The Nepal Weekly 
September 12, 2023
By Shiksha Khanal
Land Our Future(LOF) has, collaborating with School of Environment Science and Management (Schemes) organized a workshop based on “Ecological Restoration” on 13th Bhadra. The Workshop was conducted in the presence of students of different colleges, resource person, LOF members as well as some international participants from Bangladesh and Pakistan too. The principal of scheme college, Ajay Mathema and Sunil Manandhar, former Environment Minister and advisor of LOF made the wonderful presentation on the” Ecological Restoration”. Restoration of ecosystem is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or lost.
Advisor Manandha also mentioned the field visit to Godawari Marble factory based on ecological restoration during his presentation. As it was in operation since 1966(2023 B.S.), it has been reported that the marble factory has the negative impact in the environmental, biological, religious and cultural heritages of Godavari area. Thus, Supreme Court (SC) directed the government to shut down the controversial Godawari Marbles Factory on April 16, 2015.
Likewise, Himal Cement Factory situated in Chobhar, Kritipur was also the topic of discussion. The project was originally constructed with a financial aid from Germany. It was the first and biggest cement industry of Nepal till it shut down in 2002. The plant was terminated in 2002 due to large opposition by the locals concerning the environment deterioration.
WWF country Director Ghansham Gurung also put his perspective that strengthening the connection between restoration, conservation, and sustainable development is crucial to restore the deteriorate environment into the natural evolutionary state Principal sir said” Conservation alone might not be sufficient to protect ecosystem anymore “Focus of conservation is mainly on protecting and preserving natural species.
Many of our ecosystems today are damaged beyond unassisted self-recovery. He delivered the importance of ecological restoration c to keep balance in the environment. Nepal’s environmental, forest, and natural resources legislations and policies has not explicitly describe “Ecological Restoration,”. Thus, it seems that the government of Nepal should admit and prioritize this approach to have ecological maintenance.
