Environmental Services in Nepal: Benefits and Legal Provisions

Question: What Are Environmental Services? Briefly Explain Their Benefits and How They Are Addressed by Nepal’s Existing Forest Act and Regulations.

1. Meaning of Environmental Services

Environmental services are the direct or indirect benefits that forests and other natural ecosystems provide to human beings and all living organisms through their natural processes. Unlike tangible forest products such as timber and medicinal plants, these services mainly provide long-term ecological and social benefits.

Major environmental services include soil formation, nutrient cycling, watershed protection, water-cycle regulation, climate regulation, pest control, pollination, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, clean air and water, and pollution control.

The Forests Act, 2019 (2076 BS), defines environmental services as carbon services, biodiversity conservation, watershed and water-cycle systems, ecotourism, and other prescribed goods, services or benefits obtained from the ecosystem of forest areas.

2. Benefits of Environmental Services

Environmental services provide various economic, social and environmental benefits, including the following:

1. Biodiversity Conservation: Protect biodiversity and maintain ecological balance.

2. Regulation of Natural Cycles: Support the long-term functioning of the carbon, oxygen, water and nutrient cycles.

3. Soil Conservation: Reduce soil erosion and contribute to soil formation and fertility.

4. Watershed Protection: Support groundwater recharge and the sustainable availability of drinking water and irrigation.

5. Climate Regulation: Help regulate atmospheric temperature and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

6. Agricultural Productivity: Improve agricultural production through pollination, soil formation and nutrient cycling.

7. Income Generation: Create income opportunities through carbon trading and ecotourism.

8. Pest and Disease Control: Help regulate harmful pests and contribute to the control of pest-related diseases.

9. Sustainable Development: Promote the sustainable use of natural resources and contribute to long-term development.

3. Provisions Relating to Environmental Services under Nepal’s Forests Act and Regulations

Nepal’s forest legislation recognises environmental services as an important benefit of forest ecosystems. The Forests Act, 2019 (2076 BS), establishes the principal legal framework, while the Forest Regulations, 2022 (2079 BS), provide further procedural arrangements.

A. Major Provisions of the Forests Act, 2076 BS

• Legal Recognition: Recognises environmental services as benefits obtained from forests, distinct from conventional forest products.

• Identification and Benefit Sharing: Authorises the Government of Nepal to make necessary arrangements for identifying, utilising and sharing the benefits of environmental services.

• Management through Forest Work Plans: Provides for the management, utilisation and benefit sharing of environmental services other than carbon storage and emission reduction from forest areas in accordance with the relevant forest work plan.

• Incentives and Payments: Allows the Division Forest Office, subject to its annual programme, to invite proposals and provide grants or payments to private forest owners interested in managing environmental services.

• Forest Development Fund: Provides for depositing a prescribed portion of the revenue received from environmental services into the Forest Development Fund for forest development and promotion.

B. Major Provisions of the Forest Regulations, 2079 BS

• Agreements between Parties: Allows agreements between providers and users of environmental services.

• Sale of Environmental Services: Enables forest user groups that generate environmental services other than carbon services to sell those services, subject to applicable legal provisions.

• Service Fees: Establishes arrangements for determining and collecting environmental service charges.

• Use of Revenue: Allows revenue from environmental services to be used for forest conservation, restoration and community development.

• Carbon Trading: Emphasises the formulation and implementation of programmes to increase carbon storage and reduce emissions for carbon trading.

• Benefit Sharing: Provides for the equitable sharing of benefits from carbon trading among the three levels of government, forest user groups, local communities and private forest owners.

Conclusion

Environmental services are essential benefits derived from the functioning of forests and other natural ecosystems. They contribute to biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, climate regulation, agricultural productivity and sustainable livelihoods. Nepal’s forest legislation provides a framework for recognising, managing and deriving benefits from these services. Effective implementation, sustainable management and equitable benefit sharing are essential to ensure that environmental services contribute to ecological balance and the country’s long-term economic and social development.

Environmental Services, Forest Act Nepal, Forest Regulations, Climate Change, Carbon Trading, Biodiversity Conservation, Loksewa Preparation, PSCInsight