time in various community forests, from the Basanta International Biological Trail. The traditional movement route of wild animals between India's Dudhuwa National Park and Nepal is being cut off when this area is under encroachment. 

Basanta Protected Area occupies 33.7 percent of the total forest area of ​​Kailali. According to the data of Division Forest Office Dhangadhi, about 24 percent (1 thousand 489 hectares out of 6 thousand 269 hectares) has been encroached upon. More than 900 houses have been built in Basanta area, where encroachment has started for a decade. According to the data of the Provincial Forest Directorate, 22 thousand hectares of forest area has been encroached so far in Kailali, which has forest area in about 63 percent of the total area of ​​the district.

Under Division Forest Office Dhangadhi, 114 forest related cases have been registered in the five year period from 2075/76 to 2079/80. Among them, 95 cases are related to cutting and transporting forest products without permission. Most of them have community forest officials. 

The sub-committee under the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives formed in June 2077 after studying the forests of 10 districts across the country, including Kailali and Kanchanpur, concluded that widespread forest felling was illegal with the involvement of community forest officials and forest officers. This study found that 6 forest officials and other community forest officials were guilty.

It is mentioned in the report of the committee that in the community forest where scientific forest management has been applied, the members and officials of the forest user groups have signed the documents, erected fake user households, made the same house a member of more than one user group, and created documents for cutting trees. The audit conducted by the Auditor General's Office on 076/077 of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment of the Far West has pointed out that the 193 community forests of Kailali and Kanchanpur were given permission to cut 640,277 cubic feet of wood by the respective division forest office, and 231,513 cubic feet more than that.

According to the 61st annual report of the Auditor General's Office 2081, only 104,000 hectares of forest area in 65 districts of the country are under encroachment, and 20.75 percent of it, i.e. 21,582.05 hectares, is under the 10 Division Forest Offices of Far West Province. Among these, the encroachment rate in Kailali is the highest among other districts. Even if you look at the photos collected in the satellite, it is seen that forests have encroached on dozens of places here. A decade and a half ago, the dense forests have now turned into slums and cities. 

institutionally breaking up  Before

2074, squatters and wood smugglers were mostly involved in deforestation. After the implementation of federalism, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and political parties have been competing to create structures within the forest area by openly felling against the rules. Thakur Bhandari, Central President of Community Forest Consumers Federation of Nepal (Fecofan), says, "Local and provincial buildings, hospitals, universities, hydropower, and cable cars have been encroached on." Bajhang Danot Rural Municipality has constructed its administrative building within the local Dounthi Patal Community Forest. During the construction of a huge building in the place where the local agriculture office was located, the forest land has been destroyed and dozens of trees of the community forest have been cut down. "Now, a large amount of trees are being cut and dozered behind the building to build a playground," said Lokendra Singh, a local, "All that land belongs to the community forest."
The Godavari Municipality of Kailali has constructed an office building of Ward 4 within the Vasantpur Women's Community Forest Area at 8744,000. President of Vasantpur Women's Community Forest, Dammaridevi Bam, said that structures were built in the forest because the president of the previous term had approved them. The building was inaugurated by Mayor Birendra Bhatt on 081 Baisakh 1 . A few days after that, Mayor Bhatt also laid the foundation stone of the building of integrated agriculture and livestock service center within the Mana community forest area. A 14-room two-storey building has been constructed here at a cost of 2 crore 6 lakh 85 thousand rupees.

On 18 May 2080, Sub Division Forest Office Godavari ran a dozer on more than 500 towers built by squatters encroaching on the forest area in Chowkidanda under the same municipality. On the second day, Member of Parliament Bir Bahadur Balayer laid the foundation stone of the Congress Party office inside the Security Women's Community Forest located in Godavari-1. After widespread protests on social media, the construction work has now stopped .

The president of this community forest, Lakshmi Bhandari, said that the community forest had agreed to build a party office in the place where there had already been encroachment, and the construction of the foundation stone was stopped after the opposition party protested. While the community forest does not have the right to use its area for purposes other than forest protection . Dhangadhi sub-metropolitan city has also made an office of Ward 4 in the forest area. 

Locals say that after the government of Sudurpaschim Province designated the capital in the forest of Godavari in October 2075, there has been an increase in deforestation in the community and national forest areas of this region. The officials of the Division Forest Office admit that the state and local governments are encroaching on the forests and constructing physical structures in Sahajpur, Nigali, Godavari, Gauriganga, Masuria, Udasipur, Basanta, Phoolbari and even within Dhangadhi under Division Forest Office Dhangadhi.

There are more than 635 community forests in Kailali district. Krishna Bhatt, Head of the Division Forest Office, says that because the community forests themselves have not tried to control the situation in the forest, there has been an increase in encroachment from different areas. "Government, organizations, smugglers all have their eyes on the forest, who are we going to fight?" he said, "Who is the consumer who is responsible for protecting the forest area that has been handed over to the community forest, but this situation was created when the consumer was not active."

