RECOFTC Nepal
ຂ່າວສານ

Bill curtails community forest users’ rights

“The federal government should have consulted provincial and local governments before preparing the draft. Socio-economic conditions have changed and communities can commercialise their forest products. The bill has to give more powers to community forest users for their benefit.” - Shambhu Dangal, RECOFTC

National Daily Newspaper The Himalayan Times (THT) features opinion regarding latest forest bill drafted by the government, Mr. Rewati Sapkota for THT writes "The government has prepared a new forest bill that proposes to curtail the rights of Community Forest User Groups, although its forest strategy states that it would gradually hand over national forests to community users. CFUGs have been using their rights in the community forest since 1993.

The draft bill proposes that CFUGs cannot sell extra forest products from their preserved forests without seeking the government’s permission. Under existing laws, CFUGs can sell forest products, independently fix price of products and use products for their use."

Read Full Article Published on The Himalayan Times (Date:06/12/2018)