Ministry of Forests and Environment (Nepal)


The Ministry of Forests and Environment is a governmental body of Nepal responsible for the conservation of forests and managing the environment in the country. 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.

History

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

Organisational Structure

Two departments serve under the ministry to facilitate and implement its work:
This is a list of former Ministers of Forests and Soil Conservation since the Nepalese Constituent Assembly election in 2013:
NamePartyAssumed OfficeLeft OfficePortfolio
1Mahesh AcharyaNepali Congress25 February 2014Minister for Forests
2Agni SapkotaCommunist Party of Nepal 19 October 2015Minister for Forests
3Shankar BhandariNepali Congress26 August 201631 May 2017Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation
4Prime Minister Sher Bahadur DeubaNepali Congress7 June 201711 September 2017Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation
5Bikram PandeyNepal Loktantrik Forum11 September 201715 February 2018Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation
6Shakti Bahadur BasnetNepal Communist Party16 March 2018Minister for Forests and Environment