Carbon offsetting as an opportunity for sustainable rural development in Nepal - a participatory, community based approach

Together with national representatives (experts to be nominated by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal, extension workers, experts of the partner institutions, NGOs, VDC leaders), the socio-­‐cultural context, patterns of forest and land use, and environmental status of sub-­‐regions of the target regions will be evaluated and one or two sub-­‐regions with poor status and a certain development potential for Community based Forest Management (CbF) will be selected. Parallel, success and failure of ongoing CbF activities will be analysed. The reasons behind the present status of the selected sub-­‐regions will be investigated and development options shall be derived in a participatory process of all subgroups at community level. In this process, one or two CbF user groups will select potential areas for reforestation and develop a management plan for the community forest area and socially feasible ways for utilizing them. Community representatives with the inclusion of the diverse (ethnic and caste) groups should be involved in the evaluation process, in the drawing of the base line and in monitoring activities. Participatory methods for protecting adjacent conservation areas are also a target of the project (ownership and sustainability). In addition, the options of additional income generation from NTFPs and agroforestry will be evaluated. The development of a reforestation and management plan will be supported via sending CbF-­‐representatives to training workshops and showing them best practice examples. The establishment of reforestations will be supported both in terms of knowledge transfer as well as via provision of seedlings or establishment of nurseries (the latter again being a chance for income generation). On-­‐site training in forest operations shall improve the practices in sustainable forestry. GHG sequestration will be evaluated based upon inventories of carbon stocks and stock changes in biomass and soil. The management should be adaptive and based upon scientific results of inventories and participatory research. Both staff and students of the partner institutions should be involved in the whole process. Partnerships between BOKU, local communities and institutional partners within the project are planned to cover a time period of 20 years. The community and site selection process, status documentation, the development of the community forest management plan and first reforestation activities are scheduled for the first three years of the project. At the same time, the options for supporting touristic development in an environmental friendly way (ecotourism, supply of alternative energy options like solar water heating…) shall be screened.