Forest conservation mechanisms and their interactions: Is there an effect on forest carbon storage in Dolakha district, Nepal?

The forest has always been an important source of income for Nepal’s most marginalized people. Forest products such as timber and high value Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are traded to local, national and international markets. They constitute a major part of many households’ incomes, representing 10-15% of Nepal’s GDP. Over the past few decades, development initiatives, notably FCMs (Forest Conservation Mechanisms), have proliferated in Nepal. Different FCMs have fundamental similarities including financial incentives to avoid deforestation, which many scholars recognize as potential to synergize each other. The interaction between development initiatives – both spatially and temporally – is an area that is little understood in the literature. This case study incorporates research from 8 community forests in Dolakha District, Nepal where REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification and NTFP-promoting initiatives have been implemented over the past few decades. In order to observe and analyze the interactions between REDD and FSC initiatives together and their observed changes on forest carbon storage between 2009 and 2013, data was collected through a series of interviews and from secondary documents. A one-tailed, two sampled unequal variance t-test concluded that certified forests have higher forest carbon growth than non-certified forests (p=0.03), while no significant differences were observed in the rate of growth between certified and non-certified forests (p=0.36). Higher forest carbon data in certified forests (N=3) may result in higher socio-economic status for its neighbouring non-certified communities (N=3), most notably due to spill-over effects. Forests that were already involved in FSC certification were more capable of handling the introduction of REDD than others. The initial stimulus accompanying the implementation of FSC and REDD programs may only produce short-term improvements in socio-economic status. Synergy or conflict between FCMs may be interpreted through carbon storage data. A longer study should be conducted for deeper analysis