Assessment of Opportunities and Challenges of Urban Forestry in Nawalparasi District, Nepal

This article highlights a research carried out in Gaindakot municipality of Nawalparasi district, Nepal to evaluate the opportunities and challenges of urban forestry regarding identification of existing policies and documentation of institutions involved in the field of urban forestry. Systematic random sampling method was used for the data collection during household survey. The study revealed that urban forests are governed through the all-size-fits-all forest policies, which are not favorable to urban forestry development. Plantation in the barren lands, park development, social mobilization and awareness raising are the major activities of urban forestry. The research also showed that main opportunities of urban forestry development in the study area are newly formed local government, high level willingness of local people to participate in urban forestry development, and presence of community forests around the city. On the other hand, lack of public space, narrow roads, increasing fragmentation of land, and lack of coordinated and planned efforts are major constraints to urban forestry development. This study recommends that government should take necessary steps to establish the institutional setup to facilitate the urban forestry development programmes. For this, mobilizing social organizations could be an effective tool to promote urban forestry, but a long-term plan for plantation and their management needs to be in place.