In the forested slopes of Muse Danda in central Nepal, 75-year-old Hasta Bahadur Sathighare Magar still remembers when the land above his village looked lifeless. Dust storms swept across barren hills as cattle roamed freely, leaving little behind but eroded soil. Today, those same slopes are shaded by sal, sisau, jamun and bakaino trees, a transformation brought not by large-scale planting campaigns but by local people simply protecting the land and letting nature heal itself.
The revival of Muse Danda Community Forest in Nawalpur district is part of a growing body of evidence from Nepal showing that degraded land can regenerate naturally when communities enforce basic conservation rules. By banning open livestock grazing, restricting access, fining illegal logging and organising regular patrols, villagers halted further damage and allowed existing soil fertility, seed banks and wildlife to restore the forest within just a few years.
“When I walk in the jungle now, I feel energised by the plants,” Magar says, describing how residents visit the forest to enjoy shade and nature. The return of native trees has also improved local biodiversity and stabilised the fragile slopes.
Similar success stories are emerging across Nepal’s Chure range, a biologically rich but highly vulnerable landscape that stretches along the southern foothills of the Himalayas. Covering around 13% of the country, the Chure supports wildlife ranging from tigers and sloth bears to hundreds of bird species, while acting as a natural sponge that absorbs rainwater and recharges rivers flowing into the Terai plains.
Decades of unsustainable quarrying, deforestation and land encroachment have steadily weakened the Chure’s ecological role. Research shows forest cover in the region continues to shrink by about 0.18% each year, raising concerns about water security, flooding and biodiversity loss. In response, the government has invested heavily in tree-planting programmes, but results on the ground have often been disappointing.
At Muse Danda, the recovery came without outside funding or organised plantation drives. Community members focused instead on protection. According to Man Bahadur Malla, chair of the community forest, strict enforcement made the difference. Those who violated entry rules or cut trees illegally were fined, while round-the-clock patrols ensured compliance. Once human pressure eased, native vegetation returned on its own.
The same pattern is visible in Bageswori Community Forest in Kapilvastu district, where land once described as resembling a “football field” regenerated naturally after the community took control in 2006. Chair Lem Bahadur Gurung says sal, sisau and simal trees reappeared within three to four years once open grazing was stopped, without the need for coordinated planting.
These grassroots successes stand in contrast to several government-led plantation efforts in the Chure. The President Chure–Terai Madhesh Conservation Development Board, responsible for restoring forests in the region, plants thousands of saplings every year but lacks enforcement powers to protect them. Officials acknowledge that while plantations are established, long-term survival often depends on continued monitoring, which is frequently absent.
In western Nawalparasi, a plantation project carried out by the Nepal Army between 2016 and 2024 illustrates the problem. While official figures claimed high sapling survival rates, community leaders say most of the planted trees died after patrolling stopped. Without sustained protection, locals grazed livestock and damaged young plants, undoing years of effort.
Researchers say Nepal’s experience highlights a deeper flaw in the emphasis on planting numbers rather than forest survival. Bharat Pokhrel, a senior researcher with the Nepal-Swiss Community Forest project, argues that Nepal’s fertile soils and existing ecosystems are well suited for natural regeneration. Birds, native seeds and soil microbes, he says, do much of the work if forests are simply protected.
According to Pokhrel, government programmes often prioritise visible plantation targets while neglecting long-term stewardship. He and other experts believe community-led protection and natural regeneration offer a more sustainable, cost-effective solution, especially in fragile landscapes like the Chure.
As Nepal grapples with land degradation, water stress and climate risks, the quiet recovery of forests like Muse Danda suggests that empowering local communities and enforcing basic protection may succeed where expensive tree-planting drives have repeatedly failed.