Marking the day, all sections of Nepali society including leaders, general public, campaigners, among others pitched on the need for environment protection and related measures as part of the country’s overall progress.

Here are some of the key highlights of #WorldEnvironmentDay2018 celebrations in Nepal:

Address to Nation

Marking the celebration of the #WorldEnvironmentDay2018InNepal, the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli called on all sections of society to contribute to the governmental efforts of controlling environmental pollution.  

Oli said Nepal’s measures towards environment conservation have a significant impact on the protection of the global environment.

“Nepal has made significant contribution to the protection of world environment as it has kept 45 percent forest area safe which itself is a contribution to the protection of world environment,” says Oli.

“Greenery and mountains are our assets. Mountains are not merely piles of mud and rock. Our mountain ranges have been giving water in the form of rainfall and snow. Nepal’s contribution is extraordinary in conservation of world environment,” Oli said in his address to the nation.

Addressing the international community on Nepal’s performance towards environment protection, “In international programs, we are lectured on carbon emissions because of our lifestyle of cooking with firewood, but they have been polluting the oceans with chemicals, which rises above and reaches our mountains where they cause acidic rain and snowfall.”

“Our carbon emission is negligible, but they ask us on how to mitigate. Actually, they have to think how to mitigate,” he added about Nepal’s contribution to global environment protection.

Oli urged the populace to plant at least one sapling that could add to the nation’s income and nutrition to their respective families. “We could export fruits to countries that do not grow fruits that we have. Fruit exports could contribute to the vision of a prosperous and happy Nepal,” he said.

In this regard, he also announced government’s plans towards utilization of forest area; some as human resources and the rest for preservation as natural forests.

“We will not disturb the natural forest to maintain the ecosystem’s balance since many wild animals and creatures depend on it. The government will utilize other forest resources by maintaining a rotation of cutting and planting,” he said.

A Glance at Special Programs

Marking the occasion, various special programs were held across the nation and the government launched ‘One Nepali: One Fruit Plant ‘campaign.

 “We need to take pollution equally seriously as we move towards our development goals,” said Oli in his address at a program organised by the Department of Environment at Central Zoo in Jawalakhel.

Continuing the country’s tradition of running series of clean-up campaigns every now and then, the Prime Minister inaugurated a ‘Clean Environment Mega campaign’ marking the special day.

Oli and other ministers participated in a special plantation program at Singh Durbar that was aimed at planting 100,000 fruit-tree saplings.

Thumbs Up for Nepal’s Green Efforts

In another occasion, PM Oli lauded Nepal’s green efforts over the years towards achieving sustainability and environment protection.

Other ministries also spoke about government’s plans for safe environment.

The Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth urged the concerned department officials to support the government in implementing the policy pertaining to on-road operation of 50 percent electric vehicles within five years.

The Minister for Forest and Environment Shakti Bahadur Basnet also pledged his ministry’s support to all other ministries, province and local governments for the success of ‘Clean Environment Mega Campaign 2075′ for environmental safety.

Plastic Usage, A Serious Concern

Nepal is one country that has always been conscious about safe environment as evident in a large number of clean-up campaigns we keep hearing from the country.

It is noteworthy that the Government of Nepal has been running a year-long cleaning campaign, which included call for plastic ban on April 15, 2015 across the Kathmandu Valley, urge for environment-friendly policies, promoting green vehicles, among various others.

Despite these efforts, the country is still facing environmental issues, especially with regard to plastic usage as officials’ say.

“Until and unless the government introduces new law to completely ban production of plastic bags below 30 microns, it will continue to be used by consumers,” says Shanker Prasad Poudyal, DoE Spokesperson.

The Global Environmental Performance Index 2018 placed Nepal at 176^th position among 180 countries, in terms of global ranking for pollution.

Call to Action!

On the occasion of the World Environment Day 2018, the Climate and Development Dialogue, a Kathmandu-based initiative that represents all the Non-Government Organizations of Nepal, urged the government to consider the deteriorating air quality in urban areas of the country.

“Internationally it is recommended that metropolitan cites should have at least 40 per cent of the area covered by trees and greenery. However, in Kathmandu valley, only nine per cent of the area is covered by trees,” reads a statement by Climate and Development Dialogue.

The group further recommended the government to keep a serious check on the usage of fossil fuels in vehicles, pesticides on crops and vegetables, and the growing industrial pollution.

In a special recommendation, the group urged the government to make Environmental Impact Assessment mandatory for all infrastructure projects in line with the Environment Protection Act.

Besides Nepal, countries across the world have also celebrated the day in coordination with the international bodies such as the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), among others.

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Through the conference, the organizers focus on bringing up discussions on formulation of climate-resilient policies with due consideration of scientific knowledge and best practices for effective water resource and environmental management.

