Nepal Non-Timber Forest Products Network (NNN) was formed in 1995 with the mission to promote conservation of biodiversity and efficient utilization of NTFPs for the sustained economic and social development of Nepalese society. The Network activities have contributed to sharing of knowledge and information, collaboration among NTFP actors and minimization of duplication of efforts. Through several deliberations, it has identified some strategic NTFP promotion intervention nodes: training, marketing, policy review, and they are being implemented by several organizations. Since the early days, ANSAB has been pro-active to bring the different issues in NTFP sector and to share among concerned organizations. The past 33 NNN meetings were instrumental in contributing to the development of NTFP sector.

Agenda

• Major agenda:
  • Presentation, discussion and prioritization of critical services and service providers to CFEs
  • Presentation of issues, discussion and recommendation regarding registration of trees grown in private land
• Other agenda
  • Sharing and discussion about the design of project for “Expanding FSC certification at landscape level through incorporation of additional ecosystem services”
  • Sharing of Medherb Green Pages 2010 (India and Nepal)

Welcome Note
Dr. Bhishma Subedi, NNN coordinator and Executive Director of ANSAB, welcomed the participants and briefed the agenda of the 34th meeting and requested them to provide their valuable inputs and ideas towards. He also stated that though the community forestry enterprises (CFEs) are being developed, they presently lack the access to various services required for their operation and success. Thus, there is a need to sort out the critical services required to develop sustainable CFEs. He also expected that the NNN meeting would produce concrete outputs favorable for developing the CFEs. Upon the request of Dr. Subedi, Mr. Madhav Acharya, Director General of Department of Forests (DoF), chaired the meeting.

Discussion
After a brief introduction of participants, discussions were carried out on each of the agendas.

Agenda 1: Critical Services and Service Providers to CFEs
Through the past 17 years of experience of developing Community Forest Enterprises (CFEs) in rural areas of Nepal, ANSAB realized the vital links that exist between the Micro, Small and Medium Forest Enterprises (MSMFEs) and Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs). It also developed an understanding of how support providers can offer the critical services for the development and promotion of CFEs and CFUGs. Based on that, ANSAB identified seven most critical services required by CFEs: a) Input supply/raw material sourcing, b) Enterprise development planning, c) Enterprise operation and management, d) Technology and product development, e) Legal and policy, f) Marketing, and g) Finance.

These findings were presented in the meeting. Different ‘specialized’ services under these categories were presented and discussion was facilitated to identify service providers and support organizations for these services. The outcomes of the discussion were:

Formation of Task force for developing NTFP inventory methodology & guidelines: The participants discussed on different needs and problems in raw material sourcing. They discussed that CFEs are confronted with the problems of sustainable harvesting of the resources. As many CFEs ignore the long term view of raw materials sourcing,, the issues of sustainability have become more important. The  participants also discussed need of the service providers being able to cater to needs of the CFEs. The meeting suggested developing service providers through standardized courses, with which these service providers can deliver the required services to the CFEs. The meeting also realized the lack of standard guidelines for service providers to implement standardized interventions. The meeting agreed to create a task force for developing NTFP inventory methodology and guideline. Such guideline will describe inventory methodology for NTFPs–Leaf, Root, and Whole plant. The task force for preparing the guideline comprises of the representatives from the following organizations:

Coordinator
ANSAB

Members
Department of Forests Livelihood and Forestry Program
Department of Plant Resources
Forest Action
Department of Forest Research and Survey
Other relevant and interested agencies such as Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) will be included in the task force after consultation with them.

Recommendation for developing technical management team/develop course: The meeting highlighted the need of developing service providers at local as well as national level by offering structured courses that integrate skill sets required for both forestry and enterprise development and provides knowledge to organize service delivery in a business manner. The participants also discussed that one particular institution may not be sufficient to provide the required services, so there is a need for integrated efforts of different organizations. The meeting identified ANSAB, Beed Management and IEDI for providing such courses. The participants mentioned that there is a lack of human resources for providing the services on business planning, and development and management of the CFEs, and resource management. They also discussed that the service providers for business management in CFEs could be of senior level (experts) and junior level (LRPs). The experts could be the service provider for entrepreneurship development and business planning of the enterprise while the LRPs could be the service provider for other services required for the operation of the enterprise. The meeting recommended to form a technical management team involving 50 to 100 professionals trained in forestry, management, and LRPs and subsequently to train them for providing specific services to CFEs. The meeting also recommended to prepare CTEVT course on business development and management of CFEs.

Prepare Brochure of 25 NTFP products: The participants realized the fact that there is big gap in technology for CFEs. They discussed how the CFEs are crippled with the lack of appropriate technology and the service providers. The technology should be such that the products are consumed in the local market and at the same time yield higher profit. The participants also discussed that there should be effective intervention from government for technological services required by the CFEs. The participants agreed to prepare brochures of 25 NTFP products detailing the specific technologies required. Similarly, the participants realized that there is a need to develop similar information sets for the marketing of different products. That could be linked with other technology brochure or could be developed separately by highlighting market and supply situation for different value chains.

Prepare a Brochure on Legal and Policy issues: The participants discussed on the legal and policy gaps for CFEs and the required services for them. The issue was that the farmers/traders had to pay in several places during the transportation of NTFPs. However, the DoF director general made clear that the newly introduced seal system has minimized this problem and the traders didn’t have to pay more than once.

Even though there are loopholes, the government has assured that these will be minimized. The team discussed that the entrepreneurs of CFEs should be made aware on different legal and policy requirements of the enterprises. To fulfill such requirements, the participants agreed to prepare one brochure entailing legal and policy requirements with special provision for CFEs. ANSAB is selected as a focal organization for preparing the brochure, while other organizations will support it by providing inputs.

The brochure will be endorsed by DoF with its logo in it, to make it more authentic. Further, such brochure will be widely disseminated and transmitted in a Radio Program “Ban Batika” aired in Radio Nepal every week.

Community-Private Partnership: Linking up of community entrepreneurs with private companies was found to be crucial for the economical viability of the enterprises in long term. The participants discussed that the CFEs do not make elaborate investment plans, so that the bankers become hesitant to provide financial services to them. Further, as there is no insurance mechanism for the CFEs, there is risk in return and hence bankers are reluctant to invest. Thus the participants discussed that linkages of the CFEs with the organization like ANSAB, MEDEP, and insurance companies is crucial as this provides bankers assurance for their services and sustainability of the enterprises.

Nepal Standards for NTFP, PRA Certification and Harmonized Coding (HC): The participants discussed that it is very important to set up Nepal standards for NTFP for ensuring the marketing of the quality products in national and international markets. Though it may not be possible at the moment to set up the standards, the government and civil society organizations must be aware of the fact that it is needed. The participants discussed that apart from existing certification system, NTFPs should have PRA (Pest Risk Analysis) certification. Also the need of harmonized coding (HC) was reflected for the exporting of NTFP products. The participants recommended for standardizing the packing of the certified products, which otherwise could create the loopholes. The government needs to monitor the products.

In a separate discussion, examples of providing extra incentives to individuals in various project activities were discussed. Such supply led service provision has adversely affected service market.

Agenda 2: Tree Registration in Private Land
ANSAB through NNN and other forums has been raising the issue of tree registration since a long time. In recent years, ANSAB tried to register the Ritha trees grown in private land to increase the income of rural poor by integrating them into profitable and sustainable value chain. But due to the lack of appropriate policy in it, the registration process couldn’t move significantly ahead.

Thus ANSAB realized that this issue should be discussed with concerned stakeholders helping the farmers to register the trees grown in their private land. Puspa Ghimire presented issues and activities in tree registration in private land with example of Ritha. Dr. Subedi also requested to Director General of DoF to share progress towards in the agenda as raised through NNN, FCN and other meetings. NNN discussed the issue for a couple of time and made recommendation to the government. After the presentation, the discussion was carried out on how the tree registration could be made possible. The following outcomes were generated:

Private forest development directives under progress: In query of Dr. Subedi, Director General of DoF clarified that the private forest directive is under progress and will soon be implemented after it is approved from the cabinet. As per this directive, any farmer having cultivated the NTFPs species and medicinal plants can apply for the registration in respective District Forest Office.

Need of Standard Mechanism: The participants discussed that there is a need of standard mechanism in registration process so that the decision doesn’t change with the change in or transfer of officials.

Agenda 3: Design of a new project for “Expanding FSC certification at landscape level through incorporation of additional ecosystem services”
Dr. Bhishma Subedi shared about a new project on forest certification at landscape level being implemented in four countries: Nepal, Chile, Indonesia and Vietnam, and is being funded by Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Dr Subedi mentioned that the project will be designed within the next 8 or 9 months and will be implemented for four years.