About the reason for the slow down of the community, Padhya, head of division forest of Achham, adds, "Now the cattle do not belong to anyone". Gas reached villages, dependence on forests decreased . There are no people to reach the quorum until the general assembly, as many young people have fled to India. People with wrong intentions are taking advantage of this opportunity when the community's attention to forest protection has decreased.'

Community forest officials themselves say that the interest and participation of consumers in forest protection is decreasing. President of Vasantpur Women's Community Forest in Kailali, Dambaridevi Bam says, "Earlier, we used to go to take saw axes at night, but now even when we call the meeting, the consumers don't come. They think this is the responsibility of the president and vice president only." However, Thakur Bhandari, central president of Fekofan, claims that consumer activity has decreased because of the government. He says, "It is not that interest in consumers has decreased, it has been reduced by all three levels of the state, the old law focusing on grass weed is timely  This is the result of not making it.'

Community forest in crisis

Kankarkot area within the Mainakada Community Forest of Saipal Rural Municipality-2 of Bajhang is hit by a landslide. Two years ago, three mules were buried in dozens of landslides from above this village. Eight houses and sheds here are still at high risk. Due to the severe landslide that started from the middle of Panlote forest in Rasyalek, along with Kankarkot, 18 houses in Jima village are also at risk .

Residents of this village at the foot of the forest are in fear of a bigger landslide. But in this forest, indiscriminate cutting of trees is going on . Once upon a time, there was a rule that the permission of the consumer group should be taken to cut down trees in the community forest, even when collecting grass and herbs. After paying a certain fee, only a certain amount of forest produce could be collected in a certain place. But now hundreds of trees have been cut down using electric saws in the Rasyalek area, which is at an altitude of nearly three thousand meters. Even though the work of cutting down the forest continues, the consumer committee does not care.

After the death of Gopal Bohra, the then chairman of the Community Forest Consumer Committee, it has been five years since the Consumer Committee meeting was held. There were hundreds of years old trees in this forest. The forest is receding after four/five years of heavy cutting. Until five years ago, no one was allowed to cut any trees here . The consumer groups used to keep forest watchers from every house in the village to give a fixed amount of grain wages every May and October. Local Bhimalal Bohra said, "Now, after cutting as much as you want, the risk of landslides will increase in areas with weak soil."
Not only in Mainakanda, all the community forests in Saipal Rural Municipality of Bajhang were managed in this way until a decade ago. Forest resources were used only according to the rules. If someone broke the rules, they would be fined immediately . Now, no matter who divides it, there is no stopping anyone. "If deforestation continues like this, it will be difficult to see forest here in the next few years," said Rajendra Dhami, the former chairman of Saipal Rural Municipality, "not only near the village." The situation is the same in places that take three to four days to walk from the village.' He said that the forests of Saipal Rural Municipality are being destroyed one after the other as the forests near the village are cut down for wood and the distant forests are cut for firewood by yarchas and herb collectors.

Analyzing the pictures taken through the satellite, former President Dhami's statement is confirmed. Looking at the photos found in Google EarthPro, it seems that since 2010, large-scale deforestation has taken place in dozens of places from Saipal Rural Municipality-1 to 5. Some of the forests here, which looked dense until a decade ago, have become deserted. 

The example of Saipal's Mainakanda Community Forest is not enough to show how Bajhang's forests are being destroyed. If you look at the map of Global Forest Watch, a web portal that monitors forest areas around the world through satellites, it can be seen that there has been deforestation in hundreds of places across the district in the past 10 years. In some places, farming and settlements have been established. Saipal, Mashta, Diyanot, Soorma village and Jaiprithvi municipality have the most deforestation.

'Now there is no discipline like before . If you tell them to cut trees like this, they come to scold you," says Ramesh Dhami, secretary of the Mainakanda Forest Committee of Saipal, "wherever you go, the forest seems to have been destroyed. Where and how much destruction has happened. As he said, the Division Forest Office, the body that regulates the forest area of ​​Bajhang, does not have a clear account of how many forests have been felled in the district.

``If it was in the Terai, an account would be taken every year to see how many forests were encroached,'' says Jison Karki, officer of the Division Forest Office, Bajhang. In this district which has 12 local levels, 439 community forest consumer groups have been registered till 081 July. Through these groups, 45 thousand 434.3 hectares of forest have been transferred to the community for conservation, protection and use. But how is that work being done? There is no such account anywhere .

Experts in the forest sector say that due to the neglect of protection by community forest user groups, deforestation and encroachment have increased. "Now it seems that the community has forgotten the essence of community forest," says Bam Bahadur Bohra, former secretary of the Community Forest Consumer Federation Bajhang, "When the community neglects forest protection, it is not only the forest that is affected." The overall biological diversity has started to disappear.

