HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Retaining fertility of soil important, says Singh

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Dec. 11: It is estimated that Nepal loses over 240 million cubic meters of top fertile soil annually as a result of which 10,000 hectares of land in the trans-Himalayan region have started showing signs of desertification and almost half of the population face food shortage for 3-6 months in a year.

This revelation was made at the workshop "Land Degradation, Drought and Sustainable Land Management," organised by the Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE) in collaboration with the Secretariat of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), here today.

The workshop has been organised to formulate the National ,Action Programme (NAP) to implement UNCCD in Nepal, for the effective coordination of NAP chapters. It is also focus on creating awareness among the people about land use and protection so that it can be saved from degradation, which affects the quality of land and adversely affects farm output thereby increasing poverty.

The Nepal signed the said convention on October 12, 1995 and ratified the Convention as the 52nd member in 1996. Nepal has been working for the implementation of UNCCD in the South Asian region. with the Ministry of Population and Environment as the UNCCD national focal point.

Threat of desertification

The convention has been implemented in this region through Thematic Programme Networks (TPNs) and three of six planned networks are already in operation, hosted by China, India and Iran respectively and the three remaining planned networks would become operational by the end of 2002, according to the statement of the Secretariat of UNCCD.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Population and Environment P.L. Singh said that in order to mitigate the problems of land degradation and natural resource depletion, the government has promoted people-centered natural resources management activities to benefit the people who are the primary victims of land degradation and emerging water scarcity.

Minister Singh also said that Nepal sees the UNCCD as extremely relevant to the country as it focuses on poverty alleviation through partnership approach and addresses land degradation problems so that the fertility of the soil is retained. If we do not maintain a balanced interrelationship between human life and natural resources, we must be prepared to face disaster, he added.

Speaking from the chair. Prithivi Raj Ligal, Vice-chairman of National Planning Commission, stressed on the need for the local people to engage themselves for checking land degradation while meeting their basic needs.

He also said that controlling land degradation will help reduce poverty level to 10 per cent from the present 42 per cent of the total population.

Checking land degradation is very urgent as the majority of the people are engaged in agricultural activities. For this plans and programmes must be formulated accordingly together with effective implementation.

"It is very necessary to review, revise and reformulate NAP's incorporation into their national, social and economic development plan in the new century," said Yang Youlin, Deputy Regional Coordinatior, Asia Regional Co-ordination Unit, UNCCD.

The workshop is to run until tomorrow.

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