Mr. Chair Person
Distinguish delegates
Press colleagues
Ladies and gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to inaugurate this conference on "NTFP Certification and Sustainable Marketing-Nepal" organized by Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources (ANSAB). Over the last two decades, the Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) have been increasingly recognized as a key component of biodiversity and people's livelihood in Nepal. They have been playing a unique role in preserving human health, socio-economic well being and rural livelihoods of our poor people. This is especially true in the hilly and remote regions of our country where other alternates are scarce.

Globally, the demand for NTFPs including Medicinal and Aromatic plant products are increasing both in volume and value. Nepal being a bio-culturally rich country, it has very high potential to produce and trade a diverse group of NTFP products and services such as medicines, foods and nutritional supplements and curative services. By realizing such importance the Master Plan for the Forestry Sector had identified the promotion of NTFPs one of the primary programs for the sector in 1988. This was further supported by the Ninth Five-year Plan (0998) of the country. The main policy statement related to NTFPs was to increase income and employment opportunities to the people residing in the remote areas through the training and extension activities on collection and cultivation of NTFPs and promotion of their processing plants. A great deal of achievements was made in this area by translating policy into actions through Special Area Development program of National Planning Commission mainly in the Community Forests, Leasehold Forests and Government Managed Forests.

Community Forests has become one of the best community based management models in Nepal that has been highly appreciated by other communities in the world. Nepal is advancing as a leader towards creating conducive policy environment as well as promoting and up-scaling best practices in the process of community forestry. His Majesty's Government of Nepal further emphasized in solving the problem of poverty and unemployment in the Tenth Five-year Plan (2002-2007) of the country. The major objective is to provide sustainable supply of forest products and environment conservation, management and forest based enterprise development and biodiversity conservation. A quantitative target of establishing 500 forest based enterprise by very poor and socially excluded families of community forest has been set for the period. This target can be achieved only when we promote the NTFP sub-sector.

Realizing the need and importance of NTFPs in the Nepalese context, HMG/N has for the first time brought "Herbs and Non-Timber Forest Products Development Policy 2004" into play which I think has addressed a big void of policy inadequacy. The policy aims to maximize economic and environmental benefits by promoting the cultivation and domestication of herbs, their sustainable harvests from both wild and cultivation, processing of the products and their marketing. And it envisions the holistic development of the herbs and NTFP sub-sector for poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation in Nepal.

We all know- to transform the policy into practice is a great challenge. One should not forget that to bring benefits to the poor we need to promote our products at national and international market. With our entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), and to meet the growing demand of international markets, among others forest certification is becoming central as the developed countries in the west are demanding certified products from sustainably managed forests.

We are very happy in sharing the pilot initiatives under taking since 2002 in forest certification in support from the both national and international alliance members at two districts of Nepal with the coordination of ANSAB. The positive outcome of recent assessment process made by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international certifying body, would be good experience for Nepal in the field of forest certification in a group at international standards on the ground of sustainability. The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation is very much committed to the sustainable management of forest resources in the country for the benefit of Nepal's present and future generations and for the global community as a whole, which also reflects our continuous commitment with the principles of the convention on Biological Diversity. My Ministry also continues to support the further certification initiatives, enterprise development, and sustainable marketing efforts of NTFPs that are produced in the country. I would also like to assure you that the Ministry will take into account your valuable comments and feed backs in its future course of actions and look forward to working expeditiously with you all.

I would like to thank the organizer and the alliance coordinator, ANSAB, for inviting me as a chief guest, and other alliance members, especially to our international guests and delegates who have been putting much to support us. Let me also thank you all-the invited guests and participants, who show their patience to listen me.

Thank you all once again.