Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN) has expressed its objection to some of the provisions in the Province Forests Act and the Protected Forest Expansion Regulations, saying these provisions imposed multiple taxes and banned the utilization of forest products.
Stating that there were some provisions made in the draft of the Forest Regulations prepared to implement the Forests Act, 2019 which curtailed the rights of the community, FECOFUN has called for correcting this.
FECOFUN president Bharati Pathak said that some provisions in the Province Forests Act formulated by the provincial governments are in contravention of the Federal Forests Act, 2019, and have interfered in the community forestry. She said the declaration of the protected area and its expansion has hampered the community forests.
Similarly, FECOFUN said the continuous imposition of three types of taxes on the community forests and the ban on utilization of the forest products has harmed the community forests.
FECOFUN has urged the Government of Nepal and the provincial governments to stop expansion of the protected area, scrap the three types of taxes, and remove the ban on utilization of forest products.
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