Impacts of community forestry to date there has not been a direct and comprehensive study of livelihood impacts of community forestry across a large number of sites in nepal, although several studies have been conducted in a modest way, in a small number of sites, in recent years. Community forestry in nepal indiaenvironmentportal. The total population of the county is 23 million, with 2. The program addresses the twin goals of forest conservation and poverty reduction. Since then concerning movement has been evolving to involve local communities in the management and utilization of forests. Growing businesses in tourism, allnatural products and timber sales are popping up across the forest landscape, boosting local incomes, especially for women, while encouraging sustainable forest management. Fecofun emerged from the idea that forest users from all parts of the country should be linked in order to strengthen. Millions of forest dependent people meet and discuss forest management and community. Global ideas nepals community forests fight poverty and destruction.
It became widespread as a collective forest in china, a communitybased forest in philippines, and a community forest in nepal karky. Since the emergence of community forestry in nepal, there has been gradual progress towards recognizing gender equity through laws, policies and strategies governing the forestry sector table 1. Utilizing value chain analysis to inform community based. Gilmour and fisher 1991 defined community forestry as the control, protection and management of forest resources by rural communities for whom trees and forests are an integral part of their farming systems.
Brief overview of community forestry in nepal nepal introduced the community forestry programme in the late 1980s in the context of serious deforestation and forest degradation, because centralized forest management was not working guthman 1997. A redefinition of the external policy and legal context, through new laws particularly the 1993 forest act and associated 1995. In nepal management of nwfp is done by community forest user groups cfug and national policy explicitly recognizes commercial role 6. Utilizing value chain analysis to inform communitybased forestry management in eastern nepal the multistakeholder forestry programme msfp seeks to improve livelihoods and resilience of nepals poor and disadvantaged people through development of the forestry sectors contribution to economic growth, poverty reduction. The pf and ppf rules box 2 allowed for the transfer of responsibility for forest management from the government to the local panchayat as panchayat forest pf1 and panchayat protected forest ppf2 joshi 1993. The knowledge of forestry can be used to create a system which does not harm nature and is accepted by the community. Forestry plan x scientific management by the state x gender and women issues remained silent 1988s master plan for forestry sector x peoples participation x community forestry x basic need fulfillment x participation and women involvement in forestry 2000 revised forest policy x multiple models of community based management x commercial forestry. Community forest community forest means a national forest handed over to an users group pursuant to section 25 for its development, conservation and utilization for the collective.
Making community forestry propoor carbon sequestration policy supported by the world bank duration 2 years partners. To date, 19,361 community forestry user groups cfugs. Community forestry of nepal has become an example of conservation model in the world. Forestaction nepal and faculty members from colby college, gothenburg university and. Handing over of accessible forest areas as community forests to the forest user groups for management and utilization of forest resources.
The federation of community forestry users nepal fecofun is a formal network of forest user groups fugs from all over nepal. This paper provides brief introduction to the forest and community forest in nepal and context and status of community forest in nepal. Over 12 thousands forest user groups fugs have been formed, and over 7 million hectares of community forestry handed over. This paper outlines the policy context and resource base for community forestry in nepal. Proceedings of the fourth national workshop on community forestry, community forestry division, department of. Community forests in nepal are built on the experience of other countries around the world, especially its neighbors in south asia.
Federation of community forestry users nepal fecofun. Community forestry cf, a forest management policy based on partnership between the government and local communities, is used in more than fifty countries. After more than five years of established community forests in nepal, the collection of forest products including fodder, grass, thatching materials and leaf litter. Indeed, throughout the world, community forestry is recognised as having far more potential bene. A brief history of the evolution of community forestry in nepal illustrates some of the issues associated with applying devolution at the community level. In recent years, community forestry has become an integral part of the ministry of agriculture, water and forestry community based natural resource management cbnrm programme. Nepal is now considered a success story and world leader for forest rights. Forestaction nepal and livelihood and forestry program, kathmandu, nepal. A system of local government widespread in south asia.
Introduction recognizing the importance of communitybased approaches towards natural resource management, devolution of authority to groups of resource users to manage forest resources has been the main thrust of the community forestry cf program in nepal. Gender mainstreaming in national forest policy in nepal. From passive management to health and wealth creation from nepals community forest. Fecofun emerged from the idea that forest users from all parts of the country should be linked in order to strengthen the role of users in policy making processes. Community forestry programs in nepal and their effects on. Forest management and evolution of community forestry cf in. Sectoral perspectives on gender and social inclusion vi nepal world bank, 2009 and the new strategy being developed. In 1995, with the objective of securing community forestry users right one national level federation cso was formed federation of community forestry users nepal, fecofun having its chapter in each district of nepal. Department of forests the main objectives of the department of forests relating to community forestry include. Ghan shyam pandey coordinator, gacf chairman, green foundation nepal email.
