Social Capital and Resource Management - Reforestation in Nepal

A half term hat tip to Prairna Sharma for spotting this timely article from Eric Solheim lauding Nepal for their success in increasing forest cover. This is a great example of Elinor Ostrom's work on how the Tragedy of the Commons can be avoided when communities have control over use of their natural resources.

In the 70s and 80s, Nepal lost huge amounts of their forests to human activities like livestock production. After Nepal relinquished control of forests to the villages that depend on them, forest cover nearly doubled. Forest cover in Nepal almost doubled from 26% to 45%, where community forests covers nearly 2.3 million hectares.

Please read: How Nepal Regenerated Its Forests

Some economic policies that can help achieve reforestation in countries such as Nepal are:

1. Incentivizing afforestation and reforestation through subsidies, tax credits or payments for ecosystem services.
2. Encouraging sustainable forest management practices and community-based forestry models that involve local communities in decision-making and benefit sharing.
3. Developing markets for sustainably produced forest products, which can provide income to rural communities and incentivize reforestation.
4. Implementing policies that discourage the conversion of forests into other land uses such as agriculture, industry or infrastructure.
5. Promoting ecotourism and other nature-based tourism activities that can generate income and create incentives for preserving forests.
6. Implementing policies that reduce the demand for wood and forest products, such as promoting alternative building materials, and enforcing regulations against illegal logging and trade in illegal timber.
7. Providing support for research and development of innovative reforestation technologies, such as tree-planting drones, seed bombs, or natural regeneration techniques.