Agroforestry for biodiversity conservation

Loss and fragmentation of suitable natural habitat, high animal grazing pressure and poaching are the main threats to biodiversity conservation in Nepal. On farm agroforestry systems have great impacts on reducing pressure of government managed forests, community forests and protected areas for fodder and forage, fuel wood and timber, which will play great roles on biodiversity conservation and management.

According to the National Forest Inventory (1996) report Nepal ranks twenty-fifth in biodiversity with about 118 ecosystems, 75 vegetation types and 35 forest types. There are over 5,100 species of flowering plants, over 1,600 species of fungi and over 460 species of lichen. Out of the 5,100 species about 370 species of flowering plants are considered endemic to Nepal and about 700 species are known to possess medicinal properties. Protected Areas alone contain 191 endemic species. Anthropogenic disturbance has led to inclusion of 61 species on the list of threatened species for Nepal.

Nepal also has an estimated 700 species with medicinal properties and about 571 species have already been confirmed as medicinal plants. Out of these species about 30 percent are trees, 25 percent shrubs, 32 percent herbs, 10 percent climbers and 3 percent other. However, documented information about the utility, collection, drying and storage of medicinal plants is available only for 97 species.

Finally, on farm agroforestry practice is needed for the protection of natural habitats of trees, shrubs, herbs, animals, birds etc by reducing pressure on animals grazing, and fodder and forage, fuel wood and timber collection form these habitats.