Scoping Study for National REDD+ Strategy

Background

The first draft of the Nepal REDD+ Strategy 2016 envisions a three-tier institution for REDD+ implementation. In addition to the central level institution—including the REDD+ Apex body, the REDD working group, the National REDD Centre, and the REDD focal desk—the strategy also envisages a REDD+ institution at the sub-national level. This includes a Regional Directorate Office (RDO) at the province level as well as a District Forestry Sector Coordination Committee (DFSCC), a District REDD Working Group (DRWG), a REDD+ Multi-stakeholder Forum, a REDD+ CSO (Civil Society Organizations) and IPO (Indigenous Peoples Organizations) Alliance, and a District/Protected Area REDD+ Program Management Desk at the district level. Under the current federal structure, it is highly likely that department/district level forestry administrations will undergo a reform. This has implications on the implementation of national and sub-national REDD+ programmes.

Under the Constitution of Nepal (2015), the management of national priority issues related to forests and natural resources falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government (Schedule 5). This includes national and international ecology management; national parks, wildlife reserves and wetlands; national forest policy and carbon services; central level mega projects for electricity and irrigation; and other projects including mining, exploration and land use policy, housing development policy, tourism policy, and environmental adaptation. Similarly, provincial governments are supposed for managing electricity, irrigation projects, drinking water, and transport; land and any record-keeping related to land; and national forests, water resources, and ecology within the province, including agriculture and livestock development, factories, industrialization, business, and transportation. Additionally, local-level governments are mandated to manage and oversee local development projects and programmes; local markets, environmental conservation, and biological diversity; local roads, rural roads and agricultural roads; irrigation, farming, and livestock; agricultural production and livestock health; operation and control of agricultural extension, and conservation of watershed, wetland, wildlife, mines, and minerals.

Objectives

This study aims to explore the different options available under the federal structure and the implications of the devolution of authority for newly established institutions in the forestry sector. The following are the specific objectives of the visit:

• To understand how the forestry sector will work within the new federal structure of the country.
• To identify opportunities, challenges, and gaps for implementing the National REDD+ Strategy.
• To Identify capacity development needs at the provincial and local levels.
• To provide recommendations for the REDD+ Himalaya programme to realign with the federal structure.
• To Recommend an institutional framework for implementing the National REDD+ Strategy under the federal structure.