Forest produce traders in Kailali district have demanded the immediate lifting of a ban that has frozen the collection, sale, distribution and transport of timber, firewood and other forest products for roughly four to five months, saying the restriction has thrown the livelihoods of families, businesses, workers and consumers connected to the trade into disarray.

The demand was made public at a press conference held in Dhangadhi on Monday by the Environment Conservation and Forest Produce Traders Association Kailali. Speaking at the event, the association said the months-long restriction has kept the district's forest produce business at a complete standstill and urged the authorities, particularly the provincial government, to remove it without further delay, as reported by Nepal Press, Ratopati and Khabarhub.

A trade brought to a standstill

The ban covers the full cycle of the forest produce business in Kailali, from the harvesting and collection of raw material to its sale, distribution and transport. Timber and firewood, the two products specifically highlighted in the traders' complaints, have been unable to move from forest sources to markets, factories and households while the restriction remains in force.

According to the association, the ban has now been in place for approximately four to five months. For a sector that depends on the regular movement of goods, the disruption has been severe. Traders, the association said, have been left with stocks they cannot sell, materials they cannot transport and businesses they cannot operate, all while the restriction continues without resolution.

During this period, the association said, its members have repeatedly sought permission from the authorities to resume their business. Those appeals have not led to a reopening of the trade, and it was this continued stalemate that prompted the association to take its grievance public through Monday's press conference in Dhangadhi.

Families, industrialists, workers and consumers affected

A central argument of the association is that the burden of the ban does not fall on traders alone. It identified four groups as bearing the cost of the continued restriction:

  • Families dependent on the forest trade, for whom the collection and sale of timber, firewood and related produce is a primary source of income and whose earnings have been interrupted for months on end.
  • Industrialists, whose enterprises rely on forest-based raw materials and who have been unable to source or move supplies while the ban remains in force.
  • Workers, including those engaged in the collection, transport and sale of forest produce, whose daily work has dried up under the restriction.
  • Consumers, who depend on timber and firewood for construction and household needs and who have faced difficulty obtaining these goods.

By framing the issue this way, the association sought to present the ban not as a narrow dispute between traders and the state, but as a measure whose costs ripple outward to households and consumers well beyond the immediate trade.

Appeals directed at the provincial government

In its public appeal, the association directed its demand squarely at the provincial government, urging it to lift the ban without delay. The choice of audience reflects the structure of forest governance in Nepal, where provincial authorities carry significant responsibility for forest management and for regulating the use and trade of forest produce within their territories.

The association stressed that it had made repeated attempts to secure permission to resume business before organising the press conference as a means of drawing the government's attention. Monday's event in Dhangadhi, the commercial hub of Sudurpashchim Province and the headquarters of Kailali district, was intended to highlight the traders' plight after months of restriction.

The stakes for Kailali's forest economy

Kailali, one of the larger districts of Sudurpashchim Province, draws substantially on its forests as an economic resource. Timber from the district feeds construction demand, while firewood remains a staple household fuel for many families across the region. The trade in these products sustains a wide network of collectors, transporters, traders and enterprises.

When the movement of forest produce stops, the effects extend well beyond the traders' balance sheets. Construction activity can face shortages of timber, households that rely on firewood for cooking can face scarcity or rising prices, and daily-wage earners in the sector lose their income. The association's core claim at the press conference was precisely that the four-to-five-month ban has produced these consequences across the district.

What the traders want

The association's demands, as stated at the Dhangadhi press conference, are direct:

  • The immediate lifting of the ban on the collection, sale, distribution and transport of forest produce in Kailali.
  • Permission for traders to resume their business without further delay.
  • Decisive action by the provincial government, identified by the traders as the authority capable of ending the restriction.

The available reports did not indicate whether the provincial government has so far responded to the association's demands. For the traders of Kailali, however, the message from Dhangadhi was unambiguous: after four to five months without the movement of goods or income from the forest trade, they want the ban lifted now.