Agenda 4: Medherb Green Pages 2010 (India and Nepal)
This was the last agenda of the meeting in which Dr. Bhishma Subedi shared about the Medherb publication of 2010. It contains the trade information on various medicinal and aromatic plants and spices found in Nepal and India. He also informed that the book is available for sale at ANSAB at the cost of NPR 1800 for each unit.

Conclusion of the Meeting
The meeting was concluded by reflecting on the meeting discussions. Dr. Subedi and Mr.Madhav Acharya thanked all the participants for their active participation in the meeting and told that the cooperation between different organizations and the government continues so that the NTFP issues could be identified and solved together.

List of Participants

Agenda
Considering the fact that the Small and Medium Forest Enterprises (SMFEs) are important means of the rural livelihood and poverty reduction in Nepal and that it forms an integral component of NTFPs/forest related activities, the main agenda of the meeting were:

• Discussion on the challenges and barriers faced by SMFEs in Nepal
• Review and update of the 32nd NNN meeting

I. Introduction
The meeting started with a brief welcome note by Dr. Bhishma P. Subedi, Executive Director of ANSAB. Dr. Subedi briefed the objectives of the meeting and requested all the participants to provide their valuable inputs and ideas towards attaining the set objectives of the meeting. Dr. Subedi highlighted the importance of the government programs, market and service providers in SMFEs development.

Following the introduction, participants paid their tribute to late Mr. Bhaweswar Das, President of Systematic Industrialization of Nepal (SION), who recently passed away fighting an illness of Pneumonia. Mr. Das was an active member of the NNN, and has contributions in the forum from the very beginning of its inception. His contribution towards NNN was noteworthy and his absence will always be felt for its development.

II. Background
Dr. Subedi stated that almost 25% of the forest in the world (377 million ha) is being managed by the communities. Globally, approximate equivalent of US $130 billion is being value added and in Nepal, the figure accounts to an estimate of NRs. 2.5 billion (US $31.25 million). Yet there exists an opportunity of approximate 42 billion of lost opportunity in forestry sector. The FAO estimated that 80% of the population of the “developing” world use NTFPs to meet some of their health and nutritional needs and the estimated total value in world trade in NTFP is approximately US $11 billion.

In Nepal, more than 40% of population is involved in Community Forestry (CF) and almost 50% of those are involved in enterprise and 25% in forest management. These statistics reflects huge potential for SMFEs development in Nepal, yet we are unable to achieve the result and foresee the expected growth of SMFEs in Nepal. This indicates a need to integrate enterprise development and conservation for livelihood enhancement of the forest dependent.

III. Discussion
Discussions were held in two major agendas mentioned above.

AGENDA 1: Discussion on the challenges and barriers faced by SMFEs in Nepal

Realizing the importance of the government programs, market and service providers in SMFEs development, major issues including challenges and barriers faced by SMFEs were identified in three categories. The participants were divided into three sub groups (as per individual’s interest) to discuss on these issues. List of participants in each group is attached in Annex1.

1. Issues related to service constraints
2. Issues related to market provisions
3. Issues related to policy and government programs

A. Issues related to service constraints: The following issues were identified from the group discussion and recommendations made to overcome these issues.

Lack of market understanding: There is a lack of clear market understating among the stakeholders. One first needs to understand what the market is and what exactly does it demand. It is important to understand that the market consists of demand and requirement and therefore the service should be catered accordingly. General requirement such as quality control and assurance, product certification, and product design and packages should be well integrated within the entire market system to sustain in a longer run.

Lack of technology: Technological services are vital in SMFEs growth. Processing, production, input supply etc form the integral component of the SMFEs and therefore, it requires well equipped and updated technologies for their smooth operations. Central institutions such as Department of Plant Resources (DRP) and Nepal Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) are equipped by technological services and coordination among the enterprises and these institutions are necessary to access required technologies.

Lack of human resource: There are inadequate expertises in providing and or handling the technological services required for the operations of SMFEs. More personnel need to be trained to acquire knowledge on technological functioning.

Recommendations

• Strategic trading partnership and market dialogue should be facilitated and developed for SMFEs promotion.
• Financing mechanism such as micro finances should be ensured and facilitated to SMFEs and linkages with financial institutions either collateral or other companies should be established.
• Good governance and management mechanism should be developed to promote SMFEs.
• Ample research backstopping should be carried out to support further activities in the sector and resource inventory should be carried out to ensure conservation of natural resources while integrating enterprise activities and an effective business plan should be made as an integral component of the operational plan in the community forest management system.
• Legal and authentic data/information on existing resources should be available from the government record.
• Required infrastructure such as access to road, storage, offseason transfer should be developed for SMFEs promotion.
• Identification of the market-buyer requirements (such as quality, quantity, price, Standards, etc.) should also be done to ensure market sustainability.
• Service providers should be identified and linked with the entrepreneurs. Free services should be avoided as much as possible. Rather quality improvement of the service providers should be given priority.
• Analysis of the existing and potential services, both to be provided by the government as well as private sector should be done and identified through collaborative efforts.

B. Issues related to market provisions: The following issues were identified from the group discussion and recommendations made to overcome these issues.

Lack of quality assurance: The quality should be assured not only at the producer level but from the entrepreneurs and consumers level too.

Low production capacity: In order to increase the production capacity, farmer’s knowledge and skills should be utilized in both production as well as group marketing activities.

Lack of market understanding: The overall market system should be well understood by the market actors. There seems to be limited market knowledge among the market actors. Therefore, a common understanding of the existing and emerging market system is needed among the key actors of the sub sector.

Weak infrastructure: One of major components that link the enterprises with the market is road. Such basic infrastructures are lacking in most of the rural districts of Nepal. These services have to be improved for better market linkages of SMFEs.

Limited investment capacity: Investment in terms of finances, human resources and technology is lacking in our context. Certain legal requirements or standards such as certification (be it forest or product), Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), requires huge financial, technical and as well as human resources. So efforts should be given towards identifying institutions holding such investment abilities.

Weak market information: There is lack of market awareness among the entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. In order to overcome this, awareness on Market Information System (MIS) could be raised through different media such as FM, TV, and Newspapers, etc. Regular update and information on MIS is essential for SMFEs growth, therefore efforts should also be made towards disseminating MIS for relevant stakeholders.

Weak pricing system: There seems to be lack of clarity among the market actors about the pricing system. Specific specialties of a product should be considered and highlighted while designing the package. For example, cultural, regional and geographical peculiarities of a product say Yarshagumba, Seabuckthorn, Aloe Vera, etc. should be well understood and marketed indicating their benefits. Geographical branding should also be encouraged while determining the market price. For example, Timur of Salyan could be priced higher than ordinary Timur, as it is said to be of the highest quality. Likewise, price could also be fixed on the basis of relative concentration of Timur (say 3%, 4%, 5% of active ingredient).

Recommendations

• Market traceability: it is very important to have the market traceability and understand the basics such as who produces the goods, under want circumstances are these goods produced, what are the quantity demands, kind of varieties available in the market and kind of certification requirement it could undergo.
• Market linkages: The entrepreneurs should be linked with the domestic as well as international market. Market linkages should also be established for the cultivated products, as cultivation is the backbone of conservation. Various provisions such as certified planting services, quality assurance, and research and development should be encouraged.
• Monitoring system: It should analyze and monitor the relationship and linkages within the entire chain of the market system.
• Private public collaboration: It is very important to collaborate with the government programs, private sectors and market actors to ensure sustainable market for the product.

C. Issues related to policy and government programs: The following issues were identified from the group discussion and recommendations made to overcome these issues.

Lack of policy implementation: Though there are strong legal backups such as legislations, supporting strategies and guidelines to help implement NTFP policy, it hasn’t yet been implemented fully. This shows the gap in policy implementation which is hindering the growth and development of NTFP sub sector.

Lack of NTFP national plan: Though the government was supposed to develop NTFP national implementation plan, it has not yet been formulated and brought into practice. This indicated the urgent need of formulation o f a NTFP National Plan.

Lack of harmonization in policy: There are contradictory provisions among different policies. For SMFEs development, industrial and forest policies should be synchronized. Most of the SMFEs exists within the forest areas and therefore are bound to comply with both the forest as well as industrial policies. This practice has to be minimized and policy duplication should also be avoided as much as possible. It was mentioned that the government is currently in the process of revising the industrial policy for which actors of both the sectors (industrial and forest) should be consulted for effective policy amendments.

