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Increase of forest carbon biomass due to community forestry management in Nepal

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Abstract

Community forest management helps in mitigating deforestation and forest degradation by addressing the negative aspects of rural livelihoods such as poverty and social exclusion. It is important in regulating global climate by encouraging sequestration of carbon in shoots, roots and soils. We studied the status of community forest management, forest resource harvest and carbon stocks in two community forests of the mid hill region of central and western Nepal. The study was based on primary and secondary data collected through carbon stock measurement from field visits and allometric equations, household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and review of past studies. Socioeconomic variables such as gender, age group, livestock and landholding status were related to resource utilization, conservation, and management of community forest. Forest resources such as timber, firewood, fodder and leaf litter were harvested in sustainable ways. People were involved in forest thinning, co-management meetings, guarding and planting trees for forest conservation and management. Density and carbon stock of trees increased gradually in comparison to a previous study. We recommend further research on other community forests for more accurate and better results.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Prof. Dr. Kedar Rijal, Prof. Dharma Dangol, Dr. Dinesh Raj Bhuju, and Prof. Dr. Chet Raj Bhatta for guiding us and helping to conduct this study.

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Correspondence to Anup K C.

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Project funding: This work was supported by the University Grants Commission-Nepal, Institute of Science and Technology, Central Department of Environmental Science, and Ministry of Science Technology and Environment.

The online version is available at http://www.springerlink.com

Corresponding editor: Yu Lei.

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Anup K C, Manandhar, R., Paudel, R. et al. Increase of forest carbon biomass due to community forestry management in Nepal. J. For. Res. 29, 429–438 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-017-0438-z

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