Community forestry is a branch of forestry that deals with the communal management of forests for generating income from timber and nontimber forest products as forms of goods while in other hand regulating ecosystem, downstream settlements benefits from watershed conservation, carbon sequestration and aesthetic values as in forms of services. Sectoral perspectives on gender and social inclusion. Nepal has long been acknowledged as being a leader in community based forest management. Pdf community based forest management cbfm is a system of managing forest by the participation of local. In nepal over the last few years there has been a growing practice of developing gender and inclusionsensitive interventions, especially in the governments sectorwide programs supported. Community forestry in nepal launched in the mid 1970s, the community forestry program cfp in nepal uses a model of participatory forest governance that is widely regarded as innovative and successful. Climate change, deforestation and land grabbing dont only threaten nepal s rich biodiversity, but the economic wellbeing of. Women and collective action 231 in these cfugs was 1. Policies, programs and law a brink and pedantic forecast forestsustains agriculture study defy wider deforestation.
Climate change, deforestation and land grabbing dont only threaten nepals. Review of the community forestry program in nepal, a collaborative effort between the government and its development partners. Community forest management in the middle hills of nepal. Investment plan for nepal iii mofsc ministry of forests and soil conservation mope ministry of population and environment moste ministry of science and technology mrv measurement, reporting and verification msfp multistakeholder forestry programme ndc nationally determined contribution. Community forestry and forest cover change in nepal. While creating such a system you cant ignore nature and community. It involves the participation and collaboration of various stakeholders including community, government and nongovernmental. Community forestry in nepal has had a positive image not only in the fields of development and natural resource management, but also more widely from a governance perspective, with the assertion that the locallevel institutions for forest management known as community forest user groups or cfugs and their networks provide a model of democratic. Improved forest conditions due to community forestry source. Understanding womens participation in forestry in nepal. Although several pilot projects in namibia have been involved with community forestry since the early 1990s, procedures have varied from site to site. Community forest community forest means a national forest handed over to an users group pursuant to section 25 for its development, conservation.
To contribute in creating awareness on existing forestry policy and laws among fugs to retain the rights of users, to induce a sense of collective action and to adopt dynamism in forest management and other forest development initiatives by securing the interests and welfare of community forest users. In recent years, community forestry has become an integral part of the ministry of agriculture, water and forestry communitybased natural resource management cbnrm programme. Global ideas nepal s community forests fight poverty and destruction. Nepals community forestry cf process has implied the. Impacts of community forestry on livelihoods in the middle. Furthermore, decisions were made according to the interest.
Community forestry pays off for nepal cifor forests news. Evidence from community forestry in nepal, forest policy and economics, elsevier, vol. Since 1995, two separate documents have been required a constitution and a forest management operational plan. Nepal has a long history of community forestry, with the first community forests set up 30 years ago. The effects of the nepal community forestry program on. In addition, the average forest area per household in these cfugs is only 50 percent of the average forest area per household for mixedsex cfugs. Community forestry is a participatory forest management system in nepal that was started in the late 1970s. Drawing on a study of 11 forest user groups fugs in the middle hills region, the paper examines the process of fug formation and postformation support. Community forestry in nepal india environment portal. Pdf on jan 1, 2010, hemant ojha and others published community forestry in nepal. The use and usefulness of inventorybased management planning to forest management. The community forestry program in nepal is a global innovation in participatory environmental governance that encompasses welldefined policies, institutions, and practices. Dec, 2017 in nepal, an ambitious government program of forest rights devolution began in the 1970s, and a new forest rights law in 1993 marked a milestone when a significant range of forest uses and management was officially entrusted to community forest user groups cfugs.
Community forestry is an evolving branch of forestry whereby the local community plays a significant role in forest management and land use decision making by themselves in the facilitating support of government as well as change agents. Nepal around the chitwan national park in southern nepal, forests are supporting the emergence of a host of sustainable local businesses. Since as the pioneer of community forestry, nepal has experienced long trajectories of devolution processes which illustrates both the misapplications and also shows ways they can be addressed. Community forestry has been a priority programme of the forestry sector in nepal over the last three decades. It became widespread as a collective forest in china, a community based forest in philippines, and a community forest in nepal karky. Forest management and evolution of community forestry cf. Transaction costs of community forestry in nepal bhim adhikari and jon c. Nepal has long been acknowledged as being a leader in communitybased forest management. A range f factors in the community forestry context of nepal can be related to the different o components of the livelihood systems model presented in figure 1. The implementation process of community forestry demands rapid institutional change at department of. Support to mofsc in formulation of concepts, policies, acts, rules etc to protect, manage and utilize community forests. Community forestry has been a priority programme of the forestry.
To implement and coordinate community forestry plans and programmes. Protecting forests, improving livelihoods community. Central development region land use transition bhattarai 2006 improved forest. Community forestry and forest cover change in nepal theory of himalayan environmental degradation mohonk mountain conference, held on 6 11 april 1986 ives, j. Nepal a community forestry success story with remaining problems. It is considered as one of the most wellestablished and successful models in the region, with a positive impact on both communities livelihoods and on the condition of the forests. Status, issues and lessons learned article pdf available in international journal of sciences 6march 2017 03. Current issues in community forestry in nepal achievements and issues nepals community forestry has come a long way. In order to understand the context and particular designs and objectives of nepals community forestry program, key literature.
The consultant expresses his sincere thanks to all the forestry professionals, field staff, csos and cbos at the regional, district and community levels. Kanel and bala ram kandel department of forest, nepal email. Drawing on a study of 11 forest user groups fugs in the middle hills. Protecting forests, improving livelihoods community forestry. Decentralized forest governance ganga ram dahal and