Species wise zonation for commercial cultivation: It is important to identify potential areas /zones for commercial cultivation of specific species. Scoping should be done to analyze various factors such as soil quality, temperature, humidity etc to find out the feasibility of the species for commercial cultivation in potential areas. This would ensure optimum production of the NTFPs in their potential zones.

Impractical royalty fixation: It was emphasized that the current royalty fixations for NTFPs is highly impractical and therefore practical consideration should be given while fixing royalties. Issues of double taxation, and royalty upliftment for cultivated NTFPs should also be well versed in the policies. A specific example of double taxation was cited as: tax payment provision in each municipality while importing NTFPs from Nepalgunj to Kathmandu. This has created an undue pressure of tax clearance in every single municipality passing via the route. It was mentioned that the Department of Forest (DoF) had up lifted double taxation for Timber, however is yet to be applied for NTFPs.

Insufficient supporting programs: It was discussed that there was no effort being made by the government to facilitate required services for SMFEs growth. Access to microfinance and financial institutions should be incorporated within the plan and importance should be given towards linking SMFEs with these services such as trade support services and building institutional framework.

Recommendations

• There needs to be coordination between the Local Development Committees such as Village Development Committees ( VDCs) and District Development Committees (DDCs) and Department of Forest
• There should be an exposure to different market actors and inputs be gathered from different actors
• Discussion on the same issue should be held in a bigger forum including different stakeholders such as users, producers, legal advisors, expertise, traders and financial institutions, service providers, concerned institutions, and relevant government personnel.

AGENDA 2: Review and update of the 32nd NNN
The 32nd NNN meeting held on August 29, 08, to discuss the policy issues such as IEE/EIA in community forestry had identified and discussed the challenges faced due to enforcement of such legal provisions (IEE/EIA) in Community Forestry. The meeting had realized the cost implications of IEE/EIA as a major challenge in its implementation. It was discussed that  Community Forestry in itself reflects an exemplary management practices for conservation and livelihood improvement, and consists ample tools such as operational plan, business plan, inventory etc to safeguard the environment. Imposition of EIA/IEE is an addition burden to the community as it requires substantial financial as well as human resource with technical expertise.

Therefore, a taskforce was formulated to further analyze the impact of IEE/EIA in community forestry. The taskforce through series of meetings concluded that EIA/IEE needed further amendment to address current issues created by these policies. Some of prominent issues of the policy included: undue economic pressure for local communities, lack of stakeholder’s consultation during policy amendment, duplication of resource management procedures and lack of clarity in the policy itself. Considering these issues, it was decide that a policy (IEE/EIA) recommendation proposal be submitted to concerned authorities. The policy recommendation proposal had been developed including all the above mentioned issues. This meeting discussed on the same issues and provided its consent to submit the policy review proposal to the concerned authorities such as Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Ministry of Forest, Soil and Conservation and Depart of Forest, Ministry of Industries, Commerce and Supply and other related institutions.

Annex 1: Name list of participants in each group:

Group A – Policy

1. Mr. Prakash Sayami, Department of Forest Division Chief, CFD

2. Dr. Rishi R. Koirala, NHRC, Executive B.M

3. Dr. Nirmal Bhattarai, ICIMOD, MAPs Specialist

4. Mr. Pushpa R. Shrestha, Department of Plant Resources, Deputy Director General

5. Mr. Raj Bd. Shrestha, MEDEP, MES

6. Mr. Pankaj Kumar Das, HNCC, Program Officer

7. Dr. Bhishma P. Subedi, ANSAB, Executive Director

Group B – Market

8. Mr. Sharad Rai, Practical Action, Sr. Project Officer

9. Mr. Karma Bhutia, The Mountain Institute, NTFP Officer

10. Mr. Hari Bastola, CECI Country, Representative

11. Mr. Nanendra Nath Tiwari, Ayurveda Campus Professor

12. Ms. Indramati Moktan, FECOFUN, Member

13. Ms. Reejuta Sharma, ANSAB, Communication Offier

Group C – Services

14. Mr. Martin Dietz Helvetas, International Program Advisor

15. Mr. Narendra Raisaily, Winrock International, Training Program Coordinator

16. Mr. Vijaya Sthapit, IDE Nepal, Coordinator

17. Ms. Rudrikshya R. Parajuli, NSCFP, Project Manager

18. Mr. Govinda Poudel, Nepal Forest Association, Program Manager

19. Mr. Sahas Man Shrestha, Department of Forest, Research and Survey Director General

20. Mr. Himlal Shrestha, Kathmandu Forestry, College Lecturer

21. Mr. Bhishnu Bhandari, IUCN Nepal, CTA

22. Mr. Mani Ram Banjade, Forest Action, Theme Leader

23. Mr. Bijendra P. Singh, HANDPASS, General Member

24. Mr. Shiva S. Pandey, ANSAB, Manager -NRM

25. Mr. Nabaraj Panta, ANSAB, Enterprise Development Officer

26. Ms. Sony Baral, ANSAB, NRM Officer

27. Mr. Kiran Timalsina, ANSAB, Manager – ARC

Agenda
Considering the importance of Community Based Forest Enterprises (CBFEs) in poverty reduction, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, the main agenda of this meeting was set as: “Discussion on current policy issues relating to NTFPs / Forest based products such as IEE, EIA, etc.”

Summary
Environmental Assessments such as the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) are undoubtedly, some of the important environmental management tools. These tools hold ample significance in terms of environmental protection, and economic development, and can be easily related to developmental activities such as industrial development, pollution prevention etc.

However, in terms of community forest management, which in itself is an exemplary management practices for conservation and livelihood improvement, these tools are acting as a major hindrance, complicating the process of handing over and renewing of community forestry. There already exist many successful tools in community forestry such as operational plan, business plan that incorporates various methodologies to safeguard the environment. In such cases, it is questionable, whether it is commendable to implement EIA / IEE.

The meeting has realized the cost implications of IEE/EIA as a major challenge with regard to their implementing .As such, all participants agreed that these tools are a major setback in direct field level intervention and therefore, it needs to be reviewed considering the importance of community forestry in conservation and community economic development. To initiate a policy review, five ‐member task force was formed, that would draft a proposal and submit it to the required authorities.

Introduction
The meeting started with a brief welcome by Dr Bhishma Subedi, followed by a general introduction of the participants, including Dr Nirmal Bhattarai, who chaired the meeting. Dr. Subedi provided a general description of the agenda of the meeting and highlighted that the major focus would remain on:

1. Issues related to imposition of IEE and EIA policies in relation to NTFPs and community forestry.

2. Recent revisions on royalty rates of NTFPs.

3. Certification

4. Resource potential / mapping

5. Trade restriction / barrier

6. Policy dissemination and absorption

Apart from these issues, the following issues were also raised, however, discussion was held only on the issues related to imposition of IEE and EIA policies in relation to NTFPs and community forestry.

1. Potential NTFPs cultivation for livelihood improvement of community based groups

2. Identification of relevant policy for identifying shed lobbying crops to improve income generation

3. Policy Review in terms of cultivation of vital species

4. Promotion of community forestry for biodiversity conservation through indigenous species

5. Awareness on the facts of conservation measures and issues

6. Promotion of national level enabling environment

7. Policy dissemination and absorption

8. Generation of technical resources

Discussion
1. IEE /EIA Issue: It is a newly amended governmental policy, enforced since Mangsir 2064 (December 2007), which indicates the requirement of environmental assessment for any form of developmental as well as for environmental activities. It includes activities within community forestry (CF) as well, where it states that any activity within 200 ‐ 500 hectors shall undergo IEE and EIA for activities over 500 hector of community forests.

The policy states these requisites for a new community forest to be handed over to the locals. However, it does not affect all community forests as most of the CF is subsistence based and the plot does not always exceed 200 hectors. In such case, it may not affect the very small income generation activities but it certainly hampers enterprise development for community enhancement. Moreover, there is a current trend of handing over 199 hector of forest, in order to avoid the existing IEE/ EIA policy.

However, since most of the CF based on enterprise based model requires a large plot, this policy is acting as a major challenge to community forestry development. In addition, there also exists a loophole in the policy itself as the policy seems mandatory only for handing over new CF, yet, in practice, it is also required to renew existing CF. It often creates confusion and is mostly dependent upon the approval of DFOs. Most of the time, these policies are bound to be enforced only if insisted upon by the DFOs; otherwise they may be ignored. Therefore, this indicates a contradiction in the policy itself and requires action to be taken to ensure a productive and efficient field‐level intervention.

