सूचक

Displacement of emissions can happen through the displacement of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and their impacts outside of REDD+ areas, due to the REDD+ interventions implemented in these areas. Displacement can also occur within a REDD+ area, when drivers and their impacts shift from one part to another part of the area. Nepal has in place a number of policies, laws and regulations that contribute to reducing the risk of displacement, including:

• The National Forest Policy (2019) and Forests Act (2019) strictly prohibit conversion of forest to non-forest land use in all types of forests.

• The Environment Protection Act (2019) and Environment Protection Regulation (2020) require environmental assessment procedures, including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and other applicable assessments, which help identify and mitigate activities that could result in increased pressures on forests.

• The National Land Use Act (2019) and Land Use Regulation (2022) have provisions to safeguard land use classes making it difficult to change land use from forest to another. 

• The Forest Act (2019) and the Forest Regulation (2022) secure the collective tenure rights of  Community-based Forest management (CBFM), while approved forest management plans for these groups ensure access to forest resources by forest users in a sustainable manner, helping to meet the needs of members and reduce risks of displacement.

•  The National Forest Policy (2019) also calls for sustainable forest management, improved forest governance, and livelihood improvement measures designed to reduce pressures on forests and promote sustainable use.

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Nepal has established policies and procedures for assessment, mitigation and monitoring of risks of reversals through the National REDD+ Strategy (NRS) and ER programs:

• Nepal’s Forest Reference Level (FRL) is compiled at national level, which is advantageous to avoid internal displacement of emissions and to ensure that the impact of national policies and measures can be properly assessed.

• The Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) (2014) screened and assessed possible social impacts and issues related to strategic options for REDD+ in Nepal and propose measures to mitigate environmental and socio-economic risks. While it did not consider displacement risks explicitly, it did consider the long-term sustainability of REDD+

• The National REDD+ Strategy (2018, 2025) aims to address the underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, to apply a national and jurisdictional approach to REDD+ implementation, and to promote sustainable livelihoods, which will reduce risks of displacement. Relevant actions include, among others: increasing the supply of sustainably harvested timber and timber products; promoting land use planning, including updated zoning and mapping of forestland; controlling the cross-border illegal trade of forest products; avoiding forest areas for infrastructure development and resettlement; and strengthening national forest monitoring systems as well as community-based monitoring.

• The 2024 review of the NRS and its revision (NRS 2025-2034) included updating analysis of drivers of deforestation and degradation and policy/legal context, as well as consideration of the impacts of the previous NRS implementation. The review found that most of the actions are under implementation to varying degrees, but also that weaknesses in the formulation and implementation of land use plans may contribute to risks of displacement. The next mid-term review of the NRS will be conducted in 2030, while a revised Monitoring and Evaluation Framework is provided in Annex 5 of the NRS.

• Nepal's National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) is established and contributes to tracking risks of displacement, comprising the National Land Cover Monitoring System (NLCMS), National Forest Inventory, National Forest Information System (NFIS) and the Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) portal.

• For the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) ER Program, displacement risks were considered during program design through analysis of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, the SESA, and development of the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF). The FCPF ER Program Document (2018) refers to risks of displacement of emissions from timber extraction, encroachment, resettlement and other factors, including transboundary displacement risks, and proposed several mitigation
  measures.

• The interventions in the Nepal LEAF ER Program are based on those of the NRS, which have been designed to consider the long-term sustainability of REDD+, and it integrates policies and provisions that can help to reduce risks of displacement, focusing on sustainable forest management, CBFM, alternative livelihoods, and strengthened forest governance.

• The LEAF ER program covers entire jurisdictions of the three Provinces namely Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini, representing 41.33% and 47.8% of Nepal’s total land area and forest area respectively. Based on the ART-TREES leakage deduction assessment tool, the Program proposes a categorisation as “Medium” with a leakage deduction of 10%.

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