Environment conservation in the new fiscal plan

Last week, the government announced a budget of NRs 1.96 trillion for the fiscal year 2025/26 (2082/83), allocating a sum of NRs 18.61 billion for the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE), which is nearly 1% of the total budget.

Giving continuity to the Chure conservation program, it has set aside a sum of NRs 1.69 billion to enhance the water cycles of the Chure and Terai-Madhesh region through an integrated watershed management approach. Conservation efforts will focus on wetlands and Ramsar sites, with reforestation, restoration of natural ecosystems, water conservation, and groundwater recharge, reads the budget speech. 

Chure, also referred to as Shivalik, is the youngest mountain range of the Himalayas, which spans over an area of 800 km from Ilam in the east to Kanchanpur in the west and covers about 13% of the country’s total land area. 

For decades now, Chure, rich in sal forests that provide hardwood timber as well as sand, stones, and boulders, has been plundered with illegal resource mining and extraction—such as illegal logging and unchecked quarrying. As a consequence, the range now suffers a serious desertification, majorly affecting plains, the country’s agricultural hub.

In 2014, the government designated the Chure region as an Environmentally Protected Area (EPA) and formed a powerful committee to govern the President Chure-Conservation Programme which was initiated in 2010 to curb the devastation. Yet with over NRs 15 billion spent over a decade, there are several concerns over its effectiveness.

The 2024 annual report from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) highlighted significant shortcomings in the program’s execution. It revealed that only 65 out of 89 targeted wetlands were restored, and just 47 out of 64 designated rivers received integrated management strategies. Additionally, the biogas expansion initiative reached only 1,197 households, far short of the 81,137 households originally targeted. 

The Federation of Community Forest Users Nepal (FECOFUN), a national network of forest user groups, has been a strong critic of the committee from the outset. It has accused the committee of prioritising the interests of extractive industries over those of conservation efforts and local communities. Amidst the complications, the MoFE earlier in January even proposed a restructuring of the committee and merging it under the Ministry.

A key feature of this year’s budget is its emphasis on the commercial use of forest and environmental resources. The budget outlines plans to leverage national parks, conservation areas, and forests for various projects, in ways that do not harm the environment or biodiversity. Further, the government plans to provide forest areas and government-owned lands at concessional rates for the construction of tourism-related infrastructure such as travel stations, hotels, lodges, and resorts. 

This comes after the country’s Supreme Court struck down two controversial provisions added to the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 earlier this year. Those provisions had been introduced to pave the way for infrastructure projects within protected areas.

Similarly, the government has announced plans to involve the private sector in the commercial production and marketing of natural and mineral resources. According to the policy, construction materials sourced from mines and rivers—identified as environmentally suitable and economically viable through environmental impact assessments—will be extracted and processed for domestic use as well as export.

The budget also plans to encourage the seasoning industry, aiming to increase the supply of processed timber and related products. It aims to facilitate the use of dry and fallen trees and proposes targeted support for furniture and veneer businesses along the Mid-Hill Highway.

Additionally, this year’s budget has outlined measures to address rising pollution in the country. The government will enforce standards to control air, water, and noise pollution, says the budget document, while updating standards for national air quality.

According to IQAir, a global air quality index, Kathmandu is one of the most polluted cities in the world, currently ranking ninth. Presently, its AQI is 102, based on annual average particulate matter (PM) 2.5 concentration. Air quality reading over 100 is considered unhealthy for a sensitive group of population. Back in April, Kathmandu ranked as the most polluted city in the world, with AQI reaching as high as 365, a level highly detrimental to public health.

To help control pollution in the federal capital, this year’s budget includes plans to relocate industries currently operating in the Kathmandu Valley to designated industrial zones outside the Valley, offering them land free of charge and providing concessional loans to factories to convert their traditional boilers into electric systems. The government has also committed to using advanced technology to monitor vehicle emissions more effectively.

To address wildfires, a major driver of air pollution and biodiversity loss, this year’s budget outlines awareness campaigns alongside a reward system for those who report individuals responsible for starting wildfires, as well as those who assist in containing them.

As part of various budgetary allocations, the government has set aside a total of NRs 12.9 billion for environmental conservation. This includes NRs 2.9 billion for waste management, NRs 1.1 billion for sewage management, NRs 1.9 billion for biodiversity and land conservation, NRs 131.5 million for research and development, and NRs 6.8 billion under a general category labeled “environment conservation–not classified elsewhere.”

Effective from mid-November 2025 (the first of Mangsir 2082), the government has also declared to ban the production, import, storage, sale, and use of plastic bags thinner than 40 microns.