2. Cost Implications: IEE /EIA is not just a matter of policy enforcement. It also requires a considerable amount of money, which in terms of CF, does not seem practical. The entire concept of CF is based on poverty alleviation, where it becomes questionable as to who would be responsible to bear the entire cost of implementation these tools. A mere tentative minimum cost calculation would be around 20 – 25 thousand (News publishing: 7,000‐8,000; Data collection: 6,000‐7,000; Reporting: 10,000). Moreover, if consultants are hired, the cost could even exceed one lakh, which raises ethical concerns over the right of the poor communities involved in CF. As a result, a cost benefit analysis has to be carried out prior to implementation of these kinds of decisions.

3. Alternative options: Indeed, considering IEE /EIA as an effective tool for conservation is questionable. In terms of CF where certain tools already exist to safeguard the environment and eventually promote conservation, it is quite debatable to adapt these tools just for the sake of policy enforcement.

Serious concern should be given when choosing the best conservation tool for certification, for example, which has already been successful ‐‐ not just in conservation, but also in community economic development.

Moreover, other tools such as operational plans, inventories, and business plans are already used in CF, which in itself is a part of forest policy. Therefore, it raises questions on the practicality and feasibility of the overly imposed IEE/EIA tools as compared to CF’s sustainable conservation and harvesting tools.

4. Limitations: These IEE/EIA tools are not just simple tools that could be implemented easily, but hold certain restrictions in terms of required techniques and materials. A multidisciplinary task force is required for technical analysis and also demands extensive documents. Moreover, there is no existing monitoring mechanism and it is just a one time assessment with no follow up and guarantee for environmental sustainability. In such cases, there are limitations in terms of genuine capacity needed to perform the task and, more importantly, someone to invest in the assessment.

Logical Argument
Considering the above mentioned aspects, the following arguments were presented to help decide upon the most logical initiative for the IEE /EIA challenges.

1. Certain assessments are already a prerequisite for CFUG formation. Handing over of CF takes place in close collaboration with DFOs, where an agreement is signed between the DFOs and CFUGs. The process cannot be completed without final approval of concerned DFOs where one of three major responsibility of DFOs is to assure long term environmental sustainability, achieving a balance between conservation and economic development. Hence, conservation efforts are well considered in CF and DFOs play an important role in scrutinizing the overall processes. Thus, IEE/EIA policy imposes undue burden in the community development, adding no value in the conservation and environmental safeguard of the CF.

Also, at present, when renewal for most of the CF is already lagging behind, such policy is affecting the conservation effort, hampering smooth functioning of the CFUG activities and local development.

2. Other conservative tools such as operation plan, business plan etc requires equal scrutiny and technical assistance, which also ensures conservation effort. Hence these tools could be strengthened, if required, instead of IEE /EIA

3. CF management promotes an incentive based mechanism, for conservation and livelihood upliftment. Further, it provides an opportunity value addition and market linkage to enhance community economic development. In such cases, it is quite natural that communities have concerns about the actual benefits and incentives associates with the IEE/ EIA.

4. In terms of CF, most of the authorities are handed over to the CFUG. Formation of CF constitution and operation plan is also participatory and quite strong. However, formulation of IEE/EIA policy hasn’t incorporate participatory approach and concerns of stakeholders have not been well addressed in the IEE/EIA policy.

5. There is no clear cut description of NTFPs in community forest based IEE/EIA reports. This raises concern over whether or not the assessment made is at all effective and genuine. Moreover, a monitoring aspect is completely lacking. Therefore, if the implementation of these tools is to be made mandatory, monitoring aspects should be incorporated within the policy itself.

Conclusion
Though government action has been quite commendable, both in terms of community forestry, and NTFPs (royalty revision of NTFPs through NNN), the current IEE/EIA policy sounds impractical and unviable in terms of present community forest management practices. Since community forestry is based on sustainable management and conservation practices, additional costs and efforts required for the implementation of IEE/ EIA in CF does not seem to add further value on conservation. Tools of CF management practices such as inventories, operation plan and business plan incorporates different form of assessment for sustainable conservation and economic development. And additional gain from IEE/EIA is minimal.

Moreover, the process of hand over CF is already lagging behind, which, in turn, is hampering the growth of local development and community enhancement. It is hindering the growth of local organizations and any policy affecting the local development does not sound feasible, for any kind of conservation or developmental activities.

In order to overcome these challenges and make an effective move forward, the meeting decided to form a task force, to draft the proposal, and make an appeal to the concerned authorities. The task force consists of the following members:

1. IUCN – Coordinator

2. HNCC ‐ Member

3. FECOFUN – Member

4. NEPPHA ‐ Member

5. Practical Action – Member

6. ANSAB ‐ Member

Recommendations

1. Participatory approach needed for policy formulation

2. Awareness to be created among the stakeholders regarding the policy issues

3. Other feasible options for conservation efforts could be brought into practice, such as

forest certification, for example

4. Existing tools such as inventories, business plans, operational plans could be strengthened as opposed to opting for the IEE/ EIA

Follow up action
It has been decided that the task force would draft the policy recommendation and submit the proposal to the concerned authority. IUCN, (Coordinator) of the task would coordinate the entire process and finally lead the task force in implementing the outcome of the NNN sharing meeting.

Agenda
- ‘Forest Connect’ – Linking small and medium forest enterprises with national forest programmes, markets and service providers
- Other miscellaneous issues related to NTFPs

Summary
Small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) start-ups in developing countries like Nepal are in high fashion. The rising of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) especially community forestry movement has also opened the new window to SMFEs for fighting with rural poverty in Nepal. All participants agreed that majority of these enterprises are the main source of rural employment and livelihoods generation in Nepal.

The meeting realized that the major challenge to private entrepreneurs, government and development agencies is to keeping them sustainable. These enterprises are facing series of challenges such as excessive bureaucracy, unstable policies and regulations, insecure tenure, inaccessible credit, poor market information, inadequate technology, poor infrastructure, lack of bargaining power and insufficient business know -how. To overcome this problem the meeting decided to hands together among all stakeholders in Nepal. A seven member’s Advisory Committee was formed to discuss regularly on Forest Connect Nepal activities and progress made.

Major Highlights
The meeting was started with the welcome note by Dr. Bhishma Subedi. Mr. Amrit Lal Joshi chaired the meeting. Dr. Subedi facilitated the meeting by deliberating the agenda and presentation entitled “Linking SMFEs with national forest programs, markets and service providers “. The presentation was focused on livelihoods connection of forest by sharing the global scenario of SMFEs and how to fit them in our local /national context for linking them with national mainstream program, market, and services. Presenting a framework of challenges and possible interventions strategies to promote SMFEs; he highlighted the small forestry enterprises contribution in conservation and livelihood of rural poor. The presentation also highlighted the need of information, investment, connection and capacity building of SMFEs. The presentation concluded that small and medium forestry enterprises both globally and in Nepal are big with a big potential but also constrained by big challenges.

Dr. Subedi then put forward the following points for discussion

• An institutional hub for future work to ‘connect’ SMFEs with markets, service providers and policy processes

• Diagnostic of forest-based SMFEs and their associations within Nepal (community based SMFEs)

• Forest Connect Nepal Webpage for wider sharing

By addressing the agenda, Dr. Keshav Kanel said that we start through identify our strength and weakness of our support system in relation to products, market and services infrastructure. A link points for information must be developed and follow it regularly. He added the starting point might be the preparation of national level checklist /database of SMFEs. ANSAB is working in SMFEs and better to act as a link point if possible. He strongly supported the idea of forest connect web page. Mrs. Bina Shrestha of COFSUN said a small team must be formed and the further activities may be designed as appropriate.

Dr. Prahlad Thapa said that the agenda is a good idea. Lots of worked has been already done by different organizations in Nepal. Due to the lack of sharing and networking amongst the stakeholders the interventions are in scattered formed and unable to produce desired outputs. Therefore, it is better to start from the consolidation of different stakeholders’ idea and experiences in a shareable common format so that the information can be pulled further for broader sharing. He also expressed his interest to work for this task. He also shared the experiences CECI /Sahakarya regarding the policy harassment to SMFEs. He added that the micro enterprise cannot handle policy related constrains.

Dr. Bhishma P. Subedi said that it is better to form an advisory team of government, donor agencies and relevant professional people to further work to go forward for long -term strategy development. Dr. Subedi said that our vision and relative action for SMFEs promotion is important as there is no doubt about the contribution of SMFEs on maximizing economic growth, sustaining forest and develop/empower local communities for poverty alleviation. So it is time to put the promotion of SMFEs as a national priority agenda for discussion and further intervention.

Dr. Bishnu Hari Pandit shared the NTFPs and SMFEs study experiences of New Era. He said that the team should consider the meso level connectivity with respect to national context.

