final corrected banko janakari 18-2.pmd 1 banko janakari, vol. 18, no. 2 banko janakari a journal of forestry information for nepal need for carrying out national forest inventory in nepal national forest inventory (nfi) is carried out for assessing and updating the forest resource status to plan and support the sustainable management of the forest resources of the country. it generates information on national forestry characteristics such as volume, biomass, diameter distribution, growth, yield, and quality of forest resources. other parameters included in nfi are land use structure and forest ownership, forest types and categories, forest health, biodiversity status, social, economical and environmental values of the forests. in particular, forest information generated through nfi is widely used for strategic and high level planning of forestry sector. being a signatory of multi-lateral environmental agreements, organizations and processes, the country is obliged to provide forestry related statistics and information periodically. for example, food and agriculture organization of the united nations (fao) conducts global forest resource assessment every five years and also to other organizations to which nepal needs to report forestry related statistics. the department of forest research and survey (dfrs), under the ministry of forests and soil conservation, is a responsible government agency for conducting forest resource assessment (fra) at district and national level. in this context, dfrs has been carrying nfi for planning forest resource management. the first nfi was accomplished in the 1960s mainly focusing on merchantable and non merchantable timber volume whereas the second nfi, conducted after 30 years in the 1990s, covered volume, biomass, diameter distribution of the tree species and presence of ntfps. efforts have been made to carry out next nfi covering environmental dimensions of the forestry sector using airborne laser scanning technology for measuring the forestry characteristics. these efforts on nfi are in line with the three year interim plan (2007/08 09/10), 2 banko janakari, vol. 18, no. 2 government’s policy and programmes of the fiscal year 2008/09 and the master plan for forestry sector of nepal (1989). the proposed nfi should support the national efforts to access the environmental benefits of forestry sector in monetary terms from the international mechanism such as reducing emissions through deforestation and forest degradation. the nfi program needs adequate expertise in the concerned field to accomplish the work with high efficiency and accuracy. this could be possible only by strengthening capacity of the concerned staff members of the department. nfi programme also needs to include parameters like soil, under-storey vegetation, tree crown conditions, coarse woody debris, and lichen community of the forest composite. as some countries have already initiated efforts to include such parameters in their nfi, we could also work in connection with the global standards so that there will be consistencies in information sharing and update. corrected bankojanakari vol 17-2.pmd 55 banko janakari, vol. 17, no. 2 generation and utilization of community fund in small-scale community forest management in the terai region of nepal maheshwar dhakal1 and misa masuda2 it has been widely recognized that constantly increasing community fund is one of the indicators of successful implementation of community forestry program in nepal. however, a very few people know how the fund is collected under the program and it has been utilized so far. the paper is based on the generation and utilization of community fund of two-community forests in the terai region. the community forests of the region have collected large amount of community fund annually from the sale of forest products and non-forestry sources as well. the study revealed that along with community fund increasing, office operation cost has been constantly increasing while utilizing the fund, whereas promotion of forest management and community development costs are essential for long-term sustainability of the program. therefore, the study concluded that only the minimization of office operation cost could increase the forest management and community development costs based on the principle of trade-off, which is crucial to keep the people intact in community forestry program and its long-term sustainability. keywords: community forestry, community fund, terai, nepal the past three decades have witnessed asignificant growing concern on small-scale community forestry program in nepal. the program has leading positions among the g over nment programs since its inception (kanel, 2004). the collection of community fund under the program has a number of synergetic effects on forest conditions and livelihood improvement. consequently, the program has widely recognized from government to non-government sectors as well. moreover, the collection of community fund from the sale of forest products and non-forestry sources as well has been taken as an indicator of successful implementation of the program (kanel and niraula, 2004). however, how does a community forest have colleted a fund and utilized it, a very few people know so far. the community fund has created a number of wider potentialities of further development of forests, support community development and regenerate income of poor people in the line of poverty reduction strategy of the country (npc, 2002; kanel, 2004). the empower ment of local people to conserve, develop, manage and utilize the forests, and sell and distribute by fixing the price of forest products independently has playing an important role to collect a community fund (government of nepal, 1993). in the discourse of forest management in nepal, formulation of forestry sector master plan in 1989, re-structure of forestry sector organizations in 1990, revise of forest act in 1993 and regulation in 1995, and continuous orientation and training to government officials have substantial impacts behind the successful implementation of community forestry program and community fund collection. the ever-increasing numbers of community forest user groups (cfugs) showed that one-fifth of the total forestland and two-fifth of the total country population covered by the program (cbs, 2003; kanel, 2004; kandel and kanel, 2006). the studies carried out on policy analysis, institutional stability and participation also claimed that the community fund has positive effects on forest conditions and livelihoods improvement (vurghese, 1999; malla, 2000; chokraborty, 2001; baral, 2002; gautam et al, 2004; bampton et al, 2004; kanel and niraula, 2004; kanel, 2004; agrawal and gupta, 2005; adhikari, 2006a; dhakal, 2006; gautam, 2006; iversen et al, 2006; maskey et al, 2006). moreover, the collection of community fund has vital role to local and national economy back up (mpfs, 1989; hill, 1999; adhikari, 2006b; dhakal and masuda, 2007). the positive effects of the program have been diffused to other domain of natural resource management sector such 1 phd student, graduate school of life and environmental sciences, university of tsukuba, japan, e-mail: maheshwar_dhakal@hotmail.com 2 graduate school of life and environmental studies, university of tsukuba, japan 56 banko janakari, vol. 17, no. 2 2 utilization of community fund taking the example two-community forests of terai region, which is crucial to keep the people intact in sustainable community forestry program. 2. materials and methods the study was carried out in the nawalparasi district, which is located in the western terai region of nepal. the specific study sites were located in the eastern part of the district (figure 1). from the list of community forests of the district, two community forests i) dhuseri, and ii) sundari, community forests were selected based on the following criteria: i) community forests that have natural sal (shorea robusta) forests and ii) having relatively long experiences of community forest management (table 1). since the terai forests have higher economical potential, the study focused on how a community forest generate a community fund and utilize it to improve the forests conditions and livelihood of local people. since the majority of forests surrounding people have poor socioeconomic backgrounds in the region, the collection of community fund have substantial effects on forests and livelihood improvement of local people collectively. source: district forest office, nawalparasi figure 1. location of study sites the field survey was carried out in april 2005 and a supplementary visit was conducted in march 2006. a series of meetings with government officials, executive committee members, and user households were organized to understand the sources of community forest incomes and expenditures adopted by the cfugs. individual to group level discussion and direct field observation were accomplished in both forests. the annual auditing reports of annual incomes and expenditures from fiscal 1999 to 2004 were collected. the total expenditures items were categorized into three headings: forest management, community development and office operation for analyzing and comparison. table 1. basic characteristics of community forests source: operational plan of respective community forests, 2005 3. results and discussion 3.1. generation and utilization of community fund 3.1. sources of community fund collection forest area (ha) household forests/ household dhuseri 205 662 0.31 sundari 384 1,032 0.37 results and discussion generation and utilization of community fund sources of community fund collection although the fundamental aim of the community forestry program of nepal was to supply the forest products to the local users on a sustainable basis, community fund collection has becoming one of the raising issues in the recent years. in the discourse of program implementation, cfugs have created a number of forestry and non-forestry sources and collected a community fund. since the forest products have higher economic potential in the terai region, the case is more prominent to the region. the forestry sources include sale of timber, firewood, and fodder/ grasses, whereas non-forestry sources are registration fee, membership fee, penalty fee, and support from government and ngos. consequently, the collection of community fund and carry out of community development and livelihood improvement activities in the line of poverty reduction were becoming indispensable part of sustainable community forest management (kanel, 2004). in the case of sal dominated community forests of terai region, it has been observed that sal timber, bakal3 and green firewood (produced at the time of harvesting and logging of utilization works) were the main sources of community fund collection. dry firewood, fodder and grasses can be collected at free of costs in the designated time, and these forest products do not have financial contribution to the community fund collection. by community forestry rules, each community forests are independent to as watershed and protected area management as well (kanel, 2004; agrawal and gupta, 2005). however, how does a community forest generate a community fund and how it is utilized focusing to the sustainability of the program have seldom studied in the past. therefore, the study focused on generation and utilization of community fund taking the example two-community forests of terai region, which is cr ucial to keep the people intact in sustainable community forestry program. materials and methods the study was carried out in the nawalparasi district, which is located in the western terai region of nepal. the specific study sites were located in the eastern part of the district (figure 1). from the list of community forests of the district, two community forests i) dhuseri, and ii) sundari, community forests were selected based on the following criteria: i) community forests that have natural sal (shorea robusta) forests and ii) having relatively long experiences of community forest management (table 1). since the terai forests have higher economical potential, the study focused on how a community forest generate a community fund and utilize it to improve the forests conditions and livelihood of local people. since the majority of forests surrounding people have poor socio-economic backgrounds in the region, the collection of community fund have substantial effects on forests and livelihood improvement of local people collectively. were organized to understand the sources of community forest incomes and expenditures adopted by the cfugs. individual to group level discussion and direct field observation were accomplished in both forests. the annual auditing reports of annual incomes and expenditures from fiscal 1999 to 2004 were collected. the total expenditures items were categorized into three headings: forest management, community development and office operation for analyzing and comparison. source: district forest office, nawalparasi the field survey was carried out in april 2005 and a supplementary visit was conducted in march 2006. a series of meetings with government officials, executive committee members, and user households 1 the outer part of sawn timber, cfug sells it to the local people by weight. the average price of bakal is nrs. 125 at sundari forest and 75 at dhuseri forest. dhakal and masuda figure 1. location of study sites 57 banko janakari, vol. 17, no. 2 4 sour ce: audi t repor ts (1999 to 2004) source: audit reports (1999 to 2004) figure 2. trend of annual income figure 3. sources of community fund moreover, when it was compared between annual income and forest area, it found that the per capita income of dhuseri community forest is higher (nrs. 5,027/ha) than sundari community forest (nrs. 3,434/ha); however, the forest does not have any income in the fiscal year 2003 because of corruption scandal. the repeated selection of same leadership in the forest, eventually not only led to the over-confidence at executive committee level to take a monopolistic decision on community fund generation and utilization, but also it institutionalized the corruption while generating and utilizing the community fund. taking to the issue on debate, the cfug of dhuseri community forest dissolved the executive committee in 2003 and formed new committee with a commitment not to repeat the corruption again in the following years. the case revealed that together with community fund collection and utilization, transparency in record keeping and reporting systems were equally crucial for successful community forest management. 3.2. utilization of community fund the annually collected community fund from 1999 to 2004 grouped into three types of costs based on the nature of expenditures namely: forest management, community development, and office operation. the forest management costs include all costs for plantation, regeneration, harvesting and logging works and salary of forest guards. similarly, the community development costs include expenditure related to education, primary health, and income generation. the office operation costs include stationery, salary of office secretary, meeting allowance, auditing costs, purchasing of capital items and regular office operation costs. 3.2.1. community fund for forest management in the initial stage of community forestry program volunteer participation was common. after the initiation of community fund collection the volunteer participation has replaced by labor works (table 3). once a forest handed over to the local people, cfugs have been carried out various activities of forest management. however, most of these activities were furnished from the budget of community fund, not as it was furnished by volunteer participation in the past in both forests. volunteer participation can be observed only in forest fire control and silvicultural operation work, whenever forest fire rarely occurred in the forest and motivation of large quantity of firewood is the main attraction while participating in silvicultural operation. other forest management activities such forest watcher salary, harvesting and logging works, nursery establishment, plantation activities were accomplished by the community fund. the study also revealed that the direct impact of community fund collection in the terai region is volunteer participation has gradually decreasing while implementing the community forestry activities. 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 fiscal year a n n u a l in c o m e (n r s .) sundari cf dhuseri cf 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% sundari f orest dhuseri f orest s h a re o f s o u rc e s forestry sources non-f orestry sources 4 sour ce: audi t repor ts (1999 to 2004) source: audit reports (1999 to 2004) figure 2. trend of annual income figure 3. sources of community fund moreover, when it was compared between annual income and forest area, it found that the per capita income of dhuseri community forest is higher (nrs. 5,027/ha) than sundari community forest (nrs. 3,434/ha); however, the forest does not have any income in the fiscal year 2003 because of corruption scandal. the repeated selection of same leadership in the forest, eventually not only led to the over-confidence at executive committee level to take a monopolistic decision on community fund generation and utilization, but also it institutionalized the corruption while generating and utilizing the community fund. taking to the issue on debate, the cfug of dhuseri community forest dissolved the executive committee in 2003 and formed new committee with a commitment not to repeat the corruption again in the following years. the case revealed that together with community fund collection and utilization, transparency in record keeping and reporting systems were equally crucial for successful community forest management. 3.2. utilization of community fund the annually collected community fund from 1999 to 2004 grouped into three types of costs based on the nature of expenditures namely: forest management, community development, and office operation. the forest management costs include all costs for plantation, regeneration, harvesting and logging works and salary of forest guards. similarly, the community development costs include expenditure related to education, primary health, and income generation. the office operation costs include stationery, salary of office secretary, meeting allowance, auditing costs, purchasing of capital items and regular office operation costs. 3.2.1. community fund for forest management in the initial stage of community forestry program volunteer participation was common. after the initiation of community fund collection the volunteer participation has replaced by labor works (table 3). once a forest handed over to the local people, cfugs have been carried out various activities of forest management. however, most of these activities were furnished from the budget of community fund, not as it was furnished by volunteer participation in the past in both forests. volunteer participation can be observed only in forest fire control and silvicultural operation work, whenever forest fire rarely occurred in the forest and motivation of large quantity of firewood is the main attraction while participating in silvicultural operation. other forest management activities such forest watcher salary, harvesting and logging works, nursery establishment, plantation activities were accomplished by the community fund. the study also revealed that the direct impact of community fund collection in the terai region is volunteer participation has gradually decreasing while implementing the community forestry activities. 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 fiscal year a n n u a l in c o m e (n r s .) sundari cf dhuseri cf 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% sundari f orest dhuseri f orest s h a re o f s o u rc e s forestry sources non-f orestry sources fix the price of forest products. the study found that dhuseri forest has fixed nrs. 300/cu. ft., whereas sundari forest has fixed nrs. 250/cu. ft. of sal timber. on the other hand, dhuseri forest has fixed nrs. 75/100kg firewood and bakal, whereas nrs. 125/100kg by sundari community forest (table 2). the price table showed that dhuseri forest fixed higher rate for sal timber, whereas sundari forest has fixed higher rate for firewood and bakal. the situation revealed that community forests are independent to fix the price of forest products, but at the same time, there is no scientific reason behind the various rate of price fixation. considering to the fact, the reason behind the fixation of minimum and various prices was asked to the executive members. the respondents replied that low price is affordable to poor people. but the minimum price rate of high value forest products have negative effects on community fund collection as sale of forest products were the main sources of community fund. such minimum price rates always have possibility to create a separate room for corruption (which we can observed at dhuseri community forest in 2003), and possibility of elite capture of major forest benefits (iversen et al, 2006). the formal and informal discussion with executive members also revealed that the cfugs have fixed the minimum price of forest products based on the production costs, affording capacity of poor household, scope of community development at local level and minimum costs for cfug office operation. both dhuseri and sundari community forests have also followed same principle of ‘thumb rule’. when a household purchased the forest products, the money paid by the household goes to the community fund. the trend of community fund collection from 1999 to 2004 in both community forests have found low in the initial stage and gradually increasing in the recent years (figure 2). the ever-increasing community fund revealed that cfugs were gradually extracted greater quantity of forest products from the community forests. the discussion with executive members also revealed that the inventory system has making easier them to extract the larger quantity of forest products as they expected earlier. the non-forestry sources were registration fee, membership fee, penalty, and sanctions in both forests. when we compared between forestry and non-forestry sources, we found that forestry sources have higher contribution to the fund (figure 3). 3 although the fundamental aim of the community forestry program of nepal was to supply the forest products to the local users on a sustainable basis, community fund collection has becoming one of the raising issues in the recent years. in the discourse of program implementation, cfugs have created a number of forestry and nonforestry sources and collected a community fund. since the forest products have higher economic potential in the terai region, the case is more prominent to the region. the forestry sources include sale of timber, firewood, and fodder/grasses, whereas non-forestry sources are registration fee, membership fee, penalty fee, and support from government and ngos. consequently, the collection of community fund and carry out of community development and livelihood improvement activities in the line of poverty reduction were becoming indispensable part of sustainable community forest management (kanel, 2004). in the case of sal dominated community forests of terai region, it has been observed that sal timber, bakal3 and green firewood (produced at the time of harvesting and logging of utilization works) were the main sources of community fund collection. dry firewood, fodder and grasses can be collected at free of costs in the designated time, and these forest products do not have financial contribution to the community fund collection. by community forestry rules, each community forests are independent to fix the price of forest products. the study found that dhuseri forest has fixed nrs. 300/cu. ft., whereas sundari forest has fixed nrs. 250/cu. ft. of sal timber. on the other hand, dhuseri forest has fixed nrs. 75/100kg firewood and bakal, whereas nrs. 125/100kg by sundari community forest (table 2). the price table showed that dhuseri forest fixed higher rate for sal timber, whereas sundari forest has fixed higher rate for firewood and bakal. the situation revealed that community forests are independent to fix the price of forest products, but at the same time, there is no scientific reason behind the various rate of price fixation. considering to the fact, the reason behind the fixation of minimum and various prices was asked to the executive members. the respondents replied that low price is affordable to poor people. but the minimum price rate of high value forest products have negative effects on community fund collection as sale of forest products were the main sources of community fund. such minimum price rates always have possibility to create a separate room for corruption (which we can observed at dhuseri community forest in 2003), and possibility of elite capture of major forest benefits (iversen et al, 2006). table 2. forest products and their respective prices price of forest products forest product types dhuseri community forest sundari community forest timber (cu. ft.) 300 250 bakal (nrs./100kg) 75 125 firewood (green) (nrs./100kg) 75 125 source: respective community forests, 2005 the formal and informal discussion with executive members also revealed that the cfugs have fixed the minimum price of forest products based on the production costs, affording capacity of poor household, scope of community development at local level and minimum costs for cfug office operation. both dhuseri and sundari community forests have also followed same principle of 'thumb rule'. when a household purchased the forest products, the money paid by the household goes to the community fund. the trend of community fund collection from 1999 to 2004 in both community forests have found low in the initial stage and gradually increasing in the recent years (figure 2). the ever-increasing community fund revealed that cfugs were gradually extracted greater quantity of forest products from the community forests. the discussion with executive members also revealed that the inventory system has making easier them to extract the larger quantity of forest products as they expected earlier. the non-forestry sources were registration fee, membership fee, penalty, and sanctions in both forests. when we compared between forestry and non-forestry sources, we found that forestry sources have higher contribution to the fund (figure 3). 3 the outer part of sawn timber, cfug sells it to the local people by weight. the average price of bakal is nrs. 125 at sundari forest and 75 at dhuseri forest. figure 2. trend of annual income source: audit reports (1999 to 2004) source: audit reports (1999 to 2004) moreover, when it was compared between annual income and forest area, it found that the per capita income of dhuseri community forest is higher (nrs. 5,027/ha) than sundari community forest (nrs. 3,434/ha); however, the forest does not have any income in the fiscal year 2003 because of corruption dhakal and masuda figure 3. sources of community fund 58 banko janakari, vol. 17, no. 2 scandal. the repeated selection of same leadership in the forest, eventually not only led to the overconfidence at executive committee level to take a monopolistic decision on community fund generation and utilization, but also it institutionalized the corruption while generating and utilizing the community fund. taking to the issue on debate, the cfug of dhuseri community forest dissolved the executive committee in 2003 and for med new committee with a commitment not to repeat the corruption again in the following years. the case revealed that tog ether with community fund collection and utilization, transparency in record keeping and reporting systems were equally crucial for successful community forest management. utilization of community fund the annually collected community fund from 1999 to 2004 grouped into three types of costs based on the nature of expenditures namely: forest management, community development, and office operation. the forest management costs include all costs for plantation, regeneration, harvesting and logging works and salary of forest guards. similarly, the community development costs include expenditure related to education, primary health, and income generation. the office operation costs include stationery, salary of office secretary, meeting allowance, auditing costs, purchasing of capital items and regular office operation costs. community fund for forest management in the initial stage of community forestry program volunteer participation was common. after the initiation of community fund collection the volunteer participation has replaced by labor works (table 3). once a forest handed over to the local people, cfugs have been carried out various activities of forest management. however, most of these activities were furnished from the budget of community fund, not as it was furnished by volunteer participation in the past in both forests. volunteer participation can be observed only in forest fire control and silvicultural operation work, whenever forest fire rarely occurred in the forest and motivation of large quantity of firewood is the main attraction while participating in silvicultural operation. other forest management activities such forest watcher salary, har vesting and log ging works, nursery esta blishment, plantation activities were accomplished by the community fund. the study also revealed that the direct impact of community fund collection in the terai region is volunteer par ticipation has g radually decreasing while implementing the community forestry activities. the average budget allocated to forest management activities from 1999 to 2004 explored that 31.1% and 28.7% of total annual budget have been used for forest management activities at dhuseri and sundari community forest respectively. the sundari forest has allotted almost same amount of budget at each year, whereas the fluctuation ranges from 17.5% to 42.4% can be observed at dhuseri community forest (figure 4(i)). however, the major part of the budget has been used for harvesting and logging works in both forests. the budget allocated for forest development such as nurser y esta blishment, plantation and introduction of medicinal and aromatic plants found very poor. in fact, the poor budget allocation for forest development activities raised the question of sustainability of the program as the population of the terai region is constantly increasing, and there is a possibility of increasing demands of forest products from community forests. considering to the possibility of poor priority of forest development, the government has made obligatory provision to invest at least 25% of total annual income on forest manag ement and 5 table 3. forest management activities carried out by the community forests dhuseri community forest sundari community forest forest management activities community fund volunteer participation community fund volunteer participation forest watcher salary √ x √ x forest fire control x √ x √ forest road construction √ x √ x nursery establishment √ x √ x plantation √ x √ x forest road construction √ x √ x silvicultural operation x √ x √ harvesting & utilization √ x √ x field survey, 2005 and 2006 source: annual report of sundari and dhuseri community forests figure 4 (i, ii, iii and iv). trend of community fund allocation on forest management, community development, and office operation from 1999 to 2004 the average budget allocated to forest management activities from 1999 to 2004 explored that 31.1% and 28.7% of total annual budget have been used for forest management activities at dhuseri and sundari community forest respectively. the sundari forest has allotted almost same amount of budget at each year, whereas the fluctuation ranges from 17.5% to 42.4% can be observed at dhuseri community forest (figure 4(i)). however, the major part of the budget has been used for harvesting and logging works in both forests. the budget allocated for forest development such as nursery establishment, plantation and introduction of medicinal and aromatic plants found very poor. in fact, the poor budget allocation for forest development activities raised the question of sustainability community fund and office operation costs 58.6 62.5 33.234.9 18.2 48.3 67.6 0 65 56.4 33.4 48.4 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 fis cal year o p e ra ti o n c o s ts (% ) sundari cf dhus e ri cf community fund for forest managment 23.5 0 28.8 26.4 29.129.7 34.5 42.4 31.7 17.5 27.3 36.5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 fiscal year f o re s t m a n a g e m e n t c o s ts (% ) sundari cf dhuseri cf com m unity fund and com m unity deve lopm ent 9.2 28.2 47.3 35.4 37.7 11.1 12.6 30.1 0.70 17.5 16.3 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 fiscal ye ar c o m m u n it y d e v e lo p m e n t c o s ts (% ) sundari cf dhuseri cf utilization of community fund on an average 30.2 21.6 48.3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 f o re s t m a n a g e m e n t c o m m u n ity d e v e lo p m e n t o ffic e o p e ra tio n forest m anagem ent com m unity developm ent office operation dhakal and masuda 59 banko janakari, vol. 17, no. 2 development activities. however, both community forests counted the salary of forest guards and harvesting and logging costs as a part of forest management and development, whereas pure forest development activities such as plantation have poorly been carried out. community fund for community development community development has becoming an integral part of community forestry program in nepal. kanel (2004) claimed that community fund collection and carried out community development activities have linear relation in community forestry program. however, the amount of community fund depends on forest conditions and may vary from forest to forest (malla, 2000). both sundari and dhuseri community forests have used 28.9% and 14.8% of total annual income for community development activities respectively from the fiscal 1999 to 2004 on an average (figure 4 (ii)). however, the ratio has frequently fluctuated to each year in both forests. the results showed that sundari forest has better allocation of community fund for community development activities compare to dhuseri forest. the major carried out community development activities were school support, drinking water scheme, rural road construction, and gravelling. however, poor households have taking poor benefits from community development activities for example irrigation support only benefit to the people who has irrigated land and gravelling of road who has transportation means such as motorbike, jeep and tractor. the trend of budget allocation reflected that both forests have allocated large amount of budget in the initial years and the rate has gradually decreased in the recent years. nonetheless, sundari community forest has allocated better amount of budget for community development activities in each year (figure 4 (ii)). the crucial part of community development activity is it benefits to the household even though the household does not benefited from the direct forest benefits such as timber and firewood. community fund for office operation the records of annual expenditures of both dhuseri and sundari community forests showed that 54.2% 5 table 3. forest management activities carried out by the community forests dhuseri community forest sundari community forest forest management activities community fund volunteer participation community fund volunteer participation forest watcher salary √ x √ x forest fire control x √ x √ forest road construction √ x √ x nursery establishment √ x √ x plantation √ x √ x forest road construction √ x √ x silvicultural operation x √ x √ harvesting & utilization √ x √ x field survey, 2005 and 2006 source: annual report of sundari and dhuseri community forests figure 4 (i, ii, iii and iv). trend of community fund allocation on forest management, community development, and office operation from 1999 to 2004 the average budget allocated to forest management activities from 1999 to 2004 explored that 31.1% and 28.7% of total annual budget have been used for forest management activities at dhuseri and sundari community forest respectively. the sundari forest has allotted almost same amount of budget at each year, whereas the fluctuation ranges from 17.5% to 42.4% can be observed at dhuseri community forest (figure 4(i)). however, the major part of the budget has been used for harvesting and logging works in both forests. the budget allocated for forest development such as nursery establishment, plantation and introduction of medicinal and aromatic plants found very poor. in fact, the poor budget allocation for forest development activities raised the question of sustainability community fund and office operation costs 58.6 62.5 33.234.9 18.2 48.3 67.6 0 65 56.4 33.4 48.4 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 fis cal year o p e ra ti o n c o s ts (% ) sundari cf dhus e ri cf community fund for forest managment 23.5 0 28.8 26.4 29.129.7 34.5 42.4 31.7 17.5 27.3 36.5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 fiscal year f o re s t m a n a g e m e n t c o s ts (% ) sundari cf dhuseri cf com m unity fund and com m unity deve lopm ent 9.2 28.2 47.3 35.4 37.7 11.1 12.6 30.1 0.70 17.5 16.3 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 fiscal ye ar c o m m u n it y d e v e lo p m e n t c o s ts (% ) sundari cf dhuseri cf figure (i) figure (ii) utilization of community fund on an average 30.2 21.6 48.3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 f o re s t m a n a g e m e n t c o m m u n ity d e v e lo p m e n t o ffic e o p e ra tio n forest m anagem ent com m unity developm ent office operation figure (iv)figure (iii) source: annual report of sundari and dhuseri community forests figure 4: (i, ii, iii and iv). trend of community fund allocation on forest management, community development, and office operation from 1999 to 2004 dhakal and masuda 60 banko janakari, vol. 17, no. 2 and 42.6% of the total annual budget has been used for office operation purposes respectively. the trend of office operation costs have gradually been increased in the latest years (figure 4 (iii)). the average office operation costs of two forests also showed that around half of the community fund used for office operation purposes (figure 4 (iv)). the rate was declined in 2000 at 18.2% and 33.4% respectively at sundari and dhuseri forests; nonetheless, the ratio has always higher at dhuseri community forest and continuously growing up. the results showed that office operation costs have been ever increasing along with community fund collection. such costs have been reduced the oppor tunity costs of forest and community development activities. it has also raised the question of efficient and effective community forest management and reputation social leaderships of executive committee members. the overspending costs in office operation items have created disputes and a serious deadlock was occurred at dhuseri forest in the fiscal year 2003. conclusion beside regular supply of forest products, generation and utilization of community fund is the main attraction towards the community forestry program in the terai region of nepal. forestry sources have significant contribution to community fund collection. however, transparency is vital while generating the fund and its utilization in the line of objectives of the program. the corruption scandal at dhuseri forest revealed that people seemed more sensitive on transparency of collected fund than sharing of direct forest benefits such as timber and firewood. although forest products such as timber and firewood have characteristics of subtractability, (ostrom et al, 1994), the generation of community fund has crucial role to keep the people intact in forest management objectives even though the household has excluded from the direct benefits of the forests. the overspending office operation costs seem neg ative consequences to reduce the oppor tunity cost of forest management and community development. the trend showed that the office operation cost has constantly increasing, whereas efficiency is prerequisites for long term sustainability of the program. therefore, the study concluded that only the minimization of office operation cost could increase the forest management and community development costs based on the principle of trade-off, which is crucial to keep the people intact in community forestry program and its long-term sustainability. references adhikari, b. 2006a. local benefits from community forests in the middle hills of nepal. forest policy and economics 9 (5): 464-478. adhikari, b. 2006b. transaction costs and community-based natural resources management in nepal. journal of environmental management 78 (1): 5-15. agrawal, a., and gupta, k 2005. decentralization and participation: the governance of common pool resources in nepal’s terai. world development 33 (7):1101-1114. bampton, j., vickers, b., rana, b. and statz, j. 2004. community forestry in the terai. in twenty-five years of community forestry: contributing to millennium development goal (eds.) kanel, k. r. mathema, p., kanel, b. r., niraula, d. r., sharma, a. r. and gautam, m. proceedings of the fourth national workshop on community forestry, 4-6 august, 2004, kathmandu. baral, j. c. 2002. depleting forests, silent spectators: who should manage nepal’s terai forest? journal of forest and livelihood 2 (1):34-40. cbs, 2003. population census 2001. central bureau of statistics, kathmandu. chakraborty, r. n. 2001. stability and outcomes of common property institutions in forestr y: evidence from the terai region of nepal. ecological economics 36:341-353. dhakal, m. 2006. participatory management of lowland forests for improving local livelihood: a case study of nawalparasi district, nepal. unpublished master’s thesis in environmental sciences, university of tsukuba, japan. dhakal, m. and masuda, m. 2007. community forest management in the terai region of nepal: contribution to the local and national economy. in cross-sector policy development in forestry, (eds) y.c. dube and f. schimithusen, food and agriculture organization of united nations, rome. gautam, a. p., shivakoti, g. p., and webb, e. l. 2004. a review of forest policies, institutions, and changes in the resources condition in nepal. international forestry review 6 (2): 136-148. dhakal and masuda 61 banko janakari, vol. 17, no. 2 gautam, k. h. 2006. forestry, politicians, and power-perspectives from nepal’s forest policy. forest policy and economics 8:175-182. hill, i. 1999. forest manag ement in ne pal: economics and ecology. world bank technical paper no. 445, washington dc. iversen, v., chhetry, b., francis, p., gurung, m., kafle, g., pain, a. & seeley, j. 2006. high value forests, hidden economics, and elite capture: evidence from forest user groups in nepals’s terai. ecological economics 58: 93-107. kandel b. r. and kanel.k. r. 2006. achievements and challenges of community forests (nepali version). in hamro ban. the annual report of de par tment of forest 2061/2062 b.s., kathmandu. kanel, k. r. and niraula, d. r. 2004. can rural livelihood be improved through community forestry? bank janakari, 14 (1): 19-26. kanel, k. 2004. twenty-five years’ of community forestry: contribution to millennium development goals. in twenty-five years of community forestr y: contributing to millennium development goal (eds.) kanel, k. r. mathema, p., kanel, b. r., niraula, d. r., sharma, a. r. and gautam, m. proceedings of the fourth national workshop on community forestry, 4-6 august, 2004, kathmandu. malla, y. b. 2000. impact of community forestry policy on rural livelihoods and food security in nepal. unasylva 51: 37-45. maskey, v., gebremedhin, t. g., and dalton, t. j. 2006. social and cultural detriments, of collective forest management of community forest in nepal. journal of forest economics 11: 261-274. mpfs, 1989. master plan for forestry sector. ministr y of forests & soil conser vation, kathmandu. npc, 2002. poverty reduction strategy plan. national planning commission, kathmandu. ostrom, e., grander, r., and wakar, j. 1994. rules, games and common pool resources. the university of michigan press, usa. the government of nepal, 1993. forest act 1993. ministry of law and affairs, kathmandu. dhakal and masuda final added vol 15-2.pmd 1 banko janakari a journal of forestry information for nepal initiating biosafety procedures in nepal the member states of the convention on biological diversity (cbd) have been debating the need for a biosafety protocol since 1991, from the time the convention itself was being negotiated. since then plenty of water have flown in rivers, and, with time the developed countries have been putting tremendous efforts in strengthening biosafety measures to minimise the consequences arising from genetically modified organisms (gmos). nepal has yet to develop capacity needed to restrict the gmos that enter into its frontier either legally or illegally. recently initiatives to develop biosafety guidelines for nepal have been started by the ministry of forests and soil conservation, which will also help ascertain whether nepal is a gmo-free country or not. the experience and knowledge of perils presented by genetic engineering and the biotechnology industries of the west have affirmed the serious inadequacies in both regulations and testing procedures that currently exist, as well as the degree of unpredictability with regards to ecological impacts of transgenic organisms. few classical examples of such impacts, have been reported i) on soil organisms and plant life by ecological society of america; ii) rapid transfer of transgenes by spontaneous hybridization between engineered oilseed and its weedy relative by denmark; iii) survival and spread of genetically engineered organisms/ dna from containment by germany. dna persistence in laboratories, waste water treatment plants, aquatic systems, soils and digestive systems of mammals has also been shown in a series of experiments. the long-term ecosystem effects of these surprise survivals are unknown. the gmos, which are currently designed for commercial release, are designed to be robust and vigorous. despite they are not supposedly designed to survive in open environment, increasing evidences have shown that these organisms survive in waste water and sludge, soils and aquatic ecosystems. from there they may migrate, mutate and multiply. this selfreplicating nature of genetic material and lateral spread through ecosystems results in an intrinsically unstable and unpredictable situation. even the (limited) understanding that we have at present, has now recognised three major risks: • effects of transgenic products (primary and secondary) on non-target organisms; • establishment and spread of transgenic crop plants in non-target sites; and 2 • transfer by hybridization and introgression of transgenes from crop into wild relatives. of special concern to a developing country like ours are the socio-economic impacts of the introduction of gmos and products. in the long run, it seems that the transgenic crops are likely to replace our traditional crops on which the rural communities have depended for their survival and livelihood since long. in addition, the patented transgenic crop could prevent the use of non-transgenic donor or recipient species by traditional farmers, resulting in the loss of landraces and increased production costs as farmers will then have to pay for patented seeds and their accompanying package of herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers. in agenda 21 of cbd, governments undertook to consider international cooperation on safety in biotechnology. that commitment includes: sharing experience, capacity-building and international agreement on principles for biosafety. nepal is one of the 170 plus countries to sign and ratify the convention in 1992 and 1993 respectively. it was followed by signing and implementing the cartagena protocol on biosafety on march 2001. authorities are now confident that this guideline will “greatly help conserve biodiversity and promote public health”. there is no doubt that a foundation has been laid, but how long will nepal take to build capacity so that it could protect itself from the perils of intruding biotechnology is a serious concern. cover 20-2 banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 48 paudel and weiss economic potential of forest resources of nepal the contribution of forestry sector in nepal’seconomy is significant. as 39.06% of the country’s area is forests, this sector has diverse economic potential. this sector can contribute towards achieving the millennium development goals in nepal (kanel, 2004). the country lies within tropical to alpine climates and hosts a wide diversity of plant and animal species. for instance, nepal has documented about 7000 species of flowering plants, many of which are important both commercially and for sustaining rural livelihoods. major goods include fuelwood, timber, fodder, wild food, medicines, fibres and non-timber forest products (ntfps). similarly, forests provide different ecosystem services such as climate regulation, carbon sequestration, and water regulation. the millennium ecosystem assessment identifies both the 'goods' and 'services' as ecosystem services and categorizes them into provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services.these forest goods and services would add up to a huge contribution to the nepalese economy, but there is a lack of a systematic accounting. the understanding of the economic potential of forest resources is sketchy and efforts to tap such opportunities are negligible. thus, the purpose of this paper is to assess the economic potential of forest resources in nepal, based on available data and other project level experience for interventions and income generation. such assessments can give some direction to the policy makers and development organizations on how to harness forest-based economic opportunities for national development. further, such assessments may reveal economic potentials of forestry sector that could be tapped fully for boosting up the nepalese economy and fostering the livelihood of forest dependent communities. methodology most of the information used in this paper are drawn from secondary sources like existing data, studies, project reports, and office records. however, there are only a few information on the economic aspects of forestry and only limited studies have been done for assessing such opportunities. a judicious use of these existing results of the project interventions have been employed to explore the economic potentials of the forest resources in this paper. results and discussion current contribution of the forestry sector the following sections present the main uses of forest products and services and their respective economic contrib utions in the for m of the generation of revenue and employment. 1 ansab, kathmandu, nepal. * author for correspondance: shivapandey@ansab.org nepal’s forest resources underpin the livelihoods of rural people in important ways. during the country’s “planned development” over the past 50 years, the government, donors and policy makers have viewed these resources as a key vehicle for ushering in economic growth and for meeting basic needs. they underscore the potential value of forest resources for achieving conservation and socio-economic objectives. to what extent have economic incentives been generated to effectively harness these resources to meet the said objectives is an open question. to address this question, this paper reviews briefly and broadly the economic potential of the country’s forest resources in terms of forest goods and services. estimates of economic potential of timber and non-timber forest products and environmental services have been assessed. a number of recommendations for realizing the potential for achieving development and poverty reduction objectives is provided. key words: forestry, non-timber forest products, ecosystem services, economic potential, livelihood s.s. pandey1*, b.p. subedi1 and h. dhungana1 banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 49 timber timber and fuelwood are amongst the most important forest products that generate cash earning and are critical to the livelihood of rural people. although revenue generation remains significant (table 1), the contribution has declined over the period of 2003-06. this declining trend must be examined to ascertain the level of illegal logging or corruption involved in the trade and transport of timber and fuelwood. non-timber forest products nepal records 161 species of ntfps harvested for commercial purposes (subedi, 2006). more than a 100 of these species are high value ntfps that are traded in national and international markets. the livelihood of the majority of population of himalayan and high mountain, especially in western nepal, is sustained by ntfp trade (subedi, 2006). the bulk of the ntfps, especially medical and aromatic plants (maps), are exported to india with the remaining sent to other countries such as the united states and those in europe. nepal’s ntfp export was estimated at over nrs. 2.5 billion ($35 million) in a single year 2001/2002 (subedi, 2006). the total tax revenue generated from the ntfps, according to records at the department of forests for the years 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06 were rs. 44,272,692, rs. 77,840,603 and rs. 44,213,019, respectively (dof, 2005; 2006; 2007). there is, however, no system for systematically tracking the income and employment generated from ntfp nationally. environmental services another source of earning from forest relates to environmental services. as of now, the revenue from the environmental services generated from forest is confined to the fee charged on the tourists visiting the protected areas and to payment for watershed conser vation ser vices. the revenue from 14 protected areas (excluding annapurna conservation carbon sequestration from forestry sector—is still evolving globally. in nepal, small initiatives have taken place. for example, makwanpur district development committee (mddc) has been allocating 20 percent of the amount that it receives from nepal electricity authority for the location of hydro power plant in kulekhani of this district. at present, the mddc receives $55,000 annually and this is ploughed back to the upland communities for the environmental services of protecting the upland watershed. a greater effort is needed to devise enduring mechanisms that guarantee flow of benefits to those who sustain the valuable ecosystem services at local as well national levels. potential for forest based economic development the previous section presented the existing status of revenue generation from forest products and ecosystem services. these figures do not represent the full economic potential of the forestry sector in nepal. for instance, in ansab experience, the existing programme of community forestry provides important opportunities for rural people to use forest products in a sustainable way to g enerate employment and income. establishing communitybased enter prises and integ rating them into responsible value chains can serve to achieve both economic and conservation goals. the potential economic opportunities of the forestry sector this is discussed below. pandey et al. area) charged against tourist arrivals is erratic. this was primarily due to great fluctuation in tourist arrival during the period of maoist insurgency but, in the post-conflict context, more stable revenues may be expected. moreover, the notion of payment for environmental ser vices (pes)—primarily for such ser vices as biodiversity conservation, watershed protection and institutions fy 2003/04 fy 2004/05 fy 2005/06 quantity revenue quantity revenue quantity revenue (cft) (rs) (cft) (rs) (cft) (rs) district forest office 1,981,503 488,213,617 1,227,739 314,119,778 924,843 47,072,160 community forests na 77,909,234 na 40,274,330 na 8,306,309 total 566,122,851 354,394,108 255,378,469 source: dof (2005, 2006, 2007). table 1: timber and fuelwood trade recorded by the department of forest, 2003-06 banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 50 pandey et al. timber here we estimate the potential market value of timber, by using the data from the national forestry inventory of 1999. we assumed a 1.5% annual growth and allocated 40% of increment as allowable cut as per the forestry inventory guidelines of the department of forests issued in 2001. we also assumed that an average value for timber of all species at rs. 250/cft for the altitude range of 01000 m and rs. 150/cft for 1000-3000 m (table 2). with these assumptions, we estimated an annual harvest of 58.65 million cft of timber, with a value of rs. 12.78 billion. our experience in dolakha suggests that two-thirds of the total timber sales from a cfug go to generate local employment. assuming a daily wage rate of rs. 200 per person, the timber subsector can generate 42,593,850 persondays of employment for local people, or an equivalent of 180 days a year or 6 months employment for 236,632 people. non-timber forest products there is no inventory data for ntfps, on par with timber species, except in some areas under project support. for instance, the data from ansab projects in dolakha and bajhang districts suggest a very high potential for raising income and employment from the ntfp sub-sector if comprehensive support on market information, business development services, financial services and access to technology is availed to the local people. ten fsc-certified cfugs (with *assumptions 3521 ha of forest) in dolakha generated an annual income of rs. 1,255 per hectare from 24 unprocessed ntfps in 2006. these 24 species, however, were not the high value ntfps traditionally traded from mountain forests (e.g., yarsagumba, jatamasi, and atis). thus the economic value could be much more for other ntfp-rich community forests, especially in the mountain areas. we estimate that a potential income from the ntfp sub-sector at national scale comes to rs 5.31 billion per annum for a total cf 1) average value for timber (log) of all wood species: altitude class (0-1000) = rs. 250/cft altitude class (1000-3000) = rs. 150/cft 2) average incremental growth rate is 1.5% (for slow growing species the least value recommended is 1% and for the fast growing species, it is about 3%) 3) average allowable cut for all wood species is assumed to be 40% of the annual increment; the recommended least value for this is 40% for the poor forest site and 60% for the average forest site 4) for the altitudinal region of 1000-3000 m, 50% of the allowable cut is considered to be a realistic. 5) 1 m3 = 35.31 cft area of 1,057,827 hectares in hills and mountains. for this, we assumed that 40% of the total community forests have potential for ntfps. the estimate would go up if yarsagumba, jatamasi, atis and high volume products like resin are included. the value addition in marketing chains (processing, grading, and packaging) would further generate income and employment opportunity. similarly, the ntfp sub-sector can generate 26,550,000 person days of employment for local people or an equivalent of 6 month or 180 days a year employment for 147,500 persons. environmental services pes is another source of revenue that can grow in the years to come. in our study, we found that mountain forests provide such services as carbon sequestration, recreational use, scenic beauty, watershed protection (irrigation, drinking water, hydropower, flood and sedimentation control), biodiversity conser vation, soil for mation and table 2: estimated present value of logs by altitudinal class* 0-1000 1224.1 6637.59 99.56 39.83 39.83 9956.39 10003000 897.9 6270.60 94.06 37.62 18.81 2821.77 3000-above 57.2 2018.44 30.28 12.11 total 2179.2 14926.63 223.90 89.56 58.64 12,778.16 altitude reachable stem increment allowable realistic value in rs. (m) forest volume (million cut volume of (million) areas (million cft) (million cut (million ('000ha) cft) cft) cft) banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 51 banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2pandey et al. re plenishment of fer tility, pollination, and colonisation (subedi and singh, 2008). these services have considerable potential for generating income to the local people. because of the g rowing popularity of nepal’s varied cultural and ecological diversities, eco-tourism would be an attractive option for some communities. carbon sequestration from forest biomass is another opportunity that can be tapped by nepal through carbon trading. after bali action plan 2007 and copenhagen accord 2009, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (redd) plus has evolved as an important mitigation tool for climate change, providing opportunities for income through conservation and sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stock. though redd is still at the initial stages, it provides a good opportunity for nepal to enhance forest carbon and claim payment for carbon credits. recommendations the harnessing of the potentials of the forestry sector requires concer ted effor t from the government, donors and other actors. the following are the main areas where interventions should be focussed. organize community for resource management and enterprises a first important step towards realizing the economic potential of forest resources can be the organizing of the local communities to initiate for est management and forest-based enterprise activities. organizing the community into an appropriate management structure facilitates the management to achieve conservation and economic goals. this is a rigorous process that requires significant time and resources. establish small and medium forest enterprises similarly, efforts should be directed towards supporting the local community to establish and run small and medium forest enterprises (smfes) in a sustainable basis. these enterprises should consider environmental and social aspects, market requirements and policy provisions. for the enterprises to work, development agencies should offer a package of business development services (bds) that include skills training, infor mation services and financing. integrate community enterprises to rewarding value chains the enterprises will not benefit the local community if they are not linked to rewarding value chains. it is thus important, even if difficult, to foster and sustain business partnership of the community enterprises with the more powerful actors in the market. it is especially the responsible business entities that provide price premiums on conser vation and community effort. thus, development organizations should identify those business entities and facilitate partnerships within fair and transparent value chain governance. the communities should be supported to explore most promising value chains and try innovative marketing strategy (especially through forest management and chain of custody certification as well as fair trade). address key policy bottlenecks similarly, policy revisions should be pursued on a continuous basis to address the barriers that hinder the operation and growth of forest enterprises. these barriers include, for instance, arbitrary royalty rates for forest products, lengthy and costly export formalities, the ban on collection and trade of ntfps, contradictions between forestry and other laws, and cumbersome formalities on enterprise establishment. the issues should be constantly identified through multi-stakeholder consultation processes and addressed in time. design and operationalize the redd plus mechanism redd plus has evolved as a promising opportunity, but requires considerable effort in clarifying how it works within the participatory forestry program of nepal. it requires resolving key technical and social issues—especially on how to make it rewarding to local communities. therefore, redd plus piloting in different social and ecological contexts should be designed and implemented for experiential learning and innovation. adopt a strategy for import substitution despite being considerably rich in forest resources, nepal currently imports a huge amount of finished forest products, particularly plywood, furniture, veneer, paper, wooden handicrafts, boards, and herbal products from several neighbouring countries. government of nepal should devise strategies to engage the corporate and co-operative sectors to invest in forest based industries to meet the needs banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 52 pandey et al. of local and global markets. laws, policies and support interventions should be designed to this end. references dof. 2006. hamro ban, annual report of the depar tment of forests for fy 2061/62, department of forests, kathmandu, nepal. dof. 2007. hamro ban, annual report of the depar tment of forests for fy 2062/63, department of forests, kathmandu, nepal. dof. 2005. hamro ban, annual report of the depar tment of forests for fy 2060/61, department of forests, kathmandu, nepal. kanel, k. r. 2004. twenty-five years of community forestry: contribution to millenium development goals. in twenty-five years of community forestry: contributing to millennium development goals (eds.) kanel, k.r., mathema, p., kandel, b.r., niraula, d.r., sharma, a.r., gautam, m. proceedings of the fourth national workshop of community forestry, 4-6 august, 2004. community forestry division, department of forests, december 2004, kathmandu, nepal. subedi, b.p. and singh, s. p. 2008. ecosystem services of forests in nepal and uttarakhand himalayas: a few observations based on a pilot study. payment for environmental services, some concept and experiences, (ed.) bhatnagar, m. the icfai university press, hyderabad, india. subedi, b.p. 2006. linking plant-based enterprises and local communities to biodiver sity conser vation in nepal himalaya, adroit publishers, new delhi, india. 