Human Impact on Some Forests of the Middle Hills of Nepal 1. Forestry in the Context of the Traditional Resources of the State

Abstract

This is the first of a series of papers seeking to set in a historical context man's influence on the forests of the Nepalese Pahad (Middle Hills and adjoining montane areas). In later papers, attention will be focused on two specific districts and on some forests within them. In this paper, the interactions between political history, the traditional resources of the state, and forests are considered. Two main conclusions are drawn. First, that the deforestation of the Middle Hills is not a recent phenomenon but has a long history, being well established by the late eighteenth century at least. Second, that deforestation was caused mainly by the joint attack of government land-use policy and subsistence agriculture. Government policy promoted the conversion of forests to agriculture in order to maximize agricultural surpluses and land taxes. The severity of taxation in turn led to further forest clearing as peasants attempted to maintain subsistence living standards. Many compulsory labour obligations also involved forests and con- tributed to their degradation. Only in recent years has a real consciousness of the value of forests arisen and this has been reflected in legislation aimed at fostering effective community forestry.