The conference is expected to witness a participation of around 500-1000 participants and is also hosting 10-50 exhibitors.

Event Date and Time:
Date: April 10-12, 2018.; Time: 09:00 AM-06:00 PM

Location:
Hotel Yak and Yeti in Kathmandu, Nepal

Contact Info:
Nepal Engineers’ Association
Patan 44600, Nepal
Landline: +977-1-5010253, Mobile: +977-1-5010251, 5010252
Contact Website: info@neanepal.org.np

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The Government of Nepal’s decision followed a similar campaign in Kathmandu it had initiated in 2017 calling for the ban of around 5000 ages-old vehicles including trucks, buses, among others.

“After mid-March, vehicles older than 20 years will not be allowed to drive on the roads. We hope this will help reduce pollution and ease traffic across the country,” says Birendra Bahadur Swar, Spokesman, Department of Transport Management, Nepal.

While this rule exempts taxis, the officials have already banned cars in key parts of Kathmandu to address traffic congestion issues in the region.

This decision is part of Nepal Government’s five-year strategic plan by the Physical Infrastructure and Transportation Ministry proposed, on March 14, 2016, to ban old public vehicles

Under the first phase of the plan, the department has already banned 2,500 old vehicles from the Kathmandu.

As per the latest reports, the latest decision will be effective from March 15, 2018.

Reaction

“Many transport entrepreneurs are involved in buying and selling second-hand vehicles. Those who made recent investment in old vehicles will go into huge loss if the government prevents them from operating,” Bijay Bahadur Swar, Senior Vice-president of Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) stated earlier this year when the government had called for similar action plan.

“Scrapping old vehicles will pave way for new vehicles to operate. Better fuel efficiency of new vehicles will help entrepreneur to save fuel costs. Most importantly it will help in improving worsening environmental conditions,” says Tokraj Pandey, spokesperson for Department of Transport Management (DoTM).

EPI 2018

The old vehicle ban policy gains significance in view of that fact that the global Environment Performance Index 2018 has named Nepal as the country in need of serious measures pollution control measures.

The global survey, jointly conducted by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, placed Nepal at the bottom among 180 countries in terms of air quality.

The EPI report assessed the countries by 24 indicators across 10 categories including ecosystem vitality and environmental health., which further includes water, sanitation and exposure to heavy metals as key elements.

The global report saw majority of African and Asian countries at the low positions in terms of poor air quality.

“Low scores on the EPI are indicative of the need for national sustainability efforts on a number of fronts, especially cleaning up air quality, protecting biodiversity, and reducing GHG emissions. These metrics provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy goals,” noted the report.

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With this, Nepal is set to become the second country in the world, after India, to introduce such policy to promote forestry that boosts the agriculture sector.

“Agroforestry should be promoted in Nepal because of our larger forest coverage, which is greater than neighboring India, and in recent times untilled land is increasing in the country. We should utilize the barren land through agroforestry,” said Yubak Dhoj GC, Secretary at the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation at a policy dialogue program in Kathmandu on November 04, 2017.

Adopting agroforestry is very feasible in Nepal owing to the country’s 45 percent forest coverage of the total area, he added.

A Step Ahead from Declaration Made in 2015

While India adopted its National Agroforestry Policy in 2014, Nepal started its background activity to support such policy three years ago. In 2015, the then Government of Nepal had also endorsed the ‘Kathmandu Declaration on Agroforestry.

The declaration called for a more structured approach among country’s various stakeholders on ways to promote agroforestry through the National Agroforestry Policy.

According to the declaration, the proposed policy would give needed boost for the development of fodder and feed, food and nutrition and energy, while also capping land degradation and encouraging new agroforestry models for various agro-ecological zones.

Science-based Intervention, Need of the Hour

According to Dr Javed Rizvi, Regional Director, South Asia program for World Agroforestry Center (WAC), agroforestry is not a new concept to Nepali farmers.

“Farmers have been cultivating trees on farmland for a long time, which is now called agroforestry. This is not a new concept for Nepal. Local knowledge and science-based intervention are needed for sustainable development of forests in Nepal,” says Rizvi.

Legal Constraints

Meanwhile, Nepali stakeholders are worried that the existing legal constraints might pose challenge to agroforestry practices in the country.

According to them, there are 32 national policies that talk about agroforestry, but lack clarity on the same.

“Besides clearly drawing the roles and responsibilities of different agencies, the new policy should declare an agroforestry super zone for the areas where the forest coverage is poor,” says Joshi. Murari Raj Joshi, a Consultant for IMCC for designing the policy.

“There are already many provisions that contradict each other and restrict hassle-free trade of timber and forest products. Without legal flexibility, agroforestry cannot thrive here,” says Bishnu Hari Pandit, Chairperson, Kathmandu Forestry College.

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