Mr. Netra Sharma Sapkota said that national level inventory of SMFEs is important and go first to micro enterprise. He added that the advisory committee and its activities may be conducted in close collaboration with the Herbs and NTFPs Coordination Committee (HNCC), which would support for the authenticity. BDS – MaPS project learning and experiences may be valuable as baseline to go forwards. Dr. Bhishma P. Subedi added that all the information we wished to have may not be possible to collect and we can start from small initiatives with target products, regions and collaborate among each other.

Mr. Pradeep Jung Pandey said that the forestry sector holds third position in the national priority however we are still on preliminary phase on SMFEs promotion and development. This sector has the tremendous potential to earn foreign revenue. We can not go to the export market due to various reasons. So we should work on one product one village basis to meet economy of scale and quality production. We are not able to supply quantity and quality according to demand. We should think how to bring more benefit to the poor farmers and collectors. Mr. Ram Hari Subedi said that branding the product will position Nepal’s image and we must start doing it to keep our identity in the international markets.

Mr. Parbat Gurung stressed to work through alliances like PPA for higher achievements and broader impacts. So the topic forest connect is very genuine for working through alliance concept and formation of advisory committee may be the primary intervention. He highlighted the livelihoods contribution of forest based micro enterprise like Cordyceps sinensis collection and trade in high Himalayan habitants of Nepal. He added that the Himalayan districts, such as Bajhang, don’t have any agricultural product but still they depends on Cordyceps sinensis and other high value NTFPs. So we should focus such products at first.

In this connection, Dr. Subedi said commissioning a diagnostic study on focused product can be helpful.

Mr. Bhairav Risal said that the FM radio revolution in Nepal is rampant. More than 40 districts have FM radio station. We can utilize this media services as means to advocate governance of SMFEs. The question is that how can we utilize the media to solve the problems.

Mr. Thakur Bhandari said we should go first to the field reality rather than surface talking. It is a time to work on enterprise based community forestry management but our policy and vision is still unclear.

Mr. Kumud Shrestha said first job is that problem must be identified, so that a kind of package can be developed practically. Focus on product and area is crucial for a pilot intervention.

Mr. Durga Datta Regmi said only committee formation is not enough to solve the problem. The major question is the vision of committee formation and deliberation of power and authority in terms of legal validity. It is a time to prepare a national vision and strategy of SMFEs development.

The meeting concluded to form seven members Advisory Committee to discuss regularly on Forest Connect Nepal activities and progress made. The following are the members:

1. Department of Forestry – Director General

2. Kathmandu Forestry College – Principal

3. CECI – Country Director

4. FECOFUN – Chairperson

5. FNCCI – Chairperson (Industrial Development Committee)

6. NEHHPA – Chairperson

7. ANSAB – Marketing Advisor

Finally the meeting was ended by the concluding remarks of Dr. Keshav Kanel and

Chairperson’s closing words.

ANSAB meeting hall

List of Participants:

• Mr. Amrit Lal Joshi, Forester Mr. Bhawani P. Kharel, IUCN
• Dr. Bhishma Subedi, ANSAB Mr. Bhola Khatiwada, COFSUN
• Ms. Bina Shrestha, COFSUN Mr. Birkha B. Shahi, FECOFUN
• Mr. C.L. Chaudhary, CECI Mr. Indu B. Sapkota, ANSAB
• Dr. K.K. Shrestha, TU/ESON Mr. Kumud Shrestha, FCWG
• Mr. Pradeep Maharjan, Winrock International Mr. Bhairab Risal, NEFEJ
• Dr D.B. Shakya, AEC/FNCCI Mr. S.K. Jha, NFA
• Dr. Bharat Kumar Pokharel, NSCFP Ms. Helga Duhou, SNV
• Mr. Bill Cocus, IDE Dr. Nirmal Bhattarai, MAPPA/ICIMOD
• Dr. R.B.S. Rawat, ICIMOD Mr. Maksha R. Maharjan, CARE Nepal
• Dr. Kayo Yami, NAST Mr. Rana B. Rawal, BIRD
• Mr. Parbat Gurung, NEHHPA Mr. Raj Bahadur Shrestha, MEDEP
• Mr. Ram Hari Subedi, ANSAB Ms. Shova Adhikari, ANSAB
• Mr. Suhrid Pd Chapagain, NSCFP Dr. Tirtha B. Shrestha, Nepal Academy
• Dr. Udaya Raj Sharma, MFSC

Agenda :

1. Guide for organizing community for NTFP management, value addition and marketing
2. Update and briefing on NTFP policy and
3. Sharing from NNN members

Summary:

Policy Makers, donor communities, representatives from government, private companies, businesspersons, and concerned stakeholders working in the sector discussed on the need and requirement of NTFP guideline. The participants had common consent that the guideline should finally contribute to the goal of forests conservation and poverty alleviation, capacitating the grassroots communities to work for themselves. Participants emphasized the need of policy implementation of ‘Herbs and NTFP development Policy’, that was designed through wider consultation from grassroots to policy makers. The guideline should be developed in a way that should make use of national resources, use tremendous manpower, prioritize major species in terms of volume and value are important. Need of strengthening of HNCC and coordination among relevant stakeholders, to bring out results
simultaneously though the guideline and respective endeavors was underscored in the meeting.

Participants also emphasized roles of private, government, donor and communities for the promotion of NTFP resulting in conservation and poverty alleviation. The participants emphasized the issues of income generation, biodiversity conservation, value to the indigenous knowledge, and community benefit while preparing the community guideline.

The meeting was chaired over by Dr. RBS Rawat,
Coordinator of MAPPA.
Major Highlights:

Dr. Bhishma P. Subedi welcomed all the participants. Presenting glimpse of Nepal’s conservation efforts and achievements in line with community forestry, Dr. Subedi said, over 14 thousand users groups are managing a large ha of areas. But the sad part, as he put it: ‘their capacity for sustainable management of forests is limited, and yet in many contexts, they have shown capacity to manage. Under the scenario, NTFP guideline and its use will be crucial to address poverty and conservation’. Building on the successes, now we need to move on. The importance of NTFP guideline is burgeoning for its need to be used. Government’s interest in poverty reduction and conservation; a large organized network of users group, and promising efforts from development organizations are the potential factors contributing to its development, use, and impact. Certain detail is already worked out, and we need to build on it, added Dr. Subedi.

Dr. D.B. Shakya from AEC/FNCCI said, we must have an alliance for linking CFUGs with enterprises, energizing them in business perspective. In the context, we have advocated for a new industrial policy and lobbied ministry of Industry. Agro‐business policy is already in effect. We should work as pressure group for the community forest users group, now is the situation that they can’t run their own enterprises. One of the participant raised concern for registration of the NTFP guideline prepared. Responding to his query, Dr. Nirmal K. Bhattarai, said, Dr. Subedi from ANSAB is representing International Non‐governmental Organizations in the Herbs and NTFP Coordination Committee (HNCC), chaired over by Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation. HNCC will be a good medium for it to get approved by the government.

Mr. Indu B. Sapkota, of ANSAB said, the target audience for this guide should be practitioners at the field level to enable them to develop, implement, and monitor community forests management operational plans towards sustainable use of timber and non‐timber products, and key components of the guide should be: organizing communities, natural resources management including FSC experiences, enterprises development, and marketing and BDS. Due consideration should be paid to integrate local ecological knowledge and scientific practices. Moreover, this guide should be useful as a resource book for NGOs, entrepreneurs and other commercial concerns interested in NTFPs ‐ based enterprises, local community organizations, and forest managers or government personnel involved in NTFPs harvests.

The participants emphasized that we should prove that what we are doing is right. Things have been changed now. Benefit to local communities is crucial, they can not volunteer their efforts for long, and there should be mechanism for income generation from NTFP management and use. Dr. T.B. Shrestha emphasized special program for special groups including community forests groups, farmers groups and more, e.g. capitalizing products like, cardamom, chiraita and more.

Mr. Bhola Khatiwada from COFSUN said, we are revising community forestry guideline. We are endeavoring to make this a master guideline that can lead other specifics guidelines including NTFP guideline or enterprise guideline. The guidelines can also operate independently. Sharing experiences of working in the field including Banke, Berdia and Kailali, Mr. Maksha Maharjan said skill enhancement of the people is necessary. Dr. Tirtha B. Shrestha put forth, CF in private ownership may be difficult from the perspective of biodiversity conservation and community development.

