Tulsipur, June 2: Local people of Dang district have been developing interest in the community forests.

The total number of community forests handed over to the local users’ committee in Dang district has reached 309 and the area is 50,000 hectares making Dang district the district covered by community forests.

Community forests in Dang district were handed over since the year 2046 B.S. under the policy of handing over the national forest as community forest as per the wishes of the users, management capability for preservation, promotion and utilisation of the forest in their vicinity to put into practice the concept of “People’s forest, people’s wealth, their own responsibility”.

Dang district which has a total forest area of 192,155 hectares is covered by 30 per cent community forest. More than 300,000 people benefit from the community forests in the district. The biggest community forest handed over has an area of 1,486 hectares and the smallest has 0.5 hectares.

Dang district is also the district with most women community forests. It has 36 women community forests till the fiscal year 055/ 56 B.S.

Of them, the Tribhuwannagar Municipality has 11, Hapur VDC has 6, Rampur VDC has 4, Hekuli 3, Satchuriya 2, Manpur 2, Gadhwa 2 and Chailati, Srigaun, Dhanauri, Laxmipur, Gobadiha and Tulsipur Municipality have one each women community forests. A community forest users’ group coordinating committee has been constituted under the coordination of the Tulsipur Municipality with a view to forge coordination among the community forest users’ groups within the Tulsipur Municipality in Dang district, and to help in the management works of the community forests, Deputy Mayor of Tulsipur Ghanashyam Pandey said.

The committee is represented by the Tulsipur Ilaka forest office, the Efa environment and forest entrepreneurship programme and the care Nepal.

The coordination committee has been conducting training realising the need to prioritise group management training.

The Dang district forest office says that because of the interest of the local people in community forests, the fading forests have become greener again resulting in preservation of the bio-diversity and the number of deers, rabbits, leopards, hundars, luinche and wild boars.