Strategic Pathways to Scale up Forest and Landscape Restoration: Insights from Nepal’s Tarai
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Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Pokhara 33700, Nepal
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International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu 44700, Nepal
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Ministry of Forests and Environment, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
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Tropical Forests and People Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4556, Australia
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Centre for Research on Land-use Sustainability, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh
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Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Axel Schwerk
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5237; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095237
Received: 8 April 2021
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Revised: 2 May 2021
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Accepted: 5 May 2021
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Published: 7 May 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Ecology and Sustainability—the Interface between Natural Landscape Values and Society)
Deforestation and forest degradation mostly caused by human interventions affect the capacity of the forest ecosystem to provide ecosystem services and livelihood benefits. Forest and landscape restoration (FLR) is an emerging concept that focuses on the improvement of the ecosystem as well as the livelihood of the people at the landscape level. Nepal has successfully recovered degraded forest land mainly from the hilly region through forest restoration initiatives, especially community-based forestry. However, the Tarai region is still experiencing deforestation and forest degradation. This study navigated the gaps related to forest restoration in the existing policies and practices and revealed that the persistence of deforestation and forest degradation in Tarai is a result of a complex socioeconomic structure, the limitations of the government in implementing appropriate management modality, unplanned infrastructure, and urban development. We suggest that forest restoration should focus on ecological and social wellbeing pathways at the landscape level to reverse the trend of deforestation and forest degradation in the Tarai regions of Nepal. The study provides critical insight to the policymakers and practitioners of Nepal and other countries (with similar context) who are engaged in forest/ecosystem restoration enterprise.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Bhattarai, S.; Pant, B.; Laudari, H.K.; Rai, R.K.; Mukul, S.A. Strategic Pathways to Scale up Forest and Landscape Restoration: Insights from Nepal’s Tarai. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5237. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095237
AMA Style
Bhattarai S, Pant B, Laudari HK, Rai RK, Mukul SA. Strategic Pathways to Scale up Forest and Landscape Restoration: Insights from Nepal’s Tarai. Sustainability. 2021; 13(9):5237. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095237
Chicago/Turabian StyleBhattarai, Sushma, Basant Pant, Hari K. Laudari, Rajesh K. Rai, and Sharif A. Mukul. 2021. "Strategic Pathways to Scale up Forest and Landscape Restoration: Insights from Nepal’s Tarai" Sustainability 13, no. 9: 5237. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095237
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