‘Locals should have rights to use forest produces’

Kathmandu, June 16: Member of Parliament (MP) Jabeda Khatun Jaga has asked to scrap the National Park Act, 2029 BS and draft new Act to ensure rights to the local communities for the use of forest produces.

Taking part in the deliberation on the Appropriation Bill in the House of Representatives (HoR) meeting on Thursday, MP Khatun said that new Act should be made since the country can achieve prosperity from the use of wood and forest produces.

She also argued that the forest protected by the consumers should be given to the local community for its use. ‘Forest is linked to our life. It should be managed and conserved but we have failed to achieve economic prosperity from forest.

Expansion of national parks and conservation areas should be stopped. The rights of its use should be given to indigenous nationalities, freed Kamaiyas, poor, backward and marginalised community,’he viewed.She argued that the country’s economy has suffered for lack of utilization of domestic forest goods and imports of billions of wooden items from foreign country.