403 forbidden forbidden you don't have permission to access this resource. apache/2.4.54 (ubuntu) server at www.nepjol.info port 443 final added vol 15-2.pmd 24 lok vanaki a recent innovative approach for managing private forestry in madhya pradesh, india a k bhattacharya1 and bijendra basnyat2 this paper highlights on lok vanaki (private forestry) scheme, an innovative and decentralized approach for managing private forestry of madhya pradesh (mp) and examines on policy provisions, implementation status and explore on issues associated with its implementation. this scheme was launched in madhya pradesh in april 1999 for promoting multi-tier scientific management of neglected and degrading forests on private holdings. the state government has taken adequate measures to provide sufficient legal support to the whole initiative. lok vanaki has not only helped on conservation and development of private forestry but also in socio-economic upliftment of people. it has also contributed in reducing the unemployment rate of the country concept through the charter foresters, who are fully authorized for preparation, implementation and monitoring of the plan. efforts are underway to make the programme successful through political commitment. keywords : private forestry, forest acts, management plan, mp, india. evolution of concept rapid population, growth has created a demand and supply gap for the forestry products. the gap of fuelwood was 9.75 million cubic meters in 1999 (mpfd, 1999). apart from this, the productivity of the forest resources is decreasing day-by-day due to over dependency on forest products. this has created a tremendous pressure in government forest, which had lead to their degradation, singh (1998) estimated that 14 forest-based industries in the state have been closed due to shortage of raw materials and many others are operating below their installed capacity. in addition to above, verdict of honorable supreme court on 12-12-96 states that felling of trees in all forests (including private forests) is banned except in accordance with approved working (management) plans. hence, it has been felt that there is an imperative need to shift the wood production functions from natural forests under forest development to private forest and wasteland in order to make the governmental forest to play the ecological role exclusively. as a result, the govt. of m p conducted a thorough study and discussion with farmers and officials in order to hammer out a programme to promote tree growing in the revenue area and private holdings, which generally fall in the category of wasteland. the govt. of m p launched “lok vaniki (private forestry) mission” a programme to promote tree growing in private holding and revenue area with people’s participation in april 1999. initially, the programme was lunched in four districts on a pilot basis, which has now been extended to 10 districts. the chronological event of evolution of lok vanki is summarized in table 1. 1 conservator of forests, madhya pradesh forest department, mp, india. email: ajoykb@sancharnet.in 2 senior research officer, narma consultancy pvt. ltd. post box 13536, kathmandu, nepal: email: bijendra@narma.org.np; bbasnyat@yahoo.com table 1: evolution of lok vanaki in mp years chronological events 1996 supreme court’s verdict against felling of green trees 1999 • launched the private forestry concept in madhya pradesh and opening of lok vanaki cell under lok vaniki with additional pccf (production) as the mission leader. • decided to implement in four districts of mp • a high-powered committee composed of senior officials from the panchayat, tribal, forest and revenue departments was set up to look into legal requirements of the lok vaniki scheme. 2000 scheme was extended to three more districts 2001 formulation of lok vanaki act 2002 formulation of lok vanaki rule which is being implemented in 10 districts of mp 25 the scheme lok vanki is an innovative programme launched in mp in april 1999. the concept contemplates capturing the inter-relationship between economic growth, environmental preservation and poverty alleviation through development of forestry in the private sector. the major focus of the scheme is on promoting multi-tier scientific management of neglected and degrading forests on private holdings and also inculcating a culture of tree cultivation. the vision statement, envisaged as “lok vaniki : vision 2020”, states ‘to transform the forestry sector in mp, so as to enable it to fulfill its dual role of maintaining ecological balance and environmental stability while simultaneously meeting not only the domestic demand but also a share of the international market of forest products through people’s participation thereby contributing to the socio-economic development of the state’. lok vaniki aims to • increased production of wood and non-wood forest products in the private sector by managing and har vesting standing forests on private holdings; rehabilitating degraded forests on private holdings and on lands under the control of government departments (other than forest department) mainly revenue department; plantations on private and revenue department wastelands. • empowering and strengthening of panchayats and creation of other necessary institutions like ‘kisan sangh’ and ‘chartered foresters’ to manage, supervise and monitor forestry and forest based activities as also tax collection in non-government sector. hence, lok vanaki is initiated for the scientific management of private forests and promotion of tree cultivation on marginal lands. this would be achieved by providing suitable legal, institutional and market environment. the lok vanaki management process can be summairzed as below in box 1. policy and legal measures the state government has taken adequate measures to provide sufficient legal support to the whole initiative. lok vanaki act, 1999 and lok vanaki rule 2001 has been for mulated which provided an enabling legal framework to people willing to manage forests and tree clads area on scientific lines. the objectives of the act are to regulate and facilitate management of tree clad private and revenue areas in the state of madhya pradesh. lok vaniki, which emerged after the historic decision of the hon’ble supreme court has now assumed a shape that is based on sound legal grounds. key features of lok vanaki legislation are summarized in box 2. in order to facilitate tree cultivation and harvesting in a decentralized yet systematic and sustainable manner, peoples’ institutions are being entrusted with implementation responsibilities. institutions like “lok vaniki kisan uddyami sangh” are being registered under the societies act. the objective of the kisan sangh (farmers’ association) is to bring all small farmers together to organize for collective action in the field of private forestry and provide forward and backward linkages to its members, which are inevitable for multi-tier forestry. one of the other major objectives of the kisan sangh is to generate funds to make available the advance technology to the farmers and also facilitate proper marketing of timber and non-wood forest produce. forestry boards at state and district level are also being constituted to supervise various aspects of private forestry. the state govt. has recently created a new institution of chartered foresters to ensure box 1: procedural steps for managing private forestry under “lok vanaki “ • making the farmers aware of the concept, benefits to them through implementation of the scheme and their responsibilities. • they are told that the land cannot be diverted for any other use. • land has to be clearly demarcated and certificates obtained from forest and revenue departments that no forest or government land has been included in their holding. • a management plan has to be prepared and approved by a competent authority. • trees to be felled are marked strictly in accordance with the approved management plan. • regeneration of forest has to be ensured. • regular monitoring will take place and implementation of the management plan will be suspended if working is not found complying with management plan. all illicitly felled trees will be confiscated. banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2bhattacharya and basnyat 26 availability of technical assistance in the field of forestry on commercial basis. till to date, sevenchartered forester has already registered with lok vanaki cell. panchayat raj institutions, especially gram sabhas are supposed to play a major role in implementation and monitoring of private management plans. implementation status the lok vanaki was initiated in four districts but now it covers ten districts namely, devas, hoshangaad, damo, sivni, narsinghpur, jabalpur, kanti, mandala, dindori, sidhi. until now 1196 farmers owning 4211 hectares of land from five districts have got involved in the scheme (saigel et al, 2002). the state govt. has made elaborate arrangements for training and capacity building of these peoples institutions to evolve a transparent and convenient mechanism for private peoples active participation in management of their own tree clad areas. more than 150 training programs have been organized in 10 districts and 20,000 farmers are trained on various aspects of forest management with the introductory module of lok vanaki legislation. fifty management plan of lok vanaki have already been prepared of which four are being sanctioned and three has been forwarded to govt of india for approval as the plans cover more than 10 ha of land. in anticipation of the income that would be generated, many farmers invested in raising of plantations to further increase their assets. as per available information, approximately 3,79,000 seedlings were planted in 1999 planting season in dewas, sidhi and raigarh districts only. three farmers have started harvesting and their name and annual income is summarized in table 2 below. conclusions lok vanaki is a decentralized approach adopted by madhya pradesh forest department where the role of panchayat has been duly acknowledged. the concept of charter forester is not only innovative but could also contribute in reducing the unemployment. the farmers can make this productive without much box 2: key features of lok vanaki legislation • fairly free from colonial shadows: • an enabling law -voluntary in application: private forest owners voluntarily prepared plan for managing their wood lots • preparation of management plan: management plan is prepared to ensure continuity and improvement of the forest so that it fulfills its environmental and economic roles optimally. in preparing the management plan of private forests, the same silvicultural principles are applied as in the case of government forests • chartered foresters: availability of technical forestry services to people on commercial basis. these are the private independent parties who will prepare the management plan for the farmer for sustainable management of private forest • putting people first: self assessment by the owner of private forests the act itself is very progressive, the process for framing rules under the act was also participatory • single window deals with the issue of management of such private holdings for which a management plan is prepared under the provisions of the act. such lands shall remain outside the purview of the madhya pradesh land • recognition of role of local government in sustainable private forestry: the gram panchayat after having received the approved management plan from the competent authority should implement the plan according to prescribed time schedule. • institutional framework: state-level coordination committee, forestry boards at district and block-level, lok vaniki kisan samiti and sangh and chartered foresters, kisan sangh’ and chartered foresters to manage, supervise and monitor forestry and forest-based activities vfkhph��6dljho�hw�do���������7kh�6wdwh�*ryw��kdv�pdgh�hoderudwh�duudqjhphqwv�iru�wudlqlqj� dqg�fdsdflw\�exloglqj�ri�wkhvh�shrsohv�lqvwlwxwlrqv�wr�hyroyh�d�wudqvsduhqw�dqg�frqyhqlhqw� phfkdqlvp� iru� sulydwh� shrsohv� dfwlyh� sduwlflsdwlrq� lq� pdqdjhphqw� ri� wkhlu� rzq� wuhh� fodg� duhdv��0ruh�wkdq�����wudlqlqj�surjudpv�duh�rujdql]hg�lq�whq�glvwulfwv�dqg��������iduphuv�duh� wudlqhg�rq�ydulrxv�dvshfwv�ri�iruhvw�pdqdjhphqw�zlwk�wkh�lqwurgxfwru\�prgxoh�ri�/rn�9dqdnl� ohjlvodwlrq�����pdqdjhphqw�sodq�ri�/rn�9dqdnl�lv�kdv�douhdg\�ehhq�suhsduhg�ri�zklfk�irxu� duh� ehlqj� vdqfwlrqhg� dqg� wkuhh� kdv� ehhq� iruzdughg� wr� *ryw� ri� ,qgld� iru� dssurydo� dv� wkh� sodqv�fryhu�pruh�wkdq����kd�ri�odqg��,q�dqwlflsdwlrq�ri�wkh�lqfrph�wkdw�zrxog�eh�jhqhudwhg�� pdq\� iduphuv� lqyhvwhg� lq� udlvlqj� ri� sodqwdwlrqv� wr� ixuwkhu� lqfuhdvh� wkhlu� dvvhwv�� � $v� shu� dydlodeoh� lqirupdwlrq�� dssur[lpdwho\� ��������� vhhgolqjv� zhuh� sodqwhg� lq� ����� sodqwlqj� vhdvrq�lq�'hzdv��6lgkl�dqg�5dljduk�glvwulfwv�rqo\��7kuhh�iduphuv�kdyh�vwduwhg�kduyhvwlqj� dqg�wkhlu�qdph�dqg�dqqxdo�lqfrph�lv�vxppdul]hg�lq�wdeoh���ehorz� 7deoh����,qfrph�iurp�/rn�9dqdnl 'lvwulfw 1dph�ri�iduphu $qqxdo�lqfrph 7rwdo�iruhvw�duhd +rvdqjdedg .dqwd�3udvdg�0dkrwr 5v������� �����kd 'hydv 6krgdud�5dl 5v������� ��kd 'dpr .rgxodo�'xeh\ 5v������� ����kd &rqfoxvlrqv /rn� 9dqdnl lv� d� ghfhqwudol]hg� dssurdfk� dgrswhg� e\� 0dgk\d� 3udghvk� )ruhvw� 'hsduwphqw� zkhuh�wkh�uroh�ri�3dqfkd\dw�kdv�ehhq�gxo\�dfnqrzohgjhg��7kh�frqfhsw�ri�fkduwhu�iruhvwhu�lv� qrw�rqo\�lqqrydwlyh�exw�frxog�dovr�frqwulexwh�d�orw�lq�uhgxflqj�wkh�xqhpsor\phqw�udwh�ri�wkh� frxqwu\�� 7kh� iduphuv� fdq� pdnh� wklv� surgxfwlyh� zlwkrxw� pxfk� lqyhvwphqw� �6dljho� hw�� do�� �������7klv�zrxog�qrw�rqo\�khos�iru�frqvhuydwlrq�dqg�ghyhorsphqw�ri sulydwh�iruhvwu\�exw�dovr� khos�lq�vrflr�hfrqrplf�xsoliwphqw�ri�shrsoh���,q�vslwh�ri�juhdwhu�srolwlfdo�frpplwphqwv�dqg� dghtxdwh� ohjdo� dqg� srolf\� iudphzrun�� lpsohphqwdwlrq� ri� wkh� /rn� 9dqdnl� vfkhph� lv� qrw� hqfrxudjlqj� dv� lw� lv� ehlqj� lpsohphqwhg� lq� ��� glvwulfwv� rxw� ri� ��� glvwulfwv� ri� 6wdwh�� 7kh� surfhvv�ri�kdqglqj�ryhu�lv�yhu\�vorz�gxh�wr�orqj�dgplqlvwudwlyh�surfhgxuhv��dv�lw�uhtxluhv� dssurydo�iurp�&hqwudo�jryhuqphqw�li�wkh�duhd�lv�pruh�wkdq����kd�ri�odqg��+hqfh��/rn�9dqdnl lv� qrw� d� sdqdfhd� exw� lw� fdq� frqwulexwh� d� orw� wrzdugv� vxvwdlqdeoh� pdqdjhphqw� ri� sulydwh� iruhvwv�li�surshuo\�lpsohphqwhg�� 5hihuhqfhv *203�� ������ 0dgk\d� 3udghvk� /rn� 9dqdnl� $fw� ����� 0dgk\d� 3udghvk� *ryhuqphqw�� %krsdo��03��,qgld *203� ������ 0dgk\d� 3udghvk� /rn� 9dqdnl� 5xoh� � ������ 0dgk\d� 3udghvk� *ryhuqphqw�� %krsdo��03��,qgld 03)'������ 0dgk\d�3udghvk�)ruhvwu\�$fwlrq�3odq��0dgk\d�3udghvk�)ruhvw�'hsduwphqw�� %krsdo�,qgld 6dljdo��6��$urud��+�dqg�5l]yl��6�6��������7kh�qhz�iruhvwhuv��wkh�uroh�ri�sulydwh�hqwhusulvh�lq� wkh�,qgldq�iruhvwu\�vhfwru��,qvwuxphqwv�iru�vxvwdlqdeoh�sulydwh�vhfwru�iruhvwu\�vhulhv� (frwhfk� 6huylfhv��1hz�'hokl�dqg�,qwhuqdwlrqdo�,qvwlwxwh�iru�(qylurqphqw�dqg�'hyhorsphqw��/rqgrq 6lqjk��'�3� ������ 6rflr�hfrqrplf�'hyhorsphqw�ri�0dgk\d�3udghvk�wkurxjk�)ruhvwu\�e\� wkh�shrsoh��iru�wkh�shrsoh��*ryhuqphqw�ri�0dgk\d�3udghvk��%krsdo��,qgld table 2: income from lok vanaki banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 bhattacharya and basnyat 27 investment (saigel et. al, 2002). this would not only help for conservation and development of private forestry but also in socio-economic upliftment of people. since this is a new programme, rectification in various aspects of implementation is needed. important among them is to expedite the handing over, which is very slow due to long administrative procedures. it requires approval from central government if the area is more than 10 ha of land. hence, lok vanaki is not a panacea but it can contribute a lot towards sustainable management of private forests if properly implemented. references gomp. 2002. madhya pradesh lok vanaki act2001, and madhya pradesh lok vanaki rule 2002. madhya pradesh government, bhopal, mp, india mpfd.1999. madhya pradesh forestry action plan. madhya pradesh forest department, bhopal india saigal, s, arora, h and rizvi, s.s. 2002. the new foresters: the role of private enterprise in the indian forestry sector. instruments for sustainable private sector forestry series. ecotech ser vices, new delhi and international institute for environment and development, london singh, d.p. 1998. socio-economic development of madhya pradesh through forestry by the people, for the people. government of madhya pradesh, bhopal, india banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2bhattacharya and basnyat final added vol 15-2.pmd 38 mistletoes are one of the important componentsof biodiversity. they play a vital role in natural plant communities by interacting with other hosts, herbivores and dispersers. in many cultures, mistletoes have been a source for many concepts, symbols, and rituals. since early days, they have been one of the most magical, mysterious and scared plants of folklore. probably due to their parasitic nature, elusive method of dispersal, and strange growth habit, many cultures have revered, feared, or thought them to have magical properties. the species not only adorn festive as portrait of friendship, but are still respected palliative for the most feared diseases including cancer, with their connotations in sympathetic medicines of abnormal growth (polhill and wiens 1998). in nepal, mistletoes have traditionally been used since long. however, they have remained unused by the modern pharmacological practices. the indigenous use of mistletoes such as dendrophthoe falcata, viscum album and v. articulatum was first documented in nepal in ‘medicinal plants of nepal’ (hmgn 1970) marking the beginning of ethnobotanical studies on mistletoes. nonetheless the works on indigenous uses still remained unattained. present study, therefore, aimed to collate and enumerate the indigenous uses of mistletoes. methods primary data on indigenous uses of mistletoes were collected from participator y obser vations and informal discussions with the locals at hattikhal, chepangghat, deurali and mulghat area (250-700 m; tropical zone) of bardia district in april 2003 and in godawari-phulchoki area (1500-2700 m; subtropical and temperate zone) of lalitpur district in july 2003 to june 2004. literatures briefing the indigenous use of mistletoes were also reviewed and analyzed. results of the eight species found to be used indigenously dendrophthoe falcata, scurrula elata, s. pulverulenta and viscum articulatum were used in bardia district and helixanthera ligustrina, loranthus odoratus, scurrula elata, s. parasitica, s. pulverulenta, viscum album and v. articulatum in godawari-phulchoki area of lalitpur district. most of the species were used for healing and curing the bone fractures, dislocation and sprain. very few were reported as fodder and edible (table 1). local people from both areas denied using mistletoes for fuelwood/firewood because they believed that such uses cause them debt in home and eye problems. the use of mistletoes for trapping bird was also important. tamang ethnic groups of phulchoki area believed that the use of mistletoes infected urtica dioca wood brings good luck during gambling. discussion to date, total of 19 species of the mistletoes are found in nepal (devkota 2005). though the species are few in number, their uses have been practiced indigenously for centuries. of the 19 species, 11 species are being indigenously used for various purposes. most of the existing ethnobotanical reports of nepal have recorded the importance of mistletoes for rural life. such importances include medicine, fodder and indigenous use of mistletoes in tropical and temperate region of nepal r. m. kunwar1, n. adhikari1 and m. p. devkota2 eleven species of mistletoes are widely used by different ethnic groups of nepal for various purposes. the local people of the present study areas (one each at tropical and temperate region) were found using eight species of mistletoes for food, fodder and medicine. noticeable use of the mistletoes is for healing bone fractures, dislocation and sprain. keywords: indigenous use, mistletoes, nepal. 1 centre for biological conservation, kathmandu, nepal (ripu@wlink.com.np) 2 amrit campus, tribhuvan university, kathmandu, nepal 39 food. besides these, few species are used in trapping birds and few others are for food for birds and butterflies. mistletoes are extensively applied for curing muscular swelling, sprains, fr actures, dislocations, etc. a detailed review of indigenous use of 11 mistletoes species has been presented below for the feaders. their synonyms and local names are given in table 1. 1. dendrophthoe falcata (l.f.) etting. (loranthaceae) leaf paste is used in skin diseases. it is taken in abor tion (bhattarai 1991; siwakoti and s i wak o t i 2 0 0 0 ) . b a r k j u i c e / d e c o c t i o n i s employed for menstrual problems and asthma (bohora 1998; sapkota 2000; pandey 2001; bhattarai 2002). its paste is applied on boils, setting dislocated bones and extracting pus (manandhar 2002). fruit is taken as flavor, edible (hmgn 1982; panthi and chaudhary 2002; shrestha and kunwar 2003), astringent, narcotics, and for curing wounds (siwakoti and varma 1996, 1999), and its paste is applied on fractures for setting bones (manandhar 1986, 1990) and other medicinal purposes (sah et al 2002). nectar is food for hair crested drungo and sunbirds (bpp 1995). leaf along with urtica doica (sisnu) are made into paste and used to treat bone fractures (bhattarai 1993). 2. helixanthera ligustrina (wall.) danser (loranthaceae) fruits are edible (manandhar 2002) and whole plant is used as medicine (panthi and chaudhary 2002; shrestha and kunwar 2003). 3. loranthus odoratus wall. (loranthaceae) plant is used as fodder (gurung 2003). ripen fruits are taken by tamang people for indigestion (manandhar 1991, 2002). in winter, fruits are collected, boiled with equal volume of water and the viscous gel is applied over the tree branches for bird trapping (devkota 1995; nepal 1999). 4. macrosolen cochinchinensis (lour.) van tiegh. (loranthaceae) plant is taken to cure headache (devkota 1997). banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2kunwar et al. 2 total eight species were found to be used indigenously in present study. of the eight species, dendrophthoe falcata, scurrula elata, s. pulverulenta and viscum articulatum were used in bardia district. the use of helixanthera ligustrina, loranthus odoratus, scurrula elata, s. parasitica, s. pulverulenta, viscum album and v. articulatum was observed in godawari-phulchoki area, lalitpur district. most of the species were used for healing and curing the bone fractures, dislocation and sprain. very few were reported as fodder and edible (table1). none of the species were used as fuelwood. local people from the both areas deny using the fuelwood/firewood of mistletoes because they believe that the use of mistletoes species as firewood tempts debt in home and causes eye problems. the use of mistletoes for trapping bird was also important. tamang ethnic groups of phulchoki area believe that the use of mistletoes infected urtica dioca wood brings good luck during gambling. table 1. indigenous use of mistletoes in nepal sno species name local name indigenous use 1 dendrophthoe falcata (l.f.) etting.* {loranthus bicolor roxb., l. falcatus l.f., l. longiflorus desr.} rhiniya-m, ainjeru-n, mandargon banda-s, nihi-t edible, medicinal 2 helixanthera ligustrina (wall.) danser* {loranthus ligustrinus wall.} bhringe-g, ainjheru-mg, ainjeru, lisso-n edible, medicinal 3 loranthus odoratus wall.* {hyphaer odoratum (wall.) danser} ainjeru-n, khik-r, donglanaist fodder, medicinal 4 macrosolen cochinchinensis tiegh. {loranthus cochinchinensis tiegh., l. globosus roxb., l. viridiflorus wall.} ainjeru-n medicinal 5 scurrula elata (edgew.) danser* {loranthus elatus edgew.} bhringe-g, ainjeru-n, ainjera, che-s, nai-t edible, fodder, medicinal 6 scurrula parasitica l.* {loranthus scurrula l.} ainjeru, lisso-n edible, fodder 7 scurrula pulverulenta (wall) g. don* {loranthus carnosus wall., l. pulverulentus wall.} bhringe-g, ainjeru-n edible, fodder, medicinal 8 taxillus vestitus (wall.) danser {loranthus vestitus (wall.) danser} lisso-n edible, medicinal 9 viscum album l.* {viscum costatum, v. stellatum d. don} ainjeru-c, mistletoes, devil’s fuge, birdlime-e, harjor-g, ainjeru, harchur, hadjoda, sanohatchur-n, harchu-ne, gandhamadini, jiwantika–sa, nai-t, bang-th edible, medicinal 10 viscum articulatum burm. f.* {viscum dichotomum d. don, v. liquidambaricolum (hayata) r.s. rao} hadachur, hadjod-n, harchu-ne, bojha-r, kathkomunjga-s, gandhmadini-sa fodder, medicinal 11 viscum sp. lisso-n medicinal source: field survey (2003 and 2004) * species used in study area, species given in {} are synonyms c = chepang, e =english, g = gurung, m = moosahar, mg = magar, n = nepali, ne = newari, r = rai, s = satar, sa = sanskrit, sh = sherpa, t = tamang, th = tharu discussion 40 5. scurrula elata (edgew.) danser (loranthaceae) leaves are used as fodder. fruits are edible and used for bird trapping (shrestha 1988a; shrestha 1988b; nepal 1999; duwadee and kunwar 2001, manandhar 2002). 6. scurrula parasitica l. (loranthaceae) leaves are used as fodder. fruits are edible (manandhar 2002; shrestha and kunwar 2003). if taken, the tender shoots cause loss of appetite and vomiting to livestock (shrestha 1985). 7. scurrula pulverulenta (wall.) g. don (loranthaceae) leaves are used as fodder. fruits are edible and used for bird trapping. stem bark is boiled in water and used as a treatment of jaundice. 8. taxillus vestitus (wall.) danser (loranthaceae) plant is boiled and its extract is applied on sprain (manandhar 1993). it is also used as a wild food plant (manandhar 1997). 9. viscum album linn. (viscaceae) fruits are edible, laxative, tonic, aphrodisiac, cardiotonic (hmgn 1970; iucn 2004); used for tumor, mixed with egg and eaten to cure fracture (devkota 1997); food for butterfly delais aglaia (red base jazebel), delais belladona (hill jazebel); twigs are used by witch doctors (khanal and bhandary 1982). plant is used as diuretic; applied in wounds, earache, and enlargement of spleen (malla 1994; khan 1997; joshi and joshi 2001; panthi and chaudhary 2002; iucn 2004). root extract is taken to cure titanus (dangol 2002) and bark paste is applied on muscular swelling, boils, wounds, sprains, fractures (manandhar 1992; shrestha and dhillion 2003; panthi and chaudhary 2004; poudel and uprety 2004). plant paste is applied on curing dislocated bones (coburn 1984; manandhar 1989a; oli 2001; prasai 2001; shrestha et al 2004), wounds of cattle (manandhar 1989 a,b; shrestha 1997; bhattarai 2002; shrestha et al 2004; iucn 2004) and abdomen swelling. 10. viscum articulatum burm.f. (viscaceae) plant bark is often mixed with hen egg and pinus roxburghii leaf and taken for ailment of bone dislocation. it is given in fever attended with itching limbs and as an aphrodisiac. it has febrifug e properties (hmgn 1970). paste prepared from all parts of the plant is applied over the fractured portion of the body (oli 2003). stem paste and decoction is applied on cuts, wounds, bone fracture (nepal 1999; joshi and joshi 2001; niraula 2001; gurung 2003; iucn 2004), ulcers and blood diseases (sapkota 2000; pandey 2001; iucn 2004), epilepsy and sprain (siwakoti and siwakoti 2000). plant is also used as fodder (thapa et al 1997). 11. viscum sp. (viscaceae) plant paste is used in fracture (kattel and kurmi 2004). acknowledgements first author is grateful to zoological society of london, uk; and natural histor y museum, kathmandu for providing support to have field visit in bardia district. the second author is thankful to university grant commission, kathmandu nepal. references bhattarai, g. p. 2002. diversity and indigenous uses of flowering plant resources in the churiya forests of parsa w ildlif e reser ve and adjoining ar ea. central department of botany, tribhuvan university, nepal. m.sc. thesis. 110. bhattarai, n. k. 1991. folk herbal medicines of makawanpur district, nepal. international journal of pharmacognosy, 29(4): 284-295. bhattarai, n. k. 1993. folk herbal medicines of dolakha district, nepal. fitoterapia, 64(5): 387-395. bohora, g. b. 1998. a study of traditional medicinal plants and its knowledge among people of bajhang district, nepal. central department of social science, tribhuvan university, nepal. m.sc. thesis. 33. bpp. 1995. biodiversity assessment of terai wetlands. hmg nepal and government of netherlands. bpp technical publication no. 1. 80+. coburn, b. 1984. some native medicinal plants of western gurungs. kailash, 55-87. dangol, n. 2002. documentation of the ethnobotanical knowledge of kumal community of chitwan district, central nepal. central department of botany, tribhuvan university, nepal. m.sc. thesis. 99. devkota, m. p. 1997. mistletoes of khimti forest, ramechaap district, nepal. banko janakari 7(2): 52-53. devkota, m. p. and acharya, n. 1995. status of angiospermic tree parasites of kathmandu valley. (a report) wwf nepal program. 19. banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 kunwar et al. 41 devkota, m. p. 2005. biology of mistletoes and their status in nepal himalaya. himalayan journal of sciences, 3(5): 85-88. duwadee, n. p. s and kunwar, r. m. 2001. botanical survey of khaptad national park and buffer zone area, far western nepal. botanica orientalis, 2: 165170. gurung, k. 2003. indigenous knowledge on the plant resources used by the people of tinjure area, terhathum district, nepal. botanica orientalis, 3: 118-125. hara, h., chater, a. o. and williams, l. h. j. 1982. an enumeration of flowering plants of nepal. vol. iii. british museum (natural history), london. 226. hmgn. 1970. medicinal plants of nepal. bulletin of the department of medicinal plants no. 3. depar tment of plant resources, mofsc, kathmandu, nepal. 153. hmgn. 1982. wild edible plants of nepal. bulletin of de par tment of medicinal plants no. 9. depar tment of plant resources, mofsc, kathmandu, nepal. 285. iucn. 2004. national register of medicinal and aromatic plants. iucn, kathmandu, nepal. 202. joshi, k. k. and joshi, s. d. 2001. genetic heritage of medicinal and aromatic plants of nepal himalaya. buddha academic publishers and distributors, kathmandu, nepal. 239. kattel, l. p. and kurmi, p. p. 2004. a study on plant used by traditional herbal healers in mid west and eastern nepal. plant resources, department of plant resources, kathmandu, nepal. 16-21. khan, m. h. 1997. documentation of indigenous knowledge in chepang community of shaktikhor village, chitwan district, nepal. in proceeding of the national workshop in nepal: ethnobotany for conservation and community development (eds) shrestha k. k., jha p. k., shengji p., rastogi a., rajbhandary s. and joshi m. ethnobotanical society of nepal, kathmandu, nepal. khanal, b. and bhandary, h. 1982. food plants of some butterfly larvae. journal of natural histor y museum, 6(1-4): 57-70. malla, s. b. 1994. medicinal herbs in the bagmati zone, adpi distribution series no. 8. kathmandu, nepal, icimod. 85. manandhar, n. p. 1986. a contribution to the ethnobotany of mushar tribes of dhanusa district, nepal. journal of natural history museum, 10(1-4): 53-64. manandhar, n. p. 1989a. medicinal plants used by the chepang tribes of makawanpur district nepal. fitoterapia, 60(1): 61-68. manandhar, n. p. 1989b. ethnoveterinary medicinal drugs of central development region of nepal. bulletin medico ethnobotanical research, 10(3-4): 9399. manandhar, n. p. 1990. traditional phytotherapy of danuwar tribe of kamlakhong in sindhuli district, nepal. fitoterapia, 61 (4): 325-332. manandhar, n. p. 1991. medicinal plants-lore of tamang tribe of kavrepalanchok district, nepal. economic botany, 45:58-71. manandhar, n. p. 1992. folklore medicine of dhading district, nepal. fitoterapia, 63(2): 163177. manandhar, n. p. 1993. ethnobotanical note on folk lore remedies of baglung district ne pal. contribution to the nepalese studies, 20(2): 183-196. manandhar, n. p. 1997. unreported wild food plants of nepal. ethnobotany, 9: 97-100. manandhar, n. p. 2002. plants and people of nepal. timbre press, oregon, usa. 599. nepal, m. 1999. ethnobotany of rai and sher pa community in the makalu barun conservation area, eastern nepal. central department of botany, tribhuvan university, nepal. m.sc. thesis. 150. niraula, k. 2001. vegetation analysis and ecology of the medicinal plants in and around tinjure hill (terhathum and sankhuwasabha districts), eastern nepal. central department of botany, tribhuvan university, nepal. m.sc. thesis. 103. oli, b. r. 2001. local knowledge on plant utilization among the major ethnic communities (limbu, rai, brahmin, cheetri, magar, and tamang) in the eastern churia, nepal. central department of botany, tribhuvan university, nepal. m.sc. thesis. 137. oli, b. r. 2003. ethnomedicinal uses of plants among the limbus of hellock area of tpethok vdc, taplejung district, nepal. botanica orientalis, 3:112115. pandey, b. 2001. ethnobotany in human welfare: a case study for bhujung, lamjung, nepal. department of biological and envir onmental science, kathmandu university, nepal. m.sc. thesis. 126. panthi, m. p. and chaudhary, r. p. 2002. angiosperm flora of arghakhanchi district and adjoining areas, west nepal. journal of natural history museum, 21(14): 7-32. banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2kunwar et al. 42 panthi, m. p. and chaudhar y, r.p. 2003. ethnomedicinal plant resources of arghakhanchi district, nepal. ethnobotany, 15: 71-86 polhill, r. and wiens, d. 1998. mistletoes of africa. the royal botanical garden, kew. 60. poudel, r. c. and uprety, y. 2004. ethnobotanical and ntfp survey in nuwakot district, nepal. botanica orientalis, 4:66-71. prasai, a. 2001. indigenous management of ntfps: its role in sustainable development. central department sociology/anthropology, tribhuvan university, nepal. m.a. thesis. 89. sah, j. p., singh, r. l. and bhatta, n. 2002. floristic diversity and use of plants in ghodaghodi lake area, nepal. journal of natural history museum, 21(14): 243-266. sapkota, p. p. 2000. ecological study and traditional uses of medicinal plants in malika forest baglung, west nepal. central department of botany, tribhuvan university, nepal. m.sc. thesis. 95. shrestha, a, kc, b., and thapa, c. b. 2004. ethnomedicinal uses of plants among the kumal community in chirtundhara, palpa district, nepal. botanica orientalis, 4: 59-62. shrestha, a. k. 1997. documentation of indigenous knowledge on the utilization of plant resources by the tharu community around rbnp, west nepal. central department of botany, tribhuvan university, nepal. m.sc thesis. shrestha, k. and kunwar, r. m. 2003. plants. in oliver s (ed.) babai river valley: fish and biodiversity survey, royal bardia national park, nepal. zsl conservation report no.3. london: the zoological society of london. 119. shrestha, k. k., rajbhandary s., tiwari, n., poudel r. c. and uprety y. 2004. ethnobotany in nepal: review and perspectives. (a report) wwf nepal program and ethnobotanical society of nepal, kathmandu, nepal. 271. shrestha, p. 1985. research note: contribution to the ethnobotany of the palpa area. contribution to the nepalese studies, 12(2): 63-74. shrestha, p. m and dhillion s. s. 2003. medicinal plant diversity and use in the highlands of dolakha district, ne pal. jour nal of ethnopharmacology, 86: 81-96. shrestha, p. 1988a. ethnobotanical observation on the tamangs of kathmandu valley, in proceeding of national conference on science and technology, royal nepal academy of science and technology, kathmandu, nepal. 353-358. shrestha, p. 1988b. contribution to the ethnobotany of the tamangs of kathmandu valley. contribution to the nepalese studies, 15(2): 247-266. siwakoti, m. and siwakoti, s. 2000. ethnobotanical uses of plants among the satar tribes of nepal. in ethnobotany and medicinal plants of indian subcontinent (ed) maheswori j. k. scientific publishers, jodhpur, india. 79-108. siwakoti, m. and varma, s. k. 1996. medicinal plant of the terai of east nepal. jnl eco. taxon. bot. additional series12. scientific publication, jodhpur, india. 423-438. siwakoti, m. and varma, s. k. 1999. plant diversity of eastern nepal: flora of plains of eastern nepal. m/s bishen singh mahendra pal singh, dehra dun, india. 491. thapa, b., walker d. h. and sinclair f. l. 1997. indigenous knowledge of the feeding value of tree fodder. animal feed science and technology, 67: 97-114. banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 kunwar et al. final added vol 15-2.pmd 63 the tenth five year plan (2002-2007) of nepalis focused on poverty reduction. bamboos are increasingly identified as one of the important renewable natural products that can help reduce poverty if grown and managed on sustainable basis (das, 2002; poudyal and das, 2002). bamboo has intimately been associated with human being since ancient time in nepal. very few species can match bamboo in terms of uses as virtually anything can be made of bamboos. bamboos are an important component of rural farming system, as they play critical role in rural economy and help sustain livelihoods of many rural households (das, 1992, 1999 a and b). bamboo handicrafts, furniture, woven products and shoots as vegetables are readily bought and sold and is a source of income for many rural households, that includes socially and economically disadvantaged g roups (das, 1999a and 2002). bamboos are mostly grown on private farmlands and also occur in natural forests (das, 2002). they are also now increasingly introduced in community forests. fifty species of bamboos are already recorded in nepal (das, 2004). several studies have been conducted on the effect of taboos, beliefs and superstitions on tree planting and their positive and neg ative impacts on the conservation of forests both in asia and africa (wood, 1966; wilson, 1989; kwesiga and chisumpa, 1990; raintree, 1991; shepherd, 1992; ratikette et al., 1992). in many countries, certain species of tree or simply certain individuals with a special shape have distinctive religious or spiritual connotations. this can often influence people’s tree cultivation activities (foley and bernard, 1984; fao, 1985; chambers et al., 1989). the literature review suggests that there are many taboos, superstitions and beliefs associated with woody perennials in many parts of the world, including ne pal. such taboos, beliefs and superstitions have both positive and negative impacts on the conservation of natural resources. bamboos are associated with ancient civilisation in south and south-east asia and are not so frequently associated with evil (superstitions, magic) and sadness as it is with youth, flexibility and love (piper, 1992). in bangladesh, when a villager is buried a small piece of bamboo is hung above the grave in order to scare away evil spirits (arens and beurden, 1978). gurung (1989) reported an unwillingness to plant bamboo amongst some villagers in the kakanikathmandu area, where it was associated with childlessness. according to carter (1991) the cultivation of bans was surrounded with considerable superstition in the midhills of central nepal. she was told that when planting bans it was essential to avoid its shadow falling on your body. if this happened, it was effectively an invitation to the god of death (yamraj). harvesting of bamboo was also restricted to certain days of the week (not tuesdays or thursdays) and times of the lunar month. according to her, this may be the main factor, which limited the amount of bamboo grown even though beliefs, superstitions and taboos associated with bamboos in nepal and its implications a.n. das1 and c.p. mitchell2 bamboos are one of the important natural resources of nepal. bamboos have multiple uses and are increasingly used as a replacement of timber for construction purposes. besides that, its use for craftmaking (woven and unwoven) and furniture has also significantly increased in recent years. for many rural households, which includes socially and economically disadvantaged groups; sale of bamboo and its products is an important source of income and sustaining livelihoods. the promotion of bamboo growing in nepal can help generate income and can be one of the means for reducing poverty in nepal. however, there are considerable beliefs, superstition, and taboos associated with bamboos in nepal, many of which have influenced decision making of households towards bamboo growing in nepal. the findings of the detailed study on taboos, beliefs and superstitions conducted in the terai and midhills and its implications on bamboo growing are discussed in this paper. 1research officer; department of forest research and survey; email: dasannapurna@enet.com.np 2professor; university of aberdeen (uk); email: c.p.mitchell@abdn.ac.uk 64 it seems so important to the rural people. the other major charges against bamboo are: it impoverishes the soil in which it grows and nothing grows under bamboos (carter, 1991), a similar finding like in kerala, india (boa, 1995; blowfield, 1995). this paper analyses the result of the detailed study conducted in eastern nepal on existing taboos, beliefs and superstitions associated with bamboos. this study is the first comprehensive attempt to investigate the taboos, superstitions and beliefs associated with bamboos, its extent (level of belief) and their possible effect on development of bamboo resources in nepal. research methods a multi-faceted research approach was adopted, combining techniques used in the social sciences such as rra/pra and those more familiar to biological scientists such as ranking, diagramming, and formal surveys. the use of different methods such as surveys with semi-structured interview, focus group meetings, key informant interviews and personal diaries of some served as a crosscheck (triangulation) on the reliability of information obtained from one method against another to collect the qualitative and quantitative information. the study was conducted in 13 village development committees (vdcs) of the terai and midhills (6 tharu villages (morang district) in the terai, 6 midhills villages (dhankuta district) and kerabari, a village near forests mostly settled by hill migrants(morang district )). a complete census was carried out in one ward randomly selected out of 9 wards in each of vdcs selected. households were categorised into growers and nongrowers, and wealth ranking was carried out on the basis of key informant interview with selected male and female residents. households were randomly selected on proportional basis from each category. altogether, 199 households in the terai, 208 in the midhills and 41 in kerabari were interviewed with semi-structured and open-ended questions. this infor mation was crosschecked through 58 male and 61 female focus group meetings, and key informant interviews with local political leaders, social workers and teachers. results and discussions it was found in the present study that there are a considerable number of taboos, superstitions and beliefs regarding bamboo planting and harvesting in nepal. no other tree species has such a high level of beliefs as those associated with bamboos. the belief in superstitions and taboos associated with bamboos is higher among the households in the terai than in the midhills and kerabari. most of these taboos and superstitions do not have any rational explanation and only a few are positive toward the conservation of bamboos. the findings of the study are presented in table 1 and the issues are discussed below. table 1 beliefs, superstitions and taboos associated with bamboos in the terai, the midhills and kerabari terai midhills kerabari item hh. no. % hh. hh. no. % hh. hh. no. % hh • believe in taboos and superstitions 139 69.85 79 37.96 16 39.02 • types of beliefs, taboos and superstitions 1. reduces the productivity of the land 182 91.46 172 82.69 39 95.12 2. women must not plant. 171 85.93 138 66.35 17 41.46 3. only to be planted by the oldest male member of the households 108 54.27 104 50.00 12 29.27 4. make infertile, adult male must not plant. 106 53.27 106 50.96 13 31.71 5. invites snakes, and wild elephants (kerabari only). 116 58.29 0 0 19 46.34 6. cause of quarrel with neighbours. 66 33.17 7 3.37 23 56.10 7. ghosts and spirits live in clumps. 65 32.66 3 1.44 3 7.32 8. makes place dirty (litter). 38 19.10 0 0 6 14.63 9. thieves and robbers hide in clumps. 29 14.57 2 0.96 0 0.00 10. should not be planted in front of house. 23 11.56 10 4.81 1 2.44 11. those who plant will die early. 10 5.03 5 2.40 6 14.63 12. bamboo dies if planter’s shadow falls on bamboos. 2 1.01 64 30.77 9 21.95 13. planter will die if its shadow will fall on him. 2 1.01 79 37.98 13 31.71 14. not to be successfully propagated by women. 8 4.02 0 0.00 1 2.44 15. not to be planted in the broad daylight. 0 0.00 22 10.58 1 2.44 16. people steal bamboos have no future generation. 5 2.51 0 0 0 0.00 17. bamboo will not propagate if woman plants. 0 0 4 1.92 0 0 18. if bamboo does not grow well that means future generation will also have bleak future. 0 0 3 1.44 0 0 19. plants die after flowering and are inauspicious. 0 0 2 0.96 0 0 20. to be planted using male labourers only. 0 0 2 0.96 0 0 21. new bamboo shoots (esp. mal bans) must not to be broken by women and mature men. 0 0.00 1 0.48 2 4.88 22. not good if new shoot is produced in planting year. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 23. ainjeru in bamboo indicates to be in loan. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 24. one should not climb on roof carrying bamboos. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 25. only good (pious) people are able to plant. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 26. will not grow if young /kids plant it. 1 0.50 0 0 0 0.00 27. to be planted in march/april only. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 28. if planted bamboos expands well then future generation of planter dies and vice versa. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 key: hh =household the most commonly held belief in the terai was that women must not carry out bamboo planting. bamboo and banana are ekpurukhiya, which means in maithili or local tharu dialect “men without future generation”. both banana and bamboo grows from the dormant buds at the root or rhizome, i.e. no seed sown and therefore should not be planted by women. if women plant them, they will become infertile and the bamboo will not grow. some households mentioned that women must not plant bamboos because it is a customary practice that bamboo planting should not be done by women. during the study, through female focus group meetings, it was found that belief in this is very high among the women. women also mentioned that, in general, tree planting is the job of men however they can plant other trees (mostly fruit trees) if they wish to but they will not carry out bamboo planting. some of the households mentioned that women can carry out bamboo planting if they already have children, were old and have no middle aged or old males in the house. the other most commonly heard and held belief was that bamboo clumps invite vermin like poisonous and dangerous snakes, rodents and unwanted insects and therefore should not be planted very close to the home. households that believe this will not plant bamboos next to the home because of such a fear. over half the households mentioned that they have heard from their parents and forefathers that bamboo planting must be carried out only by the oldest male members, usually the household heads. many households mentioned banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 das and mitchell 65 the terai overwhelming majority of households (61.9%) in the terai believes in tabors and superstitions associated with bamboos. the most common belief associated with bamboos was that it reduces the productivity of the land where it g rows. the households further elaborated that nothing grows under bamboos, an indication of reduced productivity of the land. they also mentioned that crop productivity declines considerably in the land adjoining bamboo clumps where its shade reaches. there is some rationality behind such beliefs but as the literature review suggests it is not totally true. singh et al. (1992) studied the effect of bamboo shade on the yield of some agricultural crops in the midhills of sikkim, india. the agricultural crops were grown on the terraces in the eastern side of the bamboo grove. the terrace was 2.5-3.0m wide and 18-20m long. details were given of light intensity and soil properties and yields of 10 crops at distances from 1 to 17 m from the bamboos. the results indicate that agricultural land near bamboos can be effectively utilised for growing ginger, turmeric, large cardamom, orchard grass and dinanath grass up to a distance of 11-15 m from the bamboo row. rice, fingermillet, soybeans, nandi setaria and fine stylo were suitable crops beyond this distance. available p increased whereas exchangeable k, ca and mg decreased with increasing distance from the bamboos, soil ph and soil organic matter did not vary with distance. bamboos are still planted but it is likely that they would be planted on a much larger scale if such beliefs were as not as strong. as there is some rationality behind this belief, this is not considered further. the most commonly held belief in the terai was that women must not carry out bamboo planting. bamboo and banana are ekpurukhiya, which means in maithili or local tharu dialect “men without future generation”. both banana and bamboo grows from the dormant buds at the root or rhizome, i.e. no seed sown and therefore should not be planted by women. if women plant them, they will become infertile and the bamboo will not grow. some households mentioned that women must not plant bamboos because it is a customary practice that bamboo planting should not be done by women. during the study, through female focus group meetings, it was found that belief in this is very high among the women. women also mentioned that, in general, tree planting is the job of men however they can plant other trees (mostly fruit trees) if they wish to but they will not carry out bamboo planting. some of the households mentioned that women can carry out bamboo planting if they already have children, were old or have no middle aged or old males in the house. the other most commonly heard and held belief was that bamboo clumps invite vermin like poisonous and dangerous snakes, rodents and unwanted insects and therefore should not be planted very close to the home. households that believe this will not plant bamboos next to the home because of such a fear. over half the households mentioned that they have heard from their parents and forefathers that bamboo planting must be carried out only by the oldest male members, usually the household heads. many households mentioned that bamboo planting is inauspicious and those who plant may suddenly die of unknown reasons and therefore should be carried table 1 beliefs, superstitions and taboos associated with bamboos in the terai, the midhills and kerabari terai midhills kerabari item hh. no. % hh. hh. no. % hh. hh. no. % hh • believe in taboos and superstitions 139 69.85 79 37.96 16 39.02 • types of beliefs, taboos and superstitions 1. reduces the productivity of the land 182 91.46 172 82.69 39 95.12 2. women must not plant. 171 85.93 138 66.35 17 41.46 3. only to be planted by the oldest male member of the households 108 54.27 104 50.00 12 29.27 4. make infertile, adult male must not plant. 106 53.27 106 50.96 13 31.71 5. invites snakes, and wild elephants (kerabari only). 116 58.29 0 0 19 46.34 6. cause of quarrel with neighbours. 66 33.17 7 3.37 23 56.10 7. ghosts and spirits live in clumps. 65 32.66 3 1.44 3 7.32 8. makes place dirty (litter). 38 19.10 0 0 6 14.63 9. thieves and robbers hide in clumps. 29 14.57 2 0.96 0 0.00 10. should not be planted in front of house. 23 11.56 10 4.81 1 2.44 11. those who plant will die early. 10 5.03 5 2.40 6 14.63 12. bamboo dies if planter’s shadow falls on bamboos. 2 1.01 64 30.77 9 21.95 13. planter will die if its shadow will fall on him. 2 1.01 79 37.98 13 31.71 14. not to be successfully propagated by women. 8 4.02 0 0.00 1 2.44 15. not to be planted in the broad daylight. 0 0.00 22 10.58 1 2.44 16. people steal bamboos have no future generation. 5 2.51 0 0 0 0.00 17. bamboo will not propagate if woman plants. 0 0 4 1.92 0 0 18. if bamboo does not grow well that means future generation will also have bleak future. 0 0 3 1.44 0 0 19. plants die after flowering and are inauspicious. 0 0 2 0.96 0 0 20. to be planted using male labourers only. 0 0 2 0.96 0 0 21. new bamboo shoots (esp. mal bans) must not to be broken by women and mature men. 0 0.00 1 0.48 2 4.88 22. not good if new shoot is produced in planting year. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 23. ainjeru in bamboo indicates to be in loan. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 24. one should not climb on roof carrying bamboos. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 25. only good (pious) people are able to plant. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 26. will not grow if young /kids plant it. 1 0.50 0 0 0 0.00 27. to be planted in march/april only. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 28. if planted bamboos expands well then future generation of planter dies and vice versa. 0 0 1 0.48 0 0 key: hh =household the most commonly held belief in the terai was that women must not carry out bamboo planting. bamboo and banana are ekpurukhiya, which means in maithili or local tharu dialect “men without future generation”. both banana and bamboo grows from the dormant buds at the root or rhizome, i.e. no seed sown and therefore should not be planted by women. if women plant them, they will become infertile and the bamboo will not grow. some households mentioned that women must not plant bamboos because it is a customary practice that bamboo planting should not be done by women. during the study, through female focus group meetings, it was found that belief in this is very high among the women. women also mentioned that, in general, tree planting is the job of men however they can plant other trees (mostly fruit trees) if they wish to but they will not carry out bamboo planting. some of the households mentioned that women can carry out bamboo planting if they already have children, were old and have no middle aged or old males in the house. the other most commonly heard and held belief was that bamboo clumps invite vermin like poisonous and dangerous snakes, rodents and unwanted insects and therefore should not be planted very close to the home. households that believe this will not plant bamboos next to the home because of such a fear. over half the households mentioned that they have heard from their parents and forefathers that bamboo planting must be carried out only by the oldest male members, usually the household heads. many households mentioned banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2das and mitchell 66 out strictly by the oldest member of the household. if there are no old males (over 60 years) in the house then it can be carried out by a middle-aged man. the belief in this superstition was deep-rooted among the older households and women than the young families who were generally better educated. some of the households mentioned that they do not believe in this superstition but when they asked if they would carry out bamboo planting themselves, they pointed out, with hesitation, that they would prefer not to. one of the other most commonly heard or held belief was that bamboos should not be planted by young male adults, childless married couples and children. if such people plant bamboos then they will be infertile. it was found during the study that most of the bamboo planting was carried out only by the oldest members of the house and not by any young adult male members of the family who, however, can plant other tree species. this has an important implication as bamboo planting is considered a difficult job because the culm offsets of a 2 year old with rhizomes should be dug out from the ground without damaging buds and the planting pits used for such bamboo planting are usually bigger than for tree species. bamboos sow the seed for quar rels among neighbours and therefore should not be planted on the land close to neighbours. bamboo has the potential for transforming once good neighbours into enemies so one should be careful of such aspects before making the decision to plant bamboo. “ghosts and spirits lives in the bamboo clumps” and many households were very fearful of bamboo planting very close to the home. this belief is also associated with other tree species such as pipal (ficus religiosa) and bar (ficus benghalensis). other commonly held beliefs were (a) bamboo clumps makes the place dirty with exposed human wastes as many people prefer to use these clumps for toilets; (b) thieves and robbers hide in dense bamboo clumps; (c) its shade is bad and inauspicious and brings bad health so should not be planted very close to the house; (d) those who plant will certainly die early as “bamboos wish to grow very quickly so that it can carry the planter (serve the master) for the final journey to the cremation site”; (e) women have a menstrual cycle and are impure so bamboo cannot be successfully grown by them; (f) the person who steals bamboo from somebody else’s clumps will have no future generation or will fare badly; (g) men die if bamboo’s shadow falls on him during planting; (h) bamboo dies if planter’s shadow falls on bamboos during planting; and (i) bamboos will not grow if planted by young adults or children (mentioned by 0.50% or 1 household). the findings indicate that ther e are strong superstitions, taboos and beliefs that could have negative impacts on bamboo planting despite the fact that bamboo is an attractive land use option for many households. the midhills the level of beliefs in superstitions and taboos is significantly lower in the midhills than in the terai and is similar to kerabari. some 38% of the households believed in the superstitions and taboos associated with bamboos like in the terai, the most commonly held belief in the midhills against bamboo planting was that it reduces the productivity of land. bamboos were not planted near the wet khet land and even the rainfed bari land because of the fear that it will reduce the productivity of the land. the fallen, dry leaves of the bamboo on the ground were also mentioned by some as unhelpful in enhancing productivity. as mentioned early, there is some truth in this belief and therefore it was not considered further. the most commonly heard and believed taboos and superstitions, like in the terai was that women should not carry out bamboo planting (usually not applied to women whose menstrual cycle has stopped) as it can make them infertile and also because they have menstrual cycle and are too impure to carry out bamboo planting. many of the households also insisted that women should not carry out bamboo planting because traditionally it is not their job (men’s job) and one should not go against tradition. it was also found that the level of belief in such taboo/ superstition was not as strong as in the terai. the second most commonly heard and believed superstition was that bamboo planting should not be carried out by young adult male members as it can make them infertile. bamboo planting was considered inauspicious by some households and should not be carried by young members as it can bring bad health. however, not all of the households who heard such taboo/superstition believed the statement. banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 das and mitchell 67 the third most commonly heard and believed taboo or superstition was that only household heads older than 60 years should do bamboo planting. in the absence of old age members in the family it can be carried out by the middle aged household heads or members (40 years or over). many households said that only the oldest male members should carry out bamboo planting because of the superstition that bamboo planters do not survive long. the fourth most common superstition in the midhills was that a person who plants bamboo would die if the bamboo’s shadow falls on him at the time of planting. another superstition was that bamboos would die if the planter’s shadow falls on the bamboos at the time of planting. the best time for planting bamboos was at sunset time when planters and bamboos shadows do not fall on each other. other beliefs were (a) bamboo must not be planted at midday or early afternoon; (b) its shade is inauspicious and brings bad luck and health and therefore should not be planted in front of the home; (c) bamboos sow the seed of quar rel among neighbours and therefore should not be planted in the land close to neighbours; (d) bamboo planters will die very early; (e) bamboo does not grow if it is planted by women; (f) ghosts and spirits live in bamboo clumps and therefore should not be planted very close to the home; (g) if bamboo is planted and does not grow well that is an indication of a bleak future for the family; (h)thieves hide in clumps if it is very dense; (i) bamboo plants die after flowering which is inauspicious; and (j) bamboo should only be planted using male labourers and must not be planted by any family members. similarly, one household each mentioned beliefs such as new bamboo shoots of mal bans must not be broken by men or women as it will bring sorrow to the family; only good people are able to propagate bamboo successfully; too much expansion of bamboo will bring a dark future; bamboo propagation is successful only if it done in march or april (it is to be noted that bamboo from traditional method can be successfully propagated even in may, june or july); and ainjeru (massive aerial branching in the upper portion of standing culms) is an indication of future burdening with loans. kerabari almost all the households in kerabari vdc (morang district) are of hill ethnic origin most of whom had migrated in the last 40 years and the cultural and farming practices are similar to the midhills. the households also have similar beliefs against bamboo planting as in the midhills except some beliefs, which were site specific, being surrounded by sal forest. the percentage of the households who believed in superstitions and taboos was significantly lower than in the terai and just a little higher than in the midhills. like in the terai and the midhills, the most commonly held belief against bamboo planting was that it reduces the productivity of the land. bamboos sow the seed of quarrel among friendly neighbours and therefore should not be planted on land close to neighbours. as bamboo clump planted near the boundary will expand into neighbours land and the problems start when the planter claims the right of ownership. the other problem is that the commonly held belief like bamboo reduces the productivity of the soil can create suspicion in the mind of neighbours about the motive for bamboo planting. bamboo clumps invites wild elephants, poisonous snakes and insects. the households were more fearful of wild elephants than snakes as bamboo is one of the species favoured by wild elephants. kerabari lies on the migratory route of wild elephants and every 2-3 years wild elephants roam around kerabari and damage crops of the households and sometimes even attack men. as there is some rationality behind this statement it was not considered further. almost all the households that had migrated from the neighbouring midhills mentioned that women must not plant bamboos as it can make them infertile. the other most commonly heard and held taboos/ superstitions was that young and unmarried males must not plant bamboos as it can make them infertile and they will die unnaturally. the other most commonly held taboos/ superstitions/beliefs in kerabari were: (a) bamboo planters die if its shadow falls on him/her at the time of planting; (b) bamboo planting should be carried out only by the oldest male household members or the household head; (c) bamboo dies if the planter’s shadow falls on bamboos at the time of planting; (d) those who plant will die early; (e) bamboo makes place dirty as people use clumps for toilets; (f) ghosts and spirits live in bamboo clumps; banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2das and mitchell 68 (f) new shoots of mal bans should not be broken by men or women as it brings sorrow; (g) women can not propagate bamboo successfully; (h) its shade is bad and inauspicious so should not be planted in front of the house; and (i) it must not be planted in broad daylight. beliefs, superstitions and taboos associated with other aspects of bamboos it was found that there is a general belief among the households that bamboos should not be felled on tuesday and that the women must not cut bamboo culms. some households in the midhills mentioned that only males over 50 years of age should carry out harvesting of new shoots. it was also commonly believed, both in the terai and the midhills, that bamboo culms felled in the dark (no moon period) will not be attacked by termites and insect borers. it was found, however, that beliefs in such superstitions and taboos were not so strong among the younger generation but were still prevalent in the older age groups, both in the terai and the midhills. level of belief in superstitions and taboos in the study area the beliefs in statements, which do not have any valid scientific reason, or without any rational explanation were considered superstitions and taboos in the present study. the beliefs in superstitions and taboos, which can prevent households, or affect their decision, to plant or not plant bamboos, were identified. the most common superstitions and taboos which can affect bamboo planting were women must/should not plant bamboo as they will be infertile or because they were impure; young and unmarried male adults must not plant bamboos; planting should be carried out only by the oldest household male members of the household; the bamboos shadow is bad and inauspicious so they should not be planted in front of the home; if bamboo’s shadow falls on the planter then he will die. based on discussions with households and their responses, the beliefs in superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting were classified into five categories. they were (a) strongly believe, (b) believe, (c) do not know, (d) do not believe, and (e) strongly disbelieve (table 2). it can be seen that the percentage of the households who strongly believe in superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting was significantly higher in the terai than in the midhills and kerabari. in kerabari, there were no households who strongly believed in superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting. the percentage of the households who believed in the superstitions and taboos against bamboos planting but not very strongly in the terai, midhills and kerabari was significantly higher in the terai than in the midhills and kerabari. the percentage of the households in “do not know” category was higher in the midhills and kerabari than in the terai. more households said that they did not believe in the midhills and kerabari. there were no households in the terai who strongly disbelieved in the superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting. it is expected that those households who do not know or who do not believe in superstitions and taboos can be more easily motivated towards bamboo planting than those households who believe/strongly believe in those superstitions and taboos which inhibits bamboo planting. women as it brings sorrow; (g) women can not propagate bamboo successfully; (h) its shade is bad and inauspicious so should not be planted in front of the house; and (i) it must not be planted in broad daylight. beliefs, superstitions and taboos associated with other aspects of bamboos it was found that there is a general belief among the households that bamboos should not be felled on tuesday and that the women must not cut bamboo culms. some households in the midhills mentioned that only males over 50 years of age should carry out harvesting of new shoots. it was also commonly believed, both in the terai and the midhills, that bamboo culms felled in the dark (no moon period) will not be attacked by termites and insect borers. it was found, however, that beliefs in such superstitions and taboos were not so strong among the younger generation but were still prevalent in the older age groups, both in the terai and the midhills. level of belief in superstitions and taboos in the study area the beliefs in statements, which do not have any valid scientific reason, or without any rational explanation were considered superstitions and taboos in the present study. the beliefs in superstitions and taboos, which can prevent households, or affect their decision, to plant or not plant bamboos, were identified. the most common superstitions and taboos which can affect bamboo planting were women must/should not plant bamboo as they will be infertile or because they were impure; young and unmarried male adults must not plant bamboos; planting should be carried out only by the oldest household male members of the household; the bamboos shadow is bad and inauspicious so they should not be planted in front of the home; if bamboo’s shadow falls on the planter then he will die. based on discussions with households and their responses, the beliefs in superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting were classified into five categories. they were (a) strongly believe, (b) believe, (c) do not know, (d) do not believe, and (e) strongly disbelieve (table 2). table 2 level of beliefs in superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting in the terai, the midhills and kerabari terai (n=199) midhills (n=208) kerabari (n=41) level of belief in superstitions and taboos hh no. % hh. no. % hh. no. % strongly believe 28 14.07 16 7.69 0 0.00 believe 111 55.78 63 30.29 16 39.02 do not know 6 3.02 23 11.06 4 9.76 do not believe 54 27.14 102 49.04 19 46.34 strongly disbelieve 0 0.00 4 1.92 2 4.88 all 199 100.00 208 100.00 41 100.00 it can be seen that the percentage of the households who strongly believe in superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting was significantly higher in the terai than in the midhills and kerabari. in kerabari, there were no households who strongly believed in superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting. the percentage of the households who believed in the superstitions and taboos against bamboos planting but not very strongly in the terai, midhills and kerabari was significantly higher in the terai than in the midhills and kerabari. the percentage of the households in “do not know” category was higher in the midhills and kerabari than in the terai. more households said that they did not believe in the midhills and kerabari. there were no households in the terai who strongly disbelieved in the superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting. it is expected that those households who do not know or who do not believe in superstitions and taboos can be more easily motivated towards bamboo planting than those households who believe/strongly believe in those superstitions and taboos which inhibits bamboo planting. association between bamboo growing and superstitions and/or taboos against bamboo planting banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 das and mitchell 69 association between bamboo growing and superstitions and/or taboos against bamboo planting the present section will investigate whether there is an association between bamboo growing and superstitions and/or taboos against bamboo growing. bamboo growers and nongrowers were classified into two categories: (a) those who believed in the superstitions and/or taboos against bamboo planting; and (b) those who did not believe. the statistical significance of any association was examined using the chi-square test (appendix 1, 2 and 3). it was found that there was a statistically significant association between bamboo g rowing and superstitions and/or taboos against bamboo planting in the terai. those who believe in superstitions and/ or taboos are less likely to grow than those who do not believe. there is no strong association between bamboo growing and superstitions and/or taboos against bamboo planting in the midhills and kerabari. this means that bamboo growing was carried out even by those households, which believed in these superstitions, and/or taboos, which discourage bamboo planting. similarly, there were some bamboo nongrowers who did not believe but cannot carry out because of their poor economic situation. it was also found that in general those households or individuals who were educated (completed high school level study or over) were less superstitious than the non-educated and also have no or less belief in taboos against bamboo planting. the household heads of brahmin and chhetri ethnic origin in the midhills villages who were in general better off and more resourceful than other ethnic groups (except some households of matawalis ethnic groups whose family members are/were either in the british army or had worked overseas) believed more in superstitions and taboos that discourage bamboo planting. taboos like women should not plant bamboos were more strongly believed by brahmins and chhetri ethnic groups than matwalis (middle castes). the study also found that such beliefs were stronger in older age groups than in younger age groups. the findings of focus group studies suggest that beliefs in superstitions and taboos that discourage bamboo planting are stronger in women than men and less among educated than the uneducated. conclusion the study shows that superstitions and taboos against bamboo planting have some effect on bamboo growing in the terai but have no significant effect in the midhills and kerabari. it seems that households carried out bamboo planting despite having serious reservations along with many superstitions and taboos that discourage bamboo planting because the benefits that accrue from bamboo planting are far higher than so-called risks (superstitions like “will die early”, “infertility”) and disbenefits (“reduced production”). however, it can be said that had there been no superstitions and/or taboos that discourage bamboo planting, there would have been more bamboo clumps on private land than at present. any programmes aim at promoting bamboo development in nepal should take into consideration the effect of such taboos and superstitions on households’ decision-making. an increased literacy and education level in future will help people in the study area to overcome these superstitions and taboos. effective extension work by the development agencies and local non-governmental organisations to remove such superstitions and/or taboos from the minds of the people will be helpful to increase bamboo planting. references arens, j. and beurden, j. 1978. jhagrapur : poor peasants and women in a village in bangladesh. third world publications, birmingham, uk. 189 pp. blowfield, m. 1995. bamboo and poverty. working paper 2, integrated rural bamboo project, forestry research programme, dfid, uk. 4 pp. boa, e.r. 1995. knowing bamboo, knowing people. working paper 1, integrated rural bamboo project, forestry research programme, dfid, uk. 4 pp. carter, e.j. 1991. tree cultivation on private land on the middle hills of nepal. a thesis presented for the phd degree at the oxford university, uk. chambers r., saxena, n.c. and shah, t. 1989. to the hands of the poor : water and trees. intermediate technology publications, london, uk. 273 pp. das, a.n. 1992. the potential of bamboo growing in rural development forestry in nepal. m.sc. (forest management) dissertation, university of aberdeen. banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2das and mitchell 70 das, a.n. 1999 a. socioeconomics of bamboos in eastern nepal. phd thesis, university of aberdeen, uk. das, a.n. 1999 b. perception and attitudes toward tree growing in the terai and midhills of eastern nepal. banko janakari, 9 (2). das, a.n. 2002. bamboo growing and its market development potential for sustaining rural livelihoods and poverty reduction in eastern nepal. banko janakari, 12 (2). das, a.n. 2004. manual of bamboos in nepal. tisc/narmsap, danida, k athmandu, nepal. foley, g. and barnard, g. 1984. farm and community forestry. international institute for environment and development (iied). earthscan, london. 