Nepal Ranks Second in South Asia for Forest Cover

Kathmandu. Among the eight countries in South Asia, Bhutan has the most forest area, followed by Nepal. According to the Economic Survey for the fiscal year 2082/083, published on Wednesday, Bhutan has 69.71 percent, Nepal 46.08 percent, Sri Lanka 34.1 percent, China 22.96 percent, India 21.71 percent, Bangladesh 12.8 percent, Pakistan 4.8 percent, Maldives 2.7 percent, and Afghanistan 1.9 percent forest area. 32 percent of the world's total land area is covered by forests.

In 2024, Nepal's forest area was 46.08 percent of the total land area. Of this, 43.38 percent of the total land area is forest and 2.7 percent is shrub and bushland. In the 1990s, Nepal had 39.6 percent forest area, which increased to 44.74 percent in 2015 and 45.31 percent in 2019.

Out of the country's total land area, 34,420 square kilometers is protected area. This is 23.4 percent of the total land area. Additionally, under 11 forest conservation areas, 194,156 hectares of forest area have been managed so far.

Similarly, as of last फागुन, 899 community forest user groups have been formed in buffer and protected areas, covering approximately 225,080 hectares. Furthermore, 548 hectares of forest area have been managed through 48 buffer co-managed forests.

As of last फागुन, 2,509,825 hectares of forest area have been managed through 23,162 community forest user groups. Additionally, intensive management has been carried out in 44,384 hectares of forest area through 33 partnership forest user groups, as mentioned in the economic survey.