Sharing on experiences of BDS‐MaPS, Mr. Pradeep Maharjan pointed out, legal reforms, sustainable harvesting practices, legal reforms, and dissemination of policy important. Dr. D.B. Shakya from FNCCI underscored the role of ministry of finances. Inclusion of enterprise in forestry policy would finally be addressed and supported by the ministry of finances. We should work in a way, CFUGs would register themselves as company rather than CFUGs, and we should join hands together, he added. Participants also suggested keeping success cases in the manual. Mr. Parbat Gurung from NEHHPA stated sustainable forest promotes sustainable enterprises; this should be clear in the guideline. Moreover, the guideline should be able to work everywhere throughout Nepal. Some DFOs have been the obstacles for us; they define forests operations to the best of their congeniality. Mr. CL Chaudhary emphasized the necessity of developing guideline and said it should get approved through legal provision that can address all legal complexities at field level.

Mr. A.L. Joshi said, bringing national issue is important, let’s talk now, what’s incomplete in the national issue. Dr. Udaya Raj Sharma, Joint Secretary at Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation called on endeavoring to make Herbs and NTFP Development policy in effect. Implementation of the policy has been a challenge, he stressed. At a time, when policy was developed, it was worked out, consented and appreciated by all, whatsoever weaknesses it does have, and policies are the things: ever incomplete, Dr. Sharma added. He also requested all participants to advocate to stop culture of unhelpfully empowering district authorizes at the grounds. Dr. Sharma also emphasized the role of HNCC.

Mr. Bhairab Risal of NEFEJ thanked Dr. Sharma for exerting to bring out NTFP development policy. He said, policy should be clear so that no one could interpret negatively or positively as much as one feels comfort. Now, each small and small groups or bodies should work mutually in enterprising, manufacturing or marketing. Mr. Bhawani Kharel from IUCN focused on including practical elements in the upcoming guideline, an extensive study is necessary to find out the type for most required NTFP guideline, and there should be collaborative efforts and consent from all relevant stakeholders for the guideline. HNCC is the very appropriate body, and it should be strengthened, he furthered. Mr. Kharel also offered support, especially in the cultivation aspect, when necessary.

Dr. K.K. Shrestha laid emphasis to build on the already worked out guideline rather than preparing a different or new one. Mr. Rana B. Rawal said, the guideline should not be mandatory, rather be to build on what is good and what is not. Community benefit and equity aspects are very crucial, he added.

Mr. Bharat Pokharel of NSCFP said, the guideline is the great and foremost necessity to Minister, secretary and DGs. Our attitude should be changed to empower communities and let them lead to manage forests and NTFPs. The better is: investment and marketing from private companies, resource management form the communities and policy development from the government. The Herbs and NTFP development policy has ensued the spirit. There should be Business Development Services in place for providing services, and there should be clear understanding on who will pay for them. The aspects should be reflected in the guideline. Ensured employment to youths and deprived is necessary, Dr. Pokharel added.

Mr. Birkha Shahi from FECOFUN said, the guideline should made Himalayan region a focus, and especially in the Karnali region. There should be mechanism for respecting indigenous knowledge.

Sharing on MEDEP’s efforts for NTFP based micro‐enterprise development, Mr. Raj Bahadur Shrestha said, sharing of knowledge and learning is important, many people don’t know, what’s there in the NTFP policy. Mr. Suhrid P Chapagain from NSCFP said, the NTFP is in evolutionary mode, and its sure that major issue is the income generation. There may be different working modality, but roles and responsibilities should be allocated and clear among relevant stakeholders.

Dr. RBS Rawat thanked Dr. Subedi for taking initiatives in the guideline development process. We have to make use of national resources and use to the best the manpower. We have to pinpoint priority species. HNCC today is the nodal point, they should take lead and to share all stakeholders what’s happening altogether. We should go with the volume while working for the species. He thanked all participants for joining the discussion and closed the meeting.

Participants:

The participants of the 29^th sharing meeting of Nepal NTFP Network (NNN) observed mourning silence in memory of the deceased veteran conservationists of Nepal, who passed away in an ill-fated helicopter crash in lelep, Taplejug on  22 September, 2006. 

Presentation of Dr. Bhishma P. Subedi
Dr. Bhishma P. Subedi made presentation on ‘Building Nepal’s Sustainable NTFP Brand’ in the NNN meeting. He put forth a brief overview of achievements of the PPA efforts in forest certification, products development and promotion, along with key interventions and outputs. Through its efforts in the pilot phase, more than 1,282 jobs have been generated in the direct processing and marketing areas. Over 7,199 households are receiving benefits as a direct result of this program. During 2003-2005 the alliance introduced and educated the Nepali partners on certification with the awarding of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.

Besides, Nepal is the first country in Asia to obtain FSC certification for non-timber forest products and only the fifth in the world. This certification is the first in the world for handmade paper and the first in the world with regard to the variety and quality of non-timber forest products.

Certification by the Rainforest Alliance ensures that the raw materials that come from FUGs meet high standards of management and have been traced from the forest to a Nepali manufacturer. The project supported more than 23 enterprises and industry coaching has resulted in the development of a wide range of products including pain relief oil, personal care products, herbal teas, and hand made papers. Income generated in the certified companies is distributed among the communities involved.  A portion of the revenue is set aside for conservation and restoration activities. The alliance sold products worth US $1,759,718 during the project period, with the poor communities benefiting most from the enterprise activities. Certification standards have helped FECOFUN and CFUGs strengthen their democratic institutions and equitable society. Certification standards have helped FECOFUN and CFUGs strengthen conservation efforts. Certification has helped FECOFUN, SBTG and CFUGs strengthen business practices and linkages. FECOFUN has noted that its relationship with the Nepali government, even in the given political situation, has improved dramatically and feels better able to represent the communities. The significant socio-economic and local governance benefits led the Alliance to unanimously agree to formalize a continued working relationship to initiate new and expand existing activities. 

ANSAB has hoped to build on the achievements of this pilot phase, while simultaneously expanding and refining objectives to further the benefits to Nepal’s community forest user groups. 

Key Interventions

1. Build brand recognition for Nepal Sustainable NTFPs using FSC certification and sustainable sourcing promotion.

• Target Outcome: Branding of Nepal FSC products with tangible marketing benefits achieved in higher market price and/or more secure and long-term stable buyer relationships.

2. Provide targeted technical assistance to Nepali companies so they can meet international standards for processing and product documentation in the NTFP sector that results in increased sales.

• Target Outcome: These activities are designed to bring the FSC certified enterprises up to comparable world standards in processing, packaging and sales.

Other Highlights of the Meeting
Dr. Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha appreciating the achievements in forest certification, asked for the branding, presentation of Dr. Subedi. Replying his query, Dr. Subedi said, now, what we want is to make a common branding, bringing together all Nepal products producers into one umbrella for building on the image of Nepali products.

Mr. Ram Hari Subedi said, branding and certification are two different things. According to him, certification has brought out necessity and has made the way clear for communal branding.

Mr. Indu Bikal Sapkota said, every year in the certification audit, we can expand the size and we can include capable CFUGs into the pool of certification. Now, a great deal of works has been carried through in the part of awareness generation. And so we don’t need to spend in capacity building. For onwards efforts in certification, it will be cost effective.

Dr. Subedi said there are many challenges; there were concepts that it may not be possible in Nepal. But it was achieved in the extent it was expected. Let’s think, do we need to go to the way or not? It’s very difficult without National effect, said Dr. Subedi.

Mr. Bob Nanes of IDE/BDS-MaPS said it’s very important that these two types of branding should go well together. He said the results are quiet impressive in terms of no of area and products certified. He made queries on can CFUGs enable themselves to get to the market, what are the causes that motivate CFUGs to invest for the certification. Responding to his queries, Dr. Subedi said, certification does not guarantee market; you have to meet other qualities demanded in the market.

Mr. Kumud Shrestha said, ANSAB is supporting a number of enterprises. But this is not enough; a lot of entrepreneurs need support.

According to Dr. Tirtha B. Shakya, we need to make a national strategy for benefiting community people.

Dr. Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha, Executive Director of AEC/FNCCI said it was since 1992, the environmental sustainability, like FSC standard was demanded in market. There are people asking for products that are produced sustainably. Now, it is crystal clear that any sort of certification either organic or forest certification intends to benefit local communities through marketing their products aboard. If somebody pays more money for the FSC certified products, definitely people start producing certified products. 

Dr. Shrestha further said that if the supplier and buyer want to keep the long term and sustainable relations. From this perspective also, FSC standards certification has been the necessity of supplier and producers for sustainability of their business and relations.

Summing up the intent of Dr. Shrestha, Dr. Bhishma Subedi said, now, it has seems important that we have to make effort for forest certification in larger extent. Community Forests do most of the certification works. Value of auditing is very important, from the perspective of social, economic and environmental aspect. Consumers aboard have felt that for the sustainability, there is no other good way besides ensuring social, environmental and economic aspects.

