Ministry of Forests and Environment

The Ministry of Forests and Environment (Nepali: वन तथा वातावरण मन्त्रालय) is a governmental body of Nepal responsible for the conservation of forests and managing the environment in the country.^[2] Its main purposes are to enhance sustainable growth of the forest and water sectors and to manage the biodiversity, flora and fauna and also to increase the development of forest related enterprises in order to combat poverty throughout the rural areas of Nepal.^[3]

Ministry of Forests and Environment

वन तथा वातावरण मन्त्रालय
Agency overview
Jurisdiction	Government of Nepal
Headquarters	Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal
Motto	निजामती कर्मचारीको प्रतिवद्धता: पारदर्शिता र चुस्तता
Minister responsible	Aain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri, Minister
Deputy Minister responsible	Rupa Bishwakarma[1], Minister of State
Website	mofe.gov.np

History

Throughout its history, the ministry had several different names and portfolios. Under the Koirala cabinet^[4] and the first Oli cabinet, it was the Ministry of Forests. In 2018, under the Second Oli cabinet,^[5] the portfolio of the ministry was changed from Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation to Ministry of Forests and Environment.^[6]

Organisational structure

Two departments serve under the ministry to facilitate and implement its work:^[7]

• Department of Forests and Soil Conservation
• Department of Plant Resources
• Forest Research and Training Centre
• Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation
• Department of Environment
• REDD Implementation Centre
• President Chure Terai-Madhesh Conservation Development Board

Former Ministers of Forests and Environment

This is a list of former Ministers of Forests and Soil Conservation since the Nepalese Constituent Assembly election in 2013:

	Name	Party	Assumed office	Left office	Portfolio
1	Mahesh Acharya[8]	Nepali Congress	25 February 2014		Minister for Forests
2	Agni Sapkota[9]	Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)	19 October 2015
3	Shankar Bhandari[10]	Nepali Congress	26 August 2016	31 May 2017	Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation
4	Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba[citation needed]	Nepali Congress	7 June 2017	11 September 2017
5	Bikram Pandey[11]	Rastriya Prajatantra Party	11 September 2017	15 February 2018
6	Shakti Bahadur Basnet[12]	Nepal Communist Party	16 March 2018	25 December 2020	Minister for Forests and Environment
7	Prem Ale	Nepal Communist Party	25 December 2020	4 June 2021	Minister for Forests and Environment
8	Narad Muni Rana	CPN UML	10 June 2021	22 June 2021	Minister for Forests and Environment
9	Krishna Gopal Shrestha	CPN UML	24 June 2021	12 July 2021	Minister for Forests and Environment
10	Ram Sahaya Yadav	People's Socialist Party, Nepal	8 October 2021	4 July 2022	Minister for Forests and Environment
11	Pradeep Yadav (Nepalese politician)	People's Socialist Party, Nepal	4 August 2022	14 October 2022	Minister for Forests and Environment
12	Birendra Prasad Mahato	People's Socialist Party, Nepal	24 May 2023		Minister for Forests and Environment

References

1. "Three ministers of state sworn in". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
2. "Ministry of Forests and Environment". Government of Nepal. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
3. "Objectives" (in Nepali). Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
4. "Meet the new cabinet of ministers". Nepali Times. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
5. "Nepal's Prime Minister KP Oli Expands Cabinet, Inducts 9 New Ministers". NDTV. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
6. "Government restructuring its ministries". República. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
7. "Organization Chart" (in Nepali). Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
8. "Meet the new cabinet of ministers". Nepali Times. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
9. "Nepal's Prime Minister KP Oli Expands Cabinet, Inducts 9 New Ministers". NDTV. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
10. "13 new ministers take oath from President". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
11. "Newly appointed ministers sworn in". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
12. "Council of Ministers". Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Minister. Retrieved 5 March 2019.