Reference no: EM133320929

How Nepal Grew Back Its Forests" by Karan Deep Singh and Bhadra Sharma

Forest transformation is visible across Nepal, thanks to a radical policy adopted by the government more than 40 years ago. Large swalhs cl national fore land were handed to local communities, and millions of volunteers were recruited to protect and renew their local forests, an effort that has eamed praise from environmentalists around the world. But the success has been accompanied by new challenges - among them addressing the increase in potentials dangerous confrontations between people and wildlife.

Community-managed forests now account for more than a third of Nepal's forest cover, which has grown by about 22 percent since 1988, according to government data. Independent studies also confirm that greenery in Nepal has sprung back, with forests now covering 45 percent of the countrys land. lack in the early 1980s, the government couldn't persuade people to stop cutting trees for farmland and for firewood. The deforestation made floods and ndslides more frequent, alarming the country's leaders. What followed was an enormous replantation effort that was bolstered by foreign aid. Villagers inted seedlings of rosewood and sal on barren hills. Then they organized themselves in roups, each tasked with protecting the saplings in a designated it and preventing locals from cutting grass for animal feed.

challenge now is to sustain this fragile recovery. For the community foresters, that involves guarding their forests from the timber mafia, poachers and nature itself. A warming planet has made forest fires a palpable threat, so hundreds of local workers clear dry twigs, grass, and the batk of dead trees are then used by residents as kindling, animal feed and building material. Any surplus is sold for additional revenue ommunity forests are adjacent to national parks, and their revival has allowed endangered plant and animal species, including the tiger, the one-rhinoceros and the gharial, a crocodilian reptile, to thrive. But the increase in wildlife has also been accompanied by a sharp increase in human-onflict as animals cross the boundaries of the poorly fenced parks. Members of Nepal's marginalized groups who live around the heavily patrolli arks say the government is trying to move them away from their lands.

Question- What could countries like Nepal teach companies about how to solve a problem in a company? Discuss.