Economic potential of forest resources of Nepal

T contribution of forestry sector in Nepal’s economy is significant. As 39.06% of the country’s area is forests, this sector has diverse economic potential. This sector can contribute towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Nepal (Kanel, 2004). The country lies within tropical to alpine climates and hosts a wide diversity of plant and animal species. For instance, Nepal has documented about 7000 species of flowering plants, many of which are important both commercially and for sustaining rural livelihoods. Major goods include fuelwood, timber, fodder, wild food, medicines, fibres and non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Similarly, forests provide different ecosystem services such as climate regulation, carbon sequestration, and water regulation. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment identifies both the 'goods' and 'services' as ecosystem services and categorizes them into provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services.These forest goods and services would add up to a huge contribution to the Nepalese economy, but there is a lack of a systematic accounting. The understanding of the economic potential of forest resources is sketchy and efforts to tap such opportunities are negligible.