236 pp. gurung, s.m. 1989. human perception of mountain hazards in the k akani-k athmandu area: experiences from the middle mountains of nepal. mountain research and development, 9 (4): 353-364. kwesig a, f. and chisumpa, s.m. 1990. ethnobotanical sur vey in eastern province, zambia. draft report. icraf, nairobi. poudyal, s.k. and das, a.n. 2002. bamboo research and development in nepal. journal of forest and livelihood, 2 (1): 59-61, forest action, kathmandu, nepal. piper, j.m. 1992. bamboo and rattan. oxford university press, uk. 120 pp. raintree, j.b. 1991. socioeconomic attributes of trees and tree planting practices. community forestry note 9, fao, rome. 115 pp. ratikette, p, samsnasang, p., ratnapanya, s., and samarang, h. 1992. taboos and traditions: their influence on the conservation and exploration of trees in social forestry projects in northeastern thailand. in: y.s. rao, n.t. vergara and g.w. lovelace (eds.), community forestry: socioeconomic aspects. fao, rome. pp 363-369. shepherd, gill 1992. forest management for forest production by indigenous communities. in: f.r. miller and k.l. adam, wise management of tropical forests. proceedings of oxford conference, 29 march-1 april 1992, oxford. pp 111-124. singh, k.a.; singh, p. and roy, l.n. 1992. effect of bamboo (bambusa nutans wall. ex munro) shade on the yield of some agricultural crops at mid hills of eastern himalaya. indian journal of forestry, 15 (4): 339-341. wilson, k.b. 1989. trees in fields in southern zimbabwe. journal of southern african studies, 15: 369-83. wood, p.j. 1966. a guide to grow trees in sukumaland. technical note (new series), silviculture section, lushoto. banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 das and mitchell 71 appendix 1 association between bamboo growing and superstitions and taboos that discourages bamboo planting in the terai count % of row superstitions and taboos that discourages bamboo planting in the terai % of column do not believe believe nongrowers 19 21.84 31.67 68 78.16 48.92 grower 41 36.61 68.33 71 63.39 51.08 all col umn % 60 30.15 139 69.85 chi-square = 5.071, df = 1, p-value = 0.024 appendix 2 association between bamboo growing and superstitions and taboos that discourages bamboo planting in the midhills count % of row superstitions and taboos that discourages bamboo planting in the midhills % of column do not believe believe nongrowers 31 72.09 24.03 12 27.91 15.19 grower 98 59.39 75.97 67 40.61 84.81 all column % 129 62.02 79 37.98 chi-square = 2.335, df = 1, p-value = 0.126 appendix 3 association between bamboo growing and superstitions and taboos that discourages bamboo planting in kerabari count % of row superstitions and taboos that discourages bamboo planting in the terai % of column do not believe believe nongrowers 9 60.00 36.00 6 40.00 37.50 grower 16 61.54 64.00 10 38.46 62.50 all column % 25 60.98 16 39.02 chi-square = 0.009, df = 1, p-value = 0.923 banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2das and mitchell 403 forbidden forbidden you don't have permission to access this resource. apache/2.4.54 (ubuntu) server at www.nepjol.info port 443 cover 20-2 banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 14 mohan and giri diversity, distribution and host range of mistletoe in protected and unprotected areas of central nepal himalayas m.p. devkota1* , g.p. joshi1 and p. parajuli1 diversity, distribution and host range of mistletoe were assessed in protected and unprotected areas of the central nepal himalayas. this study recorded ten mistletoe species. occurrence of all ten mistletoe species within the shivpuri nagarjun national park (snnp) was a clear indication that national parks provide better habitat for mistletoe species richness and thus a better opportunity for biodiversity conservation than in unprotected areas. for these mistletoes, a total of 34 host species of 21 unrelated families were documented. scurrula genus of the loranthaceae family had the hightest number of species, the highest number of host species, and the widest altitudinal distribution. variation in climatic factors, edge effect, disperser behaviour, fragmented forests and the availability of suitable host species determine the occurrence of a particular mistletoe species in a particular habitat. key words: diversity, distribution, host range, mistletoe, nepal mistletoes are a highly specialized and successful group of flowering plants that exploit and (or) parasitize a wide range of host plants. they occur over a broad range of habitats all over the world. despite their harmful effects on the host plants, mistletoes have been considered as important components of plant diversity and forest ecosystems throughout the world (kujit, 1964; hawksworth, 1983; calder, 1983; polhill and wiens 1998). despite their large geographical distribution, the old world mistletoes have been studied little. nepal is no exception to this; as a result, there is an amazing gap of knowledge on the mistletoes of nepal himalayas, a biogeographically interesting transition zone between eastern and western himalayan flora (stearn, 1960). after adding five new, previously unrecorded, mistletoe species to the flora of nepal by devkota and glatzel (2005); devkota and koirala (2005) and devkota and joshi (2008), the inventory has been enriched from fifteen to twenty species. devkota and acharya (1996) reported 46 host species of mistletoes belonging to 25 families in kathmandu valley; devkota and glatzel (2005) documented 95 host species belonging to 45 families in the annapurna region and 69 host species of 38 families were recorded by devkota and kunwar (2006) from godawari-phulchowki area of kathmandu valley in central nepal. along with host species, the climatic factors also govern the mistletoe species diversity and distribution (hawksworth, 1959; ganguly and kumar, 1976; zakaullah and khan, 1982; xiao and pu, 1988). similarly, edge effect plays a significant role in mistletoe distribution as lopez et al. (2002); kujit (1964); polhill and wiens (1998); bach et al. (2005); and devkota and glatzel (2005) have reported that fragmented marginal forests had more adult mistletoe plants than the inner forest. landscape modification and habitat fragmentation are key drivers that affect mistletoe growth and distribution (kelly et al., 2000), and the limited degree of forest fragmentation improves reproduction in endemic mistletoes (lavorel et al., 1999) by promoting invasion. kujit (1964) reported that the occur rence of some mistletoe at higher elevation is limited by environmental factors and is not related to host preference. abulfatih and emara (1988) recorded mistletoes restricted to its specific host between 2000-2400 m. unlike these observations, kujit (1969) suggested the importance of bird’s behaviour and concluded that distribution of mistletoe entirely depends upon the habits of the birds that disseminate the seeds. this study attempts to explore and compare mistletoe diversity in protected and unprotected areas 1 botany department, amrit campus, tribhuvan university, kathmandu, nepal. * author for correspodence: mdevkota@wlink.com.np banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 15 devkota et al. in the central himalayas of nepal. the results of the study will supplement information on nepalese mistletoe diversity, host range and distribution. as a spin-off, by documenting of mistletoes in the threatened ecosystems of central region of nepal, a biodiversity hotspot, the study will g reatly contribute to the conservation of mistletoes. materials and methods study area the study was carried out in two national parks: langtang national park (lnp) and shivpuri nagarjun national park (snnp) in the central nepal himalayas. both parks provide a great diversity of vegetation types ranging from hot sub-tropical to sub-alpine, with changes in elevation and climate on the northern and southern slopes of the great mahabharat mountain range. snnp (159 km2) is situated at the northern boundary of the kathmandu valley and lies in the transition zone between subtropical and temperate climates. depending on altitude and aspect, the vegetation consists of a variety of natural forest types including pine, oak, and rhododendron. the southern slopes of snnp consists of schima-castanopsis forest and pinus wallichiana forest below 1800 m, whereas alnus nepalensis is the prevalent tree species along the streams. at higher elevations, various species of oaks and rhododendron dominate the vegetation. lnp (1710 km2) represents a meeting point between indo-malayan and paleartic realms. elevational gradient (ranging from mid hills to alpine) coupled with complex topog raphy and g eolog y have produced a rich biodiversity and a unique patchwork of veg eta tion. sub-tropical veg eta tion is characterized by dominant tree species, shorea robusta, under dipterocarpaceae family on the southern flank of the park which is gradually replaced by the hill forest (2000–2600 m) consisting of pinus roxburghii, rhododendron arboreum, schima-castanopsis and alnus nepalensis. the temperate zone (2600–3000 m) is dominated by oak forest (quercus semecarpifolia) fading to old growth forest of tsuga dumosa, abies spectabilis, betula utilis, juniperus indica, j. recurva and larix himalaica in the lower sub-alpine zone (3000–3600 m). further up, the vegetation is dominated by thickets and shrubs consisting of betula utilis and r. campanulatum. the explored area outside protected area lies between two national parks starting from magingoth (3220 m) and passing through kutumsang (2470 m), gulbhajyang (2130 m) and ending at chisapani (2215 m) (fig 1). this segment of trekking route passes through settlements and agriculture land with extensive farming practices. mistletoe inventory a mistletoe inventory was carried out along the trekking route starting at dhunche of lnp and ending at sundarijal of snnp passing through great altitudinal variation and different vegetation types (fig. 1). mistletoes were explored for ten days in april 2007. representative areas of various forest types and habitats were visited along the trekking route to uncover mistletoe diversity and host species within the protected and unprotected areas. forest trails developed by local people were used to explore a maximum possible area, representing different forest types at different elevations. undisturbed to moderately disturbed forests and degraded marginal forests along with community forests, orchards and vegetations surrounding agricultural fields were also explored. occurrence of all mistletoe species with their respective hosts were recorded along with the ecological features of habitat such as altitude, slope direction, availability of light and moisture, forest type, and phenology during the inventory. standard sized mistletoe specimens were collected carefully without endangering their local population, fig 1: study area showing two national parks and survey route banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 16 devkota et al. and herbaria were prepared. collected mistletoe specimens and host species were identified with the help of herbaria deposited at national herbarium at kathmandu and confirmed with the help of field notes and other standard literature (hara et al., 1978, 1979, 1982; malla et al., 1976; koba et al., 1994; press et al., 2000). the international plant name index (http://www.ipni.org) was accessed for the taxonomic nomenclature of mistletoe and host species. results and discussion mistletoe diversity and host range a total of ten mistletoe species, eight belonging to five genera in the family loranthaceae (macrosolen, taxillus, helixanthera, scurrula, and loranthus) and two belonging to one genus in the family viscaceae (viscum) were recorded in the study area. these ten mistletoe species were parasitizing 34 host plants belonging to 28 genera of 21 unrelated host families (table 1). protected areas revealed higher mistletoe species diversity than the unprotected areas. highest mistletoe species diversity was found in snnp as all ten mistletoe species were recorded in a smaller national park than lnp (fig 2). only five mistletoe species were recorded along the trekking route between dhunche to magingoth within lnp. this number was higher than the species number reported in the flora of langtang (malla et al., 1976). surprisingly, six mistletoe species, higher than in lnp, were recorded along the trekking route passing through the settlements and agriculture fields between kutumsang and chisapani in the unprotected area. similar to the previous studies in nepal by devkota and acharya (1996), devkota and glatzel (2005), and devkota and kunwar (2006), the genus scurrula (loranthaceae) had the largest number of species: s. elata, s. pulverulenta, s. gracilifolia and s. parasitica. scurrula genus was more aggressive than other genera in parasitizing a wide range of host plants of taxonomically unrelated families. scur rula elata parasitized the highest number of 22 host plants (fig 3). the loranthaceae family was found parasitizing on a much wider range of host species than the viscaceae family. a rare occurrence of s. elata was found parasitizing a gymnosperm host, pinus wallichiana; similarly, a case of hyperparasitism of s. gracilifolia was found on s. parasitica. distribution patterns the distribution of mistletoe species did not demonstrate any uniformity because it was governed by multiple factors such as forest disturbance, climatic factors (light, temperature, and moisture), abundance and availability of dispersers and host species. localized distribution pattern of mistletoes in warm and sunny slopes, forest edges and all along the trekking route was found to be similar to earlier reports in nepal by devkota and acharya, 1996; devkota and glatzel, 2005; devkota and kunwar, 2006. t hese observations are also similar to those of lavorel et al. (1999), kelly et al. (2000) and bach et al. (2005) who noted that marginal and fragmented forests not only provide better habitats for mistletoes but also promote invasion such habitats by mistletoes. occurrences of many mistletoe species in open and warm habitats along all the trekking routes was also found to be suitable habitats for mistletoe birds and for dispersal by them as in new zealand (ladley and kelley, 1996) and in kathmandu valley (devkota and acharya, 1996). climatic factors were found to be important in determining mistletoe distribution in fig 3: host number of each mistletoe species fig 2: number of mistletoe species banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 17 banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2devkota et al. table 1: recorded host list of all mistletoe species family host species mistletoe species mc tv lo hi sg spa spu se va var no. anacardiaceae rhus javanica l. * 1 berberidaceae berberis asiatica roxb. ex dc * 1 betulaceae alnus nepalensis d. don * 1 caprifoliaceae viburnum erubescens wall. * * * 3 cornaceae benthamedia capitata (wallich) hara * 1 ericaceae gaultheria fragrantissima wall. * * * * 4 lyonia ovalifolia hort * 1 rhododendron arboreum sm. * * 2 fagaceae castanopsis tribuloides (sm.) a. dc. * 1 quercus lanata sm. * 1 quercus glauca thunb. * * 2 quercus semecarpifolia sm. * * 2 juglandaceae juglans regia l. * 1 labiateae leucoseptrum canum sm. * 1 loranthaceae scurrula parasitica l. * 1 meliaceae melia azederach l. * 1 moraceae ficus bengalensis l. * 1 myricaceae myrica esculenta buch.-ham.ex d. don * 1 myrsinaceae maesa chisia d. don * * 2 myrsine semiserrata wall. * * 2 myrsine capitellata wall. * 1 oleaceae ligustrum nepalense wall. * * * * 4 pinaceae pinus wallichiana a. b. jackson * 1 rosaceae prunus cerasoides d. don * 1 prunus cornuta (wall. ex royle) steud. * 1 prunus domestica (l.) schneid * 1 prunus persica (l.) batsch * * 2 pyrancantha crenulata (d. don) roem * 1 pyrus pashia buch.-ham. ex d. don * * * * 4 rutaceae citrus limon (l.) burm. f. * 1 zanthoxylum armatum dc. * * 2 salicaceae salix sp. * 1 symplocaceae symplocos ramosissima wall. * * 2 theaceae schima wallichii choisy * * 2 total number of parasitized host plants 1 2 1 7 6 9 2 22 2 2 mc: macrosolen cochinchinensis, tv: taxillus vestitus, lo: loranthus odoratus, hi: helixanthera ligustrina sg: scurrula gracilifolia, spa: scurrula parasitica, spu: scurrula pulverulenta, se: scurrula elata, va: viscum album, var: viscum articulatum, no: number of host species banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 18 devkota et al. undisturbed by human interferences because of their relative inaccessibility. therefore, two reasons for less mistletoe species diversity in lnp maybe due to: 1) domination of conifer vegetation at higher elevation, providing less oppor tunity for loranthaceae mistletoe to establish, and 2) little vegetation at higher elevation and extremely cold climatic condition, unsuitable for mistletoe and their avian dispersers. occurrence of higher number of mistletoe species (six) in unprotected area suggests that even the habitats outside the protected area can prove to be favourable mistletoe habitats. the trekking route between maging oth and chisapani traverses through unprotected area, passing through fragmented forest, orchards and the vegetation sur rounding the agricultural fields. these human altered landscapes provide a suitable habitat for mistletoes to establish in such open habitats as per observations by kujit, 1964; calvin and wilson, 1998; lopez de buen et al., 2002. no habitats particularly rich in mistletoe diversity were found in either national parks. some areas dominated by broadleaved forest in the warmer southern slopes of snnp below 2500 m elevation sheltered habitats better suited for mistletoe establishment and growth. nepal’s forests are facing severe stress due to the ever increasing demand for agricultural land, timber, fuelwood and fodder, and settlements. deforestation and land degradation are serious problems in both protected and unprotected areas, and are thus major threats to mistletoe diversity. both national parks were facing severe problems of timber harvest, fuelwood and fodder collection and encroachment of forest area for agricultural land. increasing population has demanded new agricultural land and the increasing number of tourist have generated high demand for fuelwood in lnp for heating and cooking purpose. conclusion altogether ten mistletoe species were recorded along the trekking route within the protected and unprotected areas in the central nepal himalayas. despite being much smaller than langtang national park, shivpuri nagarjun national park displayed higher mistletoe species diversity as all ten mistletoe species were recorded there. s. elata demonstrated snnp as many species were noticed on warm and sunny southern slopes of snnp dominated by broadleaved forest below 2500 m. compared to viscaceae, loranthaceae mistletoes demonstrated a wider altitudinal distribution (fig. 4) similar to the observation noted in annapurna area of central nepal by devkota and glatzel, 2005. s. elata was recorded over a wider vertical swath of about 1 km favoured by its widest host range. the distribution pattern of scurrula species in the study area revealed an identical pattern of distribution of scurrula species in annapurna conservation area (devkota and glatzel, 2005). s. elata did not occur over 2800 m, a habitat usually considered inhospitable to their avian dispersers. devkota and glatzel (2005) reported that cold and moist habitats above 3000 m in nepal are generally considered unsuitable for mistletoe as such habitats are also avoided by mistletoe birds. all ten mistletoe species were recorded in snnp compared to only five species in lnp because snnp is in the transition zone between sub-tropical and temperate vegetation zones and thus provides a wider range of hosts in a variety of habitats. snnp also had more fragmented open canopy forests due to various anthropogenic disturbances and this wide variety of habitats favoured the growth of mistletoe according to similar observations of lavorel et al. (1999) and bach et al. (2005) in australia and kelly et al. (2000) in new zealand. despite a wider climatic variation and vegetation composition ranging from sub-tropical to sub-alpine in lnp, the record of mistletoe species was less than snnp. taxillus vestitus, scurrula elata, s. gracilifolia, s. parasitica and viscum articulatum were the only five mistletoe species recorded in lnp. the reason for less mistletoe species diversity in lnp was due to intact vegetation in most areas of lnp that are fig 4: altitudinal distribution pattern of mistletoe species banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 19 devkota et al. both higher number of host species and a wider altitudinal distribution range. distribution of mistletoe species was affected by climatic factors, forest edge, forest fragmentation, availability of suitable host species and behaviour of avian dispersers. three species of mistletoes, previously unrecorded, have been added to the flora of langtang by this study. no specific habitats particularly rich in mistletoe diversity were identified in both the national parks, and it was observed that deforestation and land degradation were the major threats to mistletoe diversity in the study area. acknowledgement the university grants commission, kathmandu is duly acknowledged for supporting the study. references abulfatih, h. a., and emara. h. a. 1988. altitudinal distribution of the hemiparasitic loranthaceae in south western saudi arabia. biotropica 20: 81-83. bach, c. e., kelly, d. and hazlett, b. a. 2005. forest edges benefit adults, but not seedlings, of the mistletoe alepis flavida (loranthaceae). journal of ecology 93: 79-86. calder, m. 1983. mistletoes in focus: an introduction. in the biology of mistletoes, (eds.) calder, m. and bernhardt, p., academic press, sydney, australia, 1-18. calvin, c. and wilson, c. 1998. comparative mor pholog y of haustoria within african loranthaceae. in mistletoes of africa (eds) polhill, r. and weins d. the royal botanical garden, kew, london, uk, 17-36. devkota, m. p. and acharya, n. 1996. mistletoes (loranthaceae and viscaceae) in the kathmandu valley, nepal: altitudinal distribution, host trees, pollina tors and seed dispersers. acta phytotaxonomica et geobotanica 47 (2): 213-219. devkota, m. p. and glatzel, g. 2005. mistletoe of annapurna conservation area, central nepal himalayas. journal of japanese botany 80 (1): 27-36. devkota, m. p. and koirala, a. 2005. new record of mistletoe viscum monoicum for the ne pal himalayas. journal of japanese botany 80 (1): 56. devkota, m. p. and kunwar, r. m. 2006. diversity, distribution and host range of mistletoes in godawari-phulchowki area, kathmandu, nepal. journal of japanese botany 81: 255-261. devkota, m. p. and joshi, g.p. 2008. korthalsella japonica (viscaceae): new record for the nepal himalayas, ecoprint 15: 89-90. ganguly, p. and kumar, n. c. 1976. topographical distribution of the phanerogamic parasites in sukna forest, darjeeling district, west bengal. indian forester 102: 459-462. hara, h., stearn w. t., and williams, l. h. j. 1978. an enumeration of the flowering plants of nepal. vol i british museum (natural history), london, u.k. hara, h. l. and williams, h. j. 1979. an enumeration of the flowering plants of nepal.vol ii british museum (natural history), vol. ii., london, u.k. hara, h., charter, a. o., and williams, l. h. j. 1982. an enumeration of flowering plants of nepal. british museum (natural history), london, u.k. hawksworth, f. g. 1959. distribution of dwarf mistletoes in relation to topography on the mesacalaro apache reservation. new mexico. journal of forestry 57: 919-922. hawksworth, f. g. 1983. mistletoes as forest parasites. in the biology of mistletoes (eds) calder, m. and bernhardt, p., academic press. sydney, australia, 317-333. kelly, d., ladley j. j., robertson, a.w. and norton, d. a. 2000. limited forest fragmentation improves reproduction in the declining new zealand mistletoe peraxilla tetrapetala (loranthaceae). in genetics, demography and viability of fragmented population (eds) young, a.g. and clarke, g.), cambridg e university pr ess, cambridge, u.k., 241-252. banko janakari, vol. 20, no. 2 20 devkota et al. koba, h. akiyama, s., endo ,y. and ohba, h. 1994. name list of the flowering plants and gymnosper ms of nepal. the university museum, the university of tokyo, tokyo, japan. kujit, j. 1964. critical observation on the parasitism of new world mistletoes. canadian journal of botany 42: 1243-1287. kujit, j. 1969. the biology of parasitic flowering plants. university california press. los angeles, usa. ladley, j. j. and kelley, d. 1996. dispersal, ger mination and sur vival of new zealand mistletoes (loranthaceae): dependence on birds. new zealand journal of ecology 20 (1): 69-79. lavorel, s., smith, m. s. and reid, n. 1999. spread of mistletoes (amyema preissii) in fragmented australian woodlands: a simulation study. landscape ecology 14: 147–160. lopez de buen, l., ornelas, j. f., and garcia franco, j. g. 2002. mistletoe infection of trees located at fragmented forest edges in the cloud forests of central veracr uz, mexico. forest ecology and management 164: 293-302. malla, s. b., shrestha, a. b., rajbhandary, s.b., shrestha, t. b., adhikari, p.m. and adhikari, s.r. 1976. flora of langtang and cross section vegetation survey, department of medicinal plants, hmg/n. kathmandu, nepal. polhill, r., and wiens, d. 1998 (eds.). mistletoes of africa. the royal botanic garden, kew, london, u.k. press, j. r., shrestha, k. k., and sutton, d. a. 2000. annotated checklist of the flowering plants of nepal. the natural history museum, london, u.k. stearn, w. t. 1960. allium and milula in the central and eastern nepal himalaya. bulletin of the british museum, natural history (botany) 2: 159-191. xiao, l., and pu, z. 1988. an exploration of the loranthaceae in xishuanghanna. acta botanica yunnanica 10: 69-78. zakaullah, m. and khan, h. 1982. survey and control of mistletoes in pakistan. pakistan forest institute, annual technical report. project pkfs-55.11, peshawar, pakistan. final added vol 15-2.pmd 19 monitoring growth of uttis (alnus nepalensis) at a plantation cite at dhankuta, nepal t. p. barakoti1 a long-term growth monitoring experiment on uttis (alnus nepalensis) was conducted in the permanent sample plots of the agricultural research station (ars) pakhribas, dhankuta for 10 years (1992-2001). the average annual increment was diameter at breast height 2.14 cm in 8th year, and was 0.13 cm at 16th year of planting. the trees grew 44 cm to 130 cm per year irrespective of the age. the highest growth rate correspondend with higher rainfall during summer (march-april). estimated biomass of stem and branches increased by 2-2.5 times within the 10 years period. thinning and felling every year indicated need for timely management of the plantation to provide better growing environment. the data would be useful for growth modelling and proper management of uttis plantation in nepal . key words: nepalese alder vs uttis, height, diameter, biomass, pakhribas. alnus nepalensis commonly known as uttis innepal, few par ts of india, pakistan and bangladesh, is an important multipurpose tree species. it grows in the cooler and moist areas of the northern temperate region of south-east asia, china, japan, and in south america. in nepal, it is distributed from 900 to 2700 m (lamichhaney, 1995) above sea level associated mainly with prunus and saurauria sp. in higher elevation and with schima and castanopsis sp. in the lower elevation. it is a pioneer species of degraded lands and is moderately shade tolerant (storrs and storrs, 1984) and colonizes well in gravel slip prone slopes (jackson, 1987). as a nodulefor ming non-legume, it has the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and improve soil. its leaf alone can add 100 kg n ha-1yr-1 to the soil (postgate, 1978). endemic to nepal (burley and stewart, 1985) and other mountain countries, uttis is one of the most preferred forest tree species by the hill communities. it is fast growing, commonly used for fuel-wood, timber, furniture and leaf litter. it is also used for fodder and shade to large cardamom (ghimire, 1985) and teas (pac, 1985) in the eastern hills and for industrial purposes (ply, match, tanning, chest for tea etc). according to pac (currently arsp) annual record (1995), uttis accounted for more than 50 per cent of the tree seedlings distributed from pakhribas forest nursery for planting in the koshi hills. over the past 25 years, this species has been extensively planted throughout nepal (lamichhaney, 1984 and 1995). in spite of extensive plantings, there is little information on silvicultural management of this species. there is no record on thinning regimes or appropriate final plant spacing (lamichhaney, 1995). therefore, to quantify growing rates on yearly basis, need of a long-term growth monitoring trial was felt and that was established for regular measurements. the information is useful for community forest users and forest managers in planning and management of uttis in private and community forests. such information will enable estimation of current annual increment, mean annual increment and to derive suitable rotations. materials and methods the permanently established (planted in 1984 at 2x2m in collaboration of forest research division) sample plots of uttis (alnus nepalensis, d. don) in the north farm of ars pakhribas, dhankuta at the elevation of 1900 m was used for growth monitoring trial. three squared plots of 32 m x 32 m (0.1 ha) were selected and laid-out in february 1992. block i and block iii were located in slops, south facing, in upper and lower part or elevation respectively. block ii was in moderately slop between the above blocks but it was facing southeast. the trees within the boundaries and edge trees in the plots were marked and demarcated. location map and plot chart showing each tree and identity number, site description (altitude, topography, slope, drainage, soil texture, natural vegetation etc.) of each plot developed. 1 senior scientist, agricultural research station pakhribas, dhankuta. 20 periodic measurements (once every year in january) of diameter, and tree height were carried out in the trial blocks. diameter at breast height (dbh) measured over bark for all trees in each block (replication), while top heights were measured in 10 fattest selected trees/ block. dbh was measured before felling. the number of standing trees and felled trees are given in annex 1. height of trees and girth of logs were measured and wood yield was estimated. volume was calculated on the basis of mid-diameter of 3m logs. the biomass of the harvested trees was also recorded. the data on major parameters were taken since 1992 and continued for 10 years. fresh weight was converted into dry weight by multiplying with 0.41-a relationship derived by levenson (1979): y = 3.87 + 0.26 a, where, y = dry weight yield (kg), and a = dbh2 (cm). similarly, volume of stem was calculated according to volume equation (sharma and pukkala, 1990): ln (v) = (a+b) ln (dbh) + c x ln (h), where v is total stem volume with bark (dm3 ), a = -2.7761, b = 1.9006, and c = 0.9428 d is diameter (in cm) and h is height (in m). the number of stock trees and removed trees in each block was recorded every year. up to 50% trees based on height, canopy close, dbh and density were thinned. permanent ring was painted in each tree at the breast height. renumbering was also done where necessary. the tree growth rate and ratio were calculated every year. in 1995, the bushes were partially cleared as there was difficult to move and take measurements. tree height and dbh were measured that year in mid february only. in 1999, data were taken one week later than previously (first week of february). results and discussion the major growth parameters like diameter and height were recorded from 1992 to 2001 and presented in table 1 and table 2 respectively. diameter at breast height-the average dbh increased from 17.23 to 28.00 cm over the ten years period (table 1). the dbh was measured in all trees selected in each block. the average increment rate was from 0.13 to 2.14 cm (table 1). the higher rates were during the initial period, when the trees were small. the data showed that uttis trees had gradual increase up to the final year of observation (2001), however the differences were found in decreasing trend. average tree height the average height of uttis varied from 15.73 to 22.40 m over the 10 years. likewise, the average increment rates or differences were 0.44-1.30 m for different years (table 2). the trees attained 5 to 6m during the 9 years period. unlike diameter, growth rates found higher during later period than the initial period. the heights were measured in the same 10 fattest trees, where the dbh were measured. the detail of measurement record is given in annex 2. according to 1995 records, average number of trees ha-1 after thinning was 673.8, 546.9 and 439.5 in block i, ii and iii respectively. normal stand is considered to 900 trees ha-1 after thinning. a closer spacing might give a higher yield. the biomass was calculated based on the given table (kharel and mulder, 1984). biomass of stem, branch and leaf are estimated separately (table 3). the data revealed that stem and branches could produce similar yield (around 40 kg tree-1 each at 8th year and above 100 kg tree-1 in 16th year of planting). leaves had table 1. average diameter increment from 1992 to 2001 north farm, ars pakhribas, dhankuta dw� wkh� euhdvw� khljkw�� 5hqxpehulqj� zdv� dovr� grqh� zkhuh� qhfhvvdu\�� 7kh� '%+� wdnhq� lq� ploolphwhu� suhylrxvo\� zhuh� frqyhuwhg� lqwr� fhqwlphwhu� dv� yhuedoo\� vxjjhvwhg� e\� 'u� $pdw\d� �������� 7kh� wuhh� jurzwk�udwh�dqg�udwlr�zhuh�fdofxodwhg�hyhu\�\hdu��,q�������wkh�exvkhv�zhuh�sduwldoo\�fohduhg�dv�wkhuh� zdv�gliilfxow�wr�pryh�dqg�wdnh�phdvxuhphqwv��7uhh�khljkw�dqg�'%+�zhuh�phdvxuhg�wkdw�\hdu�lq�plg� )heuxdu\�rqo\��,q�������gdwd�zhuh�wdnhq�rqh�zhhn�odwhu�wkdq�suhylrxvo\��iluvw�zhhn�ri )heuxdu\��� 5hvxowv�dqg�glvfxvvlrq 7kh�pdmru�jurzwk�sdudphwhuv�olnh�gldphwhu�dqg�khljkw�zhuh�uhfrughg�iurp������wr������dqg�suhvhqwhg� lq�7deoh���dqg�7deoh���uhvshfwlyho\� 'ldphwhu�dw�euhdvw�khljkw�7kh�dyhudjh�'%+�lqfuhdvhg�iurp�������wr�������fp�ryhu�wkh�whq�\hduv� shulrg���7deoh�����7kh�'%+�zdv�phdvxuhg�lq�doo�wuhhv�vhohfwhg�lq�hdfk�eorfn��7kh�dyhudjh�lqfuhphqw� udwh�zdv�iurp������wr������fp��7deoh�����7kh�kljkhu�udwhv�zhuh�gxulqj�wkh�lqlwldo�shulrg��zkhq�wkh�wuhhv� zhuh�vpdoo��7kh�gdwd�vkrzhg�wkdw�8wwlv�wuhhv�kdg�judgxdo�lqfuhdvh�xs�wr�wkh�ilqdo�\hdu�ri�revhuydwlrq� ��������krzhyhu�wkh�gliihuhqfhv�zhuh�irxqg�lq�ghfuhdvlqj�wuhqg� 7deoh����$yhudjh�gldphwhu�lqfuhphqw�iurp������wr����� 1ruwk�)dup��$56�3dnkuledv��'kdqnxwd� 'ldphwhu��fp<hdu %orfn�, %orfn�,, %orfn�,,, 0hdq $yhudjh lqfuhphqw�\hdu ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� � ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� )ljxuh�����$yhudjh�dqqxdo�lqfuhphqw�lq�gldphwhu $yhudjh�wuhh�khljkw � 7kh�dyhudjh�khljkw�ri�8wwlv�ydulhg�iurp�������wr�������p�ryhu�wkh����\hduv�� /lnhzlvh��wkh�dyhudjh�lqfuhphqw�udwhv�ru�gliihuhqfhv�zhuh�����������p�iru�gliihuhqw�\hduv��7deoh����� 7kh�wuhhv�dwwdlqhg���wr��p�gxulqj�wkh���\hduv�shulrg��8qolnh�gldphwhu��jurzwk�udwhv�irxqg�kljkhu�gxulqj� banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 barakoti smaller quantity of dry weight (5-11 kg/tree) at 12% moisture. 21 in ilam, wood yield of uttis was estimated to obtain 7.0 t/ha/yr from a 15-year rotation grown on a moist site. in kaskikot a 6-year old plantation was estimated to yield 6.0 t/ha/yr of fuel-wood (kharel and mulder, 1984). various researchers had assessed g rowth measurement of uttis in the past at different parts of the country. a summary of the result is presented here (table 4) for comparison with the present result. it is obvious that most of the data are close to the current findings. the dbh of the trees varied from odwhu�shulrg�wkdq�wkh�lqlwldo�shulrg��7kh�khljkwv�zhuh�phdvxuhg�lq�wkh�vdph����idwwhvw�wuhhv��zkhuh�wkh� '%+�zhuh�phdvxuhg��7kh�ghwdlo�ri�phdvxuhphqw�uhfrug�lv�jlyhq�lq�$qqh[��� $ffruglqj�wr������uhfrugv��dyhudjh�qxpehu�ri�wuhhv�kd�� diwhu�wklqqlqj�zdv��������������dqg�������lq� %orfn�,��,,�dqg�,,,�uhvshfwlyho\��1rupdo�vwdqg�lv�frqvlghuhg�wr�����wuhhv�kd�� diwhu�wklqqlqj��$�forvhu� vsdflqj�pljkw�jlyh�d�kljkhu�\lhog�� 7deoh����$yhudjh�khljkw�lqfuhphqw��lq�p� ri����idwwhvw�wuhhv�iurp������wr������ 1ruwk�)dup��$56�3dnkuledv��'kdqnxwd <hdu %orfn�, %orfn�,, %orfn�,,, 0hdq ,qfuhphqw�udwh ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� � ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� )ljxuh����$yhudjh�dqqxdo�lqfuhphqw�lq�khljkw��fp� 7kh�elrpdvv�zdv�fdofxodwhg�edvhg�rq�wkh�jlyhq�wdeoh��.kduho�dqg�0xoghu���������%lrpdvv�ri�vwhp�� eudqfk� dqg� ohdi� duh�hvwlpdwhg�vhsdudwho\��7deoh�����7kh�gdwd�uhyhdohg�wkdw�vwhp�dqg�eudqfkhv�frxog� surgxfh� vlplodu� \lhog� �durxqg� ��� nj� wuhh�� hdfk� dw� �wk \hdu� dqg� deryh� ���� nj� wuhh�� lq� ��wk \hdu� ri� sodqwlqj���/hdyhv�kdg�vpdoohu�txdqwlw\�ri�gu\�zhljkw�������nj�wuhh��dw�����prlvwxuh��� 7deoh����%lrpdvv�ri�8wwlv��nj�wuhh��hvwlpdwhg�dffruglqj�wr�'%+�7deoh� $56�3dnkuledv��'kdqnxwd %lrpdvv<hdu '%+ 6whp %udqfk /hdi ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ����� ����� ���� ,q�,odp��zrrg�\lhog�ri�8wwlv�zdv�hvwlpdwhg�wr�rewdlq�����w�kd�\u�iurp�d����\hdu�urwdwlrq�jurzq�rq�d� prlvw�vlwh��,q�.dvnlnrw�d���\hdu�rog�sodqwdwlrq�zdv�hvwlpdwhg�wr�\lhog�����w�kd�\u�ri�ixho�zrrg��.kduho� dqg�0xoghu�������� odwhu�shulrg�wkdq�wkh�lqlwldo�shulrg��7kh�khljkwv�zhuh�phdvxuhg�lq�wkh�vdph����idwwhvw�wuhhv��zkhuh�wkh� '%+�zhuh�phdvxuhg��7kh�ghwdlo�ri�phdvxuhphqw�uhfrug�lv�jlyhq�lq�$qqh[��� $ffruglqj�wr������uhfrugv��dyhudjh�qxpehu�ri�wuhhv�kd�� diwhu�wklqqlqj�zdv��������������dqg�������lq� %orfn�,��,,�dqg�,,,�uhvshfwlyho\��1rupdo�vwdqg�lv�frqvlghuhg�wr�����wuhhv�kd�� diwhu�wklqqlqj��$�forvhu� vsdflqj�pljkw�jlyh�d�kljkhu�\lhog�� 7deoh����$yhudjh�khljkw�lqfuhphqw��lq�p� ri����idwwhvw�wuhhv�iurp������wr������ 1ruwk�)dup��$56�3dnkuledv��'kdqnxwd <hdu %orfn�, %orfn�,, %orfn�,,, 0hdq ,qfuhphqw�udwh ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� � ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� )ljxuh����$yhudjh�dqqxdo�lqfuhphqw�lq�khljkw��fp� 7kh�elrpdvv�zdv�fdofxodwhg�edvhg�rq�wkh�jlyhq�wdeoh��.kduho�dqg�0xoghu���������%lrpdvv�ri�vwhp�� eudqfk� dqg� ohdi� duh�hvwlpdwhg�vhsdudwho\��7deoh�����7kh�gdwd�uhyhdohg�wkdw�vwhp�dqg�eudqfkhv�frxog� surgxfh� vlplodu� \lhog� �durxqg� ��� nj� wuhh�� hdfk� dw� �wk \hdu� dqg� deryh� ���� nj� wuhh�� lq� ��wk \hdu� ri� sodqwlqj���/hdyhv�kdg�vpdoohu�txdqwlw\�ri�gu\�zhljkw�������nj�wuhh��dw�����prlvwxuh��� 7deoh����%lrpdvv�ri�8wwlv��nj�wuhh��hvwlpdwhg�dffruglqj�wr�'%+�7deoh� $56�3dnkuledv��'kdqnxwd %lrpdvv<hdu '%+ 6whp %udqfk /hdi ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ����� ����� ���� ,q�,odp��zrrg�\lhog�ri�8wwlv�zdv�hvwlpdwhg�wr�rewdlq�����w�kd�\u�iurp�d����\hdu�urwdwlrq�jurzq�rq�d� prlvw�vlwh��,q�.dvnlnrw�d���\hdu�rog�sodqwdwlrq�zdv�hvwlpdwhg�wr�\lhog�����w�kd�\u�ri�ixho�zrrg��.kduho� dqg�0xoghu�������� table 2. average height increment (m) of 10 fattest trees from 1992 to 2001 north farm, ars pakhribas, dhankuta table 3. biomass of uttis (kg/tree) estimated according to dbh table ars pakhribas, dhankuta 0.3 to 3.0 cm and the height from o.6 to 2.7 m, where the duration and age of trees are not identical. lamichhaney (1984 and 1995) emphasized the need of provenance identification within ne pal. provenances from east nepal showed taller height than that of far-western region (clark, 1985). volume/wood production the volume or wood production was recorded from typical selected trees in block i and block ii of the experimental plot. the mean data showed that there banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2barakoti 5 various researchers had assessed growth measurement of uttis in the past at different parts of the country. a summary of the result is presented here (table 4) for comparison with the present result. it is obvious that most of the data are close to the current findings. as seen below dbh of the trees varied from 0.3 to 3.0 cm and the height from o.6 to 2.7 m, where the duration and age of trees are not identical. lamichhaney (1984 and 1995) emphasized the need of provenance identification within nepal. provenances from east nepal showed taller height than far-western provenances (clark, 1985). table 4. annual average diameter and height increased per year in uttis at different sites*. site altitude dbh (cm) per year duration, year height (m) per year duration, year reported by, in banepa , kavre 1975m 1.5 16 1.4 16 lamichhaney, 1981 nagarkot, bhaktapur 2150 m 1.1 7 1.5 2.5 nafp, 1980 godawari, lalitpur 1540 m 0.3 4 2.0 2.5 nafp, 1980 chalnakhel, kathmandu, 1500 m 3.0 9 2.7 9 lamichhaney, 1981 thankot, kathmandu 1630 m 2.2 17 1.5 17 lamichhaney, 1981 jayakot, kaski 918m 2.2 7 1.6 7 lamichhaney, 1984 palpa 0.6-1.0 4.5 fonzon, 1986 trisuli 7-10 5 source: (lamichhaney, 1995) volume/wood production the volume or wood production was recorded from typical selected trees in block i and block ii of the experimental plot. the mean data showed that there was 128 and 134 kg (table 5) of total wood per tree and the ratio of trunk and branch was 6-7:1 as following. similarly, volume was calculated based on the diameter and height of the trees. the result showed both positive and negative figures (table 6). table 5. wood production (in kg, average of 3 trees) ars pakhribas, dhankuta data recorded in 2000 block i block ii trunk branch total trunk branch total 129 24 153 106 11 117 147 23 170 135 10 145 58 4 62 115 26 141 mean 111 17 128 119 16 134 conclusion table 4. annual average diameter and height increased per year in uttis at different sites*. 22 was 128 and 134 kg (table 5) of total wood per tree and the ratio of trunk and branch was 6-7:1. similarly, volume was calculated based on the diameter and height of the trees. the result showed both positive and negative figures (table 6). conclusion the long-term growth monitoring data permit to draw the following conclusion and recommendations. • dbh increment rate decreased with the tree age. • no definite trend is followed in the rate of height increment. it may var y with g rowing environment. • better growth could be obtained preferably with regular and high precipitation during summer months. • diameter and height increment are inversely propotional. recommendations • thinning should be done in plantations with 2x2m spacing after 5-6 years. • thinning and felling of undesired as well as slow growing plants should be done regularly at an interval of 2-3 years. • study on the effect of thinning on diameter, height and volume of uttis is suggested to conduct for data confirmation. acknowledgements the author would like to acknowledge and extend sincere gratitude to the station chiefs (dr. k r regmi and mr. p l karna) and ex-director (mr. f. e. tollervy of the then pac) for their continuous support. thanks are due to all officers and staff of the station, who were directly involved in the conduction of this long-term experiment. lastly, i would like to thank mr. c m bhusal, who worked for the second half period of the research and involved in thinning, management, measurement and data recording. likewise, mr. h b thapa, scientific officer of the dfrs is thanked for helping analyse tree volume. references burley, j and stewart, j l (eds). 1985. increasing productivity of multipurpose species. iufro, vienna, austria. clark, j. 1985. alnus nepalensis provenance trial. report no.t-21/82, pakhribas agriculture centre, dhankuta, nepal. fonzon, p. 1986. forestry field trials, 1982-86. tinau watershed project, tansen, nepal. ghimire, m p. 1985. growing alnus tree over cardamom plantation for fuel-wood in ilam district. occasional paper no. 9, cfdp, kathmandu, nepal. jackson, j k. 1987. manual of afforestation in nepal. ne pal-uk forestr y research project, kathmandu, nepal. kharel, b..p. and mulder, r.p. 1984. fuelwood production in a plantation of alnus nepalensis in the phewa watershed, field document no.16, hmg/fao/undp, kathmandu, nepal. lamichhaney, b p. 1984. variation of alnus nepalensis d. don in nepal. m sc. thesis, trinity colle g e, oxford, uk. lamichhaney, b p. 1995. alnus nepalensis d. don (a detailed study). foresc monograph 1/95. forest research and survey centre, kathmandu, nepal. levenson, b. 1979. fuelwood utilization: a study of the demand and available fuelwood resources at six selected villages. phewa tal technical report no.9. kathmandu, nepal. pakhribas agriculture centre (pac). 1985. a review of forestry and pasture trial work. pac, dhankuta, nepal. postgate, j. 1978. nitrogen fixation. the institute of biology, studies in biology: no.92, arnold, p 48-50. storrs, a and storrs, j. 1984. discovering trees in nepal and the himalayas. sahayogi press, kathmandu, nepal. 9dulrxv� uhvhdufkhuv� kdg� dvvhvvhg� jurzwk� phdvxuhphqw� ri� 8wwlv� lq� wkh� sdvw� dw� gliihuhqw� sduwv� ri� wkh� frxqwu\��$�vxppdu\�ri�wkh�uhvxow�lv�suhvhqwhg�khuh��7deoh����iru�frpsdulvrq�zlwk�wkh�suhvhqw�uhvxow��,w� lv�reylrxv�wkdw�prvw� ri� wkh�gdwd�duh�forvh�wr�wkh�fxuuhqw�ilqglqjv��$v�vhhq�ehorz�'%+�ri�wkh�wuhhv� ydulhg�iurp�����wr�����fp�dqg�wkh�khljkw�iurp�r���wr�����p��zkhuh�wkh�gxudwlrq�dqg�djh�ri�wuhhv�duh�qrw� lghqwlfdo�� /dplfkkdqh\� ������ dqg� ������ hpskdvl]hg� wkh� qhhg� ri� suryhqdqfh� lghqwlilfdwlrq� zlwklq� 1hsdo��3uryhqdqfhv�iurp�hdvw�1hsdo�vkrzhg�wdoohu�khljkw�wkdq�idu�zhvwhuq�suryhqdqfhv��&odun��������� 7deoh����$qqxdo dyhudjh�gldphwhu�dqg�khljkw�lqfuhdvhg�shu�\hdu�lq�8wwlv�dw�gliihuhqw�vlwhv �� 6lwh� $owlwxgh '%+��fp� shu�\hdu 'xudwlrq� \u� +hljkw��p� shu�\hdu 'xudwlrq�� \u� 5hsruwhg�e\��lq %dqhsd���.dyuh� ����p� ��� �� ��� �� /dplfkkdqh\������ 1djdunrw��%kdnwdsxu �����p ��� � ��� ��� 1$)3������ *rgdzdul��/dolwsxu �����p ��� � ��� ��� 1$)3������ &kdoqdnkho��.dwkpdqgx�� �����p� ��� � ��� � /dplfkkdqh\������ 7kdqnrw��.dwkpdqgx �����p ��� �� ��� �� /dplfkkdqh\������ -d\dnrw��.dvnl ���p ��� � ��� � /dplfkkdqh\������ 3dosd � � ������� ��� )rq]rq������ 7ulvxol � � ���� � � 6rxufh��$oqxv�qhsdohqvlv '�'rq��%�3��/dplfkkdqh\������� 9roxph�:rrg�3urgxfwlrq� 7kh�yroxph�ru�zrrg�surgxfwlrq�zdv�uhfrughg�iurp�w\slfdo�vhohfwhg�wuhhv�lq�%orfn�,�dqg� %orfn�,,�ri�wkh�h[shulphqwdo�sorw��7kh�phdq�gdwd�vkrzhg�wkdw�wkhuh�zdv�����dqg�����nj� �7deoh� ��� ri� wrwdo� zrrg� shu� wuhh� dqg� wkh� udwlr� ri� wuxqn� dqg� eudqfk� zdv� ������ dv� iroorzlqj��6lploduo\��yroxph�zdv�fdofxodwhg�edvhg�rq�wkh�gldphwhu�dqg�khljkw�ri�wkh� wuhhv��7kh�uhvxow�vkrzhg�erwk�srvlwlyh�dqg�qhjdwlyh�iljxuhv��7deoh������ 7deoh����:rrg�surgxfwlrq��lq�nj��dyhudjh�ri���wuhhv� $56�3dnkuledv��'kdqnxwd 'dwd�uhfrughg�lq����� %orfn�, %orfn�,, 7uxqn %udqfk 7rwdo 7uxqn %udqfk 7rwdo ��� �� ��� ��� �� ��� ��� �� ��� ��� �� ��� �� � �� ��� �� ��� 0hdq ��� �� ��� ��� �� ��� &rqfoxvlrq table 5. wood production (in kg, average of 3 trees) ars pakhribas, dhankuta banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 barakoti data recorded in 2000 23 banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2barakoti 8wwlv�3hupdqhqw�6dpsoh�3orw��$56�3dnkuledv $qqh[��� '%+�dqg�+hljkw�ri����)dwwhvw�7uhhv 0hdvxuhg�rq��������������� %orfn�,� 7uhh�1r� '%+� �fp� 7uhh� khljkw��p� %orfn�,,� 7uhh�1r� '%+� �fp� 7uhh�khljkw�� �p� %orfn�,,,� 7uhh�1r� '%+� �pp� 7uhh� khljkw��p� � �� ����� ��� �� ����� �� �� ����� � �� ����� ��� �� ����� �� �� ����� �� �� ����� ��� �� ����� ��� �� ����� �� �� ����� ��� �� ����� �� �� ����� �� �� ����� �� �� ����� � �� ����� �� �� ����� �� �� ����� �� �� ����� �� �� ����� �� �� ����� ��� �� ����� ��� �� ����� ��� �� ����� �� �� ����� ��� �� ����� ��� �� ����� ��� �� ����� ��� �� ����� ��� �� ����� ��� �� ����� $qqh[��� 'hvfulswlrq�ri�wkh�qxpehuv�ri�wuhhv�lq�gliihuhqw�eorfnv� %orfn�1r�,� 2evhuydwlrq�<hduv�'hvfulswlrq ���� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ���� 7rwdo�wuhhv�iurp� suhylrxv�\hdu ��� ��� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� 1r��ri��wuhhv�iru�uhprydo ��� �� �� � �� �� � � � � 1r��ri h[lvwlqj�wuhhv� ��� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� 5hpryhg�wuhhv��� ���� ���� ���� � ���� ���� ���� ��� � ��� $yj��gldphwhu��fp� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� :rrg�h[wudfwlrq��nj� ���� ���� ���� qrw�wklqqhg ���� ���� ���� � � � %orfn�1r�,, 2evhuydwlrq�<hduv�'hvfulswlrq �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ���� ���� 7rwdo�wuhhv�iurp� suhylrxv�\hdu ��� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� 1r��ri��wuhhv��iru�uhprydo �� �� � � � � � � � � 1r��ri�h[lvwlqj�wuhhv� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� 5hpryhg�wuhhv��� ���� ���� ���� � ���� ���� ���� � ��� ��� $yj��gldphwhu��fp� ��� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� :rrg�h[wudfwlrq��nj� ���� ��� ���� qrw�wklqqhg ���� ���� ���� � � � %orfn�1r�,,, 2evhuydwlrq�<hduv�'hvfulswlrq �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ���� ���� 7rwdo�wuhhv�iurp� suhylrxv�\hdu ��� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� 1r��ri�wuhhv�iru�uhprydo �� �� � � � � � � � � 1r��ri��h[lvwlqj�wuhhv� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� 5hpryhg�wuhhv��� ���� ���� ���� � ���� ���� ���� � � ��� $yj��gldphwhu��fp� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� :rrg�h[wudfwlrq��nj� ���� ���� ���� qrw�wklqqhg ���� ���� ���� � � � final vol 16-1.pmd 32 the ministry of forests and soil conservation(mfsc) is in the process of developing operational forest management mechanisms for the terai and inner terai regions of nepal. in the process, the mfsc tested with woking scheme, operational forest management plan (ofmp) approaches and recently put forward the concept of collaborative forest management (cfm) through the forestry sector policy 2000. the policy statement envisaged cfm for the terai forests and states that contiguous large block of forests would be managed as cfm in collaboration with the local people and local governments. the programme has been in operation in terai eight districts including the parsa district with the support from the netherlands government. however, immensity of the government-managed national forest is dominated by strict protection objectives, which need immediate active management (acharya 2000). as a process to initiate active forest management, the sabaiya pilot scheme is in operation for two years. the two years of implementation witnessed important experiences in technical issues on forest management planning. the paper aims to present implementation experiences and provide analysis and insights for future management planning of terai forests. pilot sabaiya scheme the sabaiya pilot scheme was prepared in the fiscal year 2004/05 for the period of five years covering an area of 3,138.51 ha. the plan includes 15 village development committees (vdcs) and birgunj submetropolitan covering above 33,000 households totalling 197,011 populations. the technical proposal of the scheme proposes various harvesting operations such as regeneration felling, seeding felling and simple coppice management. similarly, silvicultural activities include cleaning, weeding, regeneration protection and fire line manag ement. the following section concentrates on implementation experiences in subcompartment 17 b1 prescribed for regeneration felling. forest management planning in the terai: sharing experiences from sabaiya, parsa y.b. thapa,1 p.l. shaha2, b. ghimire3, arjun k.c.4 and s. karmacharya5 the ministry of forests and soil conservation is in the process of developing operational forest management mechanisms for the terai regions of nepal. the sabaiya pilot scheme in parsa is under implementation, which witnessed experiences in several issues in the process. the paper aims to share technical experiences with wider audiences. it highlights anomalies in scheme estimation and final enumeration in basic stand parameters such as basal area and volume. it presents possible reasons and provide analysis and insights for future management planning of terai forests. the paper concludes with a need for more technical information generation, analysis and utilisation approaches in forest management in nepal. key words: forest management, stand parameters, volume table, sabaiya dbh (cm) species economic classification 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >50 total sal – shorea robusta 351 142 90 (70) 96 (72) 241 (176) 920 (318) asna – terminalia termentora 2 9 29 (18) 28 (26) 32 (25) 100 (69) satisal – delbergia latifolia 0 1 0 0 0 1 (0) misc 170 240 64 (47) 50 (39) 22 (19) 546 (105) total 523 392 183 (135) 174 (137) 295 (220) 1567 (492) basal area marked for felling n/a n/a 106.7 95.6 74.9 figure in parentheses indicate number of trees marked for felling table 1 : total enumeration in 17 b1 and marked trees for felling 1 district forest officer, parsa, birgunj, nepal 2 asst. forest officer, parsa, birgunj, nepal 3 asst. monitoring officer, parsa, birgunj, nepal 4 asst. forest officer, regional forest directoriate, hetauda, nepal 5 communications officer, bisep-st 33 the area of the sub-compartment is 12.5 ha. the recommend prescriptions include removal of 5d (dead, dying, diseased, deformed, decaying/decayed) with priority with a total 50 % basal area removal based on exploitable diameter (anon., 2005). the exploitable diameter defined for sal forest type is more than 40 cm dbh and for rest of the forest types is more than 30 cm dbh. the basal area of 5 d trees was 48.6 m2/ha. the total number of trees was 1567 and marked number of trees for felling was 492 whereas actual felling was made for 133 trees. the existing security and other causes have prevented felling of all marked trees. the allowed harvestable basal area for 17b1 was 109.8 m2. the total marked trees basal area in 17b1 was 106.8 m2 with a safe margin of 3 m2 in the sub-compartment. the more elaborated enumeration is presented in table 1. scheme projection vs final estimation table 2 shows the differences between scheme projection and final enumeration made prior to felling. the table indicates systematic overestimated trends in all estimated parameters like basal area, average diameter and volume during the scheme preparation ranging from 138 % to 262 % compared to final enumeration. the higher percentages of differences indicate gap and anomalies in forest inventory process and volume estimation models. the volume estimation in scheme was based on korhonen et al. (1994, cited in anon, 2005) model for the western terai whereas the volume estimation in the district forest office’s enumeration was based on local volume table. the validity and applicability of the korhonen model is not clear. on the other hand, the local volume table that district forest office uses lacks ownerships and identity. we were not able to describe who prepared this table, when and for which arealocal or whole of the terai as has been utilized in these days. in addition, the quality of the forest is significantly different that the time (must be more than 30 years) it was prepared. the more in-depth information will be generated after comparing actual volume harvested against projection in future. further analysis revealed that total volume estimation differs significantly on both fire wood and saw logs components. the information may indicate towards degraded quality of forests than was earlier projected or estimated based on diameter and height relationships. it means more trees are approaching to grade iii classification (government of nepal timber grading system) in the area and saw logs are converted into firewood (photo 1). in addition, best trees are retained during regeneration felling allowing lower grade trees to be harvested .the graph 1 shows distribution of all enumerated trees in 17 b1 where more than half of trees are of grade iii. the degraded quality of terai forests is in consistent with earlier findings (achar ya, 2000; shar ma, and suoheimo, 1995). the clear picture will emerge only after the availability of exact volume information from all harvested trees, which is not available presently. total in 17 b1 (m3)basal area (m2/ha) diameter (cm) gs volume (m3/ha) firewood saw logs scheme estimation 20.0 45.0 194.0 1345 1184 final enumeration 13.7 32.7 86.9 512@ 577* differences % 146 138 223 262 205 note: @one 20x5x5 chatta estimated to be 350 cu ft, *1 m3 = 27.73 hoppus cu ft. table 2 : projection vs final enumeration statistics of the sub-compartment (492 trees) photo 1 : section of the trees indicating lower quality of remaining trees figure 1 : distribution of trees in different grade banko janakari, vol. 16, no. 1thapa et al. quality of marked trees for felling 28% 17% 55% grade i grade ii grade iii 34 implication of differences the differences will have some serious concerns and implications for future planning. firstly, it raises the issues, approaches and methodologies of data collection and validity of the information used for management planning purposes. the differences in enumeration and estimation would have impact on demand supply situation. in addition, differences in man days and revenue estimation would affect feasibility of the project. the lower yield against the estimation would rise needless questions on harvesting procedures and process due to variation in estimation. finally, the planning, budgeting, and cost estimation procedures would be affected. the unambiguous information on costs, royalty and man days estimation will be accessible only after the harvest and sell of all estimated volume. however, it should be clear that data quality can only be improved through the collection, analysis and interpretation of further quality data in future. hope for the future from technical perspectives, it was alread y demonstrated in small scale that active forest management in the terai region is promising (acharya and acharya, 2004; rautiainen, 1994). the regeneration after harvesting of old crop in sabaiya is shown in the photo 1. the sabaiya implementation indicates a hope for active management of terai forest. the subsequent monitoring of harvested plots and information would be useful in other areas specially balancing silviculture with socio-economic situation. such activity will enhance capacity and build confidence of implementing agencies. the delay to initiate active management will reduce genetic stock, vigor and productivity. conclusion there are significant differences in scheme estimation and enumeration on basic stand parameters. the causes are not always clear. the differences may be due to various data collection procedures and volume estimation models. the local volume table presently being used in the districts had serious questions of validity and applicability and the volume obtained in final harvesting is always less than the enumerated volume before felling. the differences in volume, revenues and man days will have implications on planning and budg eting, demand and supply projection and implementation process. the higher number of existing 5d trees indicates degrading forest stock requiring immediate active management. attention is necessary to maintain 10% of 5d trees for biodiversity conservation as recommended in the scheme. it is necessary to update volume tables and management plans components based on further data and experiences. on the other hand, most of our terai forest consists of mature and over mature trees with a little or negative growth of the existing growing stock in the forest. moreover, the regeneration from a more stressed and degenerated crop could result in a stressed crop susceptible to diseases with reduced genetic behavior. however, the sabaiya scheme implementation is expected to provide guidelines and information for future management planning. it also indicates for a remote hope for scientific management of remaining terai forest. the basic elements required are strong political and bureaucratic commitment and favorable environment. references acharya, k.p. and b. acharya 2004. early growth performance of natural sal (shorea robusta) forest in central nepal. department of forest research and sur vey, forest research leaf let 17. kathmandu, nepal acharya, k.p. 2000. unfavorable structure of forest in the terai of ne pal needs immediate management, banko janakari 10(2):25-28. anon, 2005. sabaiya pilot forest management scheme, cfmg/dfo parsa. anon, 2000. concept paper for the management of terai and inner terai forest of nepal. the ministr y of forest and soil conser vation, kathmandu, nepal. dfo 2006. sabaiya collabor ative forest management group: total enumerationsubcompartment 17 b1, document, district forest office (dfo), parsa. rautianien, o. 1994. natural regeneration of mixed sal forests. fmudp working papers no 10. forest management and utilisation development project/ national forest division, kathmandu, nepal. sharma, s and j. suoheimo. 