The government has prepared and implemented the Forest Act, 2049 (Amendment 2076) and Regulations, 2051 (Amendment 2079) to manage forests. It mentions the rules to be followed by Community Forestry Group while managing the forest. The government has also issued guidelines and guidelines for community forests to facilitate the management of community forests. Not only this, government and non-government organizations have also been teaching through various trainings. A huge amount of money is being spent on this. However, most of the community forests here have not followed these rules as said by the former secretary of the federation, Bohra.

In the studies conducted by government and non-government organizations, it has been found that most of the community forests do not even follow the basic rules set by the community forest guidelines and guidelines. According to the arrangement made by the guidance, the community forest has to hold a general meeting twice a year to review the efforts made for the development of the community forest and make a development plan. But 80 percent of community forests in Bajhang have not done this.

"Some of the forests that were handed over in 2055 have not held a general assembly or meeting so far," said Mangal Bahadur Khadka of the Social Development Center, a non-governmental organization that has studied the institutional conditions of 218 community forests in the district, "Most of them have lost their statutes and action plans." In some cases, only one person has been the caretaker of the community forest. He said that only 12 of the community forests conducted by his organization were partially operated according to the guidelines.

Similarly, from the study conducted by the Division Forest Office, Bajhang, it was found that most of the community forests are in a state of disrepair. According to the study conducted in 2079, it was found that only one percent of the community forests here have their own office or building, and 55 percent of the community forests do not even have a seal. Other government reports have also pointed to the increasing abuse of community forests. "In some cases, due to the lack of a quorum in the general assembly, it is also found that minutes are taken to house-to-house to make it legal," it is mentioned in the participation and governance section of the "Independent Monitoring and Evaluation Report of Community Forests in the Terai, Hills and Himalayas" published by the Community Forest Study Center under the Department of Forestry and Land Conservation in June 2018. This trend is more pronounced in the community forests of Bajhang.

There is a provision in the rules to compulsorily use community forest coded logs while distributing wood, but only 4 forests in Bajhang have a record of such logs. The study has shown that selling wood without the use of saws leads to more cutting than the specified amount and forest destruction. Although there is a rule that financial transactions should only be done through banks, 44 percent of the community forests here do not have bank accounts. It is mentioned in the report of Division Forest Office Bajhang that 29 percent of forests have not even made letterpads.

Community forests are required to have their annual income and expenditure audited by an independent auditor recognized by the government every year. It is mandatory that the audit conducted in this way should be approved by the General Assembly and submitted to the District Forest Office. But the study found that 62 percent of community forests were not audited. The situation is similar to Bajhang's community forests in other districts.

Community Forest Study Center's study has concluded that community forests are in crisis because consumers are losing their trust in community forests and the government is doing forest conservation activities without the participation of local people. "Earlier, the forest was needed for daily grazing, now people leave the village." As there was no consumption, the community stopped being interested in conservation," said Asmina Ghimire, information officer of the study center. According to the structure, due to insufficient staff in the forest offices, the government's supervision could not be sufficient . In the community forest, there is a tendency to do whatever they do.' 

She said that the social and economic conditions of the community have changed more than before, but the situation has increased due to the fact that the policy system related to community forestry has not been properly updated. When consumers are inactive, the risk of fire is also increasing along with exploitation of forest resources . "In some villages, the forest has come to the house because there are no people, there are no people and institutional structures to manage it," Anil Pokhrel, the outgoing executive head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said in an interview recently. 

growing passion 

Lal Bahadur Bohra, a user of Goremela Community Forest of Talkot Rural Municipality of Bajhang, says that despite the fact that they give spare parts for wood collection but do not monitor whether the felling has been done as prescribed, Lal Bahadur Bohra says. "Now there are no trees left, nor is anyone worried about the end of the forest," he said, stating that the consumer committee has stopped holding meetings, "most of them have forgotten who the community forest officials are." This situation is not only in his community forest. In the study report of the forest office, it has been mentioned that the condition of forest productivity in about 20 percent community forests across the district is declining.

'Some community forest presidents are found walking around selling spare parts,' said Birkh Bohra of Mashta, who has worked for a long time in studying the condition of community forests.

It is also mentioned in the study conducted by the Division Forest Office that instead of fair distribution among the users of the group, the forest products are sold at a high price outside the group and the amount is not shown to the group. The monitoring and evaluation report of the Community Forestry Study Center further states, "Forest protection, management, information exchange and records in mountainous and mountainous regions, not only consumer groups, but also forestry offices and monitoring are not enough." According to the census of 2078, this benefit rate is 94 percent of the total number of households in this province. But these community forests are at risk because consumers are not interested in conservation. 
Fecofan chairman Bhandari said that now the previous concept should be changed by connecting community forest with enterprise and arranging for youth to stay in the village and all three levels of the state should work on this . The information officer of the study center, Ghimire, also said that the old policy could not connect the community to community forest protection. "Forest communities that have been managed well by the community should be given and the government should take back and protect the areas that have not been managed," she said.