Tsirang
hails first as independent CF manager
In sync with the
government’s vision to have Community Forests managed independently in all
aspects by members without government support, three Community Forests (CF) in
Tsirang recently made the successful transition to manage and plan all on their
own with minimal government support.
Community Forests Management group
members of Dangraybu CF under Doonglagang Gewog, Chirphen CF under Mendrelgang
gewog, Darjeling CF under Rangthangling gewog in Tsirang Dzongkhag not only personally
contributed money for the CF activities but also took the lead to execute the
activities.
The members contributed certain
amounts to meet the expenditures incurred in management planning and ownership
certificate handing-over which conventionally is sponsored by the government.
The section head of Social Forestry
and Extension Division (SFED), KJ Temphel said this is the vision of the
government in the long run.
“This is the ultimate way forward for
CF programs in the Country,” he said. “Through
enabling plans and policies, the government is trying to encourage such model
of CF management in the country.”
An official of the SFED said a time
will come when the CF members have to pay the foresters for provision of technical
backstopping and other services related to CF. This means that the CF programs
in the country should slowly mature and function independently. The government
currently provides most of the supports since the program is in its infant
stage.
Tsirang Dzongkhag Forest Officer, Pema
Tshewang said he was overwhelmed and encouraged when the CF members came forward
with such the proposal. “We know this has to happen one day and someone should
initiate and take the step forward,” he said.
On the flipside many CF Management
groups in the country are still largely dependent on government support.
Community Forestry Programs in Bhutan
is about handing over a chunk of Government Reserved Forests with sustainable
management, utilization and ownership rights to a group of communities. The
program aims to enable these beneficiaries to generate income through sale of
excess timbers and other income sources and help reduce poverty which
predominantly is a rural phenomenon.
The program is incepted with the
belief that the forests and natural resources within the proximity of the
community are best managed by themselves and benefits should also flow to the
communities themselves. “When the communities are entrusted with the
responsibilities and the power to protect, utilize and manage certain portion
of forests, the overall health of the forests improves,” said an SFED official.
SFED
is putting up concerted efforts toward creation of enabling environments for CF
establishment. They have developed a CF strategy in Bhutan which is being
implemented, while the CF Action Plan is under finalization. The training of 45
foresters on CF management planning, sponsoring of study tour to 22 CFMG
members to Nepal, provision of training package on record and book keeping,
seminar on CF for poverty reduction, economic analysis and market chain of
timber products within CFs have been carried out.
Already major
positive impacts have been witnessed since the program started. For instance,
there has been drastic
reduction of illegal activities while the number of forest fire incidences has
also dwindled significantly. Officials claim that such programs have also
helped bring degraded land under plantation.
Tsirang Dzongkhag currently has 24
approved CFs with 10 more in the offing. While at the national level, at the
end of March this year, there are 382
numbers of CFs which comprise 17,000 households (CFMG members) which is almost
34 percent of rural households. These totals to one-sixth of all rural
households while 43,000 hectares or 1.5%of the overall forests areas in Bhutan have been handed
over as CF.
Government targets to establish
minimum of 400 CFs and hand-over at
least 4% of government reserved forest land as CFs by the end of 10th five year
plan.