1995. observation on rot in sal forests in the terai, fmudp working paper no 20, hmgn/finnida, kathmandu. banko janakari, vol. 16, no. 1 thapa et al. final vol 16-1.pmd 1 banko janakari a journal of forestry information for nepal desertification: a global concern on the fifth june 2006, world environment day was celebrated all over the world with the slogan “don’t desert drylands!” that calls for every nation to protect and manage biological resource and their diversity in arid and semi-arid land. dry lands covering 40% of the earth are thought to be home of nearly 2 billion people i.e. one third of world’s population. the year 2006 has especial global importance while talking about the issue on land degradation and desertification. this year has been declared as the international year of desert and desertification and the tenth anniversary of the ratification of the united nations convention to combat desertification (unccd). the convention is considered as the internationally recognized and legally binding instrument that addresses the problem of land degradation in dry land and has universal memberships of 191 parties. the convention played a key role on global effort to eradicate poverty, achieve sustainable development and reach millennium development goals. in this regard, every year 17 june is celebrated as ‘world day’ to combat desertification. in june 1994, unccd was adopted and opened for signature, from october 1994 to october 1995. it entered into force on 26 december 1996, 90 days after the fiftieth instrument of ratification or accession was deposited. nepal participated in the preparatory process of convention and signed it on 12 october 1995 and deposited its instruments of ratification on 15 october 1996. consequently, the convention entered into force in nepal on 13 january 1997. nepal is facing severe environmental problems relating to land degradation. it has been reported that approximately 0.4,1.5 and 11.7 percent of the total watershed in nepal are in very poor, poor and fair conditions respectively. it is also estimated that about 1.8 million tons of plant nutrients are removed due to crop harvest and soil erosion processes. out of this, only 0.3 million tons of organic and mineral fertilizers replenish while the rest is permanently taken out of the soil thereby depleting land productivity. in nepal, land use changes have occurred as a result of both natural process as well as human activities. the forest area has deceased from 42.4% in 1988 to 2 39.6% in 1999. furthermore, nepal losses over 240 million cubic meter of fertile top soil every year. siltation problem has been seen in the plains due to loss of soil in the mountains leading to rise of riverbeds by 10 to 30 centimetres in the plain. restoring soil loss by erosion is a slow process; it takes almost 500 years for just 2.5 cm of soil to form. the expanding riverbeds and overlay of sand and silt on the productive land of the terai in the south are growing concern of the terai people. nepal’s himalayas are geologically young and fragile. although nepal has no desertification problems in the form of dry land, it is reported that about 10,000ha of land in the western himalayan districts such as dolpa and mustang features a process of desertification in the form of cold desert. the un millennium ecosystem assessment notes that it is easier to prevent desertification than to reverse it. population pressure and improper land management practices are the principal cause of land degradation leading to desertification. better management of crops, more careful irrigation, and strategies to provide non-farming job for people living in the dry lands could help to address the problem. being a party of unccd, nepal has done many efforts to mitigate environmental problems. in order to mitigate the problem of land degradation problem in nepal, the government has launched various preventive as well as remedial measures such as establishment of department of soil conservation and watershed management in 1974 and formulation of the soil and watershed conservation act (1982) and its regulation (1985). on the other hand, community forestry development programme has been a successful policy initiative in controlling land degradation problems especially in the mid-hills of nepal. besides, the forest act (1993) and the forest regulations (1995), the environmental protection act (1997) and the environmental protection regulations (1997) have also emphasised the need of environmental conservation and management in nepal. in recent years, nepal has shown significant progress in managing forests in the middle hills with continuation of the community forestry programme. on the contrary, only little efforts have been done in managing high altitude forests and dry land pasture, which provides 36% of the total digestible nutrient to the livestock and harbours unique biodiversity, rich cultural heritage, and fragile ecosystem. let’s commit ourselves to make aware everyone of this issue and take part in combating desertification in the world so as to fulfil the millennium development goal. final added vol 15-2.pmd 43 c ommunity f orestr y, a community baseddevelopment strategy, has been implemented for more than past two decades in nepal. this concept is primarily based on par ticipator y mode of development in which local users themselves define and set their objectives and implement planned activities according to their needs and priorities. master plan for the forestr y sector 1988 has recognized local users as the owners of the resources. as per the legal provisions, forest users are allowed to use and manage all types of forest resources, including ntfps in sustainable basis (hmg/n, 1988). with the fulfillment of subsistence needs of fodder, forage, litter and timber of forest users in the mid hills to a large extent, these fugs are moving towards a more commercial use of ntfps in an organized way. this new found interest in ntfps has been triggered by the potential impact of these hitherto neglected and under studied resources in rural poverty reduction and growing market demands. according to a study, this sector contributes 5% country’s gross domestic products (gdp), and ntfps worth us$ 26.8 million has been harvested in nepal annually (ansab, 1995; ansab, 1999). however, the ntfp trade is highly fragmented with low level of supply chain consolidations that results in high transaction cost and deprive indigenous collectors from the fair share of the trade. community based forest enterprise (cbfe) is a new evolution in community forestry practices to make sustainable use of ntfps for the economic betterment of fug members in general and poor and disadvantaged groups (dags) in particular. the concept can be defined as “those enterprises being operated at rural areas, usually near the resource base, that supplies the raw materials, which are planned and operated by local community who are also the primary beneficiaries of the enterprises” (ansab, 2001). the widespread belief is that the significance of the enterprise is directly linked to the local community and the major shares of the benefits go to the local people. such local initiative or micro enterprise is an organized activity for strengthening their economic conditions, better networking of their stakeholders and creating employment opportunities through value addition. in case of forest-based enterprise, it may include collection of the forest products, grading and sorting, labeling, processing, trading, transporting, and manufacturing undertaken either formally or informally. in this context, a study of three community based forest enterprises was undertaken to identify the impact of these enterprises to household economy, changes and management practices of resources, and assess different socio-economic impacts on the community, especially, equity in terms of decisionmaking, benefit sharing and gender. the enterprises selected for the study are bhitteri ban paidawar prosodhan pvt. ltd (bbpl)1, kamala pandit ban socio-economic impacts of community based forest enterprises in mid hills of nepal-case study from dolakha district r. p. acharya* this paper endeavors to assess the socio-economic impact of fug members affiliated with three community based forest enterprises (cbfes) in dolakha district. important socio-economic variables, especially household income, gender and equity, decision making process, benefit sharing and resource management were analyzed. the study concludes that the cbfes have created a positive impact on the socio-economic aspects of rural populace. key words: community based forest enterprises, gender and equity, benefit sharing, decision making, resource management, * program officer, ansab, email:ramachary@ansab.org 1 bbpl is owned by bhitteri fug boch vdc of dolakha district. the fug covers an area of 378 ha with 243 hh members. the company process argeli white-skin that is sold to paper exporter in kathamndu. 44 paidawar prosodhan pvt, ltd (kbpl) 2, and deudhunga multipurpose co-operative ltd (dmcl)3which are located in dolkha district of the country. methodology the study was undertaken from january to march 2002. the selection of the enterprises was done purposefully. different participatory rural appraisal (pra) tools such as wealth ranking, focus group discussion, social and resource mapping and sample households survey. participatory observations were used for primary data collection. similarly, secondary information were collected through the review of documents from cfugs, and governmental and nongovernmental organizations. results & discussions household income the majority of the poor lives in the mountains or in the himalayan region of the country, the search for sustainable increases in income lies in diversification of economic activities from subsistence agriculture to off-farm activities (icimod, 1996 and 1999). prior to the establishment of the cbfes, agriculture and off farm activities such as wage labor, small trade, low-profile job and pension constituted the household income (ddc, 1995; ddc, 2001). the community based enterprises contributed to an average of 11% increment in the income at household level (hh). in the case of fug members associated with dmcl, 17% of their income was augmented from the enterprise (table 1). gender and equity the concept of gender acknowledges that women and men have different needs and power relationships and that these differences must be identified and addressed, if possible in such a manner that the imbalance between the sexes is rectified these small three enterprises created a total of 6312 man days (mds) for r ural households in 2001 (table 2). compared to the alarming situation through out nepal for women employment (hrdc, 2005), the employment opportunities offered through enterprise was impressive. female workers constituted majority of the work force in bbpl (72 %) and dmcl (64%); whereas pbpl had the lowest percentages (20%) of women in its workforce amongst the sampled enterprises. the employment created in these enterprises can be categorized into three different activities viz. raw materials collection, fuel wood collection and value prosodhan pvt. ltd (bbpl) 1 , kamala pandit ban paidawar prosodhan pvt, ltd (kbpl) 2 , and deudhunga multipurpose co-operative ltd (dmcl) 3 which are located in dolkha district of the country. methodology the study was undertaken from january to march 2002. the selection of the enterprises was done purposefully. different participatory rural appraisal (pra) tools such as wealth ranking, focus group discussion, social and resource mapping, sample households survey participatory observations were used for primary data collection. similarly, secondary information were collected through the review of documents from cfugs, and government and non-government organizations. results & discussions household income the majority of the poor lives in the mountains or in the himalayan region of the country, the search for sustainable increases in income lies in diversification of economic activities from subsistence agriculture to off-farm activities (icimod, 1996 and 1999). prior to the establishment of the cbfes, agriculture and off farm activities such as wage labor, small trade, low-profile job and pension constituted the household income (ddc, 1995; ddc, 2001). the community based enterprises contributed to an average of 11% increment in the income at household level (hh). in the case of fug members associated with dmcl, 17% of their income was augmented from the enterprise (table 1). table 1: average annual household income from different sources household income from enterprise (rs.) name of enterprise raw materials fuel wood fug royalty employment dividends total other incomes (rs.) ratio enterprise vs. other sources bbpl 565 166 793 1524 20997 0.07:1 pbpl 100 50 10 150 34 344 8159 0.05:1 dmcl 1373 1369 274 533 74 3623 20997 0.17:1 total 2038 1585 284 1476 108 5491 50153 0.11:1 (source: field survey, 2001) gender and equity the concept of gender acknowledges that women and men have different needs and power relationships and that these differences must be identified and addressed, if possible in such a manner that the imbalance between the sexes is rectified these small three enterprises created a total of 6312 man days (mds) for rural households in 2001 (table 2). compared to the alarming situation through out nepal for women employment (hrdc, 2005), the employment opportunities offered through enterprise was impressive. female workers constituted majority of the work force in bbpl (72 %) and dmcl (64%); whereas pbpl had the lowest percentages (20%) of women in its workforce amongst the sampled enterprises. the employment created in these enterprises can be categorized into three different activities viz. raw materials collection, fuel wood collection and value addition/processing. it was noted that male highly participated in raw materials and fuel wood collection; female in processing and value addition. the processing and value addition was simple in nature i.e. drying, grading, sorting, labeling, quality control. 1 bbpl is owned by bhitteri fug boch vdc of dolakha district. the fug covers an area of 378 ha with 243 hh members. the company process argeli white-skin that is sold to paper exporter in kathamndu. 2 pbpl is owned by two fugs-bhatekhola kamalamai and pandit community forests users groups –of jhyanku vdc in dolakha district. these two fugs cover an area of 1254.5 ha with 550 hh members. the company produces lokta sheet paper that is sold to exporter in kathmandu. 3 dmcl is owned by 25 individuals and napke yanmara fug and located in lakuridanda vdc of dolkha district. the fug covers an area of 160 ha with 135 hh members. the company distills essential oil from machhino leaves. in cleaning process, women were found more efficient i.e. women can clean 7 to 8 kg of the argeli white skin per day but man can only clean 5-6 kg. there is, however, a wide spread discrimination in the wage structure-female workers received much less than their male counterparts despite their higher productivity. female workers earned around 65% of the total income in bbpl and dmcl. due to the low percentage of women in pbpl work force, their share of total income is as low as 18%. table 2: annual employment opportunities in 2001 enterprises employee (sex) employment by raw material collection(md) employment by fuel wood collection (md) employment in processing/ value addition (md) total (mds) total (rs) (%) by income male 150 40 240 430 43000 32 bbpl female 30 16 1080 1126 90080 68 male 250 30 540 820 82000 82 pbpl female 60 6 150 216 17280 18 male 197 420 720 1337 133700 35 dmcl female 1576 807 0 2383 238300 65 total 2263 1319 2730 6312 604360 na (source: field survey, 2001) benefit sharing community based enterprises subscribe to the notion that economic benefits, whether cash or subsistence, accruing to local people as a result of sustainable forest management, should be equitably shared among community members in a manner they consider to be fair. of particular importance is the issue of equitable access within communities to resources and opportunities for obtaining the greatest benefit in the collection, processing and marketing stages. table 3 shows the distribution of enterprise income to different wealth class. overall, 194 hhs are getting benefits from the enterprise activities. among them, 54% are extra poor, 36% poor, 8% medium and 2% are from rich category. these groups befitted from the sales of raw materials to the enterprises and the labor intensive employment opportunities. the table also indicates that benefits to rich households were very limited (2%), as the job opportunities in forest enterprises did not suit to their standard because of labor intensive in nature. moreover, the return compared to time investment to the rich households was insignificant. table 3: distribution of enterprise benefits over wealth classes benefited households subclass from enterprises enterprises rich medium poor extra poor bbpl 3 5 16 pbpl 3 45 72 dmcl 3 7 20 20 total 3 13 70 108 percentage 2 8 36 54 (source: field survey, 2001) decision-making decision-making is the key component that determines the benefit sharing among fucg members of different social and caste hierarchy and the executive committee responsible for the enterprise operations. even though most of the enterprises were found practicing inclusive decision making process (such as inclusion of the voice of the poor, and women through user group meeting, general assembles etc), in some cases the concern of these groups were not accommodated in the decision making. the representation of caste and women in the decision making process was not found proportionate to the caste and gender. for example, the ethnic group of bbpl that comprised 36% of the total of the cfug members occupied slightly over 50% of the enterprise management committee. in the case of 2 pbpl is owned by two fugs-bhatekhola kamalamai and pandit community forests users groups –of jhyanku vdc in dolakha district. these two fugs cover an area of 1254.5 ha with 550 hh members. the company produces lokta sheet paper that is sold to exporter in kathmandu. 3 dmcl is owned by 25 individuals and napke yanmara fug and located in lakuridanda vdc of dolkha district. the fug covers an area of 160 ha with 135 hh members. the company distills essential oil from machhino leaves. banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 acharya 45 addition/processing. it was noted that male highly participated in raw materials and fuel wood collection; female in processing and value addition. the processing and value addition was simple in nature i.e. drying, grading, sorting, labeling, quality control. in cleaning process, women were found more efficient i.e. women can clean 7 to 8 kg of the argeli white skin per day but man can only clean 5-6 kg. there is, however, a widespread discrimination in the wage structure-female workers received much less than their male counter par ts despite their higher productivity. female workers earned around 65% of the total income in bbpl and dmcl. due to the low percentage of women in pbpl work force, their share of total income is as low as 18%. benefit sharing community based enterprises subscribe to the notion that economic benefits, whether cash or subsistence, accruing to local people as a result of sustainable forest management, should be equitably shared among community members in a manner they consider to be fair. of particular importance is the issue of equitable access within communities to resources and opportunities for obtaining the greatest benefit in the collection, processing and marketing stages. table 3 shows the distribution of enterprise income to different wealth class. overall, 194 hhs are getting benefits from the enterprise activities. among them, 54% are extra poor, 36% poor, 8% medium and 2% are from rich category. these groups benefitted from the sales of raw materials to the enterprises and the labor intensive employment opportunities. the table also indicates that benefits to rich households were very limited (2%), as the job opportunities in forest enterprises was and did not suit to their standard. moreover, the return compared to time investment to the rich households was insignificant. decision-making decision-making is the key component that deter mines the benefit sharing among fucg members of different social and caste hierarchy and the executive committee responsible for the enterprise operations. even though most of the enterprises were found practicing inclusive decision making process (such as inclusion of the voice of the poor, and women through user group meeting, general assembles etc), in some cases the concern of these groups were not accommodated in the decision making. the representation of caste and women in the decision making process was not found proportionate to the caste and gender. for example, the ethnic group of bbpl that comprised 36% of the total of the cfug members occupied slightly over 50% of the enterprise management committee. in the case of dmcl and pbpl, their representation in the enterprise management committee was 40% and 15% respectively (table 4). in the case of gender, women’s role in decision making was found passive, and they in cleaning process, women were found more efficient i.e. women can clean 7 to 8 kg of the argeli white skin per day but man can only clean 5-6 kg. there is, however, a wide spread discrimination in the wage structure-female workers received much less than their male counterparts despite their higher productivity. female workers earned around 65% of the total income in bbpl and dmcl. due to the low percentage of women in pbpl work force, their share of total income is as low as 18%. table 2: annual employment opportunities in 2001 enterprises employee (sex) employment by raw material collection(md) employment by fuel wood collection (md) employment in processing/ addition (md) total (mds) total (rs) (%) by income male 150 40 240 430 43000 32 bbpl female 30 16 1080 1126 90080 68 male 250 30 540 820 82000 82 pbpl female 60 6 150 216 17280 18 male 197 420 720 1337 133700 35 dmcl female 1576 807 0 2383 238300 65 total 2263 1319 2730 6312 604360 na (source: field survey, 2001) benefit sharing community based enterprises subscribe to the notion that economic benefits, whether cash or subsistence, accruing to local people as a result of sustainable forest management, should be equitably shared among community members in a manner they consider to be fair. of particular importance is the issue of equitable access within communities to resources and opportunities for obtaining the greatest benefit in the collection, processing and marketing stages. table 3 shows the distribution of enterprise income to different wealth class. overall, 194 hhs are getting benefits from the enterprise activities. among them, 54% are extra poor, 36% poor, 8% medium and 2% are from rich category. these groups befitted from the sales of raw materials to the enterprises and the labor intensive employment opportunities. the table also indicates that benefits to rich households were very limited (2%), as the job opportunities in forest enterprises did not suit to their standard because of labor intensive in nature. moreover, the return compared to time investment to the rich households was insignificant. table 3: distribution of enterprise benefits over wealth classes benefited households subclass from enterprises enterprises rich medium poor extra poor bbpl 3 5 16 pbpl 3 45 72 dmcl 3 7 20 20 total 3 13 70 108 percentage 2 8 36 54 (source: field survey, 2001) decision-making decision-making is the key component that determines the benefit sharing among fucg members of different social and caste hierarchy and the executive committee responsible for the enterprise operations. even though most of the enterprises were found practicing inclusive decision making process (such as inclusion of the voice of the poor, and women through user group meeting, general assembles etc), in some cases the concern of these groups were not accommodated in the decision making. the representation of caste and women in the decision making process was not found proportionate to the caste and gender. for example, the ethnic group of bbpl that comprised 36% of the total of the cfug members occupied slightly over 50% of the enterprise management committee. in the case of dmcl and pbpl, their representation in the enterprise management committee was 40% and 15% respectively (table 4). in the case of gender, women’s role in decision making was found passive, and they limited themselves in observing the meetings and rarely put forwarded their opinions. in all cases, women participation was low though they had received more opportunities in the decision making and more access to employment opportunities in study enterprises (table 5). compared to the national scenario, women in the study enterprises has had more opportunity to participate in the decision making process as nepali women discrimination through the denial of access to resources; having no control over resources or no benefits from resources; restricted mobility, and low representation in decisionmaking positions in all sectors (action aid, 2005). table 4: role in decision making by caste in fug and enterprise management enterprise caste in fug members no. in fug members (%) caste in fug executive members no. in executive members (%) caste in enterprise executive members no. in enterprise executive members (%) ethnic 88 (36) ethnic 6 (53) ethnic 1(50) bbpl bcn ♣ 155 (64) bcn 7 (47) bcn 1 (50) ethnic 160 (60) ethnic 6 (40) ethnic 2 (40) dmcl bcn 90 (40) bcn 9 (60) bcn 3 (60) ethnic 23(17) ethnic 2 (15) ethnic 4 (15) pbpl bcn 112 (83) bcn 11 (85) bcn 22 (85) (source: field survey, 2001) (figures in parenthesis give the percentages of the figures) table 5: sex ratio in decision-making process of fug and enterprises enterprise name sex no. in fug (%) sex in fug executive members no. in executive members (%) enterprise executive members no. in enterprise executive members (%) % of employment male 127 (70) male 11 (84) male 2 (100) 32 bbpl female 53 (30) female 2 (16) female 0 (0) 68 male 201(80) male 12 (80) male 5 (100) 82 pbpl female 49 (20) female 3 (20) female 0 (0) 18 male 103 (84) male 8 (61) male 23 (88) 35 dmcl female 19 (16) female 5 (39) female 3 (12) 65 (source: field survey, 2001) resource sustainability in the case of enterprises oriented cfugs, resource sustainability ensures regular income to household level, employment opportunities and regular supply of raw materials. forest inventory was found to be the most commonly used tool to assess the forest products. for example in bhitteri fug, resource inventory of argeli was done and management plan was prepared accordingly. this community forest covers 378.5 ha with ten management blocks; however, lokta is available in three blocks only (effective area 21.5 hectares). the preliminary survey revealed that 41 kg to 187 kg (anon, 2001) of dry finished bark of argeli could be harvested annually. the availability was low compared to the enterprise target of 1000 kg dry argeli per year (bdp, 2000). as a result, argeli plantation in public and private land was encouraged and around 60,000 cuttings were planted in the forest and private area (anon, 2001). similarly, community based enterprises were found effective in checking premature harvesting of economically important spices. in bhatekhola (746 ha) outlined lokta management plan and provision to seriously dealt with pre mature harvesting to sustain the pbpl. in some cases, the enterprises provided opportunity make commercial use of ntfps hitherto unexploited. for example, commercial harvesting of machhino got momentum in napke fug, after the establishment of dmcl. in order to check over exploitation of the resources, a management plan was drafted and implemented jointly by the cfug and dmcl. ♣ bcn-bahun, chhetri and newar ♣ bcn-bahun, chhetri and newar banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2acharya 46 limited themselves in observing the meetings and rarely put forwarded their opinions. in all cases, women participation was low though they had received more opportunities in the decision making and more access to employment opportunities in study enterprises (table 5). compared to the national scenario, women in the study enterprises has had more opportunity to participate in the decision making process as nepali women discrimination through the denial of access to resources; having no control over resources or no benefits from resources; restricted mobility, and low representation in decisionmaking positions in all sectors (action aid, 2005). resource sustainability in the case of enterprises oriented cfugs, resource sustainability ensures regular income to household level, employment opportunities and regular supply of raw materials. forest inventory was found to be the most commonly used tool to assess the forest products. for example in bhitteri fug, resource inventory of argeli was done and management plan was prepared accordingly. this community forest covers 378.5 ha with ten management blocks; however, lokta is available in three blocks only (effective area 21.5 hectares). the preliminary survey revealed that 41 kg to 187 kg (anon, 2001) of dry finished bark of argeli could be harvested annually. the availability was low compared to the enterprise target of 1000 kg dry argeli per year (bdp, 2000). as a result, argeli plantation in public and private land was encouraged and around 60,000 cuttings were planted in the forest and private area (anon, 2001). similarly, community based enterprises were found effective in checking premature har vesting of economically important spices. in bhatekhola (746 ha) outlined lokta management plan and provision to seriously dealt with pre mature harvesting to sustain the pbpl. in some cases, the enterprises provided opportunity make commercial use of ntfps hitherto unexploited. for example, commercial harvesting of machhino got momentum in napke fug, after the establishment of dmcl. in order to check over exploitation of the resources, a management plan was drafted and implemented jointly by the cfug and dmcl. conclusion the study showed that cbfes could play an important role in socio-economic empowerment of the fug members in the mid-hills. the studied cbfs were providing a much needed opportunity for offfarm employment at the local level, and augmented household income. moreover, the poor, disadvantage groups and women were found to be the major beneficiary from cbfes, as the employment was labor intensive that suit their low skill profile. despite increasing representation of poor, women and ethnic groups in the enterprise’s executive committee, they were mute spectator to the decision making process. the study also revealed that women g ot an opportunity to engage in productive actives outside the house; however, discrimination in wage structure was still prevalent –in spite of their productivity. economic incentives that enterprises generated has had a positive impact on resource conservation by better management of existing resources; cultivating economically important species in forest and private land; and utilization of the species hitherto neglected. respectively (table 4). in the case of gender, women’s role in decision making was found passive, and they limited themselves in observing the meetings and rarely put forwarded their opinions. in all cases, women participation was low though they had received more opportunities in the decision making and more access to employment opportunities in study enterprises (table 5). compared to the national scenario, women in the study enterprises has had more opportunity to participate in the decision making process as nepali women discrimination through the denial of access to resources; having no control over resources or no benefits from resources; restricted mobility, and low representation in decisionmaking positions in all sectors (action aid, 2005). table 4: role in decision making by caste in fug and enterprise management enterprise caste in fug members no. in fug members (%) caste in fug executive members no. in executive members (%) caste in enterprise executive members no. in enterprise executive members (%) ethnic 88 (36) ethnic 6 (53) ethnic 1(50) bbpl bcn ♣ 155 (64) bcn 7 (47) bcn 1 (50) ethnic 160 (60) ethnic 6 (40) ethnic 2 (40) dmcl bcn 90 (40) bcn 9 (60) bcn 3 (60) ethnic 23(17) ethnic 2 (15) ethnic 4 (15) pbpl bcn 112 (83) bcn 11 (85) bcn 22 (85) (source: field survey, 2001) (figures in parenthesis give the percentages of the figures) table 5: sex ratio in decision-making process of fug and enterprises enterprise name sex no. in fug (%) sex in fug executive members no. in executive members (%) enterprise executive members no. in enterprise executive members (%) % of employment male 127 (70) male 11 (84) male 2 (100) 32 bbpl female 53 (30) female 2 (16) female 0 (0) 68 male 201(80) male 12 (80) male 5 (100) 82 pbpl female 49 (20) female 3 (20) female 0 (0) 18 male 103 (84) male 8 (61) male 23 (88) 35 dmcl female 19 (16) female 5 (39) female 3 (12) 65 (source: field survey, 2001) resource sustainability in the case of enterprises oriented cfugs, resource sustainability ensures regular income to household level, employment opportunities and regular supply of raw materials. forest inventory was found to be the most commonly used tool to assess the forest products. for example in bhitteri fug, resource inventory of argeli was done and management plan was prepared accordingly. this community forest covers 378.5 ha with ten management blocks; however, lokta is available in three blocks only (effective area 21.5 hectares). the preliminary survey revealed that 41 kg to 187 kg (anon, 2001) of dry finished bark of argeli could be harvested annually. the availability was low compared to the enterprise target of 1000 kg dry argeli per year (bdp, 2000). as a result, argeli plantation in public and private land was encouraged and around 60,000 cuttings were planted in the forest and private area (anon, 2001). similarly, community based enterprises were found effective in checking premature harvesting of economically important spices. in bhatekhola (746 ha) outlined lokta management plan and provision to seriously dealt with pre mature harvesting to sustain the pbpl. in some cases, the enterprises provided opportunity make commercial use of ntfps hitherto unexploited. for example, commercial harvesting of machhino got momentum in napke fug, after the establishment of dmcl. in order to check over exploitation of the resources, a management plan was drafted and implemented jointly by the cfug and dmcl. ♣ bcn-bahun, chhetri and newar banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 acharya 47 references action aid. 2005. available at http:// www.actionaid.org/nepal/gender anon. 2001. operational plan of bhitteri community forest user group, boch 1-3, dolakha. ansab.1995. for est pr oducts mar ket/ enterprise study report. asia network for sustainable ag riculture bioresources, min bhawan kathmandu, nepal. subedi, b. p., binayee, s. b., ojha, h. r., and nicholson, k. 2001. an assessment of community based forestry enterprises in nepal: case studies, lessons and implications for new programs. asia network for sustainable and ag riculture bioresources and netherlands development organization (snv). bdp, 2000. business development plan of bhitteri forest products processing pvt. ltd., boch, dolakha ddc.1995. district profile of dolakha. vol. 1. district development committee, charikot, dolakha. ddc.2001. district profile of dolakha. vol. 2. district development committee, charikot, dolakha. hmg/n. 1988. master plan for the forestry sector, ministry of forest and soil conservation, singha durbar, kathmandu. hrdc. 2005. available at http://www.hrdc.net/ sahrdc/hrfeatures/hrf43.htm icimod.1996. districts of nepal in indicators of development, international center for integrated maintain development kathmandu, nepal. banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2acharya final added vol 15-2.pmd 72 a hand book of medicinal plants of nepal authors : t. watanabe, k.k. rajbhandari, k.j. malla and s. yahara publisher : kobfa publishing project, bangkok, thailand price : nrs. 2200/pages : 262 year of publication : 2005 isbn : 974-7799-58-8 some of the oldest known medicinal systems of the world such as ayurveda of the indus civilization, arabian medicine of mesopotamia, chinese and tibetan medicine of the yellow river civilization of china and kempo of the japanese are all based mostly on plants. interestingly, allopathy-today’s most familiar medical system which is primarily based on synthetic chemicals for medication, has these days, shown greater interest in using chemicals derived from plants. this explains how important is, and will remain the medicinal use of plants for the mankind. the central himalaya is a huge repository of such medicinal plants. nepal for being located at this portion of the himalaya, has always remained a place of great interest to the botanists and phytochemists involved in researching medicinal herbs. it would be a matter of great surprise for the readers to know that the first botanical exploration was done in nepal in 1802/3 ad by a medicinal practitioner mr. buchanan hamilton. this was followed by mr. n. wallich in 1820/2 1. both of these had brief ethnobotanical notes, which were recorded by d. don and wallich himself. since then workers from all around the world are actively involved in researching medicinal uses of plants from the nepal himalaya. many drugs have been formulated, marketed, and patented. the japanese are among those who have not only contributed to the medico-botany of nepal, but also other areas of botanical science. of the expected 7000 species of flowering plant in nepal, 10 percent are reported to be medicinal. proper documentation of this resource would mean a great contribution to nepal’s meteria medica. the present hand book is one such contribution. amongst the four authors of this handbook, dr. takashi watanabe--the first author, had served the then department of medicinal plants (now department of plant resources) as a japanese volunteer during the ’80s. after completion of his ph.d in pharmacy from kitasato university, tokyo, he continued to work in medicinal plants of nepal. with the help of two sincere and renowned botanists of the department, namely dr. k.k. rajbhandary and mr. k.j. malla, along with an experienced phyto-chemist-dr. s. yahara (associate professor of kumamoto university), dr. watanabe might have found medicinal plants a better topic for writing a book. this is undoubtedly a welcoming step. the book contains systematic account of 108 naturally occurring medicinal plants of nepal. the text of each plant is divided into two major portions: the first devoted to distribution, illustration, botanical description, useful parts and medicinal uses of plants. and the second but more important is the inclusion of chemical constituents of the plants used in medicine. the work is thus of a too comprehensive character for one author to complete. hence, it is none other than a result of a successful team effort of pertinent disciplines. i have no idea who amongst the team, has originally designed the book, but i am glad to see a team of professionals--two nepali botanists and the same number of japanese pharmacists have produced such a tremendous work. the work, which seems to be originally designed to serve more specifically for the botanists and phyto-chernists, will help uplift our understanding on nepali medicinal plants thereby serving the mankind. no wonder that serious readers and libraries will find it as a valuable reference material. dr. sushim ranjan baral dept. of forest research & survey banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 book review corrected bankojanakari vol 17-2.pmd 1 banko janakari, vol. 17, no. 2 banko janakari a journal of forestry information for nepal conservation of red sandle wood (pterocarpus santalinus): need greater cooperation red sandle wood (pterocarpus santalinus) a small to medium-sized, deciduous tree is known to an endemic plant to india’s eastern ghats. the tree is slow-growing and highly valued for its heavily pigmented heartwood. the wood, with a deep red to purple colour, has greater economic importance. economically, the plant is well-known for its characteristic timber of exquisite colour, beauty and outstanding technical qualities the red wood yields a natural dye santalin, which is used in colouring pharmaceutical preparations and foodstuffs. it’s timber is highly prized for house posts and used for agriculture implements for poles, shafts and bent rims of carts and for picture frames, boxes and other joining purposes. the timber is especially used in the manufacture of musical instruments and carving into dolls and images. medicinally, the wood is reported to have a bitter in taste with a flavour, anhelmintic, aphrodisiac, alexiteric useful in vomiting, thirst, eye diseases, cures diseases concerned with blood, mental aberrations and ulcers. the wood of p. santalinus is considered astringent, tonic and diaphoretic. an infusion of the wood is used in the control of diabetes. a paste of the wood is used to give cooling effect, applied externally for inflammations and head-ache. the powder is excellent medicine for bilious affections and skin diseases. it has been also reported that the wood is used in treating headache, skin diseases, fever, boils, and scorpion sting and to improve sight. heart wood is known to possess isoflavone glucosidessavinin, calocedrin and triterpene. the lignan isolated from the heartwood is known to inhibit tumor necrosis factor–alpha production and tcell proliferation. the heart wood contains isoflavone glucosides and two antitumour lignans, viz., savinin and calocedrin. the ethanol extract of pterocarpus santalinus l.f. (fabaceae) showed gastroprotective effects. the species is classified as ‘endangered’ in the iucn red list, with threats involving a combination of over harvest and habitat alteration. hitherto, the species is not recorded in nepal but its handsome forest lies in the southern part of india. presently nepal is under rebuilding process of the nation and it is the transition period, people are waiting for permanent peace and development however the country is facing several problems notably timber smuggling from south to the north. nepal is a signatory member of cites, that compels it’s to 2 banko janakari, vol. 17, no. 2 obey the rules and regulation mandated by the cites. red sandle wood is enlisted in appendix-ii of cites, it cannot be transported or marketed with taking especial permission from the country of origin. unless grater cooperation and collaboration among india and china nepal’s effort remains futile to combat smuggling of this valuable species. china, india and nepal are all parties to cites, and all three have legal and institutional instruments in place to address wildlife trade issues. however, illegal wood trade has become more organized, demand has increased for red sandal wood and their products and smugglers have more sophisticated systems for transporting consignments. in order to combat this worrying trend driven by increased, international demand, it is now high time for all the three countries to step up efforts such as enforcement at cross-national borders, regional level advocacy, policy analysis as well as collaboration with non-conventional stakeholders such as transport companies. final added vol 15-2.pmd 13 ethnoecology of natural environment in trans-himalayan region of west nepal m. b. rokaya1, m. r. shrestha1 and s. k. ghimire2 the present study was conducted during a period of two years from 2001 to 2003 in trans-himalayan region from mustang to dolpa region of west nepal. the indigenous people were found to be rich in ethnoecological knowledge regarding environment and plant resources. the locals catagorised six types of ecological land patterns such as nakri (forest land), penhri or pangri or thakri or dakri (land pattern), sim (marshy place or wetland), lung (agricultural land) and khangri (snowy land). the people also had the knowledge of plants in population level and species level and had their own way of classifying them on the basis of different criteria like presence or absence of flower, habit, habitat, morphology, etc. key words: ethnobotany; indigenous knowledge; folk nomenclature; folk classification the indigenous people in different parts of nepalhimalayas have been utilizing physical and natural environment in various ways since the time immemorial. the indigenous people in a particular geographical area have perceived environmental component at the landscapes level, species level and population level in different ways and categorised and delimited these components according to their specific local systems and terms. ethnoecology, the applied field of ethnobotany, is a study of local knowledge with respect to surrounding environmental components. a broad definition given by toledo (1987) and modified by patton (1993) defined ethnoecolog y as ‘the study of all the knowledge, strategies, attitudes and skills that permit rural cultures to produce and reproduce the material conditions of their social existence through an appropriate management of natural resources.’ today in different parts of the world, par ticipator y ethnoecological researches, have been directed towards the conser vation and management of biological diversity. (aumeeruddy, 1998 cited in ghimire et al., 2001). the present paper highlights ethnoecological knowledge of indigenous people living in trans-himalayan region regarding the nomenclature of physical and biological environment. materials and metohds study site the study area lies in between 28º45’-29º45’n latitude to 82º20’-83º45’e longitude covering part of upper mustang and upper dolpa in trans-himalayan zone. the site is represented by its richness in alpine and arid flora with its phytogeographic uniqueness. areas are almost treeless and virgin, pristine with arid transhimalayan ecosystem (snellgrove, 1961; ghimire et al., 2001; rokaya, 2002; shrestha, 2004), located at the rain-shadow zone beyond the high mountain ridges formed by mt. dhaulagiri, annapurna and kanjiroba massif, which forms barrier to most of the monsoon precipitation that comes from southeast (hagen 1960). the climate is similar to tibetan plateau with higher solar radiation and extremely low precipitation, and it ranges from cool and humid to arctic and cold desert types (carpenter and klein, 1995; sherpa, 1992; yosida, 2002). annual rainfall drops 250-500mm along the tibetan borderland in western nepal because of rain shadow and distance from the bay of bengal (manandhar, 2002; rokaya, 2002; shrestha, 2004).the population is of tibetan origin hence follow tibetan culture, social, and religious systems (mcveigh, 1994; bista, 2000; rokaya, 2002) and speak tibetan language. religions include bon and buddhism. bon is the ancient religion prevailed in tibet prior to buddhism (cited in ghimire et al., 1999). data collection the fieldwork was conducted in the study area at two different periods during october 2001-july 2003. participatory methods such as rapid rural appraisal (rra), par ticipator y rural appraisal (pra), 1. g.p.o.box no 15142, kpc 319, kathmandu, nepal 2. lecturer, central department of botany, t. u., kathmandu, nepal corresponding author’s : rokayamaan@gmail.com/rokayamaan@hotmail.com 14 participant observation, focus group discussion and key informant interviews (martin, 1995; rastogi et al., 1998; cunningham, 2001) were employed. the participatory assessment was done in parallel way by conducting through a group discussion with the people from different localities asking different questions related to identification of plants, their use, distribution, habitat, vernacular name or local name, to folk taxonomy and nomenclature. results and discussion the people of the study area were found to be exceptionally rich in their indigenous knowledge regarding the environmental factors, resources, and conservation and management aspects. they have their own terms for the level of categorization of land resources and for entire world of plants, which are cited below: indigenous knowledge at landscape level: there are various types of ecological zones differentiated by local people in different kinds of geographical settings. the major six land use categories based on local perception are as follows: a. nakri (forest land): it is differentiated into singhna (forest), na (shrubby land), singdong (forest with only large trees). b. penhri or pangri: it is differentiated into four categories pang (grassland), degha (big flat land), thang (a big field), ya (high alpine grass land). c. thakri or dakri: it has four different subcategories as: dza or dak (rocky land), ghyapa (land full of gravel and coarse stones), yama (a place with slippery stones) and chyanh (highly rocky slope). d. sim (marshy place or wet land): it is differentiated into different sub-categories as: tsangdam (a river bank), lungba (a river between two hills), nah jok (marshy land) and ya tsangdam (moist place of high mountain or himal). e. lung (agricultural land): it is differentiated into two sub-categories zhing or zingga (crop cultivated land) and luijing (homestead land). f. khangri (snowy land): it is also differentiated into two sub-categories which are dza (permanent map: the map showing routes taken by researchers in trans-himalayan parts of dolpo and mustang banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 rokaya et al. 15 snow melting zone) and ghya (a place above the snow line). different forests and shr ub lands are named according to different landmarks erected by the people for religious purposes. for example, the two juniper forest patches in kalang named as lang-rok forest and gygao-chu forest, the three patches of shrub lands and nine pastures in dho-tarap area are named in accordance to the prominent landmarks, such as gombas (monastery), laptsai, mani or madong and chortens (stupas), etc. the pastures that are highly important resources for the survival of local livestock and other biotic agents are of two major types: summer pastures and winter pastures. among the eight pastures present in dho-tarap valley of dolpo, the one named as lang pasture is the only winter pasture. the summer pastures are shulak pasture, mirobo pasture, sorbo pasture, pen pasture, shorbu pasture, traye pasture, numala pasture that were named on the basis of landmarks. indigenous knowledge at plant population level: on the basis of plant population assessment, the local people defined population size as thick (thukpo), thin (tapo) and moderate (dingba) with respect to plant distribution patterns. for the specific distribution pattern, the terms used before the thin, thick and moderate patterns are everywhere (sane yongjok), somewhere (sane dingba), and few places (sane nyungnyung). indigenous knowledge at species level: the people of the study area are knowledgeable regarding biological component such as plants. their folk classification was on the based on various criteria such as presence or absence of flowers, habit, habitat etc. these are described below: a) on the basis of flowers: the whole plant kingdom or the plant world is called as ngo-men-ri. the flower bearing plants are named as metog bharyap (angiosperms) and non-flowering plants are called as metog menpa (mostly includes cryptogams). the higher plants are called as trees (sing dong), shrubs (singten), herbs (ngodum) and thrilsing (climbers). b) on the basis of habitat: the whole plant kingdom (ngho-men-ri) has been divided into different categories on the basis of the habitat of the plants: tshu ruk (aquatic), thangla haepa (terrestrial plants), sing bal (epiphytic plants), dhotak (plants growing on the stones). c) on the basis of the habit or structure: this classification system of plants is more comprehensive and gives the detail account of the whole plant kingdom, ngo-men-ri (fig 1). it is differentiated into two sub categories as ngo dhum (herbaceous plants) and sing (woody plants). the ngo dhum is further differentiated into tsa (grasses) and ngodhum (herbs). the herbs on the basis of size of fruits, roots, and flowers are differentiated into various categories such as debu tshae (plants the categories of plants defined by local people and amchis of trans-himalayan zone of west nepal ngo-men-ri (plant kingdom) tsa (grasses) ngo dhum (herbaceous plants) tserma chengi sing (with thorn) tersema mepe sing (without thorn) debu tshae (with big fruits) debu tshung (with small fruit) tsawa tshae (with big roots) tswa tshung (with small roots) metog haep-pa (flowers distinct) netog men pa (without/indistinct flowers) gangpo chen (fruits bean like) debu chen (fruits ovoid or spherical) debu num chen (fruits oil yielding) shin dong (trees) nak thong (small tree) shing ten (shrubs) thrill sing (climbers) banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2rokaya et al. 16 with big fruits), debu tshung (plants with small fruits), tsawa tshae (plants with big roots), tsawa tshung (plants with small roots), metog haep-pa (plants with distinct flowers), and metog menpa (plants with small or indistinct flowers). on the basis of the structure and the property of fruits the plants are further differentiated into gang po chen (plants with bean like fruits), debu chen (plants with ovoid or spherical fruits), debu num chen (plants with oil yielding fr uits). the woody plants (sing) are differentiated into tserma chengi sing (thorn bearing plants) and tserma mepe sing (plants without thorns). they are further differentiated as sing dong (trees), na jok (small trees), singten (shrubs) and thrilsing (climbers). the folk system of nomenclature: the folk system of nomenclature of plants is based on the particular characteristics such as use, life for ms, habitat, morphology, properties of plants etc. a) nomenclature based on plant habit: many plant names refer to plant habit or life form categories such as trees (sing), grass or grass like (tsa), small plants (tsungba), thorny (tser or tserma), etc. for example thesing (pinus wallichiana), tsa awa (carex sp.), tsa (juncus sp.), jiptsi tshungba (lamium tuberosum), thang na sing (abies spectabilis), chang tser (morina polyphylla). b) nomenclature based on habitat: plants are also named on the basis of the specific habitat as pang (meadows), drak (rocky mountain cliff), nak (forest), tshu (water), etc. for example, the plant name tshu bahal (spirogyra sp.) is given as the plant grows in the water (tshu) and looks like wool (bahal). the name tshu tsa is given for the aquatic grass. the term pang stands for grassland and thong for straight in habit, thus the plant growing straight in grass land is called as pang a thogn (= pang a tung), for example androsace strigillosa. likewise the name thsuma tsi or chumatsi (oxyria digyna) has been derived for the plant being aquatic (tshu) and growing in mass or in groups of many (tsi). the term drak refers to the layer or the accumulated rot. the term chudrak refers to a layer of small plants accumulated in the water; dhodrak for the layer of the plants on the rock and appearing as if it is a layer of rot; and sing drak refers to a rot like plants on the trees. the plant name kangla metog (saussurea sp.) is derived from different words as ‘kang’ meaning snowy place, ‘la’ meaning sloppy land and ‘metog’ meaning flower. thus kang la metog means a flower in the sloppy and the snowy place. likewise, the name pang ram (bistorta sp.) has been derived from two words ‘pang’ meaning grassland and ‘rabae’ meaning looking in dense population. so, pang ram means the plant appearing to be dense in the grassland area. c) nomenclature based on plant morphology: the system is based on the structure of plant in reference to colour and the special appearances. for example, ‘japo’ means cock and ‘tsi tsi’ means the comb and the plant with the flower resembling to the cock’s comb is named as japo tsi tsi (coleus barbatus). the different species of pedicularis are named with the prefix ‘lugru’ meaning sheep’s horn as the flowers has the coiled beak similar to horn of the sheep. the name kyiche kar po (gentiana robusta) has been derived as kyi dog, che – tongue and karpo white as the leaves of the plant are similar to the tongue of dog with the white flowers. sang dril serpo (primula sikkimensis) has been derived from different words as sang – bell, dril – to ring and serpo – yellow for the plant with the yellow flower in the shape of ringing bell. the suffixes karpo (white), serpo (yellow), ngon po (blue or violet), marbo (red) are used with reference to the colour of the flower. for example, balu marbo (rhododendr on le pidotum red f lowered rhododendron), balu ngon po (rhododendron nivile dark red flowered rhododendron), lugru serpo (pedicularis klozschii yellow flowered pedicularis), etc. d) nomenclature based on plant use: the use of the plant is also a basis of naming plant. terms representing specific utilities of plants like m–n (medicine), dhuk tsa (poison), poe (scent or incence), etc. are given as suffixes or prefixes to name specific plants. for example, sila poe (jurinea dolomiaea) has derived from two words sila (meaning the avoidance of the bad smell) and poe (meaning scent or incense). thus the plant name sila poe stands for the scent used to avoid the bad smell. m–ntsa (medicinal grass) and dhuk tsa (poisonous grass) are also named according to the use of the plants. e) nomenclature based on plant property: the plants are also named based on their property. for example bitter is locally called tik (= tig) or kha. the plants with such taste are tikta (swertia sp.), bashakha (lagotis kunawur ensis), g yatig (androsace strigillosa, swertia ciliata), zintik (ajuga lupulina). plants with acrid taste are known as tsa, for example chetsa (ranuculus sp.), and chumtsa (rheum sp.), etc. the name pang poe (nardostachys grandiflora) is given for the scented plant (poe) in the grassland (pang). banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 rokaya et al. 17 indigenous knowledge on the biology and life cycle stages of plants: the local people were found knowledgeable in biology and life cycles of plants. the identification of plant during its life cycle is very important because its potency depends on the different stages of the life cycle. the stages in the cycle based on the local perception are dheubu (seeds), khabui (seedling), dhurtsi or lomakae thuk (juvenile stage), thong bo kae thuk (mature plant), metog kae thuk (flowering stage), dubu kae thuk (fruiting stage). the plants that propagate through roots are called chab nae kae du and those through seeds are thap tae kae du. the people generally identify plants on the basis of taste of different plant parts, types of the root structures and different life cycle stages. the most impor tant account is taken that of str ucture, fragrance, colour and the taste of the flowers and the seeds. the people are well aware of the conductance and the storage of the sap in the plants, and use the different parts of the plants according to the perception of nutrients level in different plant parts. thus, they use the various parts of the plants in different time of the year and at the various stages of the life cycle. for example people use seeds during december to january, shoots during february to april, flowers during may to august, and roots during september to november. the land categorization system is comparable to the scientific classification of the ecosystems as terrestrial, aquatic and artificial ecosystems. further these major categories are sub-categorized into smaller units. the classification is natural and is on the basis of the habitat of the plants that is similar to scientific classification of the ecosystems. the naming of the forest and the pastures are on the basis the presence of prominent landmarks and is similar to the other parts of nepal (ghimire et al. 2001; lama et al., 2001). folk nomenclature and classification system in some extent is comparable with the scientific classification system. however, the local classification of the plants is not so explicit so that there is lack of detail categorization of the plant up to specific level. locally the plants have been classified as metog bhar yap (flowering plants) and metog menpa (non-flowering plants) and it is similar to the phenerogams (flowering plants) and cryptogams (non-flowering plants) of scientific classification. the life for m and the intermediate levels between the folk ranks and the scientific taxa are not sharp. the life form categories such as tsa (grass) and ngodum (herbs) have some correspondence to monocotyledons (or scientific family – graminae and cyperaceae) and the herbaceous dicotyledons. the monocotyledons other than grass-like are grouped in ngodum (herbs). on the other hand tserma chengi sing (with thorns) and tserma mepe sing (with out thorns) or the plants with distinct flowers and the plants with indistinct flowers corresponds to angiosperms or gymnosperms. but the demarcation of this category is not distinct and prominent. in a systematic classification the family is a category comprising one of more genera or tribes of common phylogenetic origin and the plants have a common ancestor that have evolved into various species along and evolutionary process, but this sorts of criteria is not available in the local system of classification (ghimire et al. 2001). however, the system of classification is so large that the plants could be identified up to generic level with the systematic identification. the folk nomenclature of plants is similar to scientific nomenclature. in the folk nomenclature given name of the plant is based on different morphological and physical characteristics. the term representing these characteristics is given in the form or prefix or suffix. at the generic level and the varietal level the plants are named on the basis of different attributes as habit, habitat, morphology of the flowers, use, property of the plants, plant size, etc. the system of nomenclature is also in some places binomial. however, according to ghimire et al. (2001) the correspondence between folk nomenclature and the scientific nomenclature exist in a large scale. regarding the life cycle in indigenous concept the various steps are well differentiated right from seed (dhaebu) to the fruiting plant (dhaebu kaethuk). although the ethnoecological knowledge is rich, the identification of the plants is still not so scientific as the account of fragrance or the parts of the plants are taken into consideration. the level of perception on the potency of the plant based on nutrient concentration looks scientific because the local people use the plant parts according to the seasonal calendar. conclusion the present study focussed on ethnoecological knowledge of indigenous people of trans-himalayan region of west ne pal showed good level of knowledge regarding natural environment at different levels. indigenous people have differentiated the ecological zones on the basis of land use categories. it was further found that folk nomenclature system and folk classification of the plants were based on the different aspects such as presence or absence of banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2rokaya et al. 18 flowers, habitat, habit and morphological structure, use and property. in this modern world, it is important to document indigenous knowledge regarding natural resources in order to make effective strategies to conserve natural resources for the future generation. acknowledgements we are grateful to a number of local people, amchis, phurba lama, norbu lama, karwang lama, amchi karma lama and amchi namgyal lama who shared their indigenous knowledge of utilizing plants as medicines. we are also indebt to yeshi c. lama, wwf nepal program, amchi gyatso bista, mustang, dhana p. shahi, n. kurrmbang and ppi/wwf nepal for their enormous help in the field. we thank wwf nepal program for providing financial support to carry out the present research. references aumeeruddy, y. 1998. ethonobotany, the culture and social division-linkages with conservation and development. in: shretha, k.k., p. k. jha, pei shengji, a. rastogi, s. rajbhandri and m. joshi (eds.), ethnobotany for conservation and community development. proceedings of national training workshop in nepal, ethnobotanical society of nepal (eson), p. 5-9. bista, d. r. 2000. people of nepal. 7th edition, ratna pustak bhandar, kathmandu, nepal. carpenter, c. and j. klein. 1995. plant species diversity in relation to grazing pressure in three alpine pastures, shey phoksundo national park, nepal. wwf nepal program report series no. 20. wwf nepal program, kathmandu, nepal. cunningham, a.b. 2001. applied ethnobotany: people, wild plant use and conservation. a people and plants conservation manual, earthscan, london, 300p. ghimire, s. k., d.b. parajuli, t.n. gurung and y. c. lama. 1999. conservation of the plant resources, community development and training in applied ethnobotany at shey phoksundo national park and its buffer-zone, dolpa. wwf nepal program report series no. 38, wwf nepal program, kathmandu, nepal. ghimire, s. k., y. c. lama, g. r. tripathi, s. schmit and y. aumeeruddy thomas. 2001. conservation of the plant resources, community development and training in applied ethnobotany at shey phoksundo national park and its buffer-zone, dolpa. fourth year. wwf nepal program report series no. 41, wwf nepal program, kathmandu, nepal. hagen, t. 1960. a brief survey of geology of nepal. united nations commissioner for technical consistence, department of economic and social affairs, prepared for government of nepal. lama y. c., ghimire, s.k. and y. aumeeruddy thomas. in collaboration with the amchis of dolpo. 