Dr. Subedi said, the five interventions are what we have thought to be built upon. Now, we have to decide, what can be done for it and what from our part can we do? And also for the overall coordination, who can do what?

There were also suggestions to keep the capable organizations and companies into the alliance. Sharing own experience, Dr. Tirtha B. Shrestha said, there should be single but cumulative effort for the forest certification. If any party goes to make another intervention of different standards for the same forest certification, the situation may worsen.

Mr. Rana B. Rawal also suggested strengthening the alliance. We all have to understand that FSC is the way through which we can ensure sustainability of the resources and benefit to the communities.

Mr. Parbat Gurung said, now we are discussing, forest certification is a very crucial tool and how should we go ahead, how to alleviate poverty and the way for international market for us. There should be selection in companies, either they are socially and environmentally responsible or not while including them in the alliance, he said.

Mr. Bhairab Risal of NEFEJ said ‘we are initiating community radio in 75 districts of Nepal. This community radio will broadcast programs beneficial to the communities in their local languages. The radio services may also contribute to the missions of different development organizations to uplift the livelihood of the poor people.

Ms. Divya Gurung of SDC expressed her organizations interest to get involved in the Forest Certification National Committee. We can also join hands together for the efforts towards certification, she added. We are discussing and exploring the ways for the leveraged effects and broadened outputs, which investment area is the most beneficial for the poor communities. Following this, we are implementing different models. We may improve our perspectives on the way of seeking better options.

Bhawani Kharel from IUCN also expressed interests on behalf of his organization to join hands towards mutual efforts for the forest certification process. He speculated the forest certification potentials in the 5 to 6 community forests users groups, amongst the working area of IUCN.

Executive Director of FNCCI/AEC suggested to work through a single alliance and not to bring out more so that the efficacy of the alliances scattered and originate unhealthy competition. He shared his own experiences to suggest on strengthening a single alliance for similar purposes.

Mr. Hum Gurung form Griffitu University said we are investigating and mulling over the importance of forest certification to be included in the university curricula. We can develop human resources to work in the sector, he said.

Underscoring the role of Nepal NTFP Network (NNN), Ms. Gurung from SDC emphasized the need of mapping of organizations and companies while bringing in the pool of the alliance. She also stressed the need of basket fund. Mr. Bhawani Kharel of IUCN also pointed out the need to strengthen the alliance.

Responding to the query of Mr. Rana B. Rawal about interest of FSC in the Expo held in USA, Dr. Subedi responded, a large number of people made interest in the sustainability. And so, we should also come to the single pool to work issues in production be it FSC or of any other kind.

Dr. Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha said the mapping should be done taking into account the grass-roots interventions of organizations. The alliance requires holistic perspective and broader vision. Someone has to coordinate every thing. We may have five working groups, as Dr. Subedi suggested. Thanking all the participants and wishing the continuity of such crucial discussions, he concluded the meeting.

The meeting was presided over by Dr. Tirtha B. Shakya.

Meeting Hall
June 5, 2006
Minutes

 Agenda:

• Discussion on NTFP development strategy in the changed context
• Strengthening FUGs and NTFP management

Participants:

Highlights of the meeting: 

NTFP Development Strategy
Nepal NTFP Network (NNN), a consortium of policy makers, NGOs/INGOs, federations, private companies and relevant stakeholders discussed the needs of the strategy for herbs and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) development in the changed socio-political context. The meeting also focused on strengthening forest users groups (FUGs) for non-timber forest products management.

The meeting formed a task force, coordinated by ANSAB that comprises of private companies, non-governmental organizations, federations and government bodies to recommend government for prioritization of NTFP in the upcoming national budget.

Highlighting the importance of implementation of policy, Dr. Udaya Raj Sharma said, ‘We have developed Herbs and NTFP policy 2061. Now the strategy should be to enforce government to make the policy enacted.’ NTFP development policy was developed through consultation from the grassroots to the different stakeholders including policy makers.

Dr. Bhishma P. Subedi, Executive Director of ANSAB briefed on the NTFP development context of Nepal. According to Dr. Subedi, enabling policy, program implementation and priority from the stakeholders should be made the basis for NTFP development strategy. Dr. Hari Krishna Sainju, Director General of Department of Plant Resources (DPR) underscored the importance of fair business.

Detailing the hurdles in registration of community based enterprises, Mr. Surya B. Binayee, Program Manager of ANSAB said, “the need is the prioritization of program and budget for the development of NTFP sector.’

Pointing out the NTFP strategy building, Mr. Indu B. Sapkota, CF/NRM manager at ANSAB said, ‘NTFP development strategy should take into account the conservation, enterprise/value addition, and marketing aspects of NTFPs.

Dr. Keshav Kanel, Deputy Director General, Community Forestry Division said, “We have operational level problem in enterprises development and NTFP management, we need integrated attempt to reduce it.”

Mr. Parbat Gurung, Chairperson of Nepal Herbs and Herbal Products Association emphasized the need of enterprise-oriented resource management and promotion of community based enterprises to enable communities to generate income.

Mr. Dinesh Paudel of NSCFP said that non-timber forest products development strategy is also concerned with enterprise policy, land policy and others. Now, we should do something concrete as the time is so enabling.

Mr. Sarad Rai of Practical Action, Mr. Gobinda Ghimire of AHI, Mr. A. L. Joshi, Mr. Rakesh Munakarmi of MEDEP shared their experiences and put forth their views regarding NTFP development strategy. 

Strengthening FUGs and NTFP management
Underscoring the need of ensuring people’s rights over natural resources, Mr. Rajendra Lamichhane of FECOFUN said, ‘we all need to be changed in the changed national scenario.’ The participants suggested FECOFUN for its strategy to be focused, aligned taking into account the institutional sustainability and contribution in benefiting poor communities.

Mr. Parbat Gurung, Managing Director of HBTL emphasized democracy firstly is important in the FECOFUN. Adding on his remarks, Dr. Keshav Kanel says, legal designing should be made by communities.

Mr. Rajendra Lamichhane said all stakeholders should analyze the NTFP policy and development strategy. Dr. Keshav Kanel emphasized that FECOFUN should be clear on either they want to lead advocacy or run projects. FECOFUN should also monitor community forestry for good governance and operation. Ms. Divya Gurung of SDC said, FECOFUN’s may be organized with advocacy wing, political wing and service providers’ wing.

Summary of the meeting
The NNN meeting built in its focus on the sharing on the Indo-Nepal NTFP trade research sharing by Dr. Udaya Raj Sharma. Dr. Sharma had a conclusion that Nepal can step up immediate steps in the NTFP trade when good cooperation is made with Indian authorities. According to Dr. Sharma, the concerned authorities in India are good and we have to find out and follow good ways to approach them to fulfill our interest.

The meeting was presided over by Dr. Damodar Parajuli, Chief, Foreign Aid Coordination Division, MFSC.

We requested them to include 222 plants in the appendix. He (….) beamed a smile in impasse and said we have a system. That time, we had 188 plant species ready to include. Within a short period of discussion, we came to know that if we fill in the form as stated by the system, they will happily include the plants we requested. The Plant Quarantine Division also assured the success of the joint effort if HNCC is in contact.

Dr. Sharma said, India is no less than Europe.

Sharing on amendment in tax rate of NTFP
Dr. Udaya Raj Sharma pronounced a decision made in the gazette that has issued amended tax rate of 188 species. The rate has been confirmed in terms of the market price of the relevant NTFPs, said Dr. Sharma. Reviewing the amendments, the meeting participants thanked Dr. Sharma and Dr. Damodar Parajuli crediting their efforts to bring the sort of change in the gazette. Besides the amendments, participants appreciated development in the structure of the species being placed with their scientific name. Tax rate as 10 % of the market price is the standard practices worldwide, said Dr. Damodar Parajuli.

The another major recent development in NTFP sector is the ratification of ‘Herbs and NTFP policy development 2061’. Concisely articulating the implication it may bring about, Dr. Parajuli said, the policy should be revised within 5 years. The government has been prioritizing NTFP policy development efforts and we try for the similar in future, said Dr. Parajuli.

Appreciating the government’s effort made in the NTFP policy development sector, Dr. Bhishma P. Subedi said, the achievements made so far are great. However it does not mean that there are no issues and challenges, which are yet to be overcome. Now, we have to thank the government for its efforts. Agreeing with the remarks, participants praised the government efforts giving big hands.  

Mr. Santosh Acharya made a query on IEA and EIA regarding the policy development. Dr. K.C. Paudel and Dr. Udaya Raj Sharma responded on it.

