Silviculture of plantation forest in central Nepal to maximise community benefits

Abstract

Large-scale plantation establishment in the hill regions of Nepal did not commence until the early 1980s with the advent of community-forestry programmes. Most plantations are being established to supply the subsistence energy needs of the hill farmers, in whom the management of these forests will be vested. This paper describes a series of demonstration trials aimed at exploring a range of silvicultural options which can be adopted by villagers with the technical advice and assistance of the Forest Department. The options chosen are strongly influenced by the need to manipulate the forest to supply products most favoured by the farmers. While Pinus species are commonly used in the establishment of new plantations because of their pioneer survival characteristics, in many areas the stand composition can be altered so that the naturally regenerating broad-leaf species become dominant. The trials also demonstrate harvesting techniques aimed at obtaining regular supplies of usable biomass early in the life of the plantations. Mean annual increment for biomass productivity over the 13-year life of the plantation ranged from 4.52 to 7.23 t ha −1 year −1 across the six treatments tested.