2001. medicinal plants of dolpo amchis’ knowledge and conservarvation. people and plants initiatives, wwf nepal program, kathmandu, nepal. manandhar, n. p. 2002. plants and people of nepal. timber press, usa. p 18-27. martin, g. j. 1995. ethnobotany: a people and plants consevation manual. chapman and hall. mcveigh, c. 1994. indigenous resource management systems among tibetan-speaking herders in western nepal. report submitted to united states agency for international development (usaid), kathmandu. patton, d. 1993. ethnoecology: the challenge of cooperatiom. in: ethnoecologica vol i, no. 2. rastogi, a., godbole, a. and shengji, p. 1998. applied ethnobotany in natural resource managementtraditional home gardens. international centre for integrated mountain development (icimod), kathmandu, nepal. rokaya, m. b. 2002. ethnoecology of medicinal plants in dho-tarap area in buffer zone of shey-phoksundo national park, dolpa, nepal. unpubl. m. sc. dissertation, central department of botany, tribhuvan university, nepal. sherpa, n. w. 1992. operational plan: sheyphoksundo national park, nepal. wwf nepal program, kathmandu, nepal. shrestha, m. r. 2004. trans-himalayan dicot flora of northwest nepal: dolpo and its surroundings. unpubl. m. sc. dissertation, central department of botany, tribhuvan university, nepal. snellgrove, d. 1961. himalayan pilgrimage. oxford, 304 p. toledo, v. m. 1987. ethnoecology, peasant economy, and rural production in mexico. unpublished text of a speech presented at the university of california, berkeley. yoshida, t. 2002. additive strategies of alpine plants in nepal. in: noshiro, s. and k.r. rajbhandary (eds.) himalayan botany in the twentieth and twentyfirst centuries. the society of himalayan botany, university museum, university of tokyo, tokyo, japan. p. 105-111 banko janakari, vol. 15, no. 2 rokaya et al. 403 forbidden forbidden you don't have permission to access this resource. apache/2.4.54 (ubuntu) server at www.nepjol.info port 443 bamboo is one of the important non-timber forest products (ntfps) cultivated widely in the world (fao, 1978). it has intimately been associated with human beings since time unknown. in nepal, bamboos are found in almost all its parts–natural or cultivated with twelve genera and more than fifty-three species (stapleton, 1994; karki et al., 1995; das, 1999; joshi and amatya 1999; das, 2004).they are the important component of rural farming system and play a critical role in rural economy helping to sustain livelihoods of the many rural households that include socially and economically disadvantaged group (das, 1992; thapa et al., 1998; das, 1999). cultivation of bamboos is a common practice on private farmlands. the multi-purpose species has been increasingly introduced in community forests (das, 2002). bamboo entrepreneurship is one of the key instruments for the upliftment of socio-economic status of poor and under privileged people in nepal. bamboo craft makers design various bamboo architectures in assistance with simple basic tools prepared locally. an estimation of about 3.3 million farming families are somehow involved with bamboo sub-sector either as producers or as users of bamboobased products (pant, 2006). development and encouragement of cottage industries based on bamboo thus have a very high potential of providing the locals with much needed cash income and making a very important contribution to their household economy (poudyal, 1992; karki et al., 1995; sherchan et al., 1996). further, it can contribute to the regional and national economy. however, due to the lack of conducive policy and government’s socio-economic impacts of bamboo enterprises in the mid-hills of nepal: a case study on pahari community at badikhel village, lalitpur m. shakya bajracharya1, s. rajbhandary2 and a.n. das3 the present study investigates the associate enterprises involving bamboobased weaving and handicraft making at badikhel village development commitee, lalitpur district, central nepal. it aims to assess the socio-economic importance of bamboo craft making on pahari community at badikhel. forty households were randomly selected for questionnaire survey from the areas with higher density of bamboo entrepreneurship practiced. perceived stakeholders were interviewed to examine their roles and to find out the contribution of bamboo enterprises to household income. group discussions on issues of bamboo cultivation and management were conducted following rra and pra techniques. it was found that badikhel impregnates four species of bamboo belonging to two genera viz. bambusa and drepanostachyum and are important and traditional source of livelihood for the paharis, one of the ethnic groups in the study area. an average bamboo handicraft maker obtained nrs. 1000 to nrs. 5000 per month from the cash sales of assorted handicrafts. however, no significant bamboo management practices were carried out by the entrepreneurs. three out of four community managed forests in the study area planted only bambusa nepalensis as per local demand. since stakeholders’ involvement in actual promotion of bamboo handicraft industry and bamboo management is meager there is an urgent need for the formation of a larger association of bamboo users for the growth and development of the bamboo entrepreneurship in the area. key words: socio-economics, bamboo entrepreneurship, paharis, bambusa, drepanostachyum 1 st. mary’s college, kathmandu, nepal. e-mail: merinashk@hotmail.com 2 central department of botany, kathmandu, nepal. 3 department of plant resources, kathmandu, nepal. 19 banko janakari, vol. 22, no. 2 20 shakya et al. support, disorganized market and limited skills, bamboo-based economy contributes only 1-2% to the national gdp (karki et al., 1998). the present study attempts to investigate the relationship between the bamboo-based enterprises and the paharis, the ethnic community at badikhel village development committee (vdc). the research thus brings out in light, the socioeconomic impacts of traditional craftsmanship in improving the living standard of these people. materials and methods study area badikhel vdc lies in the northern part of lalitpur district between 27°36’04.88”n latitude and 85°20’48.96”e longitude, occupying approximately 905.2 hectares with an elevation of 1290 – 1710m above sea level. it is bordered with godavari in the east and the north, jharuwarasi and chapagaon in the west and lele and chapagaon in the south (fig. 1). according to the cbs (2001), the total population of badikhel vdc is 3212. it has a predominant of an ethnic group, the paharis occupying approximately 55.22% (1774) of the total population. besides, brahmins and chettries cover about 40% while the rest 10% of the population comprises of the minor caste groups like newar, gurung, rai, magar, kami, damai and others (cbs, 2001). fig. 1: map showing the study area research methods the socio-economic survey was conducted in the study area in the year 2006/2007 during summer and rainy seasons (aprilaugust). the random sampling method was used as sampling frame. out of 300 pahari households (hhs), 40 hhs with 285 inhabitants were selected as sample units and interviewed. each hh was considered as a sample unit. selection of the areas was done on the basis of the high density of bamboo entrepreneurs as developed locally in a participatory way, which include bamboo craft makers, growers, traders and sellers (table 1). table 1: distribution of sampled households s.n. ward no. no. of hhs sampled hhs (%) 1. 4 10 25.0 2. 5 9 22.5 3. 6 8 20.0 4. 7 5 12.5 5. 8 8 20.0 total 40 100 source: field survey, 2006/07 participatory methods such as rra/pra, focus group discussion, semi-structured questionnaire and key informant interviews were used to obtain the qualitative and the quantitative data. the participatory assessment was done as a crosscheck by conducting group discussions in various wards asking different questions related to plant identification, their uses, habitat, distribution, local name, cultivation, harvesting period, products manufactured, methodology and technologies practiced, income generation and the existing bamboo conservation practices. bamboo specimens found in the area were collected in summer and rainy seasons from april to august in 2006. they were identified with the help of various standard literatures (stapleton, 1994; tiwari, 1992; das, 2004) and with the guidance of bamboo experts. preservation of these specimens was done using standard herbarium techniques of stapleton (1994) and poudyal (2006). results and discussion distribution of bamboo species from the survey, it was found that bambusa nepalensis and drepanostachyum annulatum occurred in natural as well as in cultivated forms, whereas bambusa balcooa and bambusa nutans subsp. nutans existed only in cultivated stands (table 2). banko janakari, vol. 22, no. 2 21 table 2: distribution of bamboos in badikhel vdc and their local names latin name local name distribution bambusa nepalensis tama bans wc bambusa nutans subsp. nutans taru bans c bambusa balcooa dhanu bans c drepanostachyum annalatum ban nigalo wc c: cultivated; w: wild; wc: wild as well as cultivated source: field survey, 2006/07 to state the pattern of bamboo distribution in the study area, five categories of frequency class stated by manandhar and bhattarai (1998) were used, which are given below. it was also noticed that bambusa nepalensis was the most commonly occurring species rating highest in abundance, followed by d. annulatum, b, nutans subsp. nutans and b. balcooa (table 3). table 3: distribution of bamboos in different wards of badikhel vdc ward no. b. nepalensis b. nutans subsp. nutans b. balcooa d. annulatum 2 c f r f 3 c c 4 a c 5 a c 6 a f f 7 c f 8 a f c 9 c c c source: field survey, 2006/07 a: abundant with more than 20 clumps; c: common with 10–19 clumps; f: few having 3–9 clumps and r: rare with 1–2 clumps; absent utilization of bamboo species bamboos are one of the very important sources of livelihood for the paharis. the traditional craftsmen had used all the existing bamboo species in one or the other ways. but their dependency towards b. nepalensis was higher than other existing species as this species was the main raw material they used for their bamboo-based craft making (table 4). table 4: bamboo species preferred among the respondents source: field survey, 2006/07 highest (* * *), medium (**), lowest (*), nil (-) various bamboo artifacts like nanglo (flat and rounded plate), chalno (sieve), doko (basket for carrying loads), dalo (basket for storage purpose), racks, dustbins, and few other products like photo frames, flower vase, hand bags, decorative items were made from b. nepalensis. stapleton (1994) considers it as a multipurpose species used for weaving, construction and for edible shoots. das (2004) has reported the use of this species for weaving different types of baskets and grain stores in the hills. besides craft making, the locals used bamboo resources for other benefits like in construction, soil stabilization, fencing, as fodder, vegetables and for many daily household purposes and field works. similar utilization of b. nepalensis has been reported from the mid-hills and the terai of eastern nepal and in central and western nepal by das (1999, 2004) and poudyal (2006), whereas b. nutans subsp. nutans and b. balcooa in the shakya et al. items b. nepalensis b. nutans subsp. nutans b. balcooa d. annulatum weaving material * * * * * racks * * * * edible shoots * * * fodder * * * * ** construction * * * * fencing * * * * soil stabilization ** * * ** banko janakari, vol. 22, no. 2 22 study area were scarcely used to their potency due to limited availability and little knowledge. in comparison, d. annulatum was found to be used a little more than sparingly yet its utility was secondary to b. nepalensis. socio-economic assessment of bamboo-based work in the study area bamboos had received high social and economical values for their role in the lives of the pahari community of the study area. it was found that not a single household had one-man entrepreneurship, rather, 100% employees belonged to their own family with each family having in average, three members involved in the business. this showed that the bamboo enterprises in the study area played an important role in employment generation. kattel et al. (2007) has also reported similar condition from eight municipal towns (biratnagar, birgung, dhading, dhankuta, dharan, nepalgunj, pohhara and surkhet) and surrounding areas of nepal. further, the study revealed that the literacy percentage of the bamboo entrepreneurs in the study area was 47.5% with the rest 52.5% illiterate whereas kattel et al. (2007) reported 87% of literacy level in his study areas. similar condition is reported from phongam village in thailand where nearly all the bamboo entrepreneurs are qualified with primary level education (thammincha, 1988). muraleedharan and rugmini (1988) have reported similar educational status among 47-80% bamboo entrepreneurs in kerala. thus, the facts clear out that it is a right choice for the educationally underprivileged paharis for self-interdependent and improving their living standard. desapite the bamboo entrepreneurship owed and governed by males the working team involved both sexes in an equal ratio. as bamboo craft making can be done in harmony with domestic tasks, it is taken as an extension of household activities. the situation is similar in the eastern nepal among many poor women (das, 1999). fao (1978, 1990) has reported the heavy involvement of women in forest-based smallscale enterprises (fbsses) in many developing countries. thus, the traditional business has been providing a means for upgrading the living condition of pahari women in male dominated society. about 80% of the bamboo entrepreneurs in the study area were found operating the business since last 30 years and more. this showed their dependence on bamboo resource. das (1999) reported similar condition in the people, especially the socially and economically disadvantaged group in the terai and the mid-hills of nepal. pun (2007) has reported the bamboo craft making business as life sustaining among the lower caste groups like dom, dalit, kami, damai, sarki, etc. in siraha district. availability of bamboo as the raw material like most of the traditional industries in the developing countries, the bamboo enterprises in the study area sufficient supply of raw materials. it was found the total annual production of the community managed forest ranged 200 – 405 culms whereas the annual consumption of the sampled 40 households reached only 6863–8850 culms. furthermore, the small size of landholding put constraints in bamboo growing. the average size of landholding per bamboo entrepreneur in the study area was only 0.43 hectares, while some were landless. karki et al. (1998) states that landholding is one of the main factors determining the household decision for bamboo cultivation. thus, few clumps grown in private lands are insufficient to meet the demand. with only 5% of the required raw material available in the area, the rest 95% was found to be fulfilled from the external sources. if only the raw material could be made available locally, the annual income of the bamboo entrepreneurs can improve tremendously because the maximum price per culm bought from the local village ranged from nrs.25–100 whereas that bought from outside ranged from nrs.150–200. there exists the traditional method of bamboo propagation by planting culm offsets with rhizomes in the study area, the method being expensive and time consuming, das (2004) has stated it to be unsuitable for large sized bamboo. based on the demand, the villagers had given preference to the plantation and conservation of b. nepalensis. this is due to poor knowledge of bamboo characteristics, properties and proper information flow; the craft makers are unaware of high end use of locally available species (das, 2001). shakya et al. banko janakari, vol. 22, no. 2 23 production and contribution of bamboobased enterprises majority of the entrepreneurs in the study area were found to deal with the traditional household appliances like nanglo, chalno, doko and dalo. few modern products like racks and dustbins had helped them to raise their economical status (table 5). table 5: major products dealt by the respondents and their demand items demand rank nanglo/ chalno 1 racks 2 doko / dalo 3 dustbin 4 photo frame, decorative items, and others 5 source: field survey, 2006/07 it was found that a profit of nrs.125 was made by selling a single piece of dustbin, which is equivalent to the profit made by selling 4-5 pieces of nanglo or chalno. likewise, even more profit was obtained by 12.5% of the total surveyed entrepreneurs dealing with innovative valueadded products like photo frame, bag, flower vase, etc (table 6). however, these entrepreneurs too were not fully involved as they suffered from the problem of poor marketing channels and lack of information flow. however, limited knowledge on marketable craftsmanship skill and lack of modern scientific tools and techniques also hindered the growth and development of their business influencing the productivity both quantitatively and qualitatively. the market of bamboo products and their sales were also linked to season. the highest sales were during october to december, the festive (tihar) and marriage seasons. april to december was the moderate selling months and january to march the low selling months. sales were also related to agricultural seasons. cultural diversification imposed a considerable amount of effect on the bamboo product sale in the market. the cash income generated from the sales of woven products and crafts was an important livelihood of the pahari community, however the monthly turnover being not more than nrs.5000/per month. maximum entrepreneurs (37%) had their monthly income ranging from nrs.2001–nrs.3000 (fig. 2). on an average, bamboo crafts makers worked for 9 months in a year and earned nrs.27,000. however, this income was in contrast to the income of terai crafts makers who earn an average of nrs.45,000 working for 9.9 months in a year (pun, 2007). likewise, the bamboo crafts makers of dhankuta earn an average annual income of shakya et al. table 6: economical account of some bamboo products name of items average cost price (nrs/ piece) production rate (piece/ person) average selling price (nrs/ piece) small nanglo (20” diameter) 15 ½ day 35 big nanglo (22” diameter) 25 1day 60 rack 80 1day 100 dustbin 100 2days 225 chalno 20 ½ day 40 small doko 50 1 ½ days 85 big doko 100 2days 150 small dalo 50 1 ½ days 85 big dalo 70 2 ½ days 115 photo frame 50 ¼ day 225 handbag 65 1/2 day 135 source: field survey, 2006/07 fig. 2: monthly turnover of bamboo entrepreneurs banko janakari, vol. 22, no. 2 24 nrs.5,500 working for 5.6 months in a year (das, 2002). further, kattel et al. (2007) has stated that the average yearly income of the bamboo entrepreneurs is nrs. 1,000,00. conclusion bamboo enterprise has been a livelihood strategy for paharis, one of the socially and economically disadvantaged groups of nepal residing in badikhel for decades. beside contributing significantly to the livelihood security, bamboo handicraft making based on their traditional practices is also assisting in promotion of indigenous knowledge and technology, development of craft-based cottage industry and improvement in socioeconomic condition of marginalized and poor paharis especially women and landless families in the area studied. such traditional utilization of bamboos for domestic as well as for commercial purpose is helpful in stimulation of indigenous entrepreneurship. the bamboo enterprises of the area studied, however, suffer from many problems. no profound bamboo management is practiced in both handicraft making and bamboo cultivation. consequently, the demand of raw material is unable to be fulfilled with its huge percentage (95%) found to have derived from the outer sources. further, lack of introduction of modern tools and technology and poor market information is found as another hindrance in further progress and promotion of this traditional business in the area. currently, except the community forest user groups, there are no other stakeholders working with the communities in sustainable management of bamboos. nevertheless, in spite of these drawbacks, the business helps the local bamboo entrepreneurs to generate an additional earning. under proper supervision and management of this traditional craftsmanship, the enterprises possess a tremendous potential in uplifting the socioeconomic condition of unprivileged rural lives of the paharis. this “green gold” should be recognized and user groups should be made well aware of its sustainable management and utilization. references cbs. 2001. statistical year book of nepal 2001. central bureau of statistics, kathmandu, nepal. das, a.n. 1992. the potential of bamboo growing in rural development forestry in nepal. m.sc. (forest management) dissertation, university of aberdeen, uk. das, a.n. 1999. socioeconomics of bamboos in eastern nepal. phd thesis, university of aberdeen, uk. das, a.n. 2001. bamboo: species for economic prosperity, environmental conservation and rural development in nepal. nepal bamboo update: 2 (1):3–4. das, a.n. 2002. bamboo growing and its market development potential for sustaining rural livelihoods and poverty reduction in eastern nepal. banko janakari, 12 (1): 8–19. das, a.n. 2004. manual on bamboos of nepal. community forestry component. tree improvement and silviculture, ministry of forests and soil conservation, kathmandu, nepal. fao. 1978. bamboo forest news for asia and the pacific. food and agricultural organizations, bangkok, thailand. fao, 1990. case studies in forest based small scale enterprises in asia: rattan, matchmaking and handicrafts. campbell jeffery (edit.). community forestry case study no. 4. fao, bangkok, thailand. karki, m.b. and karki, j.b.s. 1995. national bamboo and rattan information database, nepal, tribhuvan university, institute of forestry, pokhara, nepal. karki, m.b., sherchan, g.r. and karki, j.b.s. 1998. extensive bamboo production and consumption in eastern nepal: a case study. inbar working paper no. 17. inbar, beijing, china. kattel, a.,parajuli, b. and tuladhar, g.r. 2007. a study of the bamboo and rattan sub sector in eight municipal towns and surrounding areas of nepal. incon pvt. ltd., lalitpur, nepal. manandhar, r. and t. bhattarai. 1998. distribution of bamboo in kathmandu valley. banko janakari 8 (1): 19–23. muraleedharan, p.k. and rugmini, p. 1988. problem and prospects of traditional bamboobased industry in kerala: 328-333. in bamboos current research, proceedings of the shakya et al. banko janakari, vol. 22, no. 2 25 international bamboo workshop (eds.), rao, i.v.r., gnanaharan, r., sastry, c. b., cochin, india. pant, a. 2006. accessing competitiveness of bamboo sub sector. gtz psp/rufin, kathmandu, nepal. poudyal, p.p. 1992. bamboosfield manual for community and private forestry in nepal. part ii field document no 20, hmg/fao/ undp, community forestry development project (phase ii), kathmandu, nepal. poudyal, p.p. 2006. bans ko shikshya. (education on bamboo). swayambhu environmental education 171–202. pun, b.r. 2007. siraha as potential district for bamboo promotion in nepal. submitted to inbar for international seminar on bamboo for sustainable development, kathmandu, nepal. sherchan, g.p., karki, m.b., karki, j.b.s. 1996. case study in extensive collection, production, utilization and marketing of bamboo in eastern nepal. a report submitted to inbar/idrc, beijing, china. stapleton, c. 1994. bamboos of nepal: an illustrated guide. royal botanical gardens, kew, london, uk. thammincha, s. 1988. some aspects of bamboo production and marketing: . in bamboos current research. rao, i.v.r., gnanaharan, r. and sastry, c.b. kfri, india and idrc, canada, 320–327. thapa, h.b., das, a.n. and oli, b.n. (1998). growth performance and culm production of bamboo at the eastern terai, nepal. banko janakari 8 (1): 13–18. tiwari, d.n. 1992. a monograph on bamboo. international book distributors, rajpur road, dehradun 248001, uttaranchal, india. shakya et al. this study has assessed patterns and consequences of park revenue sharing and implementation effectiveness to reduce park-people conflict in the buffer zone of chitwan national park. to explore programme implementation practice and consequences, two-thirds (n=14) of user committees were selected from the four management sectors. from the sampled committees, a questionnaire survey was randomly taken from user groups (n=100) to collect income and expenditure data. the revenue disbursement trends were favoured in community development works (roads, community buildings and schools) than conflict reduction issues. fourty-two per cent of the total budget was allocated to infrastructures development, which was followed by conservation and conflict management (35%) and education (9%). only a small amount of the budget was allocated to alternative energy, construction of animal preventive infrastructures to control wild-animals entering farmland and settlement, and provisions for wildlife damage compensation schemes. a certain part of the revenue should be allocated to wildlife victims. furthermore, the process of providing relief funds should be shortened and simplified. key words: wildlife victims, infrastructures, compensation, buffer zone, nepal revenue distribution pattern and park-people conflict in chitwan national park, nepal t. silwal 1*, b. p. shrestha2 , b. p. bhatta2 and b. p. devkota1 chitwan national park (cnp), nepal’s first protected area, conserves wide diversities of complex ecosystem of churia hills and flood plains. in recognition of its unique biological resources of outstanding universal value, unesco designated it as a world heritage site in 1984, and enlisted its beeshazari lake as ramsar site in 2003. it harbours the endangered species like top carnivores and mega-herbivores in their natural habitat of central low land nepal (cnp management plan, 1975–1979). the large predators found in the area, are tiger (panthera tigris), leopard (panthera pardus), sloth bear (melursus ursinus) and wild dog (cuon alpinus) (thapa et al., 2013). similarly, the herbivores include rhinoceros (rhinoceros unicornis), elephant (elephas maximus), spotted deer (axis axis), hog deer (hyelaphus porcinus), barking deer (muntiacus muntjac), sambar (rusa unicolor), gaur (bos gaurus). among them tiger, elephant, rhino, sloth bear and wild boar are more responsible for human casualties (cnp, 2011); elephant, rhino, wild boar and deer(s) are responsible for damaging crops; tiger, leopard are blamed to livestock depredation; and particularly elephant is responsible for damages of houses. on the other hands, establishment of protected areas created direct conflict with local communities due to restrictions on traditional use rights on park’s resources to meet their basic needs of grazing, fuel-wood, fishing and wild vegetables (hmg/n, 2002). thus, human casualties, crop damage, livestock depredation and property damage as direct outcomes of wildlife moving out of parks are often referred to resentment by local people and retaliatory killing of wildlife, and ultimately the sources of park-people conflict (silwal, 2003). the government of nepal (gon) has made a bold decision in the fourth amendment of national park and wildlife conservation (npwc) act 1973 in 1996 by enacting legislation, which made provision to retain 30–50% revenue, generated by the respective park for community development and conservation purposes (hmg/n, 1996). a portion of the set-aside money should also be spent to compensate landowners for land loss on the park borders because of landslides and floods (hmg/n, 1973). buffer zone (bz) programmes have shifted management approaches from resource controlled to revenue sharing to the local communities since 1996. the gon has developed and implemented re-cycling 50% of park revenues for conservation and development activities,and 1 institute of forestry, pokhara, nepal 2 ministry of forests and soil conservation, kathmandu, nepal * corresponding author: thakur.silwal@gmail.com 35 banko janakari, vol. 23, no. 1 36 disbursed approximately 42 million us$ in cnp till 2010 (dnpwc, 2012). illegal cases inside the park and wildlife damage compensation cases of communities are increasing annually (dnpwc, 2012). over the past one and half decades, very few researches have been conducted to assess contribution of allocated park revenue to minimize park-people conflict. some of them stated that increasing number of wildlife seems to be a growing source of resentment of local people towards the park (sharma, 1991). the loss of human life, livestock and crop from animal were main source of conflict in the vicinities of cnp. the buffer zone (bz) legal aspect has granted local participation, but the managerial structure remains largely top down (heinen and mehta, 2000). according to agrawal et al. (2000), resources were exploited by elite groups. however, the effectiveness of the programme in terms of policies in line with field practices of revenue distribution is still questionable, and has not been examined. this study has tried to address revenue distribution patterns as stated in the policy guidelines, priority activities of the communities within the budget categories and barriers in existing policy implication in programme planning and implementing activities. it also describes how revenue sharing mechanism can minimize park people conflict, and its implication can be replicated in other protected areas of the country. materials and methods the study was conducted in the bz of cnp in 2010. the revenue collection and disbursement trend was considered for the period of the fiscal year 2061/062 (2004/05) to 2066/067 (2009/10). the cnp is located in the central southern lowland of nepal, and covers parts of parsa, makawanpur, chitwan and nawalparasi districts with an area of 932 km2 in tropical and sub-tropical part of the country (fig. 1). the cnp and its bz has been divided into four management sectors (fig. 2). in order to have representative samples of reasonable size, prior information regarding the degree of heterogeneity, in terms of socio-economic and biophysical characteristics are desirable (silwal, 2003). this information was obtained from the records of the cnp and the department of national parks and wildlife conservation (dnpwc), followed by the purposive sampling technique for the selection of user committees from the lists of all four sectors (fig. 2). sectorwise list of user committees were taken from the official list of the park. the sectorwise respective user committees are: i) sauraha sector: fig. 1: chitwan national park and its buffer zone (dnpwc, 2006) silwal et al. banko janakari, vol. 23, no. 1 37 lothar, khagendramalli, budhi rapti, mrigakunj and barandabhar; ii) kashara sector: meghauli, kerunga, patihani and kalabanzar; iii) madibagai sector: panchpandav, ayodhyapuri and nirmal-thori; iv) amaltari sector: sikhrauli, lamichaur, sisawar, amaltari, nanda-bhauju, daunne, gosaibaba and triveni. from the official list of 21 user committees (ucs), 14 were randomly selected for sample committees for the questionnaire survey. the selected committees were siswar, amaltari, nandabhauju, kagendramalli, lothar, budhirapti, mrigakunj, barandabhar, kerunga, patihani, panchpandav, ayodhyapuri, nirmal-thori and rewa. finally, 100 user groups were randomly selected from those 14 (66%) sample committees for questionnaire survey. the organizational set-up has been designated for programme planning and resource disbursement as shown in figure 3. more or less, bottom-up programme planning and top-down resource mobilization approaches have been adopted in the practices. executive members of the ucs and user groups, park and buffer zone management committee (bzmc) staff, the key informants were asked about the implementation of practices and policies. pra tools (key informant interviews, time lines, group-discussions) were conducted for obtaining information of programme planning and resource distribution practices. semistructured questionnaire was administered to collect particular data relevant to fund allocation and performed activities at community-level. the study was focused to capture needs and concerns of the key stakeholders like park authority, community-based organizations (cbos), bzmc, local leaders and planners. fig. 3: organizational structure for bzmc (adopted from hmg/n, 1999) results and discussion policies and processes under the bz provision, respective user committees have been allocating bz budget as per their community requirements and the programme’s norms. after the declaration of the buffer-zone, the communities have been receiving funds since 1996. the park has been generating about 70 million rupees per annum. out of the total budget generated by the park, bz programmes has received 50 per cent since 1997. figure 4 illustrates park revenue and budget released from the ministry of finance for fig. 2: management sectors of chitwan national park and its buffer zone (cnp, 2010) silwal et al. banko janakari, vol. 23, no. 1 38 the fiscal years 2061/062 (2004/05) to 2066/067 (2009/10). fig. 4: park revenue vs. bz-released budget (nrs ‘000) (1usd = nrs. 70.00) the main source of the park revenue is visitors’ fee. during the insurgency period, the number of visitors decreased, and the revenue from the park also decreased till the fiscal year 2063/64 (2006/07). afterwards, it has gradually increased. it is obvious that the major conflicting issues from the park establishment are restriction on traditional use rights for forest resources and wildlife damages. after 50% budget allocation to the communities, it is also expected to address those conflicting issues. figure 5 illustrates comparisons between government’s criteria for investing received budget based on five major headings (hmg/n, 1999) and resource allocation by activities at field-level. fig. 5: guideline’s provision vs. budget disbursements by activities there are differences among the criteria to investment in community development works among different user groups. ninety per cent of the committees had used their 42% investments in public infrastructures (village roads, community houses, and schools) instead of 30% as provisioned by bz rule. these are popular development activities rather than directly related with wildlife issues. such development activities neither provide individual relief to the wildlife victims nor reduce conflicting issues. nevertheless, 35% of the budget was allocated for wildlife damage compensation, conservation and anti-poaching programmes. similarly, budget was not allocated for income generating activities (igas) and capacity building programmes as provisioned by bz guidelines, giving less priority to the poor households who are directly dependent on the park resources for subsistence daily livelihoods. this is one of the most conflicting issues between park and forest dwellers. the budget allocation was only 7% for this sector. thus, the activities should be focused on conflicting issues rather than popular development works. community development activities the bz programme has supported to develop common and household level physical capitals. from the group discussion and questionaire survey with cbos, it was reported that 42% budget of the total expenditure had been allocated for community development activities. within community development activities, highest investment (31%) was in roads followed by schools, community buildings, checkdams, health posts, irrigation and electricity (fig. 6). bz guideline has the provision of allocating 30% of the total budget for productive community development works. the expenditure ceiling has exceeded by 12% and only 2% for productive irrigation works in practice. similar study conducted by pokharel (2008) in community forestry (cf) reported that most of the income from cf were found to have gone to community developments while the beneficiaries were found to be non-poor. another similar study in cf conducted by chhetri et al. (2011) shows 75.1% of all public services and infrastructures have been financed by the high-income quartile user groups. out of those activities, poors are getting benefits from public services like roads, schools and health posts. silwal (2003) reported that there were no representation of poor, women and marginal communities to raise their voices at silwal et al. fig. 6: community development activities banko janakari, vol. 23, no. 1 39 higher-level of resource distribution committees. this could be a reason to allocate small portion of the budget for victim’s choice. the continuing exclusion of women and disadvantage groups from governance and mainstream development is reflected in their low-level of achievements (undp, 2002). the effectiveness of the programme in terms of policies is in line with field practices of revenue distribution leaving enough space for improvements. wildlife damages and relief fund the cases filed in the park office for compensation seems to be regular process for each year. there were 17 human deaths and 40 severely injured registered cases in a single year of 2009 (table 1). rhino was found to be responsible for highest casualties (10 deaths and 17 injures) followed by tiger and leopard. similarly, 13 persons were killed and 20 persons sustained injured from wild animals in and around the cnp in 2012 (cnp, 2012). out of the 13 killed persons, 6 were killed by tiger, 3 by rhino, 2 by elephant, 1 by bear and 1 by wild boar. likewise, 10 persons and 2 persons were killed by elephant and rhino respectively in 2011 (cnp, 2011). hence, the human casualties from rhino have reduced in later years, only 2 of 13 (cnp, 2011) whereas, the human casualties from elephant have increased by 80% in 2067/68 (2010/11) (cnp, 2012). according to paudel (2012), there were 3 to 10 human casualties and 213 livestock (including 113 goats) predated by tiger during the period of january 2008 to october 2012. since 2066 (2009/10), the government has been providing relief amount only for human casualties;maximum of nrs. 50,000 for injury and nrs. 150,000 for death. the relief practices were adopted from bz programmes including livestock damages whereas livestock compensation scheme was stopped after promulgation of the relief guideline 2066 [gon, 2066 (2009/10)]. the wildlife victims have bitter experience for getting relief fund even though there is a provision in the relief guideline 2066 (2009/10). the procedure for obtaining relief fund is lengthy and requires more paper works. the compensation amount provided for human death should be consistent with other compensation policies of the government (poudel, 2012). in the case of livestock damages, compensation should be placed as per market value. so, there is a need to revise the provision of certain percentage of park revenue for wildlife victims at fieldlevel. this provision could be helpful to provide immediate rescue/relief to the victims and build better relationship between park and people than the existing situation. sharma (1991) stressed that the park laws should be specific regarding the compensation for wildlife damages. during the fieldwork, it was observed that the relief guideline 2066 (2009/10) has addressed loss of human life and injuries, livestock, crops and property damages whereas there was no regular source of funds addressed in the government policy and programmes. the wildlife victims are more victimized physically, mentally and financially for getting nominal relief amounts. the allocated relief amount is also table 1. human casualties, livestock, loss of livestock and property damages in the cnp in 2009 responsible animals human deaths human injuries tiger 6 4 rhino 10 17 leopard — 7 wild boar — 5 bear – 6 elephant 1 1 total 17 40 loss of livestock and properties cattle 24 buffalo 7 goats 152 pig 14 ducks/chicken 15 house damage 34 source: park office, 2010. silwal et al. banko janakari, vol. 23, no. 1 40 nominal, and at the same time is not clearly stated for crop and property damages. meanwhile, the government has recently promulgated the revised guideline 2069 (2012/13) which tries to make more clear for some issues (box 1). the revised relief guideline 2069 (2012/13) has made a provision of a fund, at the park, where immediate relief could be provided and reimbursed from the ministry of finance through dnpwc. conclusion the bz programmes have been promoting community developments at local-level. most of the budget allocation trends are favourable for infrastructures (roads, community buildings and schools) followed by conservation and education. the study showed that the small amount of budget had been allocated to introduce alternative energy, animal preventive infrastructures and provisions for wildlife damage compensation schemes. the provision of the wildlife damage relief is not applied except to human casualties. the revised guideline 2069 (2012/13) is on implementation process for shortening earlier practical difficulties. the bz related act, regulation, and guideline need to be revised in consultation with the stakeholders in line with priority given to address conflicting issues (wildlife damages) rather than development works. acknowledgements this paper is based on the research data funded by nufu-networking project, institute of forestry, pokhara. the revenue data were provided by the cnp and bzmc, kasara. the contributions of staff from the park and its bz together with the office bearers of the bz user groups and bz user committees are gratefully acknowledged. sincere thanks go to those individuals who provided information, suggestions and supported us during our research work. references agrawal, a., shah, s. g., karmacharya, m. and karna, b. k. 2000. conservation with communities: a research on the park people programme in nepal, kathmandu, nepal. chhetri, b. b. k., lund, j. f. and nielsen, q. j. 2012. the public finance potential of community forestry in nepal. ecological economics 73: 113–121. cnp. 2011. annual report. chitwan national park, kasara, chitwan, nepal. cnp. 2012. annual report. chitwan national park, kasara, chitwan, nepal. dnpwc. 2006 (2009/10). chitwan national park and its buffer zone management plan 2006–2011. government of nepal, department of national parks and wildlife conservation, kathmandu, nepal. dnpwc. 2012. annual report 2012. government of nepal, department of national parks and wildlife conservation, kathmandu, nepal. gon. 2066 (2009/10). wildlife damage relief guideline 2066. the government of nepal, department of national parks and wildlife conservation, kathmandu, nepal. box 1: salient features of recently revised wildlife damage relief guideline 2069 • the relief fund provision for incidents from only eight species (tiger, elephant, rhino, snow leopard, common leopard, wild buffalo, wild boar and bear) should be widened to all wildlife species. • the revised guideline also recognises for relief fund only to the nepalese citizens. it may not be rational since indians have ties with nepalese citizen by religious and social customs, they frequently come to nepal to meet their relatives in terai region of nepal. both indian coming to meet their relatives and other third-nation tourist could not be considered for relief fund. • the revised compensation amount to the victims is (nrs 10,000 to 300,000 for human casualties). however, the community expected that it should be equivalent to other compensation schemes of the country. • the park office has been authorised for providing immediate relief amount of nrs. 10,000 and nrs. 50,000 in the cases of human injuries and death respectively. • the lengthy process of receiving relief fund is revised and placed at office of the regional directorate instead of ministry of finance. silwal et al. banko janakari, vol. 23, no. 1 41 gon. 2069 (2012/13). revised wildlife damage relief guideline 2069 (2012/13). the government of nepal, ministry of forests and soil conservation, kathmandu, nepal. heinen, j. t. and mehta, j. n. 2000. emerging issues in legal and procedural aspect of buffer zone management with case study from nepal. journal of environment and development 9 (1): 45–67. hmg/n. 1973. rastriya nikunja tatha banyajantu samrakshan ain, 2029. his majesty’s government of nepal, ministry of law and justice (in nepali), kathmandu, nepal. hmg/n. 1996. the buffer zone management regulation. his majesty’s government of nepal, kathmandu, nepal. hmg/n. 2002. nepal biodiversity strategy. his majesty’s government of nepal, ministry of forest and soil conservation, supported by gef and undp, kathmandu, nepal. poudel, a. 2012. human-tiger conflict in chitwan national park, nepal. b.sc. thesis, institute of forestry, pokhara campus, pokhara, nepal. sharma, u. r. 1991. park-people conflict in royal chitwan national park, nepal. ph.d. dissertation, university of arizona, usa. silwal, t. 2003. rural livelihoods and diversity in buffer zone. a case study from royal bardia national park, nepal. m.sc. thesis. tribhuvan university/ institute of forestry, pokhara, nepal. thapa, k., kelly, m. j., karki, j. b. and subedi, n. 2013. first camera trap record of pack hunting dholes in cnp, nepal (distribution notes). canid biology and conservation 16 (2): 4–7. undp. 2002. nepal human development report 2001. poverty reduction and governance. united nations development programme, kathmandu, nepal. silwal et al. 1 increasing temperature, unpredictable rainfall, pollution, land use change, deforestation and land degradation and their consequences are the major global environmental challenges. to mitigate climate change, global leaders and environmentalists are looking for cost effective ways to incentivize governments, communities, and companies through payment-based mechanisms. policies, programs and legislative actions such as clean development mechanism (cdm), reduction emission through deforestation and forest degradation (redd+), and lowering emissions by accelerating forest finance (leaf) coalition are the some of the examples of payment-based mechanisms. the global leaders have agreed that conservation and sustainable management of the forests could significantly contribute to lowering the ghgs. to estimate carbon sequestration potential of the forests and to optimize emissioncaps-and-trade systems, reliable volume and biomass estimates are must. however, nepal still lacks reliable tools for quantifying volumes and biomasses required for carbon estimation. in this context, allometric volume and biomass equations could be important tools for quantifying tree volumes and biomasses. allometric equations use easily measurable variables to estimate the characteristics that are difficult to measure. in forestry, diameter at breast height (dbh) and total tree height (h) are the most frequently used variables to estimate volumes and biomasses and subsequent carbon stocks of trees and forest stands. considering this, different researchers and forestry practitioners around the world including nepal, have tried to develop allometric biomass and volume allometric for numerous tree species across several forest biomes. allometric tree volume and biomass equations can be prepared using both destructive and nondestructive methods. destructive methods are more costly as it is time and resource demanding. above that, direct measurement of tree biomass is impractical for least developed countries like nepal. on the other hand, non-destructive methods are time and resource efficient but they can hardly provide complete reliable information .thus, hybrid method combining destructive felling with suitable choice of allometric equations could be an appropriate option for resource limited mountainous countries like nepal. in this method, sample trees representing all geographic sites are selected randomly, then trees are felled and their volumes are estimated by measuring diameter at different predefined positions along their stems. densities of the stems are estimated by calculating densities of sub-samples (discs). then stem biomasses are calculated by multiplying stem volumes and densities. biomasses of leaves and branches are quantified directly by weighing. then the total biomass or biomasses of desired components are calculated by adding the biomasses of the components of the trees. then the candidate models are developed and the best-fit models are chosen as the allometric volume and biomass equations of the tree species. under the unfccc, countries are required to report the state of their forest resources and forest reference levels. the allometric volume and biomass equations can be used to convert the forest inventory data derived from ground-based inventory and remote sensing into biomass or carbon stock. the accuracy of the biomass estimation depends on the accuracy of the inventory data and the method, choice and errors of the allometric equations used. generally, country specific rigorous allometric equations are taken as banko janakari a journal of forestry information for nepal allometric volume and biomass equations for nepalese tree species https://doi.org/10.3126/banko.v32i2.50891 2 low uncertainty (tier1) of the carbon estimation. often due to the high uncertainty associated with the carbon estimation, high buffer percentage is used in carbon trading. due to such high buffer percentage, countries are losing huge sum of foreign currency from carbon trade. therefore, to realize full benefit of carbon trade, robust country specific allometric equations are must. allometric volume and biomass equations are also equally important for sustainable forest management. biomass equations of individual trees are required to accurately assess forest productivity, growth performance, nutrient cycling and energy flows. together with total tree biomass and volume, different tree component and variable-top stem volume and biomass predictions/estimations are necessary for industries and forest product markets. for these reasons, researches on allometric equations have been frequently conducted in developed countries and the research results have been applied in the field that contributes in acquiring high productivity. however, in the least developed countries like nepal, only few research have been conducted and even available research results are not adequately applied. this is one of the reasons behind low forest productivity in nepal. we also lack confidence on using existing equations because of their poor prediction accuracy and lack of associate equations such as timber/ fuel wood proportion to total volume. therefore, allometric tree biomass and volume equations are important for forest researchers and managers. in addition, such equations will also help policy makers in making informed decisions. nepal started forest inventory in 1960s, primarily to quantify timber resources for sleeper and saw mills. later it was extended to national forest inventory (nfi). during that period, different volume equations were prepared, using the data collected through non-destructive method. these equations were then used to calculate extractable timber volume. likewise, biomass equations were prepared mostly by taking wood density data from different sources especially from the indian literature. later, in 1990s, during the second nfi, same equations were converted into metric system, which are still widely used as national level allometric equations in nepal. however, those equations were based on air-dried weight of wood sample and lack clear sampling method. besides, it has been almost six decades since the equations were developed. site quality and tree composition of the forests have changed drastically in the meantime. therefore, there is clear need for up to date national level allometric equations based on the representative samples from the entire tree population. nepal tried to prepare allometric volume and biomass equations for eight tree species during the third national forest resources assessment (2010-2015).though the project could not complete the task, it sensitized the policy makers and researchers about the importance and necessity of the allometric equations. consequently, preparation of allometric equations was identified as priority project and included in the project bank of the ministry of forest and soil conservation. realizing its importance, nepal planned to prepare tree level allometric equations for major tree species. during the second phase of redd readiness project, nepal identified 16 major tree species (also some genus) to prepare allometric equations based on the proportions of the total tree stem volume. the readiness project could not complete the task but it accomplished some preparatory work with the help of financial support from world bank. recently, the world bank has approved financial grant for allometric equation preparation under the forest for prosperity project. in this context, the forest research and training centre (frtc) has started the process for the preparation of allometric equations for seven tree species in cooperation of other departments and provincial ministries. however, difficult physiographic conditions of the country, nearby leaf fall season and cumbersome administrative procedures for tree harvesting are some challenges that frtc is facing to smoothly run the research. despite these odds, frtc is dedicated to complete the task with sound technology and improved/ precise measurement methods. we expect all the stakeholders including the cfugs, private sector and local communities will help us in successful completion of the mission of preparation of allometric volume and biomass equations for major tree species of nepal. thakur subedi research officer forest research and training centre 77 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2, 2022 pp 77‒86https://doi.org/10.3126/banko.v32i2.50898 documentation of wild and underutilized vegetables:potential for conservation and utilization wild and underutilized vegetables are important sources of food, nutrition and income for rural communites and indigenous people. cultivation of high yielding hybrid varieties, change in food habits, climate change and over harvesting have resulted in genetic erosion of these vegetables. in addition to this, their availability,distribution and uses are poorly documented.this study aims to document the wild, neglected and underutilized vegetable species in jaimini municipality of baglung district, western nepal. complete information on wild and underutilized vegetables were collected using semi-structured interviews, guided field walks and field observation. we recorded 64 species of wild and underutilized vegetables belonging to 27 different families in the study area. leaf was the most used plant part (26 species) and majority of the plantsspecieswere herbs (33 species). most of these vegetables were consumed in rainy and summer season and their availability decreased during winter season. knowledge regarding their utilization, cultivation and conservation were also gradually disappearing. therefore, consumer awareness, evaluation of their nutritional value and promotion for their commercial use should be emphasized for the inclusion of these vegetable species in our daily diet. keywords: conservation, documentation, jaimini municipality, underutilized, utilization m. regmi 1, a. shrestha 1, and h. r. paudel 2* received: 4, may 2022 revised: 21, november 2022 accepted: 14, december 2022 published: 31, december 2022 1 department of horticulture, post-graduate program, institute of agriculture and animal science, tribhuvan university, kirtipur, kathmandu, nepal 2 national herbarium and plant laboratories, godawari, lalitpur, nepal. *email : hemrajpaudel1619@gmail.com nepal has diverse climate. climate varies according to the altitude, agroecological zones and topography which is reflected in the higher biodiversity prevalent in nepal (rana et al., 1998).a total of 246 species of vegetables are found in nepal,most of which are wild and underutilized (dangol et al., 2017). cultivation and gathering of indigenous and wild vegetables for self-consumption are still prevalent, especially in rural areasof nepal. especially during scarcity of food and vegetables, people collect wild and underutilized vegetables from their natural habitats(dangol, 2003). wild vegetables like dioscorea species are still being used as a daily source of energy and micronutrients by the chepang community and other isolated communities (aryal et al.,2009). these vegetables contribute to the health and well-being of thousands of indigenous people and local communities in nepal (manandhar, 2002). in the present context, the availability of underutilized species is decreasing at an alarming rate in rural areas consequently causing large genetic, cultural and religious erosion(aryal et al.,2009). the main reasons behind this rapid decline are overexploitation, monocropping, introduction of high yielding hybrid varieties, intensive and mechanized agriculture, population pressure and habitat destruction (manandhar, 2002). the decline and extinction process are further accelerated by forest fire, deforestation, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0089-0950 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 78 regmi et al. desertification and climate change induced droughts and erratic rainfall (joshi et al., 2007). along with their decline, knowledge regarding their cultivation, utilization and conservation is also gradually disappearing (engle & faustino, 2006).the conversion of wetlands into agricultural fields, fish ponds, and settlements has destroyed the natural habitats of many indigenous vegetable species(siwakoti & tiwari, 2007). often due to misidentification and limited knowledge about their importance, most of them are treated as weeds (weinberger& msuya, 2004). in addition,our indigenous landraces of vegetables are being replaced by exotic high-yielding varieties directly affecting seed production and ultimately leading to their extinction. fagopyrum esculentum (mithephapar), f. tartaricum (titephapar), amaranthus lividus (lude) and a. caudatus (latte) are still being cultivated in some parts of nepal (shrestha et al., 2004). the extension on cultivation of such species may enhance the economic activities of locals and independent for vegetables and food security. some of the wild vegetables with high market values such as rheum australe (padamchal), dryopteris cochleata (danthe), polygonum molle (thotne), asparagus racemosus (kurilo) are endangered due to overharvesting (joshi et al., 2007). year-round production in their natural habitat, higher nutritional value, well adapted to adverse environmental conditions, and resistance to insect, pest and diseases has made them superior than our domesticated vegetables (shava, 2005). efforts for the conservation and promotion of largely eroding genetic resources of wild and underutilized vegetable species are incipientstage. in-depth information about their distribution, abundance and availability is still lacking(joshi et al., 2007). the analysis of the abundance of the species in their natural habitats should be the first step towards the conservation of these species. hence, this study focuses on strengthening the limited knowledge about these vegetables by assessing their present status, documenting their distribution and suggesting strategies for their conservation. figure 1: study area map. map of jaimini municipality ward-5 in baglung district banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 79 regmi et al. materials and methods study area the study was carried out in jaimini municipality, ward no. 5 of baglung district in the mid-hills of nepal (figure 1). the district has a total area of 1,784 sq. km. and includes four municipalities and six rural municipalities. among the ten wards of the jaimini municipality, ward no. 5 is located in the easternmost part. there are 562 households with a total population of 2,392 and covers an area of 6.56 sq. km. the ward no.5 was particularly selected for this study due to itswider altitudinal range (600 to 2000 ma.s.l.) and diverse climatic conditions, which in turn are likely to support a wide range of plant diversity. ethnic group (dalits) holding less agricultural land and residing near to the forest area are most likely to use the wild vegetable species and have a broader knowledge of their occurrence and use. data collection and analysis complete information on wild and underutilized vegetables were collected using semi-structured interview, key informant interview, focus group discussion, guided field walk and field observation.the fieldwork was carried out during august-september 2021. a total of64 respondents directly involved in the collection of these vegetables from their natural habitats were interviewed. through the interview, information on local names, habitats, parts used, the season of availability and market value were gathered. the prior informed consent was obtained from all the respondents before the interview. the snowball sampling was used to identify the key informants as only a limited number of local people were found to have in-depth knowledge about the occurrence, distribution and utilization of the wild and underutilized vegetables. the key informants were women involved in daily household activities, elderly people, vegetable sellers, lead farmers and ward chairperson. for the collection of information, plant specimens were collected and photographs were taken. furthermore, guided field walks and direct field observations were undertaken in participation of the key informants and other knowledgeable local people.the forward farmers and senior citizens served as a guide to collect information on the identification of wild and plants used as vegetables. vegetable specimens were collected from natural and semi-natural habitats and were photographed. some of the common vegetable specimens collected were identified with the help of local people and standard literatures (shrestha, 2013) whereas other specimens were identified by comparing those with the specimens deposited in national herbarium and plant laboratories (kath), godawari, kathmandu, nepal. the ‘annotated checklist of the foweringplants of nepal’ (press et al., 2000) was followed for the nomenclature of the collected specimens. results we recorded a total of 64 wild and underutilized vegetable species belonging to 27 families and 45 genera in the study area (table 1). cucurbitaceae with 7 species was found to be the most dominant family in the study areafollowed by fabaceae (6 species), dioscoreaceae, poaceae, amaranthaceae and polygonaceae (4 species each,table 1, fig. 2). out of the total species recorded, 26 species were used for their leaves, 11 species for fruits, 8 species for young shoots, 6 species for roots/ tubers, 6 species for flowers, 4 species for seeds and 3 species as a whole plant (table 1). in addition to their use as vegetables, these plants were also commonly utilized as medicine and animal feed.the availability of these vegetables varied among seasons. from june to august, 39 species were reported to be harvested whereas respondents stated ten species to be collected in the month of december to february. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 80 regmi et al. table 1: list of wild and underutilized vegetablespeciesfound in jaimini municipality, ward no.5. local name, scientific name, family, parts uses, season of availability and other uses of the vegetable species sn local name scientific name family parts used season of availability others uses 1 banko arisaema tortuosum (wall.) schott araceae whole plant june-july medicinal 2 ban kurilo asparagus filicinus buch.