Regarding the India Visit for NTFP trade research, Dr. Sharma said, I did not really visit this time for quality and standardization, we will visit next time for this. In bilateral agreement, they will be very easily convinced, he added. If we export branded products, they will accept it in good price but we must have Nepali standard, said Dr. Sharma.

Thanking Dr. Sharma and the HMG, Dr. Damodar Parajuli concluded the meeting.

February 9, 2005

Agenda of the meeting:

• Marketing information system (MIS) updates for NTFPs in Nepal
• Effective functioning of HNCC

List of participants:

Summary of the meeting

The meeting focused its discussion on the activities, objectives and results of Marketing Information Services (MIS) program and effective functioning of the Herbs and NTFP Coordination Committee (HNCC). The participants were enthusiastic in realizing the effectiveness of the market information services. The extension of MIS geographical coverage, customization of information towards local level, network establishment, increase in the n umber of products (NTFP/HVC) for market information dissemination, increase in market and market price were the major achievement shared in the meeting. Mr. Bhishma P. Subedi exemplified, the price of yarshagumba per kg mounted to 80,000-100,000 from 30000-35000 after the market price of yarshagumba in different places provided to the communities of Darchula district. Though there are some difficulties in getting reliable information, proper use of information in the market places and the services accessible to the target group, the MIS service was realized very crucial by all the participants. The participants brought out ideas and given good suggestions to step up the marketing information services. Effective Functioning of HNCC was also discussed at length. Participants appreciated the efforts made by Dr. Uday Raj Sharma in the NTFP sub-sector and there was a mutual voice that HNCC should be institutionalized and strengthened well. As Dr. Sharma requested the participants to support HNCC on behalf of their organization to make it autonomous and effective, participants from ICIMOD, SDC and FNCCI gave words about their interest to support for the strengthening of the HNCC. Likewise NARMSAP also expressed interest that it will convey the message of support for strengthening HNCC to the management level. The meeting was presided over by Dr. Pradip Jung Pandey and facilitated by Mr. Indu Bikal Sapkota.

Meeting Objectives and MIS for NTFPs/HVC in Nepal

Mr. Bhishma P. Subedi, Executive Director of ANSAB, reflecting back the previous MIS activities, gave account of the achievements, lessons learnt and current activities in relation to MIS. Shedding light on the objective of the meeting, Mr. Subedi brought the attention of the participants, ‘how MIS service can effectively go ahead?’

Though it has been four years we are conducting MIS activities, we yet are worried about how to overcome challenges to step up towards the free and fair market, he said. The people across the world come upon the similar challenges.

Giving instances how information system has helped people get more economic benefit, he added, information dissemination in the local language, making accessible to targeted grassroots people is important. Taking into account the necessity, we established one to one and group to group mechanism as a best possible way to deliver information to the targeted group. The market information generation and dissemination service has been extended to 35 species from 22 species and customized geographically in the East and West. Ensuring market information accessibility through the Federation of Community Forest Users, Nepal (FECOFUN) and other commercial bodies like Ilam chamber of commerce have been piloted as different modalities and implemented as a test in terms of its effectiveness. Mr. Bhishma P. Subedi exemplified the non timber forest products have directly traded through the Nepaljung and Tanakpur and even through Kathmandu after the accessibility of market information about herbs and non timber forest products.

MIS activities in 2004 and suggestions for MIS improvement

Mr. Navin Subedi gave a presentation on MIS activities for NTFP/HVC in 2004. The presentation included MIS program objectives, implementation modality, how MIS works/functions, key achievements, challenges and the way forward.

Dr. Damodar Parajuli suggested pushing the MIS activities forward in cooperation with the decentralized bodies like DDC, Mr. Bhishma P. Subedi in response consented and said the need has been already realized and ANSAB is cooperating those bodies while implementing the programs. It was also realized in the meeting that the problem of synchronization between the market information and available market price does not remain only in the herbs and NTFP sector. The problem is equally extensive in the agriculture sector.

Making information completely accessible to the grassroots people is a challenge. Besides, until and unless the businessmen become socially responsible in fixation of price, problem in authenticity of information will stand still, the meet consented.

Mr. Ram C. Joshi raised concern that why don’t we work towards preparing semi-raw materials and, why don’t we emphasize other market related articles including policy updates in the community targeted magazines like Lahara, Ukali and others. Businessperson who gives false information should be punished and who are responsible towards society should be appreciated.

Dr. Udaya Raj Sharma said that the government has been trying to promote cooperatives for the development of agricultural, herbs and NTFP production. Hat Bazzar will be fruitful to regulate the market information and for local market development in relation to NTFPs.

In the discussion of developing products and market information, Mr. Bhairab Risal said, we have done a lot of works during the 5 years of period and yet a lot of works are to be built on the past progress. Let’s work for the wall newspaper for market information dissemination and school essays competition to make the information important among the society. Mr. Bhairab Risal said, friendship from letters through newspapers can also be appropriate medium in terms of promoting NTFPs to upgrade rural livelihoods.

The another concern raised in the meeting was the collectors should also be informed about the market information in terms of the quality of the products. In the meantime, Mr. Bhishma P. Subedi said, how can we step up the devices for solution in a sustainable way is important. Now we require a permanent solution of the problem, he added. The market information goes to those groups who don’t even feel its necessity.

The bargaining power of the local communities has been found to be increassing after they were provided the market price of the herbs and NTFP in different Nepalese and Indian markets. The community people who used to sell the Yarsagumba at 30-35 thousand per kg enabled themselves to sell in the hundred thousand rupees, Mr. Bhishma P. Subedi exemplified.

The impact of dissemination of the market information through Radio Nepal was realized to be important by all the participants. However they all consented to select the appropriate medium which one would be better either the regional broadcasting or the national broadcasting or the local broadcasting. Mr. Bhishma P.Subedi argued, the local broadcasting would be effective but it might be expensive also. Amongst, Dr. Damodar Parauli promised to allocate time for the NTFPs market information dissemination under the program being disseminated through the ministry of forest and soil conservation. Representative of the NARMSAP also responded well that the a little time can be allocated for the market information in the NARMSAP sponsored radio program, banbatika. The meeting also consented that whatever published or whichever program is developed for market information, it should be professional, and otherwise people would hardly listen to it.

Effective Functioning of HNCC (Herbs and NTFP Coordination Committee)

Dr. Udaya Raj Sharma expressed his concentration how NGOs, INGOs and donors can internalize the recently ratified herbs and NTFP development policy. How Herbs and NTFP Coordination Committee (HNCC) can be instituionally empowered. The HNCC was set up through the ministerial level committee. If the HNCC can not be made autonomous, the importance of this body is negligible. The HNCC can work effectively if it is made autonomous, said Dr. Sharma.

Mr. Parbat Gurung said, the HNCC has been seen as a neutral body and support to this body is necessary.

In an inquisition of effectiveness of the policy in comparison with the law, Dr. Sharma responded, so far as the law does not restrict any implementation, it does mean that it can be done. Policy opens the door and easies the implementation. The policies can be integrated into different laws. Supporting Dr. Sharma, Dr. Damodar Parajuli said we all the governmental bodies have realized the importance of legal provision. A nation analyzes in totality, which clauses or sub-clauses are to be put in which places?

Mr. Bhishma P. Subedi said how the autonomous institutional development of the HNCC is possible is a key concern we are thinking of. The support we can provide to the HNCC might not only be the financial there are other aspects through which we can contribute to the effective functioning of the HNCC. Mr. Subedi backing up the proposal of Dr. Udaya Raj Sharma requested participants to give words on the behalf of their organization.

Responding to the request, Mr. Dinesh Paudel said he has messages that SDC is interested in strengthening such body.

Representative of NARMSAP also conveyed words of possibilities that the need has been realized to support such bodies and said ‘I will pass on this proposal to the management committee.’

Dutiman Chaudhary of ICIMOD expressed words of possibility to support the HNCC. He further said, some progress will take place in a couple of months. Dr. Pradip Jung Pandey also gave his words to support HNCC in any call for necessities.

Concluding the 25 th sharing meeting of NNN, Mr. Pradip Jung Pandey thanked ANSAB and said we should take the market information service issues from the broader international perspectives. Comprehending the market need is necessary at first and the due information should be disseminated to the producers. Bringing 500/600 species into 35 commercial species is an important task, said Mr. Pandey. We should emphasize the mass scale production and quality also considering the conservation perspective. The producers should also be made aware about the legal provisions, added Mr. Pandey. Thanking all the participants, he concluded the meeting.

(Unedited)