Agroforestry Practices and Their Contribution to Biodiversity and Rural Livelihoods in Bundikali Rural Municipality of Nawalparasi District, Nepal

Abstract

Research related to the field application of agroforestry practices and socio-economic factors related to it are still scarce. In the present investigation, tree species diversity, livelihood and carbon sequestration were studied in the traditional agroforest of Budikali Rural municipality of Nawalparasi district. A quadrat size of 20× 20m (400m vi

2 ) was set up and tree inside the plot were listed. The sample HHs were 100 (8.09 %). Participatory Rural Appraisal was used to obtain data from the family farmers. The collected data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and MS- Excel where frequency distributions, standard deviation were mostly used. Shannon-Winner (S-W) diversity index was used to analyze farm tree biodiversity. The major castes/ethnic groups in the study area were Magar, Kami, Chhetri, Bhramin, Damai, Newar, Darai, Sarki, and Gharti. The sample households (HHs) had a minimum of 0.101 hectares and a maximum of 5.23 hectares of land. The average land hold of households was 0.61± 0.58 hectares. Respondents, 24% of them had small size LSU, 59% medium size, 16 % large size. Khet land, Bari land, Kharbari land, Woodlot are four landuse type in agroecosystem. Total 74-tree species belonging to 37 families. Total 1003 tree individuals were recorded, with the density of 250.75 tree/ ha. The tree species in AF mainly used for fruits (23%), fodder and fuelwood (12.16%), fuelwood (12.16%), timber wood (12.16%). S-W index (H) = 3.87, Hmax = 0.9003, the result showed that species richness and evenness were very high in the study area. (= 3.67). Based on land use type there were high species richness and evenness of tree in Khet land (3.82) followed by Bari land, Kharbari land and woodlot respectively. There were highest number of trees 188 in DBH class 20-29 in Bari land. Based on land use type carbon stock was higher in woodlot (30.09±18.80 tons/ha) followed by Kharbari land (28.72±11.95 tons/ha), Bari land (28.36±14.35 tons/ha), and Khet land (20.47±15.51 tons/ha). The study has discovered that AF trees subsidize several products like fuelwood, fruits, medicine, fodder and biodiversity conservation. AF can play extensive role in reducing atmospheric concentration of CO2 by storing carbon in above and belowground biomass and growing biomass for biopower and biofuels and thereby replacing fossil fuel. Hence, this study recommends a strong need to strengthen promotion of AF and promotion to policy makers. Keywords: Agroforestry, Livelihood, Treediversity, Carbonstock