-ham. ex d.don asparagaceae shoot may-june medicinal 3 ban lunde amaranthus spinosus l. amaranthaceae stalk and leaf april-july fodder 4 ban nigalo thamnocalamusspathiflorus (trin.) munro poaceae shoot june-july fodder 5 ban phapar fagopyrum dibotrys (d. don) hara polygonaceae stalk and leaf may-june medicinal 6 ban tarul dioscoreabulbifera l. dioscoreaceae root/tuber decemberfebruary medicinal 7 barela cyclantherapedata (l.) schrad. cucurbitaceae fruit april-june feed to livestock 8 bethe chenopodium album l. chenopodiaceae stalk and leaf january-march feed to livestock 9 bhorla bauhinia vahlii wight &arn. fabaceae fruit augustseptember 10 bramelidhaniya eryngium foetidum l. apiaceae leaf augustseptember medicinal 11 chari amilo oxalis corniculata l. oxalidaceae leaf april-june medicinal 12 chichinda trichosanthescochinchinensis (lour.) m. roem. cucurbitaceae fruit autumn feed to livestock 13 dhanthe neuro diplazium maximum (d.don) c. chr. woodsiaceae stalk and leaf rainy medicinal 14 gandhe houttuynia cordata thunb. saururaceae stalk and leaf april-june medicinal 15 ghartarul dioscoreaalata l. dioscoreaceae root/tuber decemberfebruary feed to livestock 16 golkankri solenaamplexicaulis (lam.) gandhi ex saldanha & nicolson cucurbitaceae fruit july-august feed to livestock 17 halhale rumex nepalensisspreng. polygonaceae leaf aprilseptember medicinal 18 jhotekauso mucuna pruriens (l.) dc. fabaceae seed march-april medicinal 19 jhusetil guizotiaabyssinica (l. fil.) cass. asteraceae seed winter 20 kalobethe chenopodiastrummurale (l.) s. fuentes, uotila& borsch chenopodiaceae stalk and leaf augustoctober feed to livestock 21 kalobihi solanum nigrum l. solanaceae leaf may-june medicinal 22 kalo neuro tectariacoadunata (wall. ex hook. &grev.) c. chr. dioeridaceae leaf june-july medicinal 23 kavro ficus concinna (miq.) miq. moraceae young leaves may-june fodder 24 khanayo ficus semicordata miq. moraceae fruit octobernovember feed to livestock 25 khasreto ficus hispida l. fil. moraceae fruit july-august feed to livestock 26 koiralo bauhinia variegata l. fabaceae flower april-may medicinal 27 kundruk coccinia grandis (l.) voigt cucurbitaceae fruit summer feed to livestock 28 kukurdiano smilax aspera l. smilacaceae shoot may-june fodder 29 kukurdiano smilax ferox wall. ex kunth smilacaceae shoot may-june fodder 30 kutilkosa vicia angustifolia l. fabaceae seed march-april feed to livestock banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 81 regmi et al. sn local name scientific name family parts used season of availability others uses 31 kutilkosa vicia hirsuta (l.) gray fabaceae seed june-july feed to livestock 32 kubindo benincasahispida (thunb.) cogn. cucurbitaceae fruit septemberoctober feed to livestock 33 laligurans rhododendron arboreum sm. ericaceae flower february-april fuelwood 34 latte sag amaranthus caudatus l. amaranthaceae leaf april-july fodder 35 lekalisisnu girardiniadiversifolia (link) friis urticaceae leaf june -august fiber yielding 36 liku neuro athyrium atkinsoniibedd. woodsiaceae stalk and leaf rainy 37 lude sag amaranthus tricolor l. amaranthaceae leaf april-july 38 lude sag amaranthus viridis l. amaranthaceae leaf april-july 39 masino neuro diplazium esculentum (retz.) sw. athyriaceae stalk and leaf may-june 40 mithephapar fagopyrum esculentum moench polygonaceae stalk and leaf may-june fodder 41 nigalo drepanostachyumfalcatum (nees) keng f. poaceae shoot april-june fodder 42 neuro depariaboryana (willd.) m. kato woodsiaceae leaf june-july 43 kulfa sag portulaca oleracea l. portulacaceae stalk and leaf year round 44 parwar trichosanthes dioica roxb. cucurbitaceae fruit summer feed to lvestock 45 pate ghiraula luffa acutangula (l.) roxb. cucurbitaceae fruit summer feed to livestock 46 pindalu colocasia esculenta (l.) schott araceae whole plant augustoctober feed to livestock 47 photongi physalis minimaculata waterf. solanaceae fruit winter medicinal 48 rato latte dysphania ambrosioides (l.) mosyakin&clemants chenopodiaceae stalk and leaf augustseptember 49 sajiwan moringa oleifera lam. moringaceae fruit april-may medicinal 50 sarpa ko makai arisaema jacquemontii blume araceae whole plant april -may 51 simal bombax ceiba l. bombaceae fruit februarymarch medicinal 52 sim sag nasturtium officinale r.br. brassicaceae leaf year round 53 simal tarul manihot esculenta crantz euphorbiaceae root/tuber december february 54 sipligan crateva religiosa g. forst. capparaceae stalk and leaf march-april medicinal 55 sisnu urtica dioica l. urticaceae leaf year round medicinal 56 tanki bauhinia purpurea l. fabaceae flower augustoctober feed to livestock 57 tarul dioscoreadeltoidea wall. ex griseb. dioscoreaceae root/tuber decemberfebruary feed to livestock 58 tarul dioscorea esculenta (lour.) burkill dioscoreaceae root/tuber decemberfebruary feed to livestock 59 titephapar fagopyrum tataricum (l.) gaertn. polygonaceae stalk and leaf may-june feed to livestock 60 thakal cirsium wallichii dc. asteraceae shoot june-july 61 tori ghans capsella bursa-pastoris (l.) medik. brassicaceae leaf january-april 62 tatelo oroxylum indicum (l.) kurz bignoniaceae fruit march – may medicinal 63 tama bans dendrocalamushamiltonii nees & arn. ex munro poaceae shoot june-july fodder 64 tama bans dendrocalamusstrictus (roxb.) nees poaceae shoot june-july fodder banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 82 regmi et al. figure 2: number of wild and underutilized vegetable species found found injaimini municipality, ward no. 5 by families the majority of species (21 species) were collected from natural forests, 19 species were gathered from uncultivated lands, 10 species were cultivated in farmers’field, 11 species were grown in home gardens whereas 3 species were collected from fallow lands (fig. 3). figure 3: natural habitats of wild and underutilized vegetable species found in jaimini municipality, ward no. 5 the majority of the recorded wild and underutilized vegetable species (33 species) were herbs, 14 species were climbers, 11 species were trees, 5 species were grasses whereas 1 species was shrub (fig. 4). figure 4: proportion of wild and underutilized vegetable species found found injaimini municipality, ward no. 5 by life forms we found that seven species of the vegetables are traded in the local market. they were drepanostachyum falcatum (nees) keng f., cyclanthera pedata (l.) schrad., chenopodium album l., bauhinia variegata l., dendrocalamus strictus (roxb.) nees, dioscorea deltoidea wall. ex griseb. and diplazium maximum (d.don) c. chr.species like diplazium esculentum (masino neuro), dendrocalamus strictus (tama bans), moringa oleifera (sajiwan) and drepanostachyum falcatum (nigalo) were found to have high market value and some of the species of dioscorea are culturally important as they have banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 83 regmi et al. a high market demand during the hindu festival of maghe sankranti. elderly people were found to have wider knowledge about the use of wild plants as vegetables than the younger respondents. they also pointed out that common vegetables like pate ghiraula (luffa acutangula), kubindo (benincasahispida) are slowly disappearing from their home garden because of the replacement by modern high yielding varieties of the vegetables. most of the vegetable species found in this region were nutritionally important while some of them have medicinal value too. sisnu (urtica dioica), sipligan (crateva religiosa) and sajiwan (moringa oleifera) were used locally to lower high blood pressure and high blood sugar level. according to the local farmers, the availability and distribution of these vegetable species are declining at an alarming rate.they also mentioned that there is limited knowledge regarding the use of wild plants in the younger generation. they stated excessive collection, deforestation, drought and forest fires to be the major factor for their declination (appendix). discussion wild and underutilized vegetables have been the major source of human diets for centuries with a great contribution to food and nutrition security, particularly for rural people. it is perceived that wild and underutilized vegetables are tastier, more nutritious and are easily available to meet their daily need and are a source of income as well(limbu & thapa, 2011;bhattarai et al., 2013;aryal et al.,2018). in this study, the rural people were dependent on the wild and underutilized vegetables mostly in the lean season. limbu and thapa (2011) found majority of chepang people residing in the hilly areas of nepal highly dependent on wild fruits and vegetables as shifting cultivation was insufficient to feed their families throughout the year. another study carried out in a chepang community reported that 58% of households were depended on wild and underutilized plants for vegetables for up to 5 months a year (aryal et al., 2009). bhattarai et al. (2013) reported that75% of the respondents were depending exclusively on wild and underutilized plants for 1–3 months and 10% for more than 3 months to meet their daily vegetable requirements in darchula district. a review study done bydangol et al. (2017) revealed that the highest number of wild edible plants were constituted by vegetable species (246 out of 349 species). the present study documented fewer wild vegetables than joshi et al. (2015), who reported 89 wild vegetable species from makawanpur district. the possible reason for more number of wild vegetables reported is wider altitudinal range covering a larger area than the present study.uprety et al. (2012) reported 36 wild vegetable species from five districts (makawanpur, tanahun, dang, bardiya, kailali) and found highest diversity in makawanpur district. regarding the habitat of these species, the majority of them were collected from the forest. forest providing partial shade, undisturbed conditions and good soil fertility can be probable reasons for their higher diversity. this finding is in line with the result of joshi et al. (2015) which stated forest to be the most important place for the collection of these vegetables whereas in contrast, a lesser number of vegetable species were collected from fallow in this study. the findings of this study showed that leaves and other aerial parts were the most consumed parts as vegetables which is similar to the result of singh et al. (2012) which discovered tender and succulent shoots, young growing aerial parts and leaves (30 species) as the most consumed plant parts of wild edible vegetables followed by floral parts, roots and tubers. wild and underutilized vegetables are providing millions of consumers with essential micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals needed to maintain health and promote immunity against infections. this research found many of the formerly neglected commodities like: sisnu(urtica dioica), sipligan (crateva religiosa) and sajiiwan (moringa oleifera) have now become nutritionally and medicinally important due to consumer awareness.some species were found to have multiple uses also.tanki was found to have been used for different purposes like:vegetable, fodder, fuel wood, litters, and also can fix nitrogen in the soil. many researches https://frtc.gov.np/downloadfile/ragmi%20at%20all%20appendix%20(1)_1672983671.pdf?fbclid=iwar2wjb9nx-yre6ouznww0erx-09obegfbujbdgezvrvtrfhfc4ffy4c6wfu banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 84 regmi et al. have revealed that the vitamins like vitamin a, b, c, beta carotene, mineral composition such as nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and protein contents of wild vegetables are generally higher than those of cultivated species (flyman &afolayan, 2006). rajyalakshmi et al. (2001) reported 36 out of 70 wild vegetables eaten by the tribal people in south india had high vitamin a concentration. the same study revealed dioscorea bulibifera, d. versicolor, d. deltoida, d. triphylla to have 5 times more protein than potatoes, sweet potatoes and colocasia. in our study, only four species of dioscorea were documented while sharma and bastakoti (2009) reported9 out of 10 species of dioscorea used as food in chepang community. this indicates that the traditional knowledge of identification, collection, processing and consumption have saved this community of dhading district from food insecurity to great extent. singh et al. (2012) found a greater number of plant species were used for curing stomach related diseases among 43 wild plants used as vegetable in rupandehi district. limbu and thapa (2011) reported that dust of roots of kalo neuroandbankurilo eaten with warm water can treat diarrhea. issues and challenges major issues in the utilization and management of the wild and underutilized vegetables are changing human lifestyle, food habit and taste, modernization in agriculture, lack of human resources for collection, overgrazing, land clearanceandoverharvest. however, the chemical, nutritional and toxicological properties of wild and underutilized vegetables and their modification by various processing techniques still need to be properly studied and documented (flyman &afolayan, 2006). dependency on imported vegetables, lack of awareness and low demand for underutilized vegetables are the main reasons for farmers’ unwillingness to use and grow them. expectation of farmers to cultivate commercial varieties with a strong market chain can be another challengeintheconservation efforts. people are overharvesting these wild plants from their natural habitats but are not concerned with their conservation and rational utilization. also, there is a limitation of knowledge about their abundance, diversity, and availability to some local people and ethnic communities only. strategies for their conservation and utilization wild and underutilized plants are valuable genetic resources. the use of wild vegetables in breeding programs to improve resistance to insect pests and adaptation to different microclimatic niches of nepal can be a potential scope. mostly, wild varieties of vegetables are hardy, require low agricultural inputs and can produce desirable yields with fewer management practices. hence, marginalized lands with lower productivity could easily be utilized to help in their conservation and promotion(shava, 2005).participatory variety selection for the adaption of local varieties and awareness programs for the conservation of genetic resources from government, community, and private levels can play important role in the conservation of our underutilized vegetables (rana et al., 1998).conservation and awareness programs for local people who know the use of indigenous food plants must be strengthened for rational utilization and conservation(brush, 1995). diversity fairs, food fairs, poetry and dramas can be organized to explore these diverse vegetables and sensitize people about their importance. both ex-situ and in-situ methods can be applied for the conservation of genetic resources.along with the sustainable harness, domestication and in-situ conservation of these endangered vegetable species by certain ethnic groups or local people aresimple and highly effective strategies in the case of nepal and transfer of knowledge concerning conservation is much more practicable (malla & chhetri, 2009; battarai et al., 2013).community-level seed collectionand establishment of seed bank withtheactive participation of locals are the best alternative for ex-situ conservation of genetic resources. local communities, ethnic groups and women were found to know the culinary uses, gathering seasons, conservation and utilization better than other people. hence, they can play an important role in the preservation and domestication of indigenous vegetables (joshi et al., 2007). banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 85 regmi et al. research and promotion of wild and underutilized vegetables can lead to the rise of new staple crops and hence a sustainable change in consumption patterns could be established (kunwar et al., 2012). efforts should be made to cultivate high-value indigenous vegetables permanently on the field or commercial scale to reduce the extinction risk.also, consumers are always eager to taste new commodities and underutilized vegetables can play an important role to satisfy their demand. thus, it has now become necessary to diversify our food by accommodating such nutritious wild and underutilized vegetables into our diet for improved health and nutrition (jaenicke & hoschle-zeledon, 2006). evaluation of commercial use and market values including potentials for their domestiation and promotion should be explored. also, identification of local and international markets, marketing channels, and value addition of local products should be prioritized for their conservation and development (shava, 2005). promotion, utilization, and marketing of indigenous vegetables can aid in their conservation while also reducing food and nutrition insecurity in the country, particularly in rural and hilly areas of nepal. conclusion the present study documented 64 species of wild and underutilized vegetables from 27 different families. knowledge of abundance, distribution and utilizationofwild and underutilized plant species has gradually degraded in the new generation. people from the dalit community who had been highly involved in the collection and utilization of these species have now relied on modern vegetable species. only few species which are readily available and easy to collect have been extensively used for self consumption or for marketing. distribution of some of high value marketable wild vegetable species in the study area is declining day by day due to overharvesting while most of them are being neglected. identification, collection, documentation, characterization, and research from government and non-governmental sides and detailed analysis of their nutritional values should be prioritized for their promotion and conservation. along with sustainable consumption, domestication, in-situ and ex-situ conservation of these vegetables is the only way of controlling genetic erosionthus, contributing to the food and nutrition security, and a means for income generation for rural people. references aryal, k. p., poudel, s., & chaudhary, r. p. (2018). diversity and use of wild and noncultivated edible plants in the western himalaya. journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 14 (10). aryal, k., berg, a., & ogle, b. (2009). uncultivated plants and livelihood support-a case study from the chepang people of nepal. ethnobotany research and applications, 7, 409–422. doi:10.17348/era.7.0.409-422 bhattarai, s., pant, b., & upadhyaya, c. (2013). dependency of tharu communities on wild plants: a case study of shankarpur, kanchanpur district. banko janakari, 21(1), 35-40. doi:10.3126/banko. v21i1.9062 brush, s. (1995). in situ conservation of landraces in centres of crop diversity. crop science, 35, 346-354. doi:10.2135/ cropsci1995.0011183x003500020009x dangol, d. (2003). economic uses of forest plant resources in western chitwan, nepal. banko jankari, 12 (2), 56–64. dangol, d. r., maharjan, k. l., maharjan, s. k., & acharya, a. k. (2017). wild edible plants in nepal. conservation and utilization of agricultural plant genetic resources of nepal (pp. 390-407). dhulikhel: nagrc. engle, l. m., & faustino, f. c. (2006). conserving the indigenous vegetable germplasm of southeast asia. international conference on indigenous vegetables and legumes. prospectus for fighting poverty, hunger and malnutrition 752 (pp. 55–60). flyman, m. v., & afolayan, a. j. (2006). the suitability of wild vegetables for alleviating human dietary deficiencies. south african journal of botany, 72 (4), 492–497. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2006.02.003 jaenicke, h., & hoschle-zeledon,i. (2006). strategic framework for underutilized plant species research and development: banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 86 regmi et al. with special reference to asia and the pacific, and to sub-saharan africa. rome, italy: international centre for under utilized crops. joshi, n., kehlenbeck, k., & maass, b. l. (2007). traditional, neglected vegetables of nepal: their sustainable utilization for meeting human needs. conference on international agricultural research for development, (pp. 1–10). tropentag. joshi, n., siwakoti, m., & kehlenbeck, k. (2015). wild vegetable species in makawanpur district, central nepal: developing a priority setting approach for domestication to improve food security. economic botany, 69 (2), 161–170. kunwar, r., mahat, l., sharma, l., shrestha, k., kominee, h., & bussmann, r. (2012). underutilized plant species in far west nepal. journal of mountain sciences, 9(5), 589-600. doi:10.1007/s11629-012-2315-8 limbu, p., & thapa, k. (2011). chepang food culture: contribution to wild edible and neglected plant species. pokhara, nepal: local initiatives for biodiversity research and development (libird). malla, b., & chhetri, r. (2009). indigenous knowledge on ethnobotanical plants of kavrepalanchowk disctrict. journal of science engineering and technology, 5 (2), 96–109. manandhar, n. (2002). plants and people of nepal. portland oregon, usa: timber press . press, j. r., shrestha, k. k., & sutton, d. a. (2000). annotated checklist of the flowering plants of nepal. london: the natural history museum. rajyalakshmi, p., venkatalaxmi, k. v., & suneetha, v. (2001). total carotenoid and beta-carotene contents of forest green leafy vegetables consumed by tribals of south india. plant foods for huma. plant foods for human nutrition, 56 (3), 225–238. rana, r., joshi, k., & lohar, d. (1998). on-farm conservation of indigenous vegetables by strengthening community based seed banking in seti river valley. pokhara, nepal: li-bird. sharma, l. n., & bastakoti, r. (2009). ethnobotany of dioscorea l. with emphasis on food value in chepang communities in dhading district, central nepal. botanica orientalis: journal of plant science, 6, 12–17. doi:10.3126/botor.v6i0.2905 shava, s. (2005). research on indigenous knowledge and its application: a case of wild food plants of zimbabwe. southern african journal of environmental education, 22, 73–86. doi:10.4314/sajee. v22i0.122700 shrestha, d. (2013). indigenous vegetables of nepal for biodiversity and food security. international journal of biodiversity and conservation, 5 (3), 98–108. doi:10.5897/ ijbc11.124 shrestha, p., gautam, r., rana, r., & sthapit, b. (2004). managing diversity in various ecosystems: home gardens of nepal. washington, usa. singh, a. g., singh, m. p., & tewari, d. d. (2012). wild plants used as vegetable in rupandehi district of nepal and their ethnomedicinal importance. journal of natural history museum, 26, 111–125. siwakoti, m., & tiwari, s. (2007). emerging needs of wetlands protection for the conservation of wild rice biodiversity in nepal: a case study from lumbini area. science world, 5 (5), 95–99. doi:10.3126/ sw.v5i5.2664 uprety, y., poudel, r., shrestha, k., rajbhandary, s., tiwari, n. n., shrestha, u. b., & asselin, h. (2012). diversity of use and local knowledge of wild edible plant resources in nepal. journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 8 (16), 1–15. weinberger, k., & msuya, j. (2004). indigenous vegetabls in tanzania: singnificance and prospects. shanhua, taiwan: avrdc publication. 52 common pool resources (cpr) share two common attributes: i) it is costly to exclude the individuals from using the resources and ii) the benefit consumed by one individual subtract the benefit available to others (ostrom & ostrom, 1997). these attributes make the management of cpr challenging. the concept of participatory forest management (pfm) arose as an odd to manage forests, one of the most valuable cpr (acharya, 2002). consequently, the pfm escalated quickly around the globe and approximately 730 million hectares of the forests in 62 countries representing 28% of the worldwide forest cover are being managed under participatory regime (gilmour, 2016). similarly, in nepal, more than 22,000 community forest user groups (cfugs) are managing more than one third of country's forests and these cfugs have evolved as one of the strong local level institutions to deliver multiple social and environmental outcomes (aryal et al., 2020). forest management is often guided by a series of government-formulated plans in both global and national contexts. in nepal too, community forests (cfs), involving locally organized community forest user groups with devolved rights and responsibilities (thoms, 2008), require two basic documents to function legally. they are: i) the constitution: (the document covering the banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2, 2022 pp 52‒62https://doi.org/10.3126/banko.v32i2.50897 exploring the relevance of community forest operational plan: users’ perspective and implementation status community forestry has long been considered an epitome of decentralized forest management in nepal. the management of community forests are guided by their operational plans (ops), the mandatory technical document. their preparation demands substantial human and economic inputs. however, their extent of implementation and the significance of these plans to local user are topics of debate. in this context, this study analyzes users' perception about the op and their implementation status. we took case study approach and conducted key informant interview (n=25), focus group discussion (n=16) and purposive household survey (n=246) in 15 community forest user groups to compile required data. the perceptions were analyzed using qualitative methods. the results revealed that the users have poor understanding of their plans and considered the plan as technical legitimate documents. the implementation status of the plans was of sub-standard. silvicultural operations prescribed in the operational plans were insufficiently carried out. we found that the users are adopting only the forest product harvest and utilization aspects of the plans. provided the poor understanding of ops among the users and quality of plan implementation, this study questions the relevance of current operational plans and emphasizes the need of reviewing the planning process so that their high-standard implementation can be assured. keywords: forest management, management score, people perception, substandard implementation p. ghimire 1*, s. baral 2, p. khanal 3, s. bolakhe 1, and g. b. sharma 1 received: 9, august 2022 revised: 9, november 2022 accepted: 14, december 2022 published: 31, december 2022 1: faculty of forestry, agriculture and forestry university, hetauda, nepal, *email: prayash.pg@gmail.com 2: forest action nepal, lalitpur, nepal 3: institute of forestry, tribhuvan university, pokhara, nepal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4778-3028 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1542-846x https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0552-7325 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 53 ghimire et al. social and policy aspects of the cfugs) and ii) the operational plan (op): (the document covering biophysical aspects of the forest and technical management prescriptions). these two documents plans have broadly become a prerequisite for transferring right to local institutions (rutt et al., 2015). the plans are prepared for a fixed term (either 5 years/10 years period); the users lose their right to forest management if their ops expire (baral et al., 2020). therefore, cfugs are required have active ops specifying the system of forest management, forest conservation modalities and utilization pattern of forest products (dof, 2014). the ops include the management goals, the activities to be undertaken and the rules of forest product utilization and most importantly directly they serve as an agreement between department of forest and cfugs. the success of community forests largely depends on how well the ops are prepared and implemented. better the ops, greater will be the control of local communities over forest resources, higher will be the opportunity for sustainable management of cf and greater will be the benefits from the forests (charnley & poe, 2007). implementing the plans requires cfugs capacity to understand and act on the prescribed actions. the poor understanding of the plans may lead to poor implementation and subsequent deterioration of the forest cover and conditions. since cfugs are considered as the major vehicles for community development, social inclusion and democratic civic engagement (bhandari et al., 2019; kanel, 2006; pokharel et al., 2007), effective implementation of ops can have diverse ecological, economic and social impacts. for example, the regular and effective implementation of silvicultural treatments could increase the availability of forest product to local users (gurung et al., 2013), whereas the passive forest management could have negative impact on the rural livelihood (yadav et al., 2009) there is paucity of studies analyzing the user’s perception about the planning process and the implementation status of the plans. some criticize ops for being technically complex. they criticize that the ops are written by the technicians with the limited information of local users (baral et al., 2019; springate-baginski et al., 2003). others blame cfs are underutilized and benefit flows are stagnated (cedamon et al., 2017; yadav et al., 2009) mainly due to the poor implementation of ops (gilmour, 2018; baral et al., 2020; baral et al., 2019). few have assessed the field level implementation of the ops but they are site specific and surficial (puri et al., 2020). therefore, a study on implementation of cf operational plan is necessary. in this background, this study aims to examine the users’ perspective towards the plan, its implementation status and the relevance of the plan to the local communities for community forest management. in another word, this study intends to look into the plan through the users’ eyes and examine which prescriptions of the plan are easily implemented and which are not and explore the socio-political-technical reasons behind it. materials and methods study area fifteen community forests of sankhuwasava from mid hills were purposively selected for the study. tree species composition (four shorea forests, four mixed forests i.e. shorea-schimacastonopsis forest and seven schima-castanopsis forests) and forest condition1 (four forests in good condition, eight forests in fair condition and three forests in poor condition) were used as bases for the selection of the forests. the study forests were from altitude ranging between 400m to 1200 m above the sea level. the major tree species found in the study community forests were shorea robusta, schima wallichii and castanopsis indica (table 1). regarding the socio-economic structure of the community forest, the cf members were comprised of ethnic background mainly indigenous communities and were somewhat subsistence agriculturist and local labor. 1 the forest condition was determined based on the growing stock and regeneration status of the forest following inventory guideline 2064 prepared by department of forest total growing stock >200m3 per ha 50-200 m3 per ha <50 m3 per ha regeneration status good / fair / poor good / fair / poor good / fair / poor forest condition good / good / fair good / fair / poor fair / poor / poor banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 54 ghimire et al. table 1: description of the community forests selected for this study sn name of community forest area (ha) year of handover (ad) number of member households forest condition (based on op) major tree species 1 archale 39.83 1993 113 good shorea robusta 2 dharma devi 9.85 1992 57 good schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 3 harsiddhi 34.82 1997 82 fair shorea robusta 4 thulopakha dhungedhara 218.69 1993 245 fair shorea robusta, schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 5 arunsanguri 79.7 1997 81 poor shorea robusta 6 malbasekhop 12.5 1995 92 poor schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 7 makar 2.3 1992 26 good shorea robusta, schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 8 chilauna kharka 198.17 1996 202 good schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 9 dholbaje 4.0175 2006 69 fair schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 10 nigale dandebhir 67.72 2001 190 poor schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 11 manakamana 131.939 1993 170 fair shorea robusta, schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 12 pirima 20.49 1998 72 fair schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 13 sighadevi 49.98 1997 109 fair shorea robusta 14 bhasme 40.72 1993 87 fair schima wallichii, castanopsis indica 15 karkite batashe 160.81 1996 284 fair shorea robusta, schima wallichii, castanopsis indica methods perception mapping: people's perception is fundamental to identify locally relevant priorities, knowledge and contexts which are useful to understand the capacity, priorities and management performance of cfugs where on-ground management often do not resonate with stated policies (puri et al., 2020). to access people's perception and understanding of operational plans, focus group discussion (n = 16), key informant interview (n = 25), which included representatives from fecofun, local leaders, school teachers and ngos representatives) and household survey (n = 246) were used to collect and validate required information. the checklist used for focus group discussion and key informant interview was designed to cover the information related to the provisions listed in ops, the extent to which they were implemented, the reasons for accepting or denying the plan and its implementation, and the shortcomings of the plans. the respondents for household survey were purposively selected (respondent with distinct socio-economic conditions including households from poor, medium and rich households and their position in cfug). the questionnaire used for household survey was designed to understand the users' banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 55 ghimire et al. perspective about the op, its implementation status and relevance in the local context. formal and informal meetings at the dfo with the officials were means for obtaining any missing data and validating the existing data from the stakeholders. to structure the data collection process, the content of the operational plans of the study cfs were thoroughly reviewed and all the provisions mentioned in the plans were grouped into 5 broad topics, namely, forest protection, forest management and silviculture, forest utilization, expenditure pattern and miscellaneous as illustrated in table 2. table 2: the categorization of op provisions into broad categories i.e. forest protection, silviculture and management, forest utilization, expenditure pattern and miscellaneous categories forest protection silviculture and management forest utilization expenditure pattern miscellaneous forest fire control thinning forest products legal provisions expenditure for forest conservation dfo monitoring and evaluation patrolling pruning forest products harvest expenditure for community development women and disadvantaged groups targeted activities controlled grazing singling expenditure for income generating activities capacity building activities biodiversity conservation bush clearance community development poaching and encroachment control soil and water conservation data collection and analysis the data collection methodology was adopted from puri et al. (2020). a scale of 0-2 was used for the subjective assessment of the state of forest management (i.e., to calculate the managementscore), where 0 represented a score for the activity with no or negligible implementation; 1 = limited implementation; and 2 = full implementation of cf op provisions. the cfug members participating in the fgds were asked to provide score for each of the provisions listed in their ops. dfo officials were also asked to provide score for each of the provisions listed in their ops. then the average scores by broad management topics (called management score hereafter) for the cfs were calculated based on average of two scores (one from the discussion with cfug and other from the dfo) for each of the sampled community forest. field observation was done to validate the implementation status of every management activity highlighted during the fgds. descriptive analysis was used to assess the current cfug conditions both the biophysical and socio-economic status. kruskal-wallis (kw) test was performed to test if there is significant difference in management scores of cfs by their forest condition (good, fair and poor forests) and species composition (shorea robusta, schimacastanopsis and mixed forests). banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 56 ghimire et al. results users’ awareness about the content of the op, its preparation process and its importance of the 246 respondents, 38% were aware about the op during plan preparation, whereas 52% only heard about it and that too only during the cfs’ general assembly. this adds up around (90%) of the respondents were aware through any means regarding the presence of the plan in the form of book (document) (refer to table 3). the knowledge regarding operational plan existed amongst cfugs due to their presence in general assembly and during the plan preparation process where the forest officials approach the users and discuss the significance of the plans. the users though do not understand the process and technical aspects of the plan; the users are aware about existence of operational plan that is required for community forestry. around 80 % of respondent (n=196) perceived op preparation process as a technical/forester’s job and they were unaware about their role in the preparation of op. the respondents consider themselves as only "helpers" rather than partners in plan preparation process as they think only the forestry professionals have the knowledge to write in the plan. the local people's themselves undermine their local knowledge during operational plan preparation. table 3: table illustrating how users found the presence of operational plan of the community forest knowledge regarding the presence of operational plan number of respondent (n=246) during general assembly 128 during plan preparation 93 not specifically know about op 25 second, users' recognized the op as a “hariyo kitab” (green book) and the reason for the name is because the book cover of cf ops is mostly green. among the respondents, 90% had seen the op (table 3) but most had never turned its pages or referred to it. this was attributed to lower literacy of most of the users, the language and the higher technicality of the plan, low time available and poor use of plan during implementation. the respondents even if tried to go through the op text, they were obstructed by the use of technical phrases like sampling intensity, transect line, thinning, pruning, weeding and the contemporary national and international debates and requirements on climate change mitigation, adaptation, greenhouse gases. the first author observed how the local people (cf executives) turned the pages of the op and showed the content irrelevant to them or beyond their capacity to understand the meaning. the respondents were unable to articulate the op in action without support from the division forest officials. in addition, the technical and scientific names of the species were complex, the users recommended use of local names is more appropriate to them to understand. only a fraction of users (28%, especially the major position holders in cfug) had actually read the plans. the major sections referred to were the section showing the block for intervention (timber harvest), punishment and rewards and the membership section. other sections on climate change and gene conservation were redundant to the users. the cf executives had read the section of the ops, as they are accountable to general members. it is the user committee who get questioned (especially the chairperson and secretary) in case of irregularity and since the legal cases are common in commission for the investigation of abuse of authority, the cf executives tend to educate themselves with the op provisions so not to get tangled in these cases. the general users believe the plan is prepared with highest morale value with utmost diligence with no flaws at all. however, they have no interest to turn the pages of cf op as they feel it to be role of executive members. the general members also do not have access to the document as it is kept by the secretary either in the cfug office or at his home. the general members have no issues on the availability of the document to them. hence, plan to users is seen of low relevance regarding its utility to the cfug members. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 57 ghimire et al. users’ perception about the implementation status of op the results indicated that forest product harvesting (especially timber) was the most implemented activity with mean score (1.83) (table 4). table 4: management interventions/provisions listed in the community forest operational plans and their implementation status. the provisions were group with five broad topics and their implementation status were scores as per the methodology described by puri et al. (2020). forest protection silviculture and management utilization expenditure pattern miscellaneous management intervention cf f ir e pr ot ec tio n p at ro lli ng c on tr ol g ra zi ng b io di ve rs ity c on se rv at io n p oa ch in g & _ en cr oa ch m en t c on tr ol so il w at er c on se rv at io n t hi nn in g p ru ni ng si ng lin g b us h cu tti ng f ol lo w in g le ga l pr ov is io n du ri ng ha rv es tin g f or es t p ro du ct h ar ve st e xp en di tu re fo r f or es t c on se rv at io n e xp en di tu re fo r co m m un ity de ve lo pm en t e xp en di tu re in i nc om e g en er at io n a ct iv iti es m on ito ri ng a nd e va lu at io n fr om d f o p ro gr am s fo r w om en an d d a g s c ap ac ity b ui ld in g a ct iv iti es c om m un ity d ev el op m en t a ct iv iti es av er ag e sc or e archale 1.5 1.5 2 1 1 2 1.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 1.5 2 1 1.5 0.5 1 0.5 0 0.5 1.13 dharma devi 1.5 1.5 1 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.5 0.5 2 2 0.5 1.5 0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 0.89 harsiddhi 1 0.5 1 1.5 0 1.5 0.5 0 0 1.5 2 2 0.5 1 0 0.5 0.5 0 0.5 0.76 thulopakha dhungedhara 2 1.5 2 1.5 1.5 1.5 1 0.5 0.5 1.5 2 2 1.5 1.5 0.5 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.39 arunsanguri 1 1 1.5 1.5 1 1.5 1 0 0 0.5 2 2 0.5 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 0.5 0.84 malbasekhop 0.5 1 0.5 1 0.5 1.5 1 0 0 1 1.5 2 1 1.5 0 0.5 0 0 0.5 0.74 makar 1 0.5 1 0.5 1 2 1 0 0 0.5 2 2 1 1.5 2 1 1 1 2 1.11 chilauna kharka 1 0.5 1.5 1 0.5 1 0 0 0 0 1.5 2 0.5 1 0.5 1 0 0 1 0.68 dholbaje 1 0.5 1.5 1 0.5 1 0.5 0 0 0.5 1.5 1.5 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0.71 nigale dandebhir 1 1 1.5 1 0.5 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 2 1 0.5 1 0 0.5 0 0 1 0.68 manakamana 1.5 1 1 1.5 0.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 0 1 2 1.5 1 1 0 1 0.5 0.5 1 0.92 pirima 0.5 1 1 1 0.5 1 0.5 0 0 0 1 1.5 1 1.5 1 1.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.76 sighadevi 0.5 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 0.5 2 1.5 1 1 0.5 1 1 1 0.84 bhasme 1 1 0.5 1 1 1.5 0.5 0.5 0 0.5 1.5 2 1 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 0 1.5 0.79 karkite batashe 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0.5 0.5 1.5 2 1 1.5 0.5 1 0.5 1 2 0.89 individual average 1. 06 67 0. 9 1. 2 1. 1 0. 76 6 1. 3 0. 66 7 0. 23 3 0. 16 67 0. 63 3 1. 63 3 1. 83 3 0. 9 1. 2 0. 46 7 0. 8 0. 43 3 0. 4 0. 96 7 total average 1.055 0.425 1.733 0.855 0.65 0. 87 5 similarly, following the legal procedure for harvesting was individually second most implemented activity as users are well known that legal aspects are the core to forest harvesting. hence, the provisions related to timber harvests draws attention in op implementation. this is because the dfo officials play a significant role from chhapan (tree marking) to kataan (harvesting) and regulate the volume that is to be harvested. the overall average implementation status of ops from 15 cfugs was found to be 0.875 (i.e. below the average/limited category (<1) highlighting implementation status are sub-standard. this illustrates the persistent underperformance of community forests. activities like protection from fire, soil and water conservation, patrolling, grazing control, bush cutting and expenditure on community development were limited activities performed by cf. other silvicultural activities like thinning, pruning and singling were the least implemented though these technical forestry prescriptions determines the crop structure and forest composition. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 58 ghimire et al. however, some politically influencing parameters/activities like fire line construction was catching the interest of leaders and was implemented better than other activities. the user's preference to fire line construction was driven by the opportunity for road construction. in addition, these decisions were influenced more by elites rather than the op. summing up the results, it was found the the trend of implementation to be utilization> protection> expenditure pattern> miscellaneous> management and silviculture, highlighting focused on forest product extraction but neglecting essence of forestry science, i.e. silviculture and management. implementation status of op by forest condition and species composition inspecting the management score cf wise, dhungedhara thulopakha cf had the highest score of 1.39, and chilaune kharka and nigalae dandebhir cf were two cf with minimum average management score of 0.68 (refer to table 4). analyzing the species composition, dhungedhara thulopakha and archale cf had shorea robusta as the major tree species. however, community forest of chilaune kharka and nigale dandebhir were dominated by schima wallichi and castonopsis indica forest (refer to table 1). hence, we can see how the species composition influenced the implementation status. for statistical validation, kruskal-wallis h test exhibited significant difference in management score between the different species composition, χ2(2) = 8.370, p = 0.015 (table 5). mixed forest had the highest rank for management score, which was followed by shorea forest and the least rank was obtained on schima wallichi and castonopsis indica forest. table 5: statistical test highlighting kw test with species composition as grouping variable test statisticsa,b management score chi-square 8.370 df 2 asymp. sig. .015* a. kruskal wallis test b. grouping variable: species composition *significant at 5% level of significance however, kruskal-wallis h test showed no statistically significant difference in rank for management score between the different forest condition (good, fair and poor) as mentioned on op, χ2(2) = 2.352, p = 0.308. this highlight the average management score is indifference of the forest condition. directly involved key informant like fecofun also revealed that they found higher participation of the cfugs member in forest management activities in shorea dominated forest than compared to schima wallichi and castonopsis indica forest. key informant like local leaders also mentioned in contrast with users of schima wallichi and castonopsis indica forest, users of shorea dominated forest participate in wide range of forest and environment related activities. hence, result demonstrated the involvement of users differ with respect to tree species composition. discussion the study found that the users considered community forest operational plans as highly technical but legitimate documents allowing access to community forestry, users' had poor knowledge regarding the plan, the implementation status was of sub-standard, silvicultural operations prescribed were insufficiently carried out and users are adopting only the forest product harvest and utilization aspects of the plans. as ops are in existence for almost two decades now, most of the users were familiar with the presence of the operational plan, however this knowledge was only limited to the preparatory phase that never extended beyond the technical aspect. this finding corroborates with other researches who have assessed user's poor knowledge and understanding of the technical prescriptions in the plan (baral et al., 2018; baral et al., 2019; puri et al., 2020). one of the reasons was the use of expert knowledge in the form of technical prescription. similarly, the language and knowledge used in the op was not easy to understand which the users did not bother learning. puri et al. (2021) had a similar finding where study found that the information in the current op is intensive but not well understood by users. baral et al.(2019) also quoted the plan to be technical. in addition, ops are drafted by forestry banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 59 ghimire et al. technician with limited consultation with the local users their by losing interest attributing to its poor understanding (springate-baginski et al., 2003). hence, it can be argued how the current operational plan is filled with technicality that is beyond the capacity of the local users to understand. community forest operational plan, readers were the members of executive committee however it was clear that they do not read to learn, rather they read to only the sections e.g. block for forest management/timber harvesting, annual allowable cut, punishments and membership fees. this aligns with banjade et al. (2006), who demonstrated that the members in executive position had wider perspective of cf information. it was so since most often the member of executive committee participates in forest works and are accountable to dfos. regardless the knowledge of what was written inside, the users respected the plan. in addition, the timber is always on hot seat and drew larger attention from the cf executives (banjade et al., 2011). despite of limited applicability, the users are accepting the plan and consider it as unavoidable to get legitimate access to the community forestry (baral et al., 2020). thus, the user had poor knowledge regarding the plan; they seldom look and read the plan, but acknowledge and respect the plan since they feel the plan to be restrictive document against forest crime, hence having higher moral value towards the plan. the provisions on management plan are enlisted to assure its full implementation that can contribute to the ecological wellbeing of forest and social and economic up growth of the users. however, result highlighted sub-optimal implementation status and exposed how the plan is of limited use in practical forest management since the plan is often overlooked. similar is the findings from toft et al.(2015), who stated the community level manager appears knowledgeable about forest conditions and the management plans are not used in practical forest management since most of the activities are done superficially without looking through the plan. this is because the forestry officials take no actions even if the prescriptions are not implemented. studies like mathews (2011) highlight communities consider technical management plans as pre-requisite to gain recognized authority over forest rather than relevant support to practical forest management. thus, the role of management plan in field level implementation is questionable. result demonstrated harvesting was major activity performed but silvicultural operations are often overlooked though these are the most technical works. for instance, fuelwood prioritized forest and timber; prioritized forest should strictly follow different set of management regime of thinning, pruning and singling. but, cfug especially lack the technical expertise and thus these activities are sub implemented. baral et al.(2019) also reported the user's interest in timber harvesting thought they completely ignored the implementation of other silcultural activities. not only the cfugs are accountable for poor implementation of silvicultural activities but division forest office have also regulated the thinning, pruning and singling operations. dfo official’s shared that the cfugs were found to harvest good quality trees in the name of thinning. so, to limit the crime in the name of thinning dfo has mandatorily suspended thinning activities. these restricting nature of dfo coupled with incapability of users in performing silvicultural activities resulted the lower implementation of these provisions. our study is supported by the studies conducted by (pokharel et al., 2018; puri et al., 2020; rutt et al., 2015 ;toft et al., 2015) where they revealed that the silvicultural activities were not carried out on a regular basis and as per the op prescription. in addition, our results revealed the extent of implementation was found to be higher in mixed forest followed by shorea dominated forest and lastly the schima-castonopsis forest since mixed forest provides ample opportunity to diversify the forest product such as timber, fuelwood and fodder along with ntfps which encouraged the user’s motivation in implementation. higher implementation of management plan in shorea dominated forest was also identified by likes of (baral et al., 2019) and (puri et al., 2020). banjade et al. (2006) highlighted the resource richness and availability influence the perspective of information in the community forest user group. such information might also be the triggering factor for difference in implementation status based on forest composition. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 60 ghimire et al. another main reason behind poor implementation of the plan was due to inadequate technical support and an apparent scarcity of funds as most of the cf were vulnerable in case of financial assets. springate-baginski et al. (2003) also blamed the restrained capacity of department of forests for the post formation support to cfug as a key constraint to implementation. dfo do not have adequate time and resources to follow up all the cfugs on meeting the op prescriptions and thus only concentrate on forest product harvesting. though op specified the role of cfug to take lead in management like igas and capacity building, these activities are mostly done in the initiation of stakeholders like fecofun, dfo and local government. moreover, regarding the funds of cf, most of the fund is given as loan to the users with lower interest rate. so, their expenses on igas are minimal. thus, with poor understanding of the users and sub-optimal management interventions, this study provides sufficient evidence to question the relevance of current form of operational plan. conclusions users though have poor knowledge regarding the plan mainly due to higher technicality and merely refer the plan during forest management activities but they acknowledge its need and consider the plan as a legitimate document. the implementation status was found sub-standard, implementing only the harvesting activities whereas neglecting the essence of forest management, i.e. silviculture. the economic incentive significantly affects the implementation status illustrating higher implementation in shorea dominated forest. thus, underutilized from user’s perspective and poor implementation status with mainly technical activities missing, this study provides sufficient ground details to question the relevance of current form of operational plan and recommends the need for reflections for enhancing the relevance of the plan to the users. references acharya, k. p. (2002). twenty-four years of community forestry in nepal. international forestry review, 4 (2), 149–156. https:// doi.org/10.1505/ifor.4.2.149.17447 aryal, k., laudari, h. k., & ojha, h. r. (2020). to what extent is nepal’s community forestry contributing to the sustainable development goals? an institutional interaction perspective. international journal of sustainable development & world ecology, 27 (1), 28–39. banjade, m. r., schanz, h., & leeuwis, c. (2006). discourses of information in community forest user groups in nepal. international forestry review, 8 (2), 229-240. banjade, m. r., paudel, n. s., karki, r., sunam, r., & paudyal, b. r. (2011). putting timber in the hot seat: discourse, policy and contestations over timber in nepal. in forest action discussion paper series 11: 2. forestaction kathmandu. baral, s., hansen, c. p., & chhetri, b. b. k. (2020). forest management plans in nepal’s community forests: does one size fit all?. small-scale forestry, 19(4), 483504. https:// doi.org/10.1007/s11842-02009450-9 baral, s., meilby, h., & chhetri, b. b. k. (2019). the contested role of management plans in improving forest conditions in nepal’s community forests. international forestry review, 21 (1), 37–50. https://doi. org/10.1505/146554819825863799 baral, s., meilby, h., khanal chettri, b. b., basnyat, b., rayamajhi, s., & awale, s. (2018). politics of getting the numbers right: community forest inventory of nepal. forest policy and economics, 91 (june), 19–26. https://doi.org/https://doi. org/10.1016/j.forpol.2017.10.007 bhandari, p. k. c., bhusal, p., paudel, g., upadhyaya, c. p., & chhetri, b. b. k. (2019). importance of community forestry funds for rural development in nepal. resources, 8 (2), 9–17. https://doi. org/10.3390/resources8020085 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 61 ghimire et al. cedamon, e., nuberg, i., paudel, g., basyal, m., shrestha, k., & paudel, n. (2017). rapid silviculture appraisal to characterise stand and determine silviculture priorities of community forests in nepal. small-scale forestry, 16 (2), 195-218. https://doi. org/10.1007/ s11842-016-9351-0 charnley, s., & poe, m. r. (2007). community forestry in theory and practice: where are we now? annual review of anthropology, 36 (1), 301–336. https://doi.org/10.1146/ annurev.anthro.35.081705.123143 dof. (2014). community forest development guideline. ministry of forst and soil conservation, kathmandu, nepal. gilmour, d. (2016). forty years of communitybased forestry: a review of its extent and effectiveness. gilmour, d. (2018). silviculture and community forestry: looking backwards, looking forwards. banko janakari, 4, 6–14. https:// doi.org/10.3126/banko.v27i3.20536 gurung, a., bista, r., karki, r., shrestha, s., uprety, d., & oh, s. e. (2013). community-based forest management and its role in improving forest conditions in nepal. small-scale forestry, 12 (3), 377– 388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-0129217-z kanel, k. r. (2006). nepal’s forest policies on community forestry development: the government perspective. in p. gyamtsho, b. k. singh, & g. rasul (eds.), capitalisation and sharing of experiences on the interaction between forest policies and land use patterns in asia: llinking people with resources (volume 2) (pp. 35–52). international centre for integrated mountain development (icimod). mathews, a. s. (2011). instituting nature authority expertise and power in mexican forests. the mit press. ostrom, v., & ostrom, e. (1997). a theory for institutional analysis of common pool problems. pokharel, b. k., branney, p., nurse, m., & malla, y. b. (2007). community forestry: conserving forests, sustaining livelihoods and strengthening democracy. journal of forest and livelihood, 6 (2), 8–19. pokharel, b. k., uprety, d. r., niraula, r. r., & pokharel, p. r. (2018). an assessment of the impact of silviculture and forest management regimes to forest cover change in the churia region during 1992 to 2014. banko janakari, 38-44. puri, l., nuberg, i., ostendorf, b., & cedamon, e. (2020). locally perceived social and biophysical factors shaping the effective implementation of community forest management operations in nepal. smallscale forestry, 19(3), 291-317. https://doi. org/10.1007/s11842-020-09438-5 puri, l., nuberg, i., ostendorf, b., & cedamon, e. (2021). making operational plans relevant to forest user groups in the mid-hills of nepal. international forestry review, 23(2), 182–196. https://doi. org/10.1505/146554821832952816 rutt, r. l., chhetri, b. b. k., pokharel, r., rayamajhi, s., tiwari, k., & treue, t. (2015). the scientific framing of forestry decentralization in nepal. forest policy and economics, 60, 50–61. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.forpol.2014.06.005 springate-baginski, o., dev, o. p., yadav, n. p., & soussan, j. (2003). community forest management in the middle hills of nepal: the changing context. journal of forest and livelihood, 3(1), 5–20. thoms, c. a. (2008). community control of resources and the challenge of improving local livelihoods: a critical examination of community forestry in nepal. geoforum, 39(3), 1452–1465. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 62 ghimire et al. toft, m. n. j., adeyeye, y., & lund, j. f. (2015). the use and usefulness of inventorybased management planning to forest management: evidence from community forestry in nepal. forest policy and economics, 60, 35–49. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.forpol.2015.06.007 yadav, n., yadav, k., yadav, k., & thapa, n. (2009). facilitating the transition from passive to active community forest management: lesson from rapti zone, nepal. journal of forest and livelihood, 2(8), 51–66. 3 lichens, vital components of the ecosystem, are distinct mutualistic groups of autotrophic organisms (baniya & bhatta, 2021). they are widely distributed and highly diversified. they occur in a wide range of habitats throughout the world and are considered pioneer colonizers of the terrestrial ecosystem (negi and upreti, 2009). some species of lichens are found in both the freshwater stream and marine intertidal zones (hawksworth, 2000). based on where they occur, lichens can be categorized into corticolous (on the tree bark), follicolous (on the leaf), saxicolous (on the rock) and terricolous (on the soil) lichens. the thallus of lichens shows morphological variation and exists in different growth forms such as crustose, leprose, squamulose, foliose and fruticose (upreti et al., 2015). lichens have the ability to obtain water and nutrient directly from their surrounding air. as a consequence, they are more sensitive to changing environmental conditions (gausalaa, 2014). hence, alteration in lichens diversity is assumed to indicate the changes in environmental conditions (shukla et al., 2014). furthermore, the changes in topographical variables and environmental factors are reported to affect the banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2, 2022 pp 3‒18https://doi.org/10.3126/banko.v32i2.50892 distribution pattern of corticolous lichens in different areas of kathmandu valley, nepal this study attempts to document the lichen species and their distribution in different areas of kathmandu valley, nepal. twenty sampling sites with different degrees of air pollution categorized as disturbed (industrial, heavy traffic and residential areas) and undisturbed areas (clean area) were selected for the study. sampling was done using the quadrat method. to enumerate the total number of lichen species found in kathmandu valley, lichen specimens were collected from inside as well as outside the quadrats. a total of 97 species of corticolous lichens belonging to 21 families and 44 genera were recorded from the study sites. parmeliaceae was the largest family followed by graphidaceae. the importance value analysis showed that candelaria concolor (115.2), dirinaria aegialita, lepraria sp., phaeophyscia hispidula var. hispidula and physcia sorediosa (106.02) are the most common and dominant lichen species in kathmandu valley. among the most common and dominant lichen species, candelaria concolor, dirinaria aegialita, phaeophyscia hispidula var. hispidula and physcia sorediosa were found concentrated in heavy traffic areas whereas lepraria sp. in the industrial areas. a higher number of lichen species (70%) was recorded in undisturbed areas than in disturbed areas (50%). these study confirm that the distribution of lichen flora is strongly influenced by degrees of pollution. this in turn suggests that lichens can be used as bio indicators of air quality in the kathmandu valley. keywords coverage, flora, importance value, pollution, quadrat n. karmacharya 1*, d. k. upreti 2, and m. k. chettri 3 received: 5, may 2022 revised: 24, november 2022 accepted: 14, december 2022 published: 31, december 2022 1 botany department, padma kanya multiple campus, tribhuvan university, kathmandu, nepal, * email:karmacharya129@gmail.com 2 lichenology laboratory, csir-national botanical research institute, lucknow (up), india 3 botany department, amrit campus, tribhuvan university, lainchaur, kathmandu, nepal banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 4 karmacharya et al. distribution, diversity and abundance of the lichens (hauck, 2011). therefore, lichens are globally recognized and utilized as bioindicators of a variety of environmental conditions (garty, 2001; gupta et al., 2014; de silva & senanayake, 2015). besides, lichens are of high economic value and are used as food, medicines, natural remedies, perfumes, dyes, etc. (upreti et al., 2015; devkota et al., 2017; crawford, 2019; yang et al., 2021). furthermore, lichens are chemically rich and produce more than 1000 different types of secondary metabolites. among them, more than 90% are unique to themselves and show a variety of biological activities (elix & stockerwӧrgӧtter, 2008). globally, about 20,000 species of lichens are known so far, of which india harbors 2,963 species (islary et al., 2022). the lichens of different parts of nepal had been studied by various native and foreign lichenologists for several years and 1,129 taxa have been recorded so far (baniya et al., 2022). sharma (1995) estimated 2,000 lichen species in nepal. the copious presence of lichens in the country is due to the diverse topographic condition together with varied climatic conditions (jha et al. 2017). although several lichenological explorations have been undertaken in the central, western and eastern regions of nepal (sharma, 1995; baniya et al., 2001; olley & sharma, 2013; rai et al., 2016; chongbang et al., 2018), only a few have undertaken a thorough collection of lichens from the kathmandu valley (baniya & bhatta, 2021). hence, the present study aims to enumerate the corticolous lichens in kathmandu valley and analyze their distribution pattern in areas with different degrees of pollution i.e., disturbed (industrial, heavy traffic, residential) and undisturbed (clean) areas within kathmandu valley. materials and methods study areas the study areas were located in the kathmandu valley (27042’ n and 85020’ e) of bagmati province, central nepal. twenty sampling sites under four study areas with different degrees of air pollution categorized as disturbed (industrial, heavy traffic and residential areas) and undisturbed areas (clean areas) were selected for the study (figure 1). sampling was done during dry season i.e., october 2016 ‒ january 2017. as we were interested in corticolous (barkinhabiting) lichens, sampling sites were chosen based on the availability of lichens on the bark of the host trees. collection of lichen specimens specimens of lichens were collected from all the sampling sites. at each site, five old and big trees (having more than 80-120 cm trunk diameter) were selected within the area of 100 x 100 m based on the availability of lichens on the tree barks. sampling was carried out by placing a quadrat of 20 x 20 cm (having 4 sub-quadrats of 10 x 10 cm) on four sides of the tree trunk at a height of 1.5 m (breast height) above the ground level, without overlapping (asta et al., 2002; pinokiyo et al., 2008; conti, 2008). the standard size of the quadrat was determined by the species-area curve method (asta et al., 2002). altogether 400 quadrats were laid on 100 trees in 20 sampling sites (i.e., 20 quadrats in each sampling site). the coverage and frequency of each lichen species within each quadrat were recorded. all the available lichen specimens were collected from each quadrat. to enumerate the lichen species found in kathmandu valley, specimens present outside of the quadrats were also collected. for this, specimens present on any trees with an area of 100 x 100 m at each sampling site (up to ca. 2200 m altitudes in clean areas) were collected. altogether 230 lichen specimens, including 136 specimens inside the quadrats, were collected from 20 sampling sites under four study areas (industrial, heavy traffic, residential and clean areas) of kathmandu valley. forest conservation rules and strategies were followed while collecting the specimens and a very small quantity of lichen specimens was collected for identification. the collected specimens together with their primary identification information like color, substrate type, quadrat number, collection number, and name of the sampling site were placed in individual paper bags and curated according to the standard protocol of awasthi (2000). banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 5 karmacharya et al. figure 1: map of the study area showing the location of 20 sampling sites banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 6 karmacharya et al. lichen identification identification of lichen specimens was carried out at the lichenology laboratory of the council of scientific & industrial research-national botanical research institute, lucknow, india. the lichen specimens were identified on the basis of their morphology, anatomy and chemistry. the morphological and anatomical details of the specimens were studied using standard light microscopy techniques under stereomicroscope leicatm s8apo and optical microscope leicatm dm500 respectively. the chemistry of the lichens was studied by spot color test, uvlight and thin layer chromatography (tlc) with solvent system a using protocol of elix and ernstrussel (1993) and orange et al. (2001). authentication and documentation of identified lichen species identification, changes of nomenclature and novelties of the species were authenticated using monographs, relevant keys, literature and checklists (awasthi, 1991, 2007; wolseley & aptroot, 2009; jagadeesh ram & sinha, 2009, 2011; singh & sinha, 2010; mishra et al., 2011; aptroot, 2012; olley & sharma, 2013; ingle et al., 2017; kantvilas et al., 2018). nomenclature changes with current name of each species was also checked using the website address (http:// www.indexfungorum.org/names/names.asp). after identification, the herbarium of each species was prepared following the protocol of nayaka (2014) and labeled with the name and family of species, detail of locality, date of collection, name of collector and collection number. all the prepared herbaria were deposited at the national herbarium and plant laboratories, godawari, kathmandu, nepal. calculation of importance value assemblage of lichens was quantitatively analyzed by determining their importance values. the importance values (iv) of lichen species were calculated according to printos et al. (1993, 1995), which were the sum total of relative coverage (rc) and relative frequency (rf). iv = rc + rf the rc and the rf were calculated by using the following formulae. rc = (coverage of individual species/sum of coverage of all species) x 100 rf = (frequency of individual species/sum of frequency of all species) x 100 results lichen species found in kathmandu valley a total of 97 species of epiphytic lichens (including 61 species inside the quadrats) belonging to 21 families and 44genera were identified (table 1). among the families reported, parmeliaceae was the largest family with 8 genera and 20 species followed by graphidaceae with 7 genera and 20 species. physciaceae, a very common family reported from all the study areas including areas with high anthropogenic activities, was the third largest family with 5 genera and 16 species. the photobiont study showed that the lichen species with green algae (trebouxia and trentepohlia) as photobiont dominated the study areas. the cyanophycean lichens with blue-green algae (photobiont – nostoc) exhibited their poor distribution as represented by only one family collemataceae with two species and reported from shady and moist places of the balaju industrial site, ranibari site and suryabinayak site. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 7 karmacharya et al. table 1: lichen species found in kathmandu valley showing their family name, name of lichen species, their accession number and growth form sn name of family name of lichen species accession number growth form 1 parmeliaceae bulbothrix isidiza (nyl.) hale 17-174b foliose bulbothrix meizospora ((nyl.) hale 17-176 foliose bulbothrix setschwanensis (zahlbr.) hale 16-126 foliose canoparmelia pustulescens (kurok.) elix. 16-096a foliose canoparmelia texana (tuck.) elix & hale 16-116 foliose hypotrachyna cirrhata (fr.) divakar, a. crespo, sipman, elix & lumbsch 17-145 foliose hypotrachyna majoris (vain.) hale 17-181 foliose hypotrachyna physcioides (nyl.) hale 17-177 foliose myelochroa subaurulenta (nyl.) elix & hale 17-172 foliose myelochroa xantholepis (mont. & bosch) elix & hale 16-096b foliose parmelinella wallichiana (taylor) elix & hale 17-168 foliose parmotrema austrosinense (zahlbr.) hale 16-028 foliose parmotrema praesorediosum (nyl.) hale 16-026a foliose parmotrema pseudonilgherrense (asahina) hale 17-175 foliose parmotrema reticulatum (taylor) choisy 16-094 foliose parmotrema tinctorum (nyl) hale 16-069 foliose remototrachyna awasthii (hale & patwardhan) divakar & a. crespo 16-061 foliose remototrachyna flexilis (kurok.) divakar & a. crespo 16-100 foliose usnea eumitrioides motyka 17-146 fruticose usnea orientalis motyka 17-205a fruticose 2 graphidaceae allographa cleistoblephara (nyl.) lücking & kalb 16-016 crustose allographa leprographa (nyl.) lücking & kalb 16-133a/c crustose diorygma hieroglyphicum (pers.) staiger & kalb 16-148 crustose diorygma junghuhnii (mont. & bosch.) kalb, staiger & elix 16-089 crustose graphina anguina (mont.) müll. arg 16-093a/b crustose graphis antillarum vain 17-207c crustose graphis breussii g. neuwirth & lücking 16-093c crustose graphis cincta (pers.) aptroot 16-046 crustose graphis galactoderma (zahlbr.) lücking 17-158b crustose graphis lineola ach. 16-109b crustose graphis paradisserpens sipman and lücking 16-093a/a crustose graphis paraserpens lizano and lücking 16-182 crustose graphis perticosa (kremp) a. w. archer 16-163a crustose graphis pinicola zahlbr. 17-200a crustose graphis proserpens vain 17-149 crustose graphis stenotera vain. 16-093b crustose pallidogramme chrysenteron (mont.) staiger, kalb & lücking 17-163b crustose pallidogramme divaricoides (räs.) pushpi singh & kr.p. singh 16-089b crustose phaeographis leiogrammodes (kremp.) mull. arg. 17-196a crustose thalloloma subvelata (stirt.) d.j. galloway 17-196b crustose banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 8 karmacharya et al. sn name of family name of lichen species accession number growth form 3 physciaeae heterodermia diademata (taylor) d.d.awasthi 16-132 foliose heterodermia firmula (linds.) trevis. 16-088a foliose heterodermia incana (stirt.) d.d.awasthi 17-221 foliose heterodermia speciosa (wulfen) trevis. 17-142 foliose hyperphyscia adglutinata var. pyrithrocardia (mull. arg.) d.d. awasthi 16-120 foliose hyperphyscia minor (fée) d.d. awasthi 16-059 foliose hyperphyscia isidiata moberg 16-108d foliose phaeophyscia hispidula var. hispidula (ach.) essl. 16-003a foliose phaeophyscia pyrrhophora (poelt) d.d. awasthi & m. joshi 16-127a foliose physcia abuensis d.d. awasthi & s.r. singh 16-068 foliose physcia aipolia (ehrh. ex humb.) fürnr 16-029 foliose physcia crispa (nyl) 16-014 foliose physcia dubia (hoffm.) lettau 16-064a foliose physcia integrata (nyl.) arnold 16-98 foliose physcia sorediosa (vain.) lynge 16-010b foliose polyblastidium japonicum (m. satô) kalb 17-195 foliose 4 arthoniaceae arthothelium subruanum makhija & patw 17-160 crustose herpothallon flavominutum jagad. ram, g.p. sinha & elix 16-091 crustose herpothallon granulosum jagad. & g.p. sinha 17-197 crustose herpothallon himalayanum jagad. & g.p. sinha 16-089c crustose herpothallon isidiatum jagad. and g. p. sinha crustose herpothallon philippinum (vain.) aptroot & lücking 16-042 crustose herpothallon sticticum jagad. & g.p. sinha 17-186 crustose stirtonia psoromica aptroot & wolseley 17-207a crustose 5 ramalinaceae bacidia incongruens (stirt.) zahlbr. 16-090a crustose bacidia rubella (hoffm.) a. massal 17-190 crustose phyllopsora corallina (eschw.) müll. arg. 16-066b squamulose phyllopsora furfuracea (pers.) zahlbr. 17-153 squamulose ramalina conduplicans vain. 17-144 fruticose 6 caliciaceae dirinaria aegialita (afzel. ex ach.) b.j. moore 16-010b/b foliose dirinaria consimilis (stirt.) d.d. awasthi 16-123a/b foliose pyxine reticulata (vain.) vain. 16-035 foliose pyxine subcinerea stirt. 16-123b foliose 7 pertusariaceae lepra leucosorodes (nyl.) i. schmitt, b.g. hodk. & lumbsch 16-147 crustose pertusaria melastomella nyl 17-164 crustose 8 lecanoraceae lecanora achroa nyl. 16-095 crustose lecanora chlarotera nyl. 17-182e crustose lecanora interjecta mull. arg. 17-166a crustose lecanora leprosa fée essai 17-182b crustose 9 cladoniaceae cladonia cervicornis (ach.) flot. 17-151a fruticose cladonia corniculata ahti & kashiw. 17-151b fruticose cladonia subradiata (vain.) sandst. 17-154 fruticose 10 candelariaceae candelaria concolor (dicks.) arnold 16-001 foliose candelaria indica (hue) vain. 16-124a foliose banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 9 karmacharya et al. sn name of family name of lichen species accession number growth form 11 collemataceae leptogium burnetiae dodge 17-171 foliose leptogium wilsonii zahlbr. 16-015 foliose 12 pyrenulaceae pyrenula astroidea (fée) r.c. harris 16-186 crustose pyrenula submastophora ajay singh & upreti 16-92 crustose 13 byssolomataceae byssoloma subdiscordans (nyl.) p. james 16-90 crustose 14 leprocaulaceae leprocaulon coriense (hue) lendemer & b.p. hodk. 16-087b crustose 15 teloschistaceae opeltia flavorubescens (huds.) s.y. kondr. & hur 16-046b/b crustose 16 chrysothrichaceae chrysothrix candelaris (l.) j.r. laundon 16-020 leprose 17 coccocarpiaceae coccocarpia erythroxyli (spreng.) swinscow & krog 17-178 foliose 18 coenogoniaceae coenogonium lutescens (vezta & malcolm) malcom 17-154 crustose 19 malmideaceae malmidea granifera (ach.) kalb, rivas plata & lumbsch 17-171a crustose 20 stereocaulaceae lepraria sp. 16-018 leprose 21 trypetheliaceae polymeridium submuriforme aptroot 16-072 crustose among the 44 genera reported, graphis was the largest genus with 11 species followed by herpothallon and physcia with six species each, and parmotrema with five species (table 1). the study of growth forms revealed that kathmandu valley has almost an equal number of crustose (44 species) and foliose (43 species) lichens (table 1). the crustose lichens (45%) dominated the areas followed by foliose lichens (44%) (figure 2). the foliose and crustose lichens showed their diversity in all the disturbed and undisturbed areas including high elevation in clean areas. whereas, the fruticose form of lichens was reported only from the high elevation in clean areas. figure 2: lichen species found in kathmandu valley by their growth forms importance value (iv) of lichen species the study revealed that there is considerable variation in lichen species composition and abundance among 20 sampling sites across four study areas of kathmandu valley (table 2). among the 61 species identified inside the quadrats, 43 (70%) species were reported from clean (undisturbed) areas while 31 (50%) species were reported from disturbed areas (industrial, heavy traffic and residential areas). the most common and dominant species of the valley were candelaria concolor (iv ranges from 3.5 to 115.2), dirinaria aegialita (iv ranges from 14.2 to 45.9), lepraria sp. (iv ranges from 5.9 to 74.1), phaeophyscia hispidula var. hispidula (iv ranges from 7.3 to 67.7) and physcia sorediosa (iv ranges from 9.4 to 106.02) (table 2). these species were reported from all the study areas and have a high importance value in most of the sampling sites of disturbed areas (industrial, heavy traffic and residential areas) than in undisturbed (clean) areas. among the all species recorded in quadrates, candelaria concolor was found with the highest importance value (115.2) at heavy traffic areas followed by physcia sorediosa (106.02) in the same area and both species were reported from 95% of sampling sites, with exception of the phulchoki sampling site, a clean area. contrary to this, the species like banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 10 karmacharya et al. bacidia incongruens and remototrachyna flexilis have the lowest importance value (1.0) followed by hypotrachyna cirrhata (2.3) and leptogium burnetiae (2.4) in clean areas. among the species of all twenty sampling sites, 52.5% of the species were confined to only one sampling site. the rest of the species were relatively restricted in particular sites. table 2: impotance value of lichen species (n = 20) for each sampling site in the study areas. (* name of sampling site: figure 1) name of lichen species industrial areas heavy traffic areas residential areas clean areas 1* 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 allographa cleistoblephara 2.7 allographa leprographa 32.5 bacidia incongruens 1.0 bulbothrix isidiza 9.2 21.1 bulbothrix setschwanensis 9.6 10.1 byssoloma subdiscordans 14.3 candelaria concolor 90.3 11.5 7.3 15.2 55.3 64.4 16.0 115.2 22.9 100.5 5.5 22.1 23.3 24.6 10.1 22.2 17.7 5.4 3.5 candelaria indica 13.7 canoparmelia pustulescens 6.5 24.5 24.8 canoparmelia texana 20.1 16.2 12.2 15.3 3.5 33.3 4.8 chrysothrix candelaris 7.5 6.9 15.3 12.0 16.1 2.2 16.1 17.0 diorygma hieroglyphicum 10.3 diorygma junghuhnii 5.7 30.5 dirinaria aegialita 24.5 45.91 14.2 15.3 21.0 20.0 35.9 42.8 17.7 42.1 16.1 15.4 dirinaria consimilis 15.4 graphina anguina 8.6 graphis breussii 2.8 graphis cincta 10.2 5.4 5.2 1.5 graphis lineola 5.5 graphis stenotera 4.2 herpothallon flavominutum 18.6 herpothallon granulosum 10.0 44.2 herpothallon himalaya 11.8 herpothallon isidiatum 41.8 herpothallon philippinum 21.5 55.4 heterodermia diademata 11.0 2.3 heterodermia firmula 10.4 heterodermia speciosa 11.4 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 11 karmacharya et al. name of lichen species industrial areas heavy traffic areas residential areas clean areas 1* 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 hyperphyscia adglutinata var. pyrithrocardia 32.0 30.0 7.2 12.9 hyperphyscia isidiata 6.7 hyperphyscia minor 25.3 4.77 30.3 21.8 9.4 6.1 hypotrachyna cirrhata 2.3 lecanora achroa 16.7 5.4 lecanora chlarotera 4.7 lepraria sp. 27.4 74.1 41.14 29.9 15.9 28.9 16.8 34.5 21.7 21.2 45.6 5.9 11.0 leptogium burnetiae 2.4 leptogium wilsonii 3.0 13.9 lithocalla ecorticata 38.70 myelochroa xantholepis 5.0 opeltia flavorubescens 5.2 pallidogramme divaricoides 11.8 parmotrema austrosinense 7.1 parmotrema praesorediosum 2.9 19.4 5.3 7.8 12.4 6.6 6.6 parmotrema reticulatum 7.6 21.6 parmotrema tinctorum 4.5 6.7 1.8 2.8 7.5 phaeophyscia hispidula var. hispidula 12.4 25.3 67.7 61.6 25.6 26.9 16.3 7.3 25.3 8.8 43.3 7.4 phaeophyscia pyrrhophora 3.0 phyllopsora corallina 33.2 physcia abuensis 7.7 physcia aipolia 3.7 13.3 physcia crispa 35.1 45.3 physcia dubia 20.0 12.7 69.6 2.2 13.4 11.6 1.5 6.2 physcia integrata 1.6 15.9 physcia sorediosa 52.8 35.6 35.7 25.2 106.02 37.7 14.8 42.1 43.2 66.3 22.6 75.7 32.5 47.7 39.6 50.8 12.5 14.5 9.4 polymeridium submuriforme 37.9 pyrenula astroidea 8.1 pyrenula submastophora 4.1 pyxine reticulata 9.7 7.5 8.3 pyxine subcinerea 37.4 11.7 18.0 6.1 remototrachyna awasthii 9.1 5.5 remototrachyna flexilis 1.0 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 12 karmacharya et al. discussion lichen species found in kathmandu valley this study revealed that a total of 97 species of corticolous lichens are found in kathmandu valley (table 1). previously, baniya et al. (2001) enumerated 99 species of lichens from shivapuri (clean forest area), kathmandu and sikles, pokhara. but in this case, 97 species of bark-inhabiting lichens were reported only from kathmandu valley. this number is quite high in comparison to the previous study from kathmandu valley alone, which may be due to the variation in topography and heterogeneity in a climate with diverse vegetation in the study areas which provides good habitat for the luxuriant growth of lichens. the rich lichen flora in a particular region was dependent upon their growth, development, diversity and a wide range of interrelated environmental factors (brunialt & giordani, 2003; sequiera & muktesh, 2008). similarly, chonbang et al., (2018) observed that the distribution of lichen community was significantly affected by elevation gradient, different land use types and variations in canopy openness in the kanchenjunga conservation area, eastern nepal. in recent years, many nepalese lichenologists have enumerated and studied the distribution pattern of lichen flora in different parts of the country. in this contest, baniya & gupta (2002) reported 77 species from thodimai of annapurna conservation areas and 78 species from the buffer zone of makalu-barun national park. similarly, devkota (2008) enumerated 32 species of lichens from phulchowki hill, lalitpur. in the same way, baral (2015) reported 68 species from sagarmatha national park and 13 species from manaslu conservation area. among the species recorded from kathmandu valley, 18 lichen species of graphidaceae are new records for nepal (karmacharya et al., 2018). similarly, rai et al. (2016) added 28 species of lichens from dadeldhura, mahakali zone, as new to nepal. these findings indicate the occurrence of rich lichen flora in the country and many areas are still unexplored lichenologically. among the 21 families reported in this study, parmeliaceae and graphidaceae, which exhibited the same number of species were the largest families in the kathmandu valley. globally these two families are the largest with 2,765 lichen species under parmeliaceae and 2,161 species under graphidaceae (lucking et al., 2016). similarly, the finding of singh & sinha (1997) also supported our study as they reported parmeliaceae (199 species) is the largest family in india. this study recorded the corticolous lichens with the green algae as a photobiont in most of the study areas whereas cyanophycean lichens with blue-green algae as photobiont showed poor diversity representing only two species of a single-family collymataceae. cyanophycean lichens are shade-adopted and moisturedependent. hence these two cyanolichens were found in shade and moisture conditions. many numbers of shade-loving and moisture-tolerant cyanophycean lichens including collemataceae were observed in the bolampatti ii forest range, in tamil nadu, india (balaji and hariharan, 2013). among the growth form studied, crustose lichens dominate the study areas followed by foliose lichens. contrary to this, chongbang et al. (2018) observed a higher number of foliose lichens compared to other growth forms in the kanchenjunga conservation area of eastern nepal. this difference in growth forms might be due to the variation in habitat as kathmandu valley is a polluted urban area whereas kanchejunga is a comparatively clean area. they also observed that the area was dominated by corticolous lichens and showed poor diversity of cyanophycean lichens supporting this study. in the study, fruticose lichens were reported only from higher altitudes. this finding is comparable to pinokiyo et al. (2008), who observed a higher abundance of crustose lichens than other growth forms and an absence of fruticose lichens at lower altitudes of arunachal pradesh in northeast india. fruticose lichens prefer areas having good air quality with appropriate light conditions (wolseley and pryor, 1999). lichen diversity the study of importance value (table 2) investigated the effect of different areas of pollution gradients on the distribution and diversity of corticolous lichens. the distribution banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 13 karmacharya et al. and species richness of corticolous lichens were not uniform and were found different in different study areas of kathmandu valley. undisturbed (clean) areas have rich lichen diversity and supported more species compared to sampling sites of disturbed (polluted) areas (industrial, heavy traffic and residential areas) (table 2). similar results have been obtained by various researchers (das et al., 2013; agnanet al., 2017; khastini et al., 2019). pinokiyo et al. (2008), also observed a higher number of corticolous lichen species in the dense forest of the undisturbed central zone than in areas along the roadsides located towards the periphery of the sanctuary in northeast india. distribution and diversity of epiphytic lichen flora are influenced by changes in microclimate, air quality, local sources of disturbance, alteration in environmental pollution and habitat fragmentation (brunialti & giordani, 2003; moen & jonsson, 2003; jayalal et al., 2015; das et al., 2013; khastini et al., 2019). in the present study, the occurrence of a higher number of lichen species in undisturbed areas could be due to the presence of forest patches with dense vegetation, suitable environmental conditions, sufficient moisture, unpolluted air and undisturbed stratum (purvis, 2000; nayaka, 2014; jayalal et al., 2015). on the contrary, the decrease of lichen species in disturbed (polluted) areas may be the cause of industrial activities, the density of road traffic and anthropogenic activities which influence the epiphytic vegetation to decline (gombert, et al. 2004; seaward, 2008; llop et al., 2012; das et al., 2013; sett & kundu, 2016; khastini et al., 2019). weerakon et al., (2020) observed that the diversity and community composition of corticolous lichens were strongly influenced by the richness of tree species, vegetation type and disturbance in the study area. the present study revealed that the most common and dominant group of lichens species in kathmandu valley were candelaria concolor (dicks.) arnold, dirinaria aegialita (afzel. ex ach.) b.j. moore, lepraria sp., (afzel. ex ach.) b.j. moore, phaeophyscia hispidula var. hispidula (ach.) essl. and physcia sorediosa (vain.) lynge. these species were reported from all the study areas of different degrees of pollution levels (industrial, heavy traffic, residential and clean areas) and have comparatively high importance values in disturbed areas (table 2). candelaria concolor and lepraria sp. are nitrophilous species and are able to thrive in both polluted and clean areas (fibrous et al., 2017). similarly, dirinaria aegialita and members of lichen belonging to physciaceae (phaeophyscia hispidula var. hispidula and physcia sorediosa) are pollutiontolerant species and able to exist in areas with high anthropogenic activity (shukla & upreti, 2011; nag et al., 2020; díaz et al., 2021). among these species, candelaria concolor and physcia sorediosa exhibited the highest importance value in polluted areas indicating more tolerant species than other species. hence, the high iv value of these species can be used as suitable indicators for monitoring air quality. epiphytic lichens are good indicators to monitor air quality as they are very sensitive to changing environments (das et al., 2013; jayalal et al., 2015; varela et al., 2018; loppi, 2019). the species like bacidia incongruens, remototrachyna flexilis, hypotrachyna cirrhata and leptogium burnetiae which showed their occurrence in undisturbed (clean) areas having no industries, less traffic and minimum anthropogenic activities can be considered sensitive species. similarly, the lichen species having high importance value and mostly growing in more or less polluted sites with industrial, heavy traffic and anthropogenic activities (disturbed areas) can be considered pollution-tolerant species (mishra et al., 2016). in this way, the distribution and diversity of tolerant and sensitive lichens species help to distinguish the high and less polluted localities in the study areas. conclusion the study showed that a total of 97 species of corticolous lichens are found in kathmandu valley indicating the lichen species richness of study areas. the areas with rich lichen diversity indicate a low level of environmental pollution whereas the areas with poor lichen diversity indicates a high level of pollution. the most dominant species of the valley are candelaria concolor, dirinaria aegialita, lepraria sp., phaeophyscia hispidula var. hispidula and physcia sorediosa, which banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 14 karmacharya et al. can be considered pollution-tolerant species whereas the species like bacidia incongruens, remototrachyna flexilis, hypotrachyna cirrhata and leptogium burnetiaeare are rare species that can be considered pollution-sensitive species. in this way, the present study helps us to learn about tolerant and sensitive species of the valley. the findings of this research provide a suitable platform for monitoring the air quality of kathmandu valley using these species for future purposes. acknowledgments neena karmacharya is thankful to the university grant commission, bhaktapur, nepal for the award of a ph.d. fellowship and grant and nepal association of science and technology (nast) and indian national science and technology (insa) for the financial support to visit csir– national botanical research institute, lucknow, india. the department of botany, amrit campus, tribhuvan university, kathmandu, nepal and csir–national botanical research institute, lucknow, india are also highly acknowledged for providing laboratory facilities for lichen identification. references agnan, y., probst, a., & séjalon-delmas, n. (2017). evaluation of lichen species resistance to atmospheric metal pollution by coupling diversity and bioaccumulation approaches: a new bioindication scale for french forested areas. ecological indicators, 72, 99–110. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.08.006 aptroot, a. (2012). a world key to the species of anthracothecium and pyrenula. – lichenologist, 44(1), 5–53. http://dx.doi. org/10.1017/s0024282911000624 asta, j., erhardt, w., ferretti, m., fornasier, f., kirschbaum, u., nimis, p. l., purvis, o. w., pirintsos, s., scheidegger, c., haluwyn, c., & wirth, v. (2002). mapping lichen diversity as an indicator of environmental quality. monitoring with lichens — monitoring lichens, 273–279. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-94-010-0423-7_19 awasti, d. d. (1991). a key to the microlichens of india, nepal and sri lanka. bibliotheca lichenenologica,40, j cramer, berlinstuttgart. awasthi, d.d. (2000). lichenology in indian subcontinent. bishen singh mahendra pal singh, dehradun. awasti, d. d. (2007). a compendium of the macrolichens from india. nepal and sri lanka. bishen singh mahendra pal singh, dehra dun. baniya, c. b., ghimire, g.p.s., kattel, b., & upreti d.k. (2001). lichens in sikles (kaski) and shivapuri (kathmandu), nepal. in: environment and agriculture: biodiversity, agriculture and pollution in south asia (eds.) jha, p.k., s. r. baral s.b. karmacharya, h. d lekhak, p.lacoul and c.b. baniya.ecological society (ecos.). nepal. 49–55. baniya, c. b., & gupta, v. n. (2002). lichens of annapurna conservation area and makalubarun buffer zone area. vegetation and society their interaction in the himalayas. 25–27 baniya, c.b., solhøy, t., gauslaa, y., & palmer, m.w. (2010). the elevation gradient of lichen species richness in nepal. lichenologist, 42, 83–96. baniya, c. b., & bhatta, p. (2021). exploration of lichen in nepal. journal of plant resources, 19, 18–54. baniya, c. b., k.c., amrit, & tamang, r. (2022). checklist of lichens of nepal. ministry of forest and environment, publisher. balaji, p., & hariharan, g.n. (2013). diversity of macrolichens in bolampatti ii forest range (siruvani hills), western ghats, tamil nadu, india. isrn biodiversity, 1-7. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 15 karmacharya et al. baral, b. (2015). enumeration of lichen diversity in manaslu conservation area and sagarmatha national park of nepal. international journal of biodiversity and conservation, 7, 140–147. brunialti, g., & giordani, p. (2003). variability of lichen diversity in a climatically heterogeneous area (ligaria, nw italy). lichenologist, 35, 55–69 chongbang, t. b., keller, c., nobis, m., scheidegger, c., and baniya, c. b. (2018). from natural forest to cultivated land: lichen species diversity along land-use gradients in kanchenjunga, eastern nepal. journal on protected mountain areas research and management, 10(1), 46-60. https://doi.org/10.1553/eco.mont-10–1s46 conti, m. e. (2008). lichens as bioindicators of air pollution. wit transactions on state of the art in science and engineering, 30, 111–162. crawford, s. d (2019). lichens used in traditional medicine, in: b. rankovie (ed.), lichen second. metab. bioact. prop. pharm. potential, second, springer international publishing, switzerland, 31–98. https:// doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13374-4. das, p., joshi, s., rout, j., & upreti, d. k. (2013). lichen diversity for environmental stress study: application of index of atmospheric purity (iap) and mapping around a paper mill in barak valley, assam, northeast india. trop ecol, 54, 355-364. de silva, c. m., & senanayake, s. p. (2015). assessment of epiphytic lichen diversity in pine plantations and adjacent secondary forest in peacock hill, pussellawa, sri lanka. scientific and academic publishing. devkota, a. (2008). taxonomic study of lichens of phulchowki hills, lalitpur district (kathmandu valley. scientific world, 6, 44–51. devkota, s. chaudhary, r.p. werth, s., & scheidegger, c. (2017). indigenous knowledge and use of lichens by the lichenophilic communities of the nepal himalaya, j. ethnobiol. ethnomed, 13, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-0170142–2. díaz, j., montaño, l., salinas, p., & benítez, á. (2021). epiphytic cryptogams as bioindicators of air quality in a tropical andean city. sustainability, 13, 1-10 elix, j. e., & ernst-russel, k. d. (1993). a catalogue of standardized thin layer chromatographic data and biosynthetic relationships for lichen substances, 2nd edn. australian national university, canberra. elix, j. a., & stocker-wӧrgӧtter, e. (2008). biochemistry and secondary metabolites. in lichen biology. second edition (ed. t.h. nash, iii). cambridge university press, cambridge, 104–133. firdous s. s., naz s., shaheen h. & dar m. e. ul i., (2017). lichens as bioindicators of air pollution from vehicular emissions in district poonch, azad jammu and kashmir, pakistan. pak. j. bot., 49, 1801–1810. garty, j. (2001). biomonitoring atmospheric heavy metals with lichens: theory and application. crc crit. rev. plant sci., 20, 309–371. gauslaa, y. (2014). rain, dew, and humid air as drivers of morphology, function and spatial distribution in epiphytic lichens. the lichenologis, 46, 1–16. gombert, s., astab, j., & seaward, m. r. d. (2004). assessment of lichen diversity by index of atmospheric purity (iap), index of human impact (ihi) and other environmental factors in an urban area (grenoble, southeast france). sci tot environ, 324, 183–199. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 16 karmacharya et al. gupta, s., khare, r., rai, h., upreti, d.k., gupta, r.k., sharma, p. k., srivastava, k., & bhattacharya, p. (2014). influence of macro-scale environmental variables on diversity and distribution pattern of lichens in badrinath valley, western himalaya. mycosphere, 5, 229–243. hauck, m. (2011). site factors controlling epiphytic lichen abundance in northern coniferous forests. flora morphology, distribution, functional ecology of plants, 206(2), 81–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. flora.2010.02.001 hawksworth, d. l. (2000). freshwater and marine lichen-forming fungi. fungal diversity 5, 1–7. ingle, k. k., trivedi, s., nayaka, s., & upreti, d. k. (2017). the lichen genera dictyomeridium and polymeridium (trypetheliales: trypetheliaceae) in india. –taiwania, 62, 50‒54. islary p, daimari r, biswas s, nayaka s, joseph s, et al. (2022). an enumeration of lichen diversity from ultapani forest range of kokrajhar district, assam with ocellularia calvescens and rhabdodiscus subcavatus, two new records in india. studies in fungi 7, 5 https://doi.org/10.48130/sif20220005 jagadeesh ram, t. a. m., & sinha, g. p. (2009). new species and new records of herpothallon (lichenized ascomycota) from india. –mycotaxon, 110, 37–42. jagadeesh ram, t. a. m., & sinha, g. p. (2011). a new species and new records of herpothallon (lichenized ascomycota) from india. –mycotaxon, 116, 313–316. jayalal, u., oh, s.o., park, j.s, sung, j.h., kim, s. h., & hur, j.s. (2015). evaluation of air quality using lichens in three different types of forest in korea. sci technol, 12, 1–8. jha, b. n., shrestha, m., pandey, d. p., bhattarai, t. b., bhattarai, h. d., & paudel, b. (2017). investigation of antioxidant, antimicrobial and toxicity activities of lichens from high altitude regions of nepal. bmc complementary and alternative medicine, 17, 282. kantvilas, g., rivas plata, e., & lücking, r. (2018). the lichen genus coenogonium in tasmania. –lichenologist, 50(5), 571–582. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ s0024282918000385 karmacharya, n., joshi, s., upreti, d. k., & chettri, m. k. (2019). eighteen species of graphidaceae new to nepal. mycotaxon, 133(4), 655‒674. khastini, r. o., sari, i. j., herysca, y. h., & sulasanah, s. (2019). lichen diversity as indicators for monitoring ecosystem health in rawa danau nature reserve, banten, indonesia. biodiversitas, 20, 489‒496. llop, e., pinho, p., matos, p., pereira, m. j., & branquinho c. (2012). the use of lichen functional groups as indicators of air quality in a mediterranean urban environment. ecol indicat, 13, 215‒221. loppi, s. (2019). may the diversity of epiphytic lichens be used in environmental forensics? diversity, 11(3), 36. https://doi. org/10.3390/d11030036 lücking, r., hodkinson, b. p., & leavitt, s. d. (2017). the 2016 classification of lichenized fungi in the ascomycota and basidiomycota approaching one thousand genera. the bryologist, 119(4), 361. https:// doi.org/10.1639/0007-2745-119.4.361 mishra, g. k., upreti, d. k., nayaka, s., & haridas, b. (2011). new taxa and new reports of phyllopsora (lichenized ascomycotina) from india. mycotaxon, 115, 29–44. mishra, s., upreti, d. k., & srivastava, a.k. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 17 karmacharya et al. (2016). distribution, diversity of lichens in terai region of kumaun with reference to environmental pollution. gjournal of environmental science and technology, 3, 29-36. moen, j., & jonsson, b. g. (2003). edge effects on liverworts and lichens in forest patches in a mosaic of boreal forest and wetland. conservation biology, 17(2), 380–388. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523– 1739.2003.00406.x nag, p., rai, h., gupta, r. k., & upreti, d. k. (2020). lichenized fungal family physciaceae (ascomycota) as an indicator of ambient air heavy metal pollution in a temperate forest of western himalaya, india. shodh sarita, 7, 190–193. nakaya, s. (2014). methods and techniques in collection, preservation and identification of lichens.in book: plant taxonomy and biosystematicsclassical and modern method, chapter 5. publisher: new india agency, new delhi, 101–128. negi, h., & upreti, d. k. (2009). species diversity and relative abundance of lichens in rumbak catchment of hemis national park in ladakh. curr sci., 78, 1105–1112 olley, l., & sharma, l. r. (2013). a provisional checklist of the lichens of nepal.–jour. dept. pl. res. n., 35, 18–21. orange, a., james, p. w., & white, f. j. (2001). microchemical methods for the identification of lichens. british lichen society, london. pinokiyo, a., singh k. p., & singh j.s. (2008). diversity and distribution of lichens in relation to altitude within a protected biodiversity hot spot, north-east india. the lichenologist, 40, 47–62. pirintsos, s. a., diamantopoulos, j., & stamou, g.p. (1993). analysis of the vertical distribution of epiphytic lichens on pinus nigra (mount olympos, greece) along an altitudinal gradient. vegetatio, 109, 63-70. pirintsos, s.a., diamantopoulos, j., & stamou g.p. (1995). analysis of the distribution of epiphytic lichens within homogenous fagus sylvatica stands along an altitudinal gradient (mount olympos, greece). vegetatio, 116, 33–40. purvis, o.w. (2000). lichens. natural history museum, london. rai, h., nag, p., khare, r., upreti, d. k., & gupta, r. k. (2016). twenty-eight new records of lichenized fungi from nepal: a signature of undiscovered biodiversity in central himalaya. proceeding of the national academy of sciences, india, b: biological sciences, 87, 1363–1376. seaward, m.r.d. (2008). environmental role of lichens. in: nash iii th (ed.). lichen biology. second edition, cambridge, usa, cambridge university press, new york. sett, r., & kundu, m. (2016). epiphytic lichens: their usefulness as bioindicators of air pollution. donnish j res environ stud, 3, 17–24. sequiera, s., & muktesh, k. (2008). epiphyte host relationship of macrolichens in the tropical wet evergreen forests of silent valleys national park, western ghats, india. trop. ecol., 49, 211–224. sharma, l.r. (1995) – enumeration of the lichens of nepal. biodiversity profiles project technical publications no. 3. department of national parks and wildlife conservation, ministry of forests and soil conservation. his majesty`s government of nepal, kathmandu. singh, k. p., & sinha, g. p. (1997). lichens. in floristic diversity and conservation strategies in india (v. mudgal & p. k. hajra, eds.) calcutta, india. botanical survey of india, 1, 195–234. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 18 karmacharya et al. singh, k. p., & sinha, g. p. (2010). indian lichens: an annotated checklist. –govt. of india, botanical survey of india, ministry of environment and forest, india. 1‒571. shukla v., & upreti d. k. (2011). changing lichen diversity in and around urban settlements of garhwal himalayas due to increasing anthropogenic activities. environ monit assess 174, 439–444. shukla, v., upreti, d.k. &bajpai, r. (2014). lichen to bioindicator the environment. springer new delhi heidelberg new york dordrecht london. upreti, d. k., bajpai, r., nayaka, s., & singh, b.n. (2015). ethnolichenological studies in india: future prospects. in indian ethnobotany: emerging trends; jain, a.k., ed.; scientific publishers: jodhpur, india. 195–233. varela, z., lópez-sánchez, g., yáñez, m., pérez, c., fernández, j., matos, p., et al. (2018). changes in epiphytic lichen diversity are associated with air particulate matter levels: the case study of urban areas in chile. ecol. indic., 91, 307–314. weerakoon, g., wolseley, p., will-wolf, s. & wijeyaratne, c. (2020). corticolous lichen species as indicators of disturbed/ undisturbed vegetation types in the central mountains of sri lanka. lichenologist, 52, 233–245. https://doi.org/10.1017/ s002428292000010 wolseley, p. a., & pryor k.v. (1999). the potential of epiphytic twig communities on quercus petraea in a welsh woodland site (tycanol) for evaluating environmental changes. lichenologist, 31, 41‒61. wolseley, p. a., & aptroot, a. (2009). the lichen genera cryptothecia and stirtonia in northern thailand. –biblioth. lichenol., 99, 411–422. yang, m. x., devkota, s., wang, l.s., & scheidegger, c. (2021). ethnolichenology—the use of lichens in the himalayas and southwestern parts of china. diversity, 13, 1‒16. 63 forests are one of the biggest terrestrial carbon pools. forests (vegetation and soil) store 60% of the world’s terrestrial carbon (iturbide et al., 2020). therefore, sustainable forest management is recognized as one of the best climate change mitigation measures (arasagisbert et al., 2018). however, the ever-growing human population and its impacts on forests such as deforestation and forest degradation are posing a great challenge to the very existence and the vitality of forest ecosystems. studies have indicated that anthropogenic pressures have indiscriminately degraded the forest ecosystems over the past few decades (sundriyal & sharma, 1996; dhyani et al., 2019). in a forest ecosystem, carbon is stored in various pools such as above and below-ground living biomasses, including standing stems, branches, foliage and roots; and necromasses, including litter, woody debris, soil organic matter and forest products (riutta et al., 2021). among others, trees and soil are the main pools that store more carbon than the other pools (amir et al., 2018). currently, forests store around 45% of the organic carbon on land in their biomass and soils (bonan, 2008). about 2 gigatonnes (gtc) of carbon are absorbed annually by existing oldgrowth and regenerating forests collectively, which significantly contributes to the terrestrial carbon sink (pugh et al., 2019). about 40% of the global soil organic carbon (soc) stock resides in the forest ecosystems (eswaran et al., 1999). the current global stock of soil organic carbon is estimated to be 1,443 ± 141 pg c and 3,153 ± 312 pg c in top soils and subsoils respectively, banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2, 2022 pp 63‒76https://doi.org/10.3126/banko.v32i2.50896 tree carbon stock in middle mountain forest types: a case study from chandragiri hills, kathmandu, nepal the forest carbon stock usually depends on the forest types, forest density, age of forest, size of trees, site quality, wood density, annual precipitation, and species composition. this research aims to analyze the relationship among tree carbon stock, species richness, soil chemical properties such as soil organic carbon and soil ph in the forests of chandragiri hills, kathmandu, central nepal. along this forest, five square plots (20 × 20 m2) each were established along the two transects at a maximum interval of 100 m. carbon stock of each tree was estimated by using allometric equation based on measured tree height and dbh. the mean tree carbon stock was found to be highest in mixed forest (87.13 t/ha) followed by oak forest (52.75 t/ha), and pine forest (22.5 t/ha). the tree carbon stock showed significant negative correlation with tree species richness (r = -0.56, p = 0.001). the tree carbon stock showed significant positive correlation with soil organic carbon (r = 0.57, p = 0.001) and soil ph (r = 0.37, p = 0.05). tree carbon was found positively highly significant correlation with altitude, soil organic carbon, ph and shannon diversity index. keywords: mixed forest, oak forest, pine forest, soil organic carbon, soil ph, species richness, tree biomass r. gurung 1, h. s. adhikari 1, r. s. dani 1,2, and c. b. baniya 1* received: 8, august 2022 revised: 9, november 2022 accepted: 14, december 2022 published: 31, december 2022 1 central department of botany, tribhuvan university, kirtipur, nepal, * email: cbbaniya@gmail.com 2 trichandra multiple campus, ghantaghar, kathmandu, nepal https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4265-622x https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1472-1469 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6206-0274 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8746-7601 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 64 gurung et al. totaling to be 4,596 pg c ± 453 pg c to a depth of 1 m (georgiou et al., 2022). tropical forests that cover 7% of the earth’s total land surface and that are among the major carbon sinks play a significant role in global carbon cycle (nascimento & laurance, 2004). studies have shown that forests have a tremendous role in lowering the net green house gases (ghgs) emissions to the atmosphere and mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change (creutzig, 2015; moomaw et al., 2020). however, clearing tropical forests for non-forestry uses is destroying globally important carbon sinks that are vital for sequestering co2and future climate stabilization (stephens et al., 2007). globally, it is estimated that tropical deforestation accounts for annual emission of about 1.7 billion tons of carbon (nakicenovic et al., 2000). the rate of emission depends on the types of disturbance such as logging, understory fires, edge effects etc. as well as the intensity and the frequency of disturbance events (barlow et al., 2012; sullivan et al., 2017). iturbide et al.(2020) has shown that reducing deforestation and forest degradation lowers ghg emissions (high confidence), with an estimated technical mitigation potential of 0.4–5.8 gtco2 yr -1 highlighting an important role of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (redd+) in mitigating climate change. in nepal, forests cover about 44.74% of the country’s total land area. nepalese forests could play an important role in the mitigation of global climate change (ghimire et al., 2018). carbon stock estimation reflects the potentiality of forests to mitigate climate change (ghimire et al., 2018). the forest carbon stock usually depends on the forest types, forest density, and age of forest, size of trees, site quality, wood density, annual precipitation, and species composition. furthermore, understanding the relationship between forest carbon stock and tree-species diversity and soil properties will be critical in maintaining carbon stocks of forests over the long term and improving our understandings of species-level management (kaushal & baishya, 2021). in this context, this research aims to analyze the relationship between tree carbon stock and tree species diversity and soil chemical properties in the mountain forests of nepal. estimating carbon stocks is highly desirable in different forest types, and the community forestry program of nepal should promote it. coniferdominated forest types store more carbon than broad-leaf-dominated forest types (sharma et al., 2010; aryal et al., 2013) while shrestha & devkota (2013) has found the higher carbon stock in oak forest (90.37 mgcha-1) than that in pine forest (24.82 mgcha-1). by sequestering atmospheric carbon in the growth of wood biomass through the process of photosynthesis, trees store carbon by raising the level of soil organic carbon (brown & pearce, 1994). pradhan et al. (2012) has shown that the tree carbon stock and soil organic carbon was higher in schima-castanopsis (mixed forest) than in pine forest. based on the existing literature, it can be hypothesized that higher species richness and better soil properties will have higher tree carbon stock. materials and methods study site the study was conducted in the three forests [(mixed forest (mf), oak forest (of), and pine forest (pf)] of chandragiri hills, which lies in kathmandu district, central nepal (figure 1). the selected forests were managed by three different community forest user groups (cfugs) (table 1). the geographic location of the study site extends from 27°27′e to 27°49′e longitude and 85°10′n to 85°32′n latitude. it ranges in elevation from 1600 to 2400m a.s.l. the study site has a sub-tropical to temperate climate with rainy summer and dry winter. the weather data recorded at the nearest weather station (panipokhari weather station, provide coordinates here) showed that the average annual minimum and maximum temperature of the study site are 7.70°c and 14.12°c respectively and the site receives an annual precipitation of about 1,559.25 mm (figure 2). banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 65 gurung et al. figure 1: map of kathmandu district showing the plots of studied sites of different forest types table 1: overview of study forests. the forest types, major tree species, the names of community forest user groups managing the forests, their area and the years the forests were handed over for community management forest types major tree species name of community forest user groups (cfugs) and their addresses area (ha) handover year (ad) mixed forest schima wallichii, myrica esculenta, castanopsis indica, and myrsine sp. laglagepakha cfug, thankot 24.509 1994 oak forest quercus semecarpifolia and rhododendron arboreum gumalchoki cfug, chandragiri 80.5 2000 pine forest pinus roxburghii bosan cfug, kirtipur 57 1994 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 66 gurung et al. figure 2: ombrothermic diagram showing mean monthly temperature and precipitation from years 2011-2020 of panipokhari weather station, kathmandu (source: department of hydrology and meteorology kathmandu nepal, dhm, 2021). daily average maximum temperature at station was 20.9˚c and total monthly average annual rainfall was 1559 mm. sampling design and data collection the transect method was used for vegetation survey and soil sample collection. a total of six transects, two transects per study forest were laid out. a distance of 100m was maintained between two transects. five square plots of size 20 × 20m2 were established in each transect maintaining a distance of 100m between the plots (figure 3). the geographic locations (latitude, longitude and elevation) of plots were recorded using the garmin etrex gps. within each plot, the height and diameter at breast height (dbh = 1.37 m) of individual trees (dbh > 5 cm) were measured using a clinometer and a dbh tape (frtc, 2022), and tree species having diameter less than 5cm were also used for vegetation analysis. the plant specimens were identified using standard literature (malla et al., 1986; press et al., 2000) and by tallying with tribhuvan university central herbarium (tuch) specimens. the world flora online (http://www.worldfloraonline.org/) was followed for the specimen nomenclature. figure 3: sampling design used for vegetation survey and soil sample collection. two transects with five square plots (20 × 20m2) each separated by a distance of 100 m were laid out for vegetation survey. soil samples were collected from five points (four corners and center) of each plot. the soil samples were collected from five points (four corners and center) of each plot. they were collected from the depth of 10 cm. one composite soil sample of 200gm per plot was prepared by mixing soil samples from five points. the soil samples were air-dried in the shade for a week and were taken for laboratory analysis. vegetation analysis frequency, density, basal area, and importance value index (ivi) were calculated by using the methods and equations (1-7) provided by zobel et al.(1987), which are given below. frequency (%)= ……….. (1) density (trees/ha)= …….(2) basal area (ba) of tree (m2) = ……. (3) where, dbh = diameter at breast height (m), and = 3.14 ivi=relative frequency + relative density + relative basal area ……… (4) banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 67 gurung et al. where, relative frequency (%) = ×100 ……………….(5) relative density (%) = ×100 ……………………(6) relative basal area (%) = ×100 …………………….. (7) simpson’s diversity index and shannon index were calculated using standard equations provided by magurrun (2004) to estimate species diversity of the study forests. interpretation of forest regeneration by size class distribution is better than seedling counts because the former represents longer periods (maren & vetaas, 2007). trees recorded in all plots were divided into dbh classes of 5 cm interval. then the size class distribution graph was prepared to analyze the regeneration status of the study forests. biomass and carbon stock estimation the total above-ground tree biomass (agtb) was calculated using the equation (model, equation 8) developed by chave et al. (2005). for moist forest types, agtb = 0.0509x ρd2h …… (8) where, agtb = above-ground tree biomass (kg); ρ = wood specific gravity (g cm-3); d = tree diameter at breast height (cm); h = tree height (m). the global database developed by zanne et al. (2009) was used for the wood specific gravity. for some tree species, for which wood specific gravity information were unavailable in zanne et al. (2009), information in penman et al. (2003) were used. below-ground tree biomass (bgtb) was estimated by assuming that it constitutes 15% of agtb (macdicken, 1997). the total tree biomass (only living) was calculated by adding the above and below-ground biomass of the trees. finally, the living tree carbon stock was calculated by multiplying the total tree biomass with the default carbon fraction of 0.47 (eggleston et al., 2006). soil analysis soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory of the agricultural technology centre, jwagal, lalitpur, nepal. the soil properties such as ph and water holding capacity (whc) were estimated using which methods. soil organic carbon (soc) was estimated using the rapid titration method developed by walkey & black (1934). data analysis descriptive statistics were used to calculate means, range, and standard errors. anova was used to test the difference between the forest types. correlation analysis and scatter plots were used to analyse the relationship between carbon stock and species diversity and soil properties. all the analyses were done using microsoft-excel 2007 and r version 4.1.2 (r core team, 2022). results tree community attributes of forest types altogether 19 tree species belonging to 16 families were recorded in mixed forest. schima wallichii (59.71) had the highest ivi, followed by pinus roxburghii and castanopsis tribuloides (table 2.).on the other hand, only two species (2 families) and three species (3 families) were recorded in oak and pine forests respectively. quercus semecarpifolia (254.19) and pinus roxburghii (228.57) had the highest ivis in the oak and pine forests respectively (table 2). banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 68 gurung et al. table 2: tree community attributes (ba, basal area; rba, relative basal area; d, density; rd, relative density; f, frequency; rf, relative frequency: and ivi, importance value index) of mixed, oak and pine forests of chandragiri hills, kathmandu, central nepal. forest sn tree species family ba (cm2) rba (%) d (/m2) rd (%) f (%) rf (%) ivi (%) mixed forest 1 schima wallichii choisy theaceae 31961.15 24.56 208.00 25.24 10.00 9.90 59.71 2 pinus roxburghii sarg pinaceae 43199.00 33.20 86.00 10.44 9.00 8.91 52.55 3 castanopsis tribuloides a.dc fagaceae 15888.57 12.21 139.00 16.87 10.00 9.90 38.98 4 myrica esculenta buch.ham. myricaceae 13480.02 10.36 104.00 12.62 9.00 8.91 31.89 5 castanopsis indica (roxb. ex lindl.) a.dc. fagaceae 11510.34 8.85 86.00 10.44 9.00 8.91 28.19 6 rhododendron arboreum sm. ericaceae 2537.78 1.95 47.00 5.70 8.00 7.92 15.58 7 myrsine semiserrata wall. myrsinaceae 2588.06 1.99 52.00 6.31 7.00 6.93 15.23 8 symplocos pyrifolia wall. ex g. don symplocaceae 1522.51 1.17 33.00 4.00 8.00 7.92 13.10 9 syzygium cumini (l.) skeels myrtaceae 1851.52 1.42 19.00 2.31 6.00 5.94 9.67 10 eurya acuminata dc. pentaphylacaceae 1088.74 0.84 17.00 2.06 6.00 5.94 8.84 11 fraxinus floribunda wall. oleaceae 741.33 0.57 13.00 1.58 6.00 5.94 8.09 12 rhus javanica l. anacardiaceae 281.60 0.22 8.00 0.97 3.00 2.97 4.16 13 engelhardtia spicata lechen ex blume juglandaceae 867.27 0.67 4.00 0.49 3.00 2.97 4.12 14 persea gamblei (king ex hook. f.) kosterm. lauraceae 405.78 0.31 2.00 0.24 2.00 1.98 2.53 15 albizia lebbeck (l.) benth. leguminosae 1460.97 1.12 2.00 0.24 1.00 0.99 2.36 16 betula alnoides buch.ham. ex d.don betulaceae 373.25 0.29 1.00 0.12 1.00 0.99 1.40 17 rhus succedanea l. anacardiaceae 248.85 0.19 1.00 0.12 1.00 0.99 1.30 18 semecarpus anacardium l.f anacardiaceae 56.75 0.04 1.00 0.12 1.00 0.99 1.16 19 pyrus pashia buch.ham. ex d.don rosaceae 50.27 0.04 1.00 0.12 1.00 0.99 1.15 oak forest 1 quercus semecarpifolia sm. fagaceae 613993.12 99.68 495.00 92.01 10.00 62.50 254.19 2 rhododendron arboreum sm. ericaceae 2001.28 0.32 43.00 7.99 6.00 37.50 45.81 pine forest 1 pinus roxburghii sarg pinaceae 274066.75 95.09 380.00 80.85 10.00 52.63 228.57 2 schima wallichii choisy theaceae 13057.06 4.53 76.00 16.17 7.00 36.84 57.54 3 castanopsis indica (roxb. ex lindl.) a.dc. fagaceae 1106.82 0.38 14.00 2.98 2.00 10.53 13.89 regeneration status of forest types the dbh class distribution curve of mixed forest showed a reverse j-shaped distribution. whereas that of oak forest showed a u-shaped distribution. meanwhile, pine forest showed a bell-shaped distribution with a higher number of individuals in the middle dbh classes (figure 4). figure 4: tree diameter at breast height (dbh) class distribution of mixed, oak and pine forests of chandragiri hills, kathmandu, central nepal banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 69 gurung et al. variation in tree carbon stock with forest types the mean living tree carbon stock was found to be highest in mixed forest (87.13 t/ha) followed by oak forest (52.75 t/ha) and pine forest (22.50 t/ha). the differences in living tree carbon stock among the three forests types were significant at a 95% confidence interval (figure 5). regarding the species contribution to the living tree carbon stock, albizia lebbeck contributed the most (34.93%)to the living tree carbon stock in mixed forest followed by betula alnoides (12.33%), pinus roxburghii (12.25%), myrsine semiserrata (9.31%). the least contribution was made by pyrus pashia (0.29%, table 3). figure 5: mean living tree carbon stock of mixed forest (mf), oak forest (of) and pine forest (pf of chandragiri hills, kathmandu, central nepal. differences between the forest types were tested using anova. bar diagrams with same letters at the top are not significantly different while those with different letters at the top are significantly different (name which post-hoc test was used, p<0.05). error bars shows uncertainty in the estimation. table 3: tree species contribution to the living tree carbon stock of mixed forest, oak forest and pine forest of chandragiri hills, kathmandu, central nepal. mean diameter at breast height (dbh), mean height (ht), total biomass (tb), and total carbon stock (cs) forests sn tree species dbh (cm) ht (m) tb (mg) cs (t/ha) csc (%) mixed forest 1 albizia lebbeck (l.) benth. 29.20 19.85 647.50 30.43 34.93 2 betula alnoides buch.-ham. ex d.don 21.80 13.70 228.67 10.75 12.33 3 pinus roxburghii sarg 22.84 11.79 227.05 10.67 12.25 4 myrsine semiserrata wall. 19.75 12.00 172.51 8.11 9.31 5 persea gamblei (king ex hook. f.) kosterm. 16.05 9.90 90.59 4.26 4.89 6 myrica esculenta buch.-ham 12.14 9.55 66.31 3.12 3.58 7 schima wallichiichoisy 13.21 8.88 60.20 2.83 3.25 8 syzygium cumini (l.) skeels 10.80 9.87 57.33 2.69 3.09 9 rhus succedanea l. 17.80 6.70 54.67 2.57 2.95 10 engelhardtia spicata lechen ex blume 15.70 6.93 53.79 2.53 2.90 11 castanopsis indica (roxb. ex lindl.) a.dc. 12.41 7.27 50.16 2.36 2.71 12 castanopsis tribuloides a.dc 11.44 9.01 49.09 2.31 2.65 13 fraxinus floribunda wall. 8.25 8.26 22.45 1.06 1.21 14 semecarpus anacardiuml.f 8.50 7.60 19.28 0.91 1.04 15 eurya acuminata dc. 8.64 7.42 19.23 0.90 1.04 16 symplocos pyrifolia wall. ex g. don 7.09 5.54 11.88 0.56 0.64 17 rhododendron arboreum sm. 7.82 4.86 10.09 0.47 0.54 18 rhus javanica l. 6.48 6.10 7.02 0.33 0.38 19 pyrus pashia buch.-ham. ex d.don 8.00 2.70 6.07 0.29 0.33 total 264.73 174.05 1867.26 87.13 100.00 oak forest 1 quercus semecarpifolia sm. 29.12 13.03 1110.26 52.18 98.93 2 rhododendron arboreum sm. 7.40 7.17 11.98 0.56 1.07 total 36.52 20.20 1122.23 52.75 100.00 pine forest 1 pinus roxburghii sarg 29.47 14.00 370.36 17.41 77.38 2 schima wallichii choisy 14.35 10.58 74.60 3.51 15.59 3 castanopsis indica (roxb. ex lindl.) a.dc. 9.37 8.79 33.66 1.58 7.03 total 53.19 33.36 478.62 22.50 100.00 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 70 gurung et al. variation of soil properties with forest types the soil organic carbon (soc) was found to be significantly higher in oak forest (5.57±1.18) than in mixed forest (2.54±0.86) and pine forest (2.82 ± 0.48, table 4). all three forest types were found to have acidic soil. the soil ph of mixed forest (6.11±0.5) was found to be significantly more acidic than that of oak forest (6.57±0.3) and pine forest (6.4±0.25). in comparison to mixed forest and oak forest, pine forest (63.4±9.82) was found to have significantly lower water-holding capacity (whc, table 4). table 4: soil properties (mean ± sd) of mixed forest, oak forest and pine forest of chandragiri hills, kathmandu, central nepal. differences between the forest types were tested using anova. values with same letters in superscript are not significantly different while those with different letters in superscript are significantly different (name which post-hoc test was used, p < 0.05). forests soc (%) ph whc (%) mixed 2.54±0.86a 6.11±0.5a 80.1±7.33a oak 5.57±1.18b 6.57±0.3b 79±7.29a pine 2.82±0.48a 6.4±0.25b 63.4±9.82b f-value 35.63 3.9 12.88 p-value <0.0001 0.033 <0.0001 relationship between tree carbon stock and tree species diversity and soil properties the living tree carbon stock showed a strong negatively significant (-0.56) relationship with the species richness of trees in forests. meanwhile, such a relation with altitude was strong and positively significant (0.83). correlation analysis (figure 6) showed that living tree carbon stock was found to have a positively significant (0.57) relationship with soil organic carbon. the living tree carbon stock has a fair positively significant (0.37) relationship with the ph of the soil. and in the case of the water-holding capacity of the soil, there was no significant (0.084) relationship with the carbon stock of the tree. discussions tree community attributes, tree species diversity and regeneration status of forest types the result of the tree community structure indicates the ecological success of dominant species, and their good regeneration potential utilizing most of the forest area and resources (shameem & kangroo, 2011) in the study area. thus, the high ivi of schima wallichii, quercus semecarpifolia, pinus roxburghii and associated species might be due to available resources such as low tree density, sufficient rainfall, good light availability etc. in the present study, a j-shaped dbh class distribution curve structure in mixed and oak forests showed a higher number of trees with a smaller dbh class. this indicates a good natural regeneration state of these forests which are still in evolving stage (campbell et al., 1992; basyal et al., 2011). the reversed j-shaped dbh class distribution curve of pine trees in pinus figure 6: correlation coefficient matrix among different variables (shanshannon diversity index, tree_richnes – tree species richness, indi individuals, cartpheccarbon stock ton per hectare, soc – soil organic carbon, ph – soil ph, whc – water holding capacity of soil) each value inside the box represented the correlation coefficient value, star/s (*) indicated the level of significance. three stars (***) indicated p < 0.000, two stars (**) indicated p < 0.001 and a single star (*) indicated p < 0.05. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 71 gurung et al. forest indicated artificial regeneration. the mature status of the pine forest at the present study site is similar to the result inferred by dar et al. (2017) and sharma et al. (2020). this may have been accomplished by minimizing the disturbances and shifting management regimes (bhatt et al., 2015, dar et al., 2017). relationship of living tree carbon stock with species structure and soil properties the forest carbon stock is mainly determined by the nature of vegetation composition of the forest where the seedling and saplings have significantly less contribution (hu et al., 2015). higher living tree carbon stock in mixed forest and lower in pine forest may be due to different factors such as forest types, forest age, size and density of trees, degree of disturbance, species composition and allometric equation used for the estimation of carbon stock (mandal et al., 2013; berenguer et al., 2014; biswas et al., 2020; saimun et al., 2021). the variation of living tree carbon stock among the forests with different vegetation compositions is more or less supported by ikraoun et al. (2022), poudel et al. (2020), sharma et al. (2020), verma and garkoti (2019), shrestha et al. (2016), aryal et al. (2013) and joshi et al. (2013). in these forests, all silvicultural practices (thinning, pruning, singling, litter collection, plantation, fodder collection for cattle, etc.) may have been executed, which might also be the cause of the significant variation in the species-specific contribution to the carbon stock (forrester & baker, 2012; marden et al., 2021). soil organic carbon (soc) was also found varied in the different forest types which might be due to the forest stand, vegetation composition, soil moisture, soil organic matter (zhang et al., 2021). higher soc in oak forest than that in pine and mixed forest in the present study is comparable with the results inferred by aryal et al. (2013), shrestha et al. (2016), aryal et al. (2018) and kumar et al. (2021). in the present study, the soil ph of the all forests of different vegetation composition was acidic in nature. this may be the consequence of basic ions in the muddy soil being washed out, which led to h+ rich ions in the soil and more acid being generated by the decay of organic matter. since yu et al. (2019) suggested that soil ph doesn’t play a significant role in the accumulation of soc, which strongly supports the present study. soil organic carbon with oak forest found a strong positive correlation with the other two forest types which could be result from better nutrient input through litterfall and an increase in regenerating oak trees. the findings of the present study are comparable with various studies by khanal et al. (2010), gairola et al. (2012), joshi & negi (2015), and pandey et al. (2019). similar to this inference, in the present study, living tree carbon stock and biomass were higher for mixed forest than that for oak and pine forests. present study would be an excellent model to demonstrate to other communities that the more expansive, global conservation policies, strategies, and carbon market mechanism of redd+ can offer significantly more protection to the forest and enhance economic benefit. conclusions the living tree carbon stock of forest depends upon the different vegetation compositions. the average living tree carbon stock was found to be higher in mixed forest (87.13 t/ha) and lower in pine forest (22.50 t/ha). furthermore, the living tree carbon stock was found to be positively correlated with forest stand, altitude, soil organic carbon, soil ph, and whc of soil whereas, it was found to be negatively correlated with shannon and weiner index, tree species richness. mixed forest and oak forest were in good regeneration condition whereas the pine forest was in mature state. furthermore, the tree carbon stock was found to be positively correlated with forest stand, altitude, soil organic carbon, soil ph, and whc of soil whereas, it was found to be negatively correlated with shannon and weiner index, tree species richness. these findings imply that forests might be included in the redd+ program, which would then help for better forest management. acknowledgments we are grateful to the community forest user groups (cfug) of laglagepakha, gumalchoki, banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 72 gurung et al. and bosan community forest for their cooperation during the fieldwork. we are thankful to professor dr. ram kailash prasad yadav, head of central department of botany, t. u. for providing necessary facilities. thanks also goes to mr. basudev poudel, mrs. hira shova shrestha, ms. bidhya shrestha, and ms. pristi dangol for their contribution to this research. we are highly grateful to all anonymous reviewers for manuscript. conflict of interest the authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. authors’ contributions rg designed the study; collected data, and wrote the manuscript. hsa helped in designing the study, data collection and writing the manuscript. rsd helped with laboratory analysis; and cbb provided overall supervision and helped with manuscript correction and correspondence. references amir, m., liu, x., ahmad, a., saeed, s., mannan, a., & muneer, m. a. (2018). patterns of biomass and carbon allocation across chronosequence of chir pine (pinus roxburghii) forest in pakistan: inventory-based estimate. advances in meteorology, 2018. https://doi. org/10.1155/2018/3095891 arasa-gisbert, r., vayreda, j., román-cuesta, r. m., villela, s. a., mayorga, r., &retana, j. (2018). forest diversity plays a key role in determining the stand carbon stocks of mexican forests. forest ecology and management, 415, 160–171. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.02.023 aryal, s., bhattarai, d. r., & devkota, r. p. (2013). comparison of carbon stocks between mixed and pine-dominated forest stands within the gwalinidaha community forest in lalitpur district, nepal. smallscale forestry, 12(4), 659-666. https://doi. org/10.1007/s11842-013-9236-4 aryal, s., shrestha, s., maraseni, t., wagle, p. c., & gaire, n. p. (2018). carbon stock and its relationships with tree diversity and density in community forests in nepal. international forestry review, 20 (3), 263-273. https://doi. org/10.1505/146554818824063069 barlow, j., parry, l., gardner, t. a., ferreira, j., aragão, l. e., carmenta, r., ... & cochrane, m. a. (2012). the critical importance of considering fire in redd+ programs. biological conservation, 154, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. biocon.2012.03.034 basyal, s., lekhak, h. d., &devkota, a. (2011). regeneration of shorearobusta. gaertn in tropical forest of palpa district, central nepal. scientific world, 9(9), 53-56. https:// doi.org/10.3126/sw.v9i9.5519 berenguer, e., ferreira, j., gardner, t.a., aragão, l.e.o.c., de camargo, p.b., cerri, c.e., durigan, m., oliveira, r.c.d., vieira, i.c.g. and barlow, j. (2014). a largescale field assessment of carbon stocks in human modified tropical forests. global change biology, 20 (12), 3713–3726. https://doi. org/10.1111/gcb.12627 bhatt, g. d., kushwaha, s. p. s., nandy, s., bargali, k., nagar, p. s., & tadvi, d. m. (2015). analysis of fragmentation and disturbance regimes in south gujarat forests, india. tropical ecology, 56 (3), 275–288. biswas, s., biswas, a., das, a., & banerjee, s. (2020). biomass model development for carbon stock estimation in the tropical forest of eastern india: an allometric approach. tropical ecology, 61(3), 360– 370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42965-02000098-2 bonan, g. b. (2008). forests and climate change: forcings, feedbacks, and the climate benefits banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 73 gurung et al. of forests. science, 320(5882), 1444-1449. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00058 brown, k., & pearce, d. (1994). the economic value of non-market benefits of tropical forests: carbon storage. the economics of project appraisal and the environment., 102–123. campbell, d. g., stone, j. l., & rosas jr, a. r. i. t. o. (1992). a comparison of the phytosociology and dynamics of three floodplain (várzea) forests of known ages, rio juruá, western brazilian amazon. botanical journal of the linnean society, 108(3), 213–237. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.1992.tb00240.x chave, j., andalo, c., brown, s., cairns, m.a., chambers, j.q., eamus, d., fölster, h., fromard, f., higuchi, n., kira, t. and lescure, j.p. (2005). tree allometry and improved estimation of carbon stocks and balance in tropical forests. oecologia, 145(1), 87–99. https:// doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0100-x creutzig, f., ravindranath, n.h., berndes, g., bolwig, s., bright, r., cherubini, f., chum, h., corbera, e., delucchi, m., faaij, a., & fargione, j. (2015). bioenergy and climate change mitigation: an assessment. gcb bioenergy, 7 (5), 916–944. https://doi. org/10.1111/gcbb.12205 dar, j. a., rather, m. y., subashree, k., sundarapandian, s., & khan, m. l. (2017). distribution patterns of tree, understorey, and detritus biomass in coniferous and broad-leaved forests of western himalaya, india. journal of sustainable forestry, 36 (8), 787-805. https://doi.org/10.1080/1054 9811.2017.1363055 dhyani, s., maikhuri, r. k., & dhyani, d. (2019). impact of anthropogenic interferences on species composition, regeneration and stand quality in moist temperate forests of central himalaya. tropical ecology, 60 (4), 539–551. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s42965-020-00054-0 eggleston, s., buendia, l., miwa, k., ngara, t., & tanabe, k. (2006). ipcc guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. hayama : institute for global environmental strategies (iges), japan. eswaran, h., beinroth, f., & reich, p. (1999). global land resources and populationsupporting capacity. american journal of alternative agriculture, 14 (3), 129–136. https://doi.org/10.1017/ s0889189300008250 forrester, d. i., & baker, t. g. (2012). growth responses to thinning and pruning in eucalyptus globulus, eucalyptus nitens, and eucalyptus grandis plantations in southeastern australia. canadian journal of forest research, 42 (1), 75–87. https:// doi.org/10.1139/x11-146 frtc (2022). field manual, 2022 (remeasurement of permanent sample plot), forest resource assessment (fra), forest research & training center (frtc), nepal. gairola, s., sharma, c. m., ghildiyal, s. k., & suyal, s. (2012). chemical properties of soils in relation to forest composition in moist temperate valley slopes of garhwal himalaya, india. the environmentalist, 32 (4), 512–523. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10669-012-9420-7 georgiou, k., jackson, r.b., vindušková, o., abramoff, r.z., ahlström, a., feng, w., harden, j.w., pellegrini, a.f., polley, h.w., soong, j.l., & riley, w.j. (2022). global stocks and capacity of mineralassociated soil organic carbon. nature communications, 13(1), 1-12. https://doi. org/10.1038/s41467-022-31540-9 ghimire, p., kafle, g., & bhatta, b. (2018). carbon stocks in shorearobusta and pinusroxburghii forests in makawanpur district of nepal. journal of afu, 2, 241–248. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 74 gurung et al. hu, y., su, z., li, w., li, j., & ke, x. (2015). influence of tree species composition and community structure on carbon density in a subtropical forest. plos one, 10 (8), e0136984. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0136984 ikraoun, h., nassiri, l., el mderssa, m., & ibijbijen, j. (2022). assessment of the organic carbon stock in the green oak forest in the morrocan oulmes central plateau. in e3s web of conferences (vol 351, p. 01096). edp sciences. https://doi. org/10.1051/e3sconf/202235101096 iturbide, m., gutiérrez, j.m., alves, l.m., bedia, j., cerezo-mota, r., cimadevilla, e., cofiño, a.s., di luca, a., faria, s.h., gorodetskaya, i.v., & hauser, m. (2020). an update of ipcc climate reference regions for subcontinental analysis of climate model data: definition and aggregated datasets. earth system science data, 12(4), 2959–2970. https://doi. org/10.5194/essd-12-2959-2020 joshi, g., & negi, g. c. s. (2015). physicochemical properties along soil profiles of two dominant forest types in western himalaya. current science, 109 (4), 798– 803. joshi, n. r., tewari, a., & chand, d. b. (2013). impact of forest fire and aspect on phytosociology, tree biomass and carbon stock in oak and pine mixed forests of kumaun central himalaya, india. researcher, 5 (3), 1–8. kaushal, s., & baishya, r. (2021). stand structure and species diversity regulate biomass carbon stock under major central himalayan forest types of india. ecological processes, 10(1), 1–18. https://doi. org/10.1186/s13717-021-00283-8 khanal, y., sharma, r. p., & upadhyaya, c. p. (2010). soil and vegetation carbon pools in two community forests of palpa district, nepal. bankojanakari, 20 (2), 34–40. https://doi.org/10.3126/banko.v20i2.4800 kumar, m., kumar, a., kumar, r., konsam, b., pala, n. a., & bhat, j. a. (2021). carbon stock potential in pinus roxburghii forests of indian himalayan regions. environment, development and sustainability, 23 (8), 12463-12478. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10668-020-01178-y magurran, a. e. (1988). ecological diversity and its measurement. princeton university press. malla, s.b., rajbhandari, s.b., shrestha, t.b., adhikari, p.m., adhikari, s.r., & shakya, p.r. (1986). flora of kathmandu valley. bulletin of department of medicinal plants of nepal. mandal, r. a., dutta, i. c., jha, p. k., & karmacharya, s. (2013). relationship between carbon stock and plant biodiversity in collaborative forests in terai, nepal. international scholarly research notices, 2013. https://doi. org/10.1155/2013/625767 marden, m., lambie, s., & burrows, l. (2021). species-specific basic stem-wood densities for twelve indigenous forest and shrubland species of known age, new zealand. new zealand journal of forestry science, 51. https://doi.org/10.33494/ nzjfs512021x121x måren, i. e., & vetaas, o. r. (2007). does regulated land use allow regeneration of keystone forest species in the annapurna conservation area, central himalaya. mountain research and development, 27(4), 345–351. https://doi. org/10.1659/mrd.0893 macdicken, k. g. (1997). a guide to monitoring carbon storage in forestry and agroforestry projects. moomaw, w. r., law, b. e., & goetz, s. j. (2020). focus on the role of forests and banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 75 gurung et al. soils in meeting climate change mitigation goals: summary. environmental research letters, 15 (4), 045009. https://doi. org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab6b38 nakicenovic, n., alcamo, j., davis, g., de vries, b., fenhann, j., gaffin, s., gregory, k., gr¨ubler, a jung, t.y., kram, t., & la rovere, e.l. (2000), special report on emissions scenarios, working group iii, intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc), cambridge university press, cambridge, uk, (http://www.grida. no/climate/ipcc/emission/index.htm). nascimento, h. e., & laurance, w. f. (2004). biomass dynamics in amazonian forest fragments. ecological applications, 14 (sp4), 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1890/016003 pandey, h. p., pandey, p., pokhrel, s., & mandal, r. a. (2019). relationship between soil properties and forests carbon: case of three community forests from far western nepal. bankojanakari, 29 (1), 43–52. https://doi.org/10.3126/banko.v29i1.25154 penman, j., gytarsky, m., hiraishi, t., krug, t., kruger, d., pipatti, r., buendia, l., miwa, k., ngara, t., & tanabe, k. (2003). good practice guidance for land use, land-use change and forestry. institute for global environmental strategies. poudel, a., sasaki, n., & abe, i. (2020). assessment of carbon stocks in oak forests along the altitudinal gradient: a case study in the panchase conservation area in nepal. global ecology and conservation, 23, e01171. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01171 pradhan, b. m., awasthi, k. d., & bajracharya, r. m. (2012). soil organic carbon stocks under different forest types in pokhare khola sub-watershed: a case study from dhading district of nepal. wit transactions on ecology and the environment, 157, 535– 546. https://doi.org//10.2495/air120471 press, j. r., shrestha, k. k., & sutton, d. a. (2000). annotated checklist of the flowering plants of nepal. natural history museum publications. pugh, t. a., lindeskog, m., smith, b., poulter, b., arneth, a., haverd, v., & calle, l. (2019). role of forest regrowth in global carbon sink dynamics. proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 116 (10), 4382–4387. https://doi.org/10.1073/ pnas.1810512116 riutta, t., kho, l. k., teh, y. a., ewers, r., majalap, n., & malhi, y. (2021). major and persistent shifts in below ground carbon dynamics and soil respiration following logging in tropical forests. global change biology, 27 (10), 2225–2240. https://doi. org/10.1111/gcb.15522 r core team. (2022). r: a language and environment for statistical computing. r foundation for statistical computing, vienna, austria. url: https://www.rproject.org/. saimun, m. s. r., karim, m. r., sultana, f., & arfin-khan, m. a. (2021). multiple drivers of tree and soil carbon stock in the tropical forest ecosystems of bangladesh. trees, forests and people, 5, 100–108. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2021.100108 shameem, s. a., & kangroo, i. n. (2011). comparative assessment of edaphic features and phytodiversity in lower dachigam national park, kashmir himalaya, india. african journal of environmental science and technology, 5 (11), 972–984. sharma, c. m., baduni, n. p., gairola, s., ghildiyal, s. k., & suyal, s. (2010). tree diversity and carbon stocks of some major forest types of garhwal himalaya, india. forest ecology and management, 260 (12), 2170–2179. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.09.014 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 76 gurung et al. sharma, k.p., bhatta, s.p., khatri, g.b., pajiyar, a., & joshi, d.k. (2020). estimation of carbon stock in the chir pine (pinusroxburghii sarg.) plantation forest of kathmandu valley, central nepal. journal of forest and environmental science, 36 (1), 37–46. https://doi.org/10.7747/jfes.2020.36.1.37 shrestha, l. j., devkota, m. p., & sharma, b. k. (2016). are sacred groves of kathmandu valley efficient in sequestering carbon?. journal of botany. http://dx.doi. org/10.1155/2016/7695154 shrestha, b. p., & devkota, b. p. (2013). carbon stocks in the oak and pine forests in salyan district, nepal. banko janakari, 23 (2), 30–36. https://doi.org/10.3126/banko. v23i2.15478 stephens, b.b., gurney, k.r., tans, p.p., sweeney, c., peters, w., bruhwiler, l., ciais, p., ramonet, m., bousquet, p., nakazawa, t., & aoki, s. (2007). weak northern and strong tropical land carbon uptake from vertical profiles of atmospheric co2. science, 316 (5832), 1732–1735. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1137004 sullivan, m.j., talbot, j., lewis, s.l., phillips, o.l., qie, l., begne, s.k., chave, j., cunisanchez, a., hubau, w., lopez-gonzalez, g., & miles, l. (2017). diversity and carbon storage across the tropical forest biome. scientific reports, 7 (1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39102 sundriyal, r. c., & sharma, e. (1996). anthropogenic pressure on tree structure and biomass in the temperate forest of mamlay watershed in sikkim. forest ecology and management, 81 (1-3), 113–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/03781127(95)03657-1 verma, a. k., & garkoti, s. c. (2019). population structure, soil characteristics and carbon stock of the regenerating banj oak forests in almora, central himalaya. forest science and technology, 15 (3), 117–127. https:// doi.org/10.1080/21580103.2019.1620135 walkley, a., & black, i.a. (1934). rapid titration method of organic carbon of soils. soil science, 37, 29–33. yu, m., wang, y., jiang, j., wang, c., zhou, g., & yan, j. (2019). soil organic carbon stabilization in the three subtropical forests: importance of clay and metal oxides. journal of geophysical research: biogeosciences, 124 (10), 2976–2990. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jg004995 zanne, a.e., lopez-gonzalez, g., coomes, d.a., ilic, j., jansen, s., lewis, s.l., miller, r.b., swenson, n.g., wiemann, m.c., & chave, j. (2009). global wood density database. http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.235 zhang, y., liu, t., guo, j., tan, z., dong, w., & wang, h. (2021). changes in the understory diversity of secondary pinustabulaeformis forests are the result of stand density and soil properties. global ecology and conservation, 28, e01628. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01628 zobel, d.b., jha, p.k., behan, m.j., & yadav, u.k.r. (1987). a practical manual for ecology. ratna book distributors, kathmandu, nepal, 149. http://www.worldfloraonline.org/ accessed on 03/12/2022 19 trees are an essential part of our life. trees can also be found outside of the forest areas. fao (1998) has defined trees outside forest (tof) as “the trees on the land that fulfils the requirements of forest and other wood land except that the area is less than 0.5 ha and the canopy is < 10%”. for example, scattered trees in permanent meadows and pastures; permanent tree crops such as fruit trees and coconut; trees in park and gardens, around buildings and in lines along streets, roads, railways, rivers, streams and canals; and trees in shelterbelts of less than 20 m width and 0.5 ha area. tof comprises all trees ranging from a single discrete individual tree to systematically managed trees (kleinn, 2000). tof includes both trees as well as shrubs (foresta at al., 2013). bamboo is a part of tof that is merchantable for house construction (bhusal & bashyal, 2020). in some cases, total wood production from tof is more than that from the forests (krishnankutty et al., 2008). tof has become an important source for timber globally but still there are no policies related to management, harvest, transit and marketing of timber from tof (ghosh & sinha, 2018). it plays a significant role in meeting the challenges of resource sustainability, poverty banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2, 2022 pp 19‒36https://doi.org/10.3126/banko.v32i2.50894 valuation of timber and firewood of trees outside forest along the urban–rural gradient in kathmandu valley, nepal this study aims to analyze diameter class, quality class, wood production potential and timber and firewood values of trees outside forest along the urban-rural gradient in kathmandu valley of central nepal. inventory was performed in 209 randomly selected points. circular plots of 20 m radius were used for inventory. all trees (height > 1.3 m and dbh ≥ 5 cm) in the plots were identified to species level and their height, dbh & quality class were recorded. in total 6,210 trees (236.35 ha-1) of 150 species belonging to 111 genera and 57 families were recorded. the total merchantable timber volumes of timber class a and b, and total timber volumes were highest in the urban stratum (537.08, 84.88 and 621.96 cu ft ha -1 respectively) followed by rural (442.94, 66.82 and 509.76 cu ft ha -1 respectively) and suburban (250.04, 47.31 and 297.35 cu ft ha -1 respectively) strata. but due to higher merchantable price of tree species recorded in rural stratum, total market value of class a timber was higher in rural stratum (npr 7,89,871/us$ 6,085), class b timber was higher in urban stratum (npr 1,08,255/us$ 834), total timber was higher in rural stratum (npr 8,70,410/us$ 6,706), firewood was higher in urban stratum (npr 4,88,709/us$ 3,765) and total wood was higher in urban stratum (npr 12,95,531/us$ 9,981). cinnamomum camphora was found as tree species with highest market price of total wood value in the study area. the study provides the baseline data of useful timber species through tof suggesting a need for appropriate timber producing species selection for plantation. keywords: diameter class, merchantable timber, quality class, strata, wood b. shrestha 1*, b. k. sharma 2, and r. k. p. yadav 1* received: 2, august 2022 revised: 9, november 2022 accepted: 14, december 2022 published: 31, december 2022 1 central department of botany, tribhuvan university, kathmandu, nepal; *e-mail: biobabita@gmail.com, rkp.yadav@cdbtu.edu.np 2 conservation development foundation (codefund), nepal, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1470-0617 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7432-8007 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5787-3134 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 20 shrestha et al. reduction, food security, lessening the pressure on forest resources, conserve farmland, increase agricultural productivity and food supplies (foresta et al., 2013). besides, tof also provide the impetus to the growth of wood-based industries and employment opportunities by increasing the extent of area under forest (fsi, 2003) especially more jobs to rural communities (asanzi et al., 2014). tof are prominent features in many landscapes, strata (urban, suburban and rural) and substrata (linear, clumped and scattered tree formations) (baffetta et al., 2010; dfrs, 2011) and serve a number of ecological and economic functions that might be similar to those of forests in different ways and extent (kleinn, 2000). wood includes all timber, industrial wood, firewood and charcoal (krishnankutty et al., 2008). it is still the most widely used fuel source in the developing countries (fao, 1999a). a timber readily harvestable is the merchantable timber (ouattara et al., 2014). according to dfrs (2015), a tree can be classified as: quality class a tree (high quality sound tree) a live tree which would produce at least one 6 m long saw log; quality class b tree (sound tree) –a live tree which would produce at least one 3 m long saw log; and quality class c tree (cull tree) a live tree not qualified as class a or class b but would produce fire wood only. forests resources, particularly the timber, face an uncertain future because of high deforestation rate, rapid population growth, timber rights allocation system, forest fees, poor law enforcement, increasing demand for timber and energy and sawmills being export oriented (oduro et al., 2014). generally, single trees in areas with lower density attain a larger diameter at breast height (dbh) and as a consequence, greater volume (bembenek et al., 2014). stem volume is an important parameter to estimate the monetary value of timber (crecente-campo et al., 2009). categorization of tof on the basis of diameter class and timber quality class is necessary for the valuation of the wood (pompa-garcía, et al., 2009; bembenek et al., 2014). merchantable value of the wood depends on the species (mejia et al., 2015). merchantable value gives an idea about the economic importance of a species. the organized tree planting first started in the malla era was continued up to the rana era (poudel, 2010). new species like araucaria araucana, other imported species from europe along with pines were planted to beautify kathmandu valley urban areas and palaces. later with the introduction of modern urbanenvironmental planning in the 1960s and 1970s, the government renovated roads and trails throughout kathmandu. again in the 1980s, urban environmental planners introduced a three-line green belt. trees were also planted along either side of other roads (poudel, 2010), roadside gardens and traffic islands (baral and kurmi, 2005). many parks were also built during different historical eras. a botanical garden and zoo were also built. thus, many native as well as exotic tree species were planted. kathmandu valley with the rapid urban population growth rate of 3.9 % is one of the fastest growing urban agglomerations in south asia (muzzini & aparicio, 2013). it is characterized not only by the rapid population growth rate in the urban core but also by the rapid expansion of urban sprawl in the periphery. plant communities are sensitive to urban expansion and therefore may serve as indicators for human-induced land use change (vakhlamova et al., 2014). the rural system usually is rich in natural vegetation (xiao et al., 2017) with more timber production whereas due to rapid urbanization, tof formations have increased with less timber production in urban area. thus tree species selection for afforestation in tof will help to minimize the demand-supply gap of timber (shrivastav et al., 2012). tof are little recognized in forest resources assessments, and it is only recently that tof started receiving attention from the research community and the general public (kleinn, 2000). nepal's annual import of wood and wooden materials exceeds npr 6 billion (rss, 2019.). in this context, the study of tof in terms of timber production would be important (oli, 2002). since fy 2004/05, the department of forests research and survey (now the forest research and training center), government of nepal has started the assessment of tof at national level (fao, 2009). but it is limited only to volume banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 21 shrestha et al. assessment by diameter class. the assessments of tof in terms of timber and firewood production along the urban-rural gradient are lacking. in this background, this study aims to analyze diameter class, quality class, wood production potential and timber and firewood values of tof along the urban-rural gradient in kathmandu valley of central nepal. materials and methods study area the study was carried out in kathmandu valley (ca. 66,500 ha in area), which includes three districts namely, kathmandu, lalitpur and bhaktapur of bagmati province in the middle hill region of central nepal (icimod, 2007; figure 1). this bowl-shaped valley extends between 27°32’13” n to 27°49’10” n latitude and 85°11’31” e to 85°31’38” e longitude. it’s elevation ranges between 1,100–2,700 m a.s.l. (mishra et al., 2019). it is characterized by subtropical vegetation and has a distinct monsoon climate with hot and wet summers and cold and dry winters. the average annual minimum and maximum temperature are 1.6°c in january and 31.9°c in april respectively and the average annual rainfall is 1,509 mm (based on dhm data between 2000-2018). sampling and data collection a two-phase sampling method was applied (lister et al., 2011). in first phase, the study area was divided into 500 m x 500 m grids (n = 2800) (figure 1). a total of 1,046 sites with tof were identified under urban, suburban and rural stratum categorized on the basis of population and urban development (gon, 2014). google earth image interpretation showed that more sites with tof were found in urban (440) stratum than in suburban (366) and rural (240) strata. twenty percent of sites with tof from three strata [urban figure 1: map of the study area. the distribution of the sample points in urban, suburban and rural strata banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 22 shrestha et al. (88), suburban (73) and rural (48) strata] were selected randomly for the field survey (figure 1). in second phase field survey was done. circular sample plots with 20 m radii (area = 0.13 ha) were used for the survey (fra/dfrs, 2011). plant characteristics (height, dbh and quality class) of woody plants (trees and shrubs) with height > 1.3 m and diameter at breast height (dbh) ≥ 5 cm were recorded. dbh was measured at 1.3 m above the ground using diameter tape and the tree height was measured using suunto clinometer (pm-5/360 pc). tree quality class was also noted for individual trees. plants were identified to species level based on herbarium specimen prepared following standard procedure (bridson & forman, 1998). the vernacular names of the plant species were also recorded with the help of local people and verified with sharma (2014). identification was done by using literatures such as flora of kathmandu valley (malla et al., 1986), followed by comparison with identified specimens previously deposited at tribhuvan university central herbarium (tuch), nepal, scientific names were determined. press et al. (2000) and plants of the world online (https:// powo.science.kew.org/) were followed for plant nomenclature. species richness of the study area and across the strata were estimated with respect to the area sampled at the study area and each stratum. average species richness was calculated as the total number of species recorded per plot (dorji et al., 2014). growth forms of the plants were based on sharma (2014). frequency of the individual tree species were also calculated (danekhu et al., 2016-18). data analysis dbh and height of the recorded trees were used. estimation of above ground biomass of trees the total above ground tree biomass was estimated using allometric equation developed by petersson et al. (2012). agtb = 0.0509 ρ d2 h where, agtb = aboveground tree biomass (kg), ρ= wood specific gravity (g cm-3), d = tree diameter at breast height (cm), h = tree height (m). sharma & pukkala (1990) and zanne et al. (2009) were used for wood specific gravities of tree species. for the tree/shrub species for which wood specific gravity data were not available, the arithmetic mean of all known tree/shrub species in the study area was used (brown et al., 1989). estimation of biomass of merchantable timber and firewood merchantable weights of log of quality class a tree and quality class b tree were calculated only for trees with dbh ≥30 cm as such trees are regarded as mature trees (dof, 2004 and brown et al., 2020). the biomass of merchantable timber of log of class a tree and class b tree were estimated using following allometric equations adapted from petersson et al. (2012). merchantable weight of log of class a tree agtb = 0.0509 * ρ* d2* 6 (kg) merchantable weight of log of class b tree agtb= 0.0509 * ρ* d2 * 3 (kg) where, agtb = aboveground tree biomass (kg), ρ= wood specific gravity (g cm-3), d = tree diameter at breast height (cm), 6 and 3 are the lengths (m) of merchantable logs of class a and class b trees respectively. the biomass of firewood was calculated for timber yielding trees by subtracting the biomass of merchantable timber from the total agtb of trees. the total agtb of trees of class c were also accounted as fire wood biomass. these biomasses were converted into kg ha-1. economic valuation of merchantable timber and firewood as the merchantable timber are sold in cu ft measurement, biomass of merchantable timber of class a and class b trees in ton ha-1 were converted into volume (cubic feet) by multiplying with 40 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 23 shrestha et al. (wallis, 1970). market value of merchantable timber of class a and b were calculated by multiplying the merchantable volumes by the per cu ft market price of timber. unlike timber, the firewood is sold in per kg measurement. so, the market value of firewood was calculated by multiplying the firewood biomass by per kg market price of firewood. retail market prices of class a, class b logs and firewood of tree species were collected from the retail depots (n = 4) (ahmed, 2008). the average market prices were used for valuation. for the tree species for which market prices were not available (both timber and firewood), the average values of market prices of all tree species were used (bembenek et al., 2014). market values of timber of class a and class b were added to that of firewood to get the total economic value of individual tree species. all these values were then summed up to get the total economic value of all tree species except the bamboo. as bamboos are sold as culms (bhusal & bashyal, 2020), their merchantable values were calculated by multiplying the density per hectare by average market price. all these prices were then summed up to get the total merchantable value of wood in each stratum and the study area. economic values in npr were converted into us$ by multiplying with 129.8 (1 us$ = 129.8 npr, accessed on 11/7/2022) statistical analysis first the data were standardized. standardized values are calculated by subtracting the sample mean of each variable from each observation and dividing this difference by the sample standard deviation (gotelli & ellison, 2013). those values were then tested for normality. however, the data were not normal and their normality did not improve even after transformation so kruskalwallis test with post-hoc mann-whitney test at p ≤ 0.05 were used for comparison among groups. past (v 4.09; hammer et al., 2001) was used for analysis. results plant species diversity a total of 150 species of plants [trees (n=121) and shrubs (n=29)] belonging to 111 genera and 57 families were enumerated from the study area. though the average species richness was found to be higher in urban stratum than in suburban and rural strata, kruskal-wallis test followed by mann-whitney test showed that there are no significant differences among the strata (table 1 and table 2). table 1: species richness of trees outside forest along the urban-rural gradient in kathmandu valley, nepal. number of plots, species richness (range), species richness ha-1 and average species richness (ha-1) in three strata are shown. different superscript letters indicate statistical significance at p<0.05 (kruskal-wallis test followed by mann whitney test) strata number of plots species richness (range) species richness (ha-1) average species richness (ha-1) urban 88 109 (1-21) 9.85 55.95±31.67a suburban 73 89 (1-16) 9.7 46.31±26.99a rural 48 85 (2-15) 14.09 45.74±23.35a banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 24 shrestha et al. table 2: scientific name, vernacular name, english name, family and frequency of species of trees outside forest species found in the study area s.n. scientific name vernacular name english name growth form family frequency (%) 1 acacia catechu (l.f.) willd. khayar cutch tree tree leguminosae 0.48 2 acacia nilotica (l.) willd. ex del. babool gum arabic tree tree leguminosae 0.96 3 acer oblongum wall. ex dc. phirphire himalayan maple tree sapindaceae 0.48 4 agave cantula roxb. ketuke century plant shrub agavaceae 0.48 5 alangium chinense (lour.) harms baman patti chinese alangium tree alangiaceae 0.48 6 albizia julibrissin durazz. rato siris mimosa tree tree leguminosae 9.09 7 albizia procera (roxb.) benth. seto siris white siris tree tree leguminosae 0.96 8 alnus nepalensis d. don uttis alder tree betulaceae 10.05 9 alstonia neriifolia d. don tree apocynaceae 1.91 10 alstonia scholaris (l.) r. br. chatiwan devil's tree tree apocynaceae 3.35 11 anthocephalus chinensis (lam.) a. rich. ex walp. kadamgachi kadam tree rubiaceae 0.48 12 araucaria bidwillii hook. dhengre sallo monkey puzzle tree araucariaceae 6.70 13 araucaria columnaris j. r. forst & hook. coral reef araucaria tree araucariaceae 0.48 14 araucaria heterophylla (salisb.) franco living christmas tree tree araucariaceae 8.13 15 areca catechu l. bhale supari betel nut tree palmae 1.44 16 artocarpus integra (thumb.) merr. rookh katahar jack fruit tree moraceae 0.48 17 azadirachta indica a. juss. neem neem tree tree meliaceae 2.39 18 bambusa nepalensis stapleton bansa bamboo grass gramineae 3.83 19 bauhinia variegata l. koiralo purple orchid tree tree leguminosae 2.87 20 berberis asiatica roxb. ex dc. chutro barberry shrub berberidaceae 0.96 21 borassus flabellifer l. taad toddy palm tree palmae 5.74 22 bougainvillea glabra choisy kagaj phool paper flower shrub nyctaginaceae 2.39 23 brugmansia arborea pers. dhaturo angel's trumplet shrub solanaceae 1.91 24 buchanania latifolia roxb. chiraungi cuddaph almond tree anacardiaceae 0.48 25 buddleja asiatica lour. bhimsenpati butterfly bush shrub loganiaceae 8.61 26 burretiokentia vieillardii pic. serm. taad tiger palm tree palmae 0.48 27 callistemon citrinus (curtis) skeels kalki phool bottle brush tree myrtaceae 19.14 28 camellia japonica l. chinia guransa garden camellia shrub theaceae 0.96 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 25 shrestha et al. s.n. scientific name vernacular name english name growth form family frequency (%) 29 carica papaya l. mewa papaya tree caricaceae 2.39 30 carya illinoensis (wangenheim) k. koch picanut pecan tree juglandaceae 0.48 31 caryota urens l. jagar fishtail palm tree palmae 0.96 32 cassia fistula l. raj brichya cassia pods tree leguminosae 0.48 33 cassia mimosaides l. amala jhar tooth cup shrub leguminosae 0.48 34 casuarina equisetifolia l. jangali jhyau whistling pine tree casuarinaceae 0.48 35 cedrus deodara (roxb. ex d. don) g. don devdaru deodar tree pinaceae 0.96 36 celtis australis l. khari europian nettle tree tree ulmaceae 29.67 37 cestrum nocturnum l. rat ki rani night jasmine shrub solanaceae 0.48 38 choerospondias axillaris (roxb.) b.l.burtt & a.w.hill lapsi nepali hog plum tree anacardiaceae 11.96 39 cinnamomum camphora (l.) j. presl kapoor camphor tree lauraceae 41.15 40 cinnamomum tamala (buch-ham) nees & eberm. tejpatta cinnamon leaf tree lauraceae 0.48 41 citrus aurantifolia (christm) swingle kagati lemon tree rutaceae 5.74 42 citrus jambhiri lush. jyamir florida lemon tree rutaceae 0.96 43 citrus limon (l.) burn. f. nibuwa lime tree rutaceae 1.91 44 citrus maxima (burm.) herr. bhogate pummelo tree rutaceae 18.18 45 citrus reticulata blanco. suntala mandarin orange tree rutaceae 0.48 46 cotinus coggygria (scop.) rato peepal smoke bush shrub anacardiaceae 0.48 47 croton roxburghii balakrishnan ach croton tree euphorbeaceae 0.48 48 cycus pectinata buch.ham. kalbal cycus tree cycadaceae 0.96 49 cyphomandra betaceae (cav.) sendt tyamter tree tomato shrub solanaceae 0.96 50 dalbergia sissoo roxb. sisau indian rosewood tree leguminoceae 4.31 51 diospyros kaki thunb. haluwabed persimon tree ebenaceae 4.31 52 diploknema butyracea (roxb.) lam. chiuri butter fruit tree sapotaceae 0.48 53 duranta erecta l. nil kanda golden dewdrops shrub verbenaceae 0.96 54 elaeocarpus sphaericus (gaertn.) k. schum. rudrakshya utrasum bead tree tree elaeocarpaceae 5.74 55 eriobotrya japonica (thumb.) lindl. laukat loquat tree rosaceae 0.48 56 erythrina arborescens roxb. theki kath himlayan coral bean tree leguminosae 0.48 57 erythrina stricta roxb. phaledo indian coral tree tree leguminosae 1.91 58 eucalyptus camaldulensis dehn. masala river red gum tree myrtaceae 4.78 59 euphorbia pulcherrima willd. ex klotzsch lalupate poinsettia shrub euphorbeaceae 1.91 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 26 shrestha et al. s.n. scientific name vernacular name english name growth form family frequency (%) 60 ficus auriculata lour. timilo roxburgh fig tree moraceae 2.39 61 ficus benghalensis l. bar banyan fig tree moraceae 5.74 62 ficus benjamina l. sami weeping fig tree moraceae 4.78 63 ficus elastica roxb. rubber plant rubber plant tree moraceae 7.18 64 ficus lacor buch.-ham. kabhro java fig tree moraceae 5.26 65 ficus neriifolia sm. dudhilo willow leaf fig tree moraceae 0.48 66 ficus religiosa l. pipal sacred fig tree moraceae 25.84 67 ficus semicordata buch ham ex sm. khanayo drooping fig tree moraceae 0.48 68 fraxinus floribunda wall. lankure ash tree oleaceae 1.44 69 ginkgo biloba l. maidenhair tree tree ginkgoiaceae 0.48 70 gossypium arborium l. kapas cotton plant shrub malvaceae 0.48 71 grevillea robusta a. cunn. ex r. br. kagiyo silky oak tree proteaceae 29.19 72 hibiscus brackenridgei a. gray rose mallow shrub malvaceae 0.48 73 hibiscus rosa-sinensis l. ghanti phool china rose shrub malvaceae 1.44 74 homalium napaulense (dc.) benth. falame kanda tree flacourtiaceae 0.48 75 ilex excelsa (wall.) hook. fil. pwanle tree aquifoliaceae 1.44 76 jacaranda mimosifolia d.don nilo phool jacaranda tree bignoniaceae 19.14 77 jasminum mesnyi hance double jai primrose jasmine shrub oleaceae 0.48 78 juglans nigra l. hade okhar black walnut tree juglandaceae 4.31 79 juglans regia l. dante okhar english walnut tree juglandaceae 2.87 80 juniperus chinensis l. dhupi chinese juniper shrub cupressaceae 0.96 81 juniperus communis l. dhupi pencil cedar shrub cupressaceae 0.48 82 juniperus indica bertol. dhupi black juniper shrub cupressaceae 6.22 83 juniperus recurva buch.ham. ex d. don dhupi himalayan juniper tree cupressaceae 3.35 84 lagerstroemia indica l. asare phool crape myrtle tree lythraceae 12.44 85 lagerstroemia parviflora roxb. bot dhairo crepe flower tree lythraceae 0.48 86 lagerstroemia reginae roxb. thulo asare queen's crape myrtle shrub lythraceae 0.48 87 leucaena leucocephala (lam.) de wit epil ipil ipil tree leguminoseae 0.96 88 ligustrum confusum decne. kanike rookh privet tree oleaceae 0.48 89 lindera pulcherrima (nees) benth. ex hook. f. shyal phusre wild privet tree lauraceae 0.96 90 litchi chinensis sonner lichi lychee tree santalaceae 0.96 91 litsea monopetala (roxb.) pers. kutmiro manyflowered litsea tree lauraceae 3.83 92 macadamia integrifolia maiden & betche queensland nut tree proteaceae 0.48 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 27 shrestha et al. s.n. scientific name vernacular name english name growth form family frequency (%) 93 madhuca longofolia (koeing) chiuri macbride tree sapotaceae 0.48 94 magnolia soulangeana soul. neel kamal saucer magnolia tree magnoliaceae 0.48 95 mahonia nepaulensis dc. jamanemandro mahonia tree berberidaceae 0.48 96 malvaviscus arboreus cav. khursani phool turkcap shrub malvaceae 0.96 97 mangifera indica l. aap mango tree anacardiaceae 7.18 98 manglietia insignis (wall.) blume rookh kamal tree magnoliaceae 5.74 99 melia azedarach l. bakaino china berry tree meliaceae 14.35 100 michelia champaka l. champ champaca tree magnoliaceae 4.78 101 michelia fuscata bl. kankakchampa banana shrub shrub magnoliaceae 0.48 102 miliusa velutina (dunal) hook. f. & thombs kali kath velveti miliusa tree annonaceae 0.48 103 morus alba l. kimbu common mulberry tree moraceae 5.74 104 murraya koenigii (l.) sprengel kadi patta curry tree tree rutaceae 0.48 105 musa paradisiaca l. kera banana shrub musaceae 0.96 106 myrica esculenta buchham. ex d. don kafal box myrtale tree myricaceae 0.96 107 myrsine capitellata wall. seti kath tree myrsinaceae 0.48 108 nerium indicum miller karbir indian oleander tree apocynaceae 1.44 109 nerium oleander variegatum kannel kaner tree apocynaceae 2.39 110 nyctanthes arbor-tristis l. parijat coral jasmine tree oleaceae 7.66 111 persea americana mill. ghiu phal avocado tree lauraceae 8.61 112 persea duthiei (king ex hook. f.) kosterm. kaulo duthiei bay tree tree lauraceae 2.87 113 phoenix humilis royle. khajur dwarf date palm tree palmae 0.96 114 phoenix sylvestris roxb. taadi wild date palm tree palmae 0.48 115 phyllanths emblica l. amala emblic tree euphorbeaceae 2.87 116 pinus roxburghii sarg. khote salla chir pine tree pinaceae 14.35 117 platanus orientalis l. chinar oriental plane tree platanaceae 0.48 118 podocarpus neriifolius d. don gunsi oleander podocarp tree podocarpaceae 0.48 119 populus jacquemontiana dode. lahare pipal poplar tree salicaceae 11.96 120 prunus avium l. cherry sweet cherry tree rosaceae 0.48 121 prunus cerasoides d. don paiyun himalayan cherry tree rosaceae 9.57 122 prunus domestica l. aaloo bokhada europian plum shrub rosaceae 7.18 123 prunus persica (l.) batsch aaroo peach tree rosaceae 8.61 124 psidium guajava l. amba guava tree myrtaceae 17.22 125 punica granatum l. anar pomegranate tree punicaceae 4.78 126 pyrus communis l. naspati europian pear tree rosaceae 0.48 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 28 shrestha et al. s.n. scientific name vernacular name english name growth form family frequency (%) 127 pyrus crenata buch. ham. ex d. don. naspati wild pear tree rosaceae 0.96 128 pyrus malus l. syau apple tree rosaceae 0.96 129 pyrus pashia buch.ham. ex d. don. mayal wild himalayan pear tree rosaceae 5.74 130 pyrus pyrifolia (burn.) nak. naspati asian pear tree rosaceae 9.57 131 quercus glauca thumb. falant ring-cupped oak tree fagaceae 0.48 132 rhododendron arboreum smith lali guransa tree rhododendron tree ericaceae 0.96 133 ricinus communis l. andir castor bean shrub euphorbiaceae 0.48 134 salix tetrasperma roxb. bainsa indian willow tree salicaceae 11.00 135 sambucus hookeri rehder galeni elder tree sambucaceae 6.70 136 sapindus mukorossi gaertn. rittha soap berry tree sapindaceae 0.96 137 schefflera impressa (c. b. clarke) harms simaal schefflera vine tree araliaceae 1.44 138 schima wallichii (dc.) korth. chilaune needlewood tree tree theaceae 6.22 139 spathodea campanulata p. beauv african tulip tree tree bignoniaceae 0.48 140 syzygium cumini (l) skeels jamuna malabar plum tree myrtaceae 8.61 141 syzygium jambos (l.) alston gulab jamun rose apple tree myrtaceae 2.87 142 tecoma stans (l.) h. b. k. ghata pushpi yellow bell shrub bignoniaceae 0.96 143 thespesia lampas (cav.) dalz. & gibs. ban kapas common mallow shrub malvaceae 1.91 144 thuja orientalis l. mayur pankhi cedar tree cupressaceae 29.19 145 toona ciliata m. roem. tooni indian cedar tree meliaceae 0.48 146 trachycarpus sp. h. wendl. taad fan palm tree palmae 0.96 147 vitex negundo l. simali five-leaved chaste tree shrub verbenaceae 0.96 148 woodfordia fruticosa (l.) kurz dhangero fire flame bush shrub lythraceae 0.48 149 zanthoxylum armatum dc. timur prickly ash tree rutaceae 0.48 150 ziziphus incurva roxb. hade bayar bead plum tree rhamnaceae 1.44 tree density, tree height and stem dbh the average tree density in the study area was 236.35±173.12 ha-1. maximum height of the tree was 31.50 m with an average of 6.83±3.77 m. similarly, maximum dbh of the stem was 203 cm with an average of 21.44±19.49 cm. the average tree density was higher in suburban stratum (248.44±198.56 ha-1) than in urban (232.58±155.08 ha-1) and rural (224.88±165.31 ha-1) strata (table 3). however, the difference was not significant. the tallest tree (31.50 m) and widest tree (203 cm) were found in urban stratum. the urban stratum was found to have significantly taller and wider trees than suburban and rural strata (table 3). banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 29 shrestha et al. table 3: average tree density (±sd), maximum and average (±sd), tree height and maximum and average (±sd) stem dbh of trees outside forest along the urban-rural gradient in kathmandu valley, nepal. different superscript letters indicate statistical significance at p<0.05. strata average tree density (number of stem ha-1) tree height (m) stem dbh (cm) maximum average maximum average urban 232.58±155.08 a 31.5 7.64±4.63a 203 22.80±19.85a suburban 248.44±198.56 a 20.3 6.43±2.97bc 157.3 20.36±16.80b rural 224.88±165.31 a 23 5.92±2.68c 187 20.62±22.59b tree density by quality class and stem diameter class the average density of merchantable trees of quality class a, quality class b and quality class c in the study are were 20.90±37.01 ha-1, 13.09±22.16 ha-1 and 202.37±178.53 ha-1 respectively. the average density of merchantable trees of quality class a was found to be significantly higher (p<0.05) in urban stratum than in rural stratum but that did not differ significantly from that in suburban stratum (table 4). moreover, the differences in average densities of merchantable trees of quality class b and c were not significant among three strata (p<0.05). similarly, the average stem densities of diameter classes 5-9.90 cm, 10-19.90 cm, 20-29.90 cm and ≥ 30 cm in the study area were found to be 79.51±107.30 ha -1, 64.28±77.09 ha-1, 34.94±36.62 ha-1 and 57.24±60.92 ha-1 respectively (table 4). there were no significant differences in the average stem densities across different strata except for the diameter class 20-29.90 cm. urban and suburban strata were found to have significant stem density of diameter class 20-29.90 cm than the rural stratum (table 4). table 4: average densities (±sd) of trees by tree quality classes and stem diameter classes of trees outside forest along the urban-rural gradient in kathmandu valley, nepal. different superscript letters indicate statistical significance at p<0.05. strata average density of trees by quality class (ha-1) average stem density by diameter class (ha-1) (cm) a b c 5-9.90 10-19.90 20-29.90 ≥30 urban 28.20±45.50a 15.37±23.57 a 189.02±160.72 a 66.26±93.69 a 68.97±71.06 a 37.06±35.84a 60.29±60.12 a suburban 18.85±29.60ab 11.77±21.87 a 217.83±207.20 a 87.83±119.45 a 61.35±83.17 a 40.10±43.78a 59.17±67.38 a rural 10.61±25.96b 10.94±19.87 a 203.35±163.62 a 92.80±111.09 a 60.16±79.29 a 23.20±20.75b 48.72±51.80 a volume and biomass of merchantable timber and firewood out of 53 tree species with merchantable timber recorded in the study area, 13 species could yield timber of quality class a, 13 could yield timber of quality class b, while 27 could yield timber of both quality class a and b (appendix i). the total volume of merchantable timber in the study area was 625.51 cu ft ha -1 with 549.33 cu ft ha -1 and 76.18 cu ft ha -1 as volumes of merchantable timber class a and class b. total biomass of firewood was 50840.85 kg ha-1. the volume of merchantable timber was highest in the urban stratum followed by rural and suburban strata while biomass of firewood was highest in urban stratum followed by suburban and rural strata (table 5). https://frtc.gov.np/downloadfile/shrestha%20etall%20appendix_1672983385.pdf?fbclid=iwar2ejun79jcdgh9cvpgdyimrov-7lfowzbappcctcpa9s8if3ysscihkwcq banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 30 shrestha et al. table 5: volume of merchantable timber and biomass of firewood from trees outside forest along the urban-rural gradient in kathmandu valley, nepal. volume ha-1 by quality class and total volume ha-1 of merchantable timber and total biomass ha-1 of firewood strata class a timber (cu ft ha-1) class b timber (cu ft ha -1) total timber (cu ft ha -1) firewood (kg ha -1) urban 537.08 84.88 621.96 55835.49 suburban 250.04 47.31 297.35 39410.01 rural 442.94 66.82 509.76 39032.12 market value of merchantable wood the total market values were calculated based on the per unit market price of the timber and firewood in the study area (appendix ii). based upon the market values of individual tree species. (appendix iii), the total market values of timber class a, timber class b, total timber, firewood and total wood from the tof were found to be npr. 746,613 (us$ 5,752), npr. 96,358 (us$ 742), npr. 842,971 (us$ 6,494), npr. 516,612 (us$ 3,980) and npr. 1362,880 (us$ 10,500) ha-1. the market value of total merchantable timber was highest in the rural stratum followed by urban and suburban strata while that of firewood was highest in urban stratum followed by suburban and rural strata (appendix iv, appendix v, appendix vi and table 6). cinnamomum camphora was the tree species with highest market value of timber class a, timber class b, total timber and total wood value ha-1 as (npr. 229,851) (us$ 1,771), (npr. 17,399) (us$ 134), (npr. 247,250) (us$ 1,905) and (npr. 2,96,101) (us$ 2,281) in the study area (table 7). pinus roxburghii was the tree species with highest market value of firewood as (npr. 63,793) (us$ 491) here. rural stratum had the highest merchantable values for timber class a in c. camphora, for total timber in c. camphora, for firewood in eucalyptus camaldulensis and for total wood in c. camphora while the urban stratum had the highest merchantable value for timber class b in c. camphora. economically, c. camphora, recorded from 86 plots and p. roxburghii recorded from 30 plots showed the highest merchantable timber and firewood values respectively in the study area. 32 timber class a and 49 timber class b logs of c. camphora were estimated from the study sites. c. camphora was second highest expensive species, the retail market prices of which varied from npr 2200 to 3200. e. camaldulensis, s. cumini and f. floribunda were other tree species with more economic valuations. local merchantable market prices matter during valuation because they vary for a single species. table 6: market values (mv) of merchantable wood i.e., timber plus firewood from trees outside forest along the urban-rural gradient in kathmandu valley, nepal. market values of timber of class a and b, total timber, firewood and total wood in npr and us$ strata mv of timber class a (npr ha-1) us$ mv of timber class b (npr ha-1) us$ mv of total timber (npr ha-1) us$ mv of firewood (npr ha-1) us$ mv of total wood (npr ha-1) us$ urban 698,567 5,382 108,255 834 806,821 6,216 488,709 3,765 1,295,531 9,981 suburban 383,485 2,954 60,759 468 444,244 3,423 444,104 3,421 888,828 6,848 rural 789,871 6,085 80,539 620 870,410 6,706 380,303 2,930 1,250,713 9,636 https://frtc.gov.np/downloadfile/shrestha%20etall%20appendix_1672983385.pdf?fbclid=iwar2ejun79jcdgh9cvpgdyimrov-7lfowzbappcctcpa9s8if3ysscihkwcq https://frtc.gov.np/downloadfile/shrestha%20etall%20appendix_1672983385.pdf?fbclid=iwar2ejun79jcdgh9cvpgdyimrov-7lfowzbappcctcpa9s8if3ysscihkwcq banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 31 shrestha et al. table 7: tree species and their market values (mv) of timber class a, timber class b, total timber, fire wood and the total wood in different strata of the study area strata species mv of timber class a (npr ha-1) us$ species mv of timber class b (npr ha-1) us$ species mv of total timber (npr ha-1) us$ species mv of firewood (npr ha-1) us$ species mv of total wood (npr ha-1) us$ urban cinnamomum camphora 218,142 1,681 cinnamomum camphora 31,077 239 cinnamomum camphora 249,219 1,920 pinus roxburghii 86,736 668 cinnamomum camphora 315,156 2,428 suburban eucalyptus camaldulensis 116,498 898 syzigium cumini 16,069 124 eucalyptus camaldulensis 120,125 925 pinus roxburghii 91,760 707 syzigium cumini 175,826 1,355 rural cinnamomum camphora 530,006 4,083 fraxinus floribunda 15,196 117 cinnamomum camphora 543,055 4,184 eucalyptus camaldulensis 92,461 712 cinnamomum camphora 591,656 4,558 discussion a total of 150 plant species were reported from the study area (table 2). vakhlamova et al. (2014) found slightly high species richness (160) in urban–rural gradient in kazakhstan. it might be due to enumeration of all vascular plants regardless of dbh in the study. moreover, thompson (2010) found comparatively less species diversity (22) from in khartoum, sudan. it is possibly due to enumeration of only the living fences in the urban and suburban gardens where homogeneity of species occurs. species richness in terms of stratum area (ha-1) was higher in rural stratum than in urban and suburban strata (table 1). vakhlamova et al. (2014) also found an increasing trend of species richness from urban to rural in urban–rural gradient in kazakhstan, western siberia. this pattern can be explained by the fact that plant life forms and evolutionary strategies do not follow any urban-rural gradient, rather are affected by varied habitat and landscape features. in addition, reduced suitable habitats for plants in densely built-up urban areas and excessive trampling of vegetated patches might cause decrease in plant diversity (aronson et al., 2014). average species richness (ha-1) was higher in urban stratum than in suburban and rural strata which are due to trees were planted types in the urban stratum while majority of them were natural woodlots in remaining strata. tree density in the present study area was found higher than that in tof in morang (15 ha-1) (dfrs, 2007) and nawalparasi (10 ha-1) districts (kharal et al., 2008) which might be due to dominance of agricultural lands and less tree plantation culture in terai area. the average tree density was found more in suburban stratum than in urban and rural strata which is due to abundance of trees with 20-29.9 stem diameter class indicating more branched trees here. the higher average tree density in urban stratum than in rural in this study (table 3) showed the similar patterns in morang and nawalparasi districts (dfrs, 2007; kharal et al., 2008) this pattern could be due to plantation drives (also includes exotic species) during panchayat regime in the urban areas in kathmandu valley and major other urban areas (goutam, 2018). moreover, rural people cut down the trees for domestic use. the average trees heights and average dbh also followed the same distribution pattern (dfrs, 2007 and kharal et al., 2008). average density of tree quality class a and b were found more in urban stratum than in suburban and rural strata whereas that of tree quality class c was found more in rural stratum than in suburban and urban strata (table 4). this is supported by the occurrence of more average stem density and distribution of mature trees (≥30) in the urban stratum. this is due to more abundance of such mature trees eucalyptus camaldulensis, ficus elastica, jacaranda mimosifolia etc.) in the parks, roads, river and stream lines etc. whereas due to less dominance of such sized trees, rural stratum had less average tree density with dominance of smaller stem diameter class. furthermore, both tallest tree and widest tree were also recorded in urban stratum. out of four stem diameter classes, dominance of smaller diameter class (5-9.90 cm and 10-19.90 cm) in the urban stratum in the study area (table 4) is similar as morgenroth et al. (2020) reported in america’s urban forests as > 40% of trees in banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 32 shrestha et al. the smallest dbh class (< 15 cm) which could be attributed to preference for smaller ornamental trees as bottle brush, albizia, junipers etc. in urban areas or a recent increase in tree planting efforts. a greater proportion of stem diameter classes of 10-19.9 cm and ≥ 30 cm in urban stratum were also same as morgenroth et al. (2020) found the dominance of 16–45 cm dbh class in urban forests. this may be due to existence of youthful trees. as regards the stem densities of diameter classes 5-9.90 cm, 10-19.90 cm, 20-29.90 cm and ≥ 30 cm in kathmandu valley, values are higher than those reported from morang (dfrs, 2007) and nawalparasi (kharal et al., 2008); that could be attributed to less planted trees in both morang district and nawalparasi district. further, stem density of lower diameter class (5-9.90 cm) was higher in rural stratum than that in suburban and urban strata whereas stem densities of higher diameters were higher in urban and suburban strata except for trees of diameter 20-29.9 cm which showed uneven distribution. this result is consistent with the findings reported from morang district (dfrs, 2007), but different from that reported from nawalparasi district (kharal et al., 2008). this could be due to more naturally regenerated trees in rural stratum in both morang and the study area. also, tree plantation drive earlier during rana regime and panchayat regime would have contributed to this pattern of tree size class distribution (goutam, 2018). tof are important in terms of wood production. dfrs (2015), on the basis of fao recommendation, has stated that 13.29% of middle mountains forests have the potential of timber production. this study shows slightly higher value (14.38%) of timber production by tof. similar results are found in india (fsi, 2011; ghosh & sinha, 2018) as well as in kerala, india (krishnankutty et al., 2008). but yadav et al. (2020) reported higher percentage of timber production (25.17%) from tof in dhangadhi municipality, siraha district, nepal which is due to more distribution of planted tree species with wider dbh there. in a study by bembenek et al. (2014), high mean tree height, mean dbh and high mean volume of merchantable timber with low mean tree density of scots pine were reported. the higher volumes of merchantable timbers of class a and class b in the urban stratum than in rural and suburban strata in the study area could be due to distribution of more mature and taller trees. it might be due to conservation of the old trees in the parks, road sides, river lines, pond lines, etc. similarly, lower volumes of merchantable timbers of class a and class b in the rural stratum might be due to lesser tree density as well as less dominance of stem density of ≥ 30 diameter class. conclusions urban tof are important in terms of species diversity whereas suburban tof are richer in terms of density. due to the presence of large sized tree species planted during rana regime, urban tof have taller and wider trees. due to more tree density of timber class a and class b in urban stratum, volumes of total merchantable timber along with timber class a and class b and biomass of merchantable firewood were also found higher here. rural tof are economically more important. due to high market prices of the wood of tree species recorded in rural stratum, market value of timber class a and total timber were found higher in rural stratum than the others. urban tof are also economically important because it showed high market value for b class timber, firewood and total wood. in terms of tof species, c. camphora and p. roxburghii were found to be economically more important as they showed the highest merchantable timber and firewood values. people should be encouraged for afforestation in tof areas with these species which offers opportunity of timber availability and could help in local livelihood. on the other hand, import of wood and wooden materials could be minimized as well as urban greenery would be enhanced. acknowledgements mr. mahendra shrestha, mr. mayukh shrestha, mrs. laxmi joshi shrestha, mrs. prativa neupane and local people are acknowledged for their support during data collection. mr. mayukh shrestha helped in developing sampling location points map of the study area. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 33 shrestha et al. references ahmed, p. (2008). trees outside forests (tof): a case study of wood production and consumption in haryana. international forestry, 10(2), 165–172. aronson, m. f., la sorte, f. a., nilon, c. h., katti, m., goddard, m. a., lepczyk, c. a., et al. (2014). a global analysis of the impact of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic drivers. proceedings of the royal society, series b.281, 1–8. asanzi, p., putzel, l., gumbo, d., & mupeta, m. (2014). rural livelihoods and the chinese timber trade in zambia's western province. international forestry review,16(4), 447458. url: https://doi.org/10.1505/146554 814813484095. baffetta, f., corona, p., & fattorini, l. (2010). assessing the attributes of scattered trees outside the forest by a multi-phase sampling strategy. oxford journals, life sciences, forestry, 84(3), 315–325. baral, r., b., & kurmi p., p. (2005). assessing city beutification with plants: the kathmandu perspective. banko jankari, 15(1), 49–57. bembenek, m., karaszewski, z., kondracki, k., lacka, a., mederski, p. s., skorupski, m., strzelinski, p., sulkowski, s., &wegiel. a. (2014). value of merchantable timber in scots pine stands of different densities. drewno, 57(192), 133–142. doi: 10.12841/wood.1644–3985.s14.09. bhusal, s., & bashyal, s. (2020). assessing the status, utilization and market value chain of bamboo species (case study from chure area of arghakhanchi district, nepal). global scientific journals,8(7), 2254–2275. issn 2320–9186. www. globalscientificjournal.com bridson, d., & forman, l. (1998). the herberium hand book, 3rd edition, royal botanical garden, uk. brown, s., gillespie, a. j. r., & lugo, a., e. (1989). biomass estimation for tropical forests with applications to forest inventory data. forest science, 35(4), 881–902. brown, h. c. a., berninger, f. a., larjavaara, m., & appiah, m. (2020). above-ground carbon stocks and timber value of old timber plantations, secondary and primary forests in southern ghana. forest ecology and management, 472,1-11. 118236.https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118236 crecente-campo, f., alboreca, a. r. & di-eguezaranda, u. (2009). a merchantable volume system for pinus sylvestris l. in the major mountain ranges of spain. ann. for. sci., 66(8), 808-808. c_ inra, edp sciences, doi: 10.1051/forest/2009078. www.afsjournal.org. danekhu, u., shrestha, r., & maharjan, s., r. (2016-18). assessment of non timber forest products in baghmara buffer zone community forest, chitwan, nepal. journal of natural history museum, 30, 209–220 dfrs (2007). tree outside forests (morang and dhanusa). government of nepal. dfrs (2011). field manual for assessment of trees outside forests (tof). fra-nepal. dfrs (2015). nepal state of nepal’s forests. isbn: 978-9937-8896-3-6 www.dfrs. gov.npdfrs (2015). middle mountains forests of nepal. fra-nepal. isbn:9789937-8896-2-9. http://frtc.gov.np dida, j. j. v., quinton, k r. f., & bantanyan, n. c. (2016). assessment of trees outside forests as potential food source in second district, makati city, philippines. ecosystems & development, 6(1), 10–14. issn 2012–3612. dof (2004). community forestry inventory guidelines. (in nepali) department of forests, babarmahal, kathmandu, nepal. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 34 shrestha et al. dorji, t., moe, s. r., klein, j. a., & totland, o. (2014). plant species richness, evenness, and composition along environmental gradients in an alpine meadow grazing ecosystem in central tibet, china. arctic, antarctic and alpine research, 46(2), 308– 326. fao (1998). trees outside the forests (tof). conservation, research and education service (forc), fao, rome. retrieved from www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6685e/ x6685e07.htm. fao. (1999a). state of the world's forests. rome, 154 pp. fao (2009). asia-pacific forestry sector outlook study ii. working paper no. apfsos ii/ wp/2009/05 foresta, h. d., somarriba, e., temu, a., gauthier, boulanger. d., feuilly, h., & gauthier, m. (2013). towards the assessment of trees outside forests. fra working paper 183. fao. rome. fsi (2003). state of forest report 2003, forest survey of india, ministry of environment and forests, dehradun, india. fsi (2011). india state of forest report. https://www.fsi.nic.in/forest-report-2011 accessed on 12/27/2020 ghosh, m., & sinha, b. (2018). policy analysis for realizing the potential of timber production from trees outside forests (tof) in india. international forestry review, 20(1), 89103.https://doi.org/10.1505/14655481882 2824255. gon, dhm. government of nepal. department of hydrology and meteorology, kathmandu, nepal. gon. (2014). population monograph of nepal. national planning commission secretariat. central bureau of statistics, kathmandu, nepal. 1. isbn: 978-9937-2-8971-9. gotelli, n.j., & ellison, a.m. (2013). a primer of ecological statistics. sinauer associates, inc. goutam, k. r. (2018). urban forestry in the federal context of nepal. banko janakari, 28(1), 1–2. hammer ø, harper dat, & ryan pd. (2001). past: paleontological statistics software packagefor education and data analysis. palaeontol electron, 4(1), 9 pp. icimod (2007). kathmandu valley environment outlook. isbn 978 92 9115 019 9. 978 92 9115 020 5 (electronic). kharal, d. k., giri, r. k., & karna, d. l. (2008). assessment of trees outside forests nawalparasi district, nepal. department of forest research and survey, kathmandu, nepal. kleinn, c. (2000). on large-area inventory and assessment of trees outside forests. unasylva, 51(200), 3–10. klimas, c. a., kainer, k. a., & wadt, l. h. de o. (2012). the economic value of sustainable seed and timber harvests of multi-use species: an example using carapa guianensis. forest ecology and management, 268, 81–91. www.elsevier. com/locate/foreco krishnankutty, c. n., thampi, k. b., & chundamannil, m. (2008). trees outside forests (tof): a case study of the wood production and consumption situation in kerala. international forestry review,10(2), 156–64. doi:10.1505/ ifor.10.2.156. malla, s. b., rajbhandari, s. b., shrestha, t. b., adhikari, p. m. and adhikari, s. r. (ed.). 1986. flora of kathmandu valley. ministry of forests and soil conservation. department of medicinal plants, kathmandu, nepal. mejia, e., pacheco, p., muzo, a., & torres, b. banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 35 shrestha et al. (2015). smallholders and timber extraction in the ecuadorian amazon: amidst market opportunities and regulatory constraints. international forestry review, 17(1). url: https://doi.org/10.1505/1465548. 15814668954. mishra, b., sandifer, j., & gyawali, b. r. (2019). urban heat island in kathmandu, nepal: evaluating relationship between ndvi and lst from 2000 to 2018. international journal of environment, 8(1), 17–27. issn 2091-2854. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.3126/ije.v8i1.22546 morgenroth, j., nowak, d. j., & koeser, a. k. (2020). dbh distributions in america’s urban forests-an overview of structural diversity. forests, 11(135). doi:10.3390/ f11020135. www.mdpi.com/journal/ forests. muzzini, e., & aparicio, g. (2013). urban growth and spatial transition in nepal-an initial assessment. the world bank. isbn 978-0-8213-9659-9 — isbn 978-0-82139661-2 (electronic). doi: 10.1596/978-08213-9659-9 oli, b. n. 2002. trees outside forests: an ignored dimension of forest resource assessment. banko janakari, 12 (1), 79–81. oduro, k.a., arts, b., hoogstra-klein, m.a., kyereh, b. & mohren, g.m.j. (2014). exploring the future of timber resources in the high forest zone of ghana. international forestry review, 16(6), 573585. url: https://doi.org/10.1505/146554 814814095320. ouattara, a., n'da, h. d., hervé, m., a., b., & fernand, k. (2014). assessment of the merchantable timber volume of the savannah woodlands on the communal lands in northeastern côte d'ivoire. international journal of scientific & engineering research, 5 (12), issn 2229– 5518 petersson, h., holm, s., stahl, g., alger, d., fridman, j., lehtonen, a., lundstrom, a., & makippa, r. (2012). individual tree biomass equations or biomass expansion factors for assessment of carbon stock changes in living biomassa comparative study. forest ecology and management, 270, 78–84. pompa-garcía, m. j., corral-rivas, j., hernándezdíaz, j. c., & alvarez-gonzález, j. g. (2009) a system for calculating the merchantable volume of oak trees in the northwest of the state of chihuahua, mexico. journal of forestry research, 20(4), 293–300. doi 10.1007/s11676-0090051-x poudel, k. (2010). green streets: the trees of kathmandu. http://ecs.com.np/features/ green-streets-the-trees-of-kathmandu. assessed on 8/24/2019 press, j. r., shrestha, k. k., sutton, d.a. (2000). annotated checklist of the flowering plants of nepal. the natural history museum, london. rss (2019). country’s dependency on wood increasing, timber import exceeds rs 6 billion. my republica. [accessed 2022 dec 24]. http://myrepublica.nagariknetwor k.com/news/70395/. sharma, b. k. (2014). bioresources of nepal. subidhya sharma, nepal. sharma, e. r., & pukkala, t. (1990). volume equations and biomass prediction of forest trees of nepal. forest survey and statistics division, ministry of forest and soil conservation. kathmandu, nepal. 47. shrivastav, a., pandey, a. k., & dubey r. (2012) assessment of important trees outside forests (tof) in gorakhpur district of uttar pradesh. the indian forester, 138(3),252256. doi: 10.36808/if/2012/v138i3/4622 banko janakari, vol 32 no. 2 36 shrestha et al. tang, y. j., chen, a. p., & zhao, s. q. (2016). carbon storage and sequestration of urban street trees in beijing, china. frontiers in ecology and evolution, 4(53), 1–8. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2016.00053 thompson, j. l., gebauer, j., & buerkert, a. (2010). fences in urban and peri-urban gardens of khartoum, sudan. forests, trees and livelihoods, 19, 379-391. doi: 10.1080/14728028.2010.9752679 vakhlamova, t., rusterholz, h. p., kanibolotskaya, y.,& baur, b. (2014). changes in plant diversity along an urban– rural gradient in an expanding city in kazakhstan, western siberia. landscape and urban planning,132, 111-120. www. elsevier.com/locate/landurbplan wallis, n. k. (1970). australian timber handbook.angus & robertson ltd., 221 george street, sydney xiao, l., he, z., wang, y. & guo, q. (2017) understanding urban– rural linkages from an ecological perspective sustainable development & world ecology, 24(1), 37–43. doi: 10.1080/13504509.2016.1157105 yadav, y., chhetri, b. b. k., raymajhi, s., tiwari, k. r., & sitaula, b. k. (2020). evaluating contribution of trees outside forests for income of rural livelihoods of terai region of nepal. open journal of forestry,10(4), 388-400. https://doi. org/10.4236/ojf.2020.104024 zanne, a. e., lopez-gonzalez, g., coomes, d. a., jansen, i. j., jansen, s., lewis, s. l., miller, r. b., swenson, n. g., wiemann, m. c., & chave, j. (2009). global wood density database. dryad. identifier: http:// hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.235.