About the workshop During the workshop, we will share and validate the products generated by the Climate Resilient Forest Management System (CRFMS) in Province 1 of Nepal. The CRFMS will generate scientific evidence on climate change vulnerability and provide adaptation options to support forest management and planning processes at the district and provincial levels in Nepal. We have been co-developing the CRFMS for Nepal with the Department of Forests and Soil Conservation (DoFSC) and the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE) at the federal level, and the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Soil Conservation (MoFESC) in Province 1. Objective The main objective of the workshop is to generate awareness about the CRFMS and disseminate and validate the products generated by the CRFMS in Province 1. Target audience The workshop will bring together district-level forest officials and decision makers from the MoFESC in Province 1. Background Forests are important components of the livelihood system for a sizable percentage of the rural population in Nepal. They also offer an important basis for creating as well as safeguarding more climate-resilient communities. Nepal’s forest ecosystems are facing challenges due to observed and predicted impacts of climate change and anthropogenic factors. At present, there is a gap in terms of the availability of accurate information on forest degradation and on the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems. The bridging of this gap could prove crucial in assisting decision makers to make more effective plans for managing forest ecosystems. The web-based CRFMS could provide the much-needed scientific evidence – observed and predicted impacts of climate change and degradation – to feed into the operational plans of districts in Nepal, which have a section dedicated to climate change adaptation and mitigation. The CRFMS produces a scalable web-based forest fire risk map for the entire country and provides forest fire risk levels for different municipalities and districts within Nepal. This information can be crucial for better preparedness to avoid damage to lives and livelihoods from recurrent forest fires. The CRFMS currently provides quantification for relevant adaptation options, which could be further customized as per the context of Province 1. Resource persons Vishwas S. Chitale Remote Sensing Specialist – Ecosystems, ICIMOD Sunil Thapa Remote Sensing and GeoInformation Analyst – SERVIR, ICIMOD Birendra Bajracharya Chief of Party – SERVIR-HKH/Regional Programme Manager –MENRIS, ICIMOD Lalu Maya Kadel Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, ICIMOD Kamala Gurung Gender and Natural Resource Management Specialist, ICIMOD Rabindra Maharjan Acting Province Forest Director, MoFESC, Province 1, Government of Nepal Shankar Adhikari Under Secretary, REDD Implementation Centre, MoFE, Government of Nepal Tentative agenda DAY 1 – THURSDAY, 3 MARCH 2022 Time Session Resource person/s 10:00–10:05 Welcome remarks Rabindra Maharjan, MoFESC 10:05–10:15 Opening remarks Rabindra Maharjan, MoFESC Birendra Bajracharya, ICIMOD 10:15–10:30 Highlights of the collaboration between ICIMOD and MoFESC, Province 1 & objectives of the workshop Rabindra Maharjan, MoFESC 10:30–10:40 Importance of the CRFMS approach in forest management and planning in Nepal, linkage with forest strategy and Nationally Determined Contributions Shankar Adhikari, REDD Implementation Centre 10:40–11:00 Self-introduction by participants followed by a group photo All participants 11:00–11:15 Tea break 11:15–12:00 Climate Resilient Forest Management System (CRFMS): Approach and outputs Vishwas Chitale, ICIMOD 12:00–12:10 Q&A 12:10–12:50 Demonstration of the CFRMS Sunil Thapa, ICIMOD 12:50–13:00 Q&A 13:00–13:45 Lunch break 13:45–15:00 Hands-on exercise and initial assessment Vishwas Chitale, ICIMOD Sunil Thapa, ICIMOD Lalu M Kandel, ICIMOD Rabindra Maharjan, MoFESC Shankar Adhikari, REDD IC 15:00–15:30 Feedback and discussion All participants 15:30–16:00 Timeline of district-level operations plans for Province 1 MoFESC team 16:00–16:15 Way forward Rabindra Maharjan, MoFESC DAY 2 – FRIDAY, 4 MARCH 2022 Time Session Resource person/s 10:00–10:05 Aim and objectives of Day 2 Rabindra Maharjan, MoFESC 10:05–10:15 Current status of operational plans of Morang, Udayapur, and Ilam Officials from districts 10:15–13:15 Group work for district-level operation plan: Validation and customization of district-level data from the CRFMS ICIMOD, MoFESC and district-level team 13:15–14:00 Lunch break 14:00–14:15 Reflections from group work 14:15–14:30 Opportunities for integration with operational plans in Province 1 Rabindra Maharjan, MoFESC 14:30–15:00 Closing session Closing remarks Vote of thanks Birendra Bajracharya, ICIMOD Sanjeev Kumar Rai, MoFESC Sunil Thapa, ICIMOD