Nepal National REDD+ Strategy.

This National REDD+ Strategy is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Vision expressed by the Strategy is "Enhanced carbon and non-carbon benefits of forest ecosystems contribute to the prosperity of the people of Nepal". The consequent Mission aims to strengthen the resilience of forest ecosystems for emission reductions and increased environmental, social, and economic benefits through improved policies, measures and institutions with enhanced stakeholder capacity, capability and inclusiveness.
The overall goal of the Strategy is organized in a number of strategic objectives as follows (i) to reduce carbon emissions, enhance carbon stocks and ecosystem resilience through mitigation and adaptation approaches by minimizing the causes and effects of the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, and promoting sustainable forest management across ecological regions; (ii) to improve resource tenure and ensure fair and equitable sharing of carbon and non-carbon benefits of forests among rights holders, women, Indigenous Peoples, and forest-dependent local communities with effective implementation of safeguards measures; (iii) to increase livelihood assets and diversify employment opportunities of women, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and forest-dependent poor; (iv) to improve and harmonize policy and legal frameworks, in line with national and international requirements and standards, to harness carbon and non-carbon benefits; increase institutional capability and coordination; and strengthen governance, gender equality and social inclusion of the forestry sector; and (v) to improve National Forest Monitoring System with robust measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification mechanisms.
To make agriculture and forestry more productive and sustainable, the interventions proposed by the document are (i) support climate smart agriculture such as agro-forestry, ecological farming, Sloping Agriculture Land Technologies, minimum tillage, direct seeding technologies and use of farm yard manure; (ii) provide support to revisit and revise policies for small-scale sustainable agriculture; (iii) promote fodder and forage management with increased access to seeds/seedlings, cultivation, management, and feeding and processing technology; (iv) conserve and increase water sources, and promote efficient water management technologies; (v) improve the management and conservation of forest, protected areas and watersheds at the landscape level by promoting integrated conservation, ecosystem based adaptation measures, and participatory models of ecotourism; (vi) increase supply of sustainable harvesting of timber and timber products with improved distribution mechanisms; and (vii) control cross-border illegal trade of forest products through inter-country cooperation with Indian and Chinese authorities.
Rural poverty shall be faced through (i) promotion of agro-forestry in public land such as canals, roadside areas, marginal lands, and riverbanks through regulatory frameworks and incentive mechanisms, with participation of poor, women and marginalized households; (ii) promotion of vocational and skill-based training opportunities for enterprise development and forest operations such as harvesting, logging, saw-milling, carpentry, and wood technologies; (iii) giving access to alternative technologies and loan services for women and poor of local communities; and (iv) development of mechanisms to increase access of forest-dependent poor and marginalized people to alternative energy and energy saving technologies.
In order to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the Strategy proposes (i) invest in sustainable forest-based enterprises such as timber, non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and ecotourism to create employment opportunities to produce finished forest products for domestic and export markets that support livelihoods of forest dependent poor; (ii) support forest dependent and smallholders with information, technology and incentives to increase their access for the crop and livestock breeding and husbandry improvement; (iii) strengthen multi-stakeholder and integrated planning approaches at all levels, involving key government and non-government agencies on land, forest, water, agriculture, energy, and infrastructure, and increase consensus and commitments; (iv) support Community Based Forest Management User Groups to create income, livelihood options and job opportunities; and (v) ensure adequate representation and meaningful participation of women, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, private sector and forest-dependent poor in relevant forestry decision-making processes through policy provisions, institutionalization and capacity development.
With a view to increasing the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, the Strategy plans to (i) assess climate change vulnerability of forest ecosystems and strengthen spatial planning, and integrate both into forest management plans; (ii) develop policies, legal frameworks and institutions for investment in climate change mitigation; (iii) raise public and institutional awareness both incorporating climate change, roles of forest on climate change mitigation and importance of forest conservation in formal education and increasing knowledge and capacities of relevant stakeholders, political leaders, and right holders on climate change and REDD+ through extension, training, and workshops.
As for the Governance, REDD+ will be pursued as a means of forest governance reform, in addition to realizing emission reduction potential. Innovative governance improvement tools will also be adopted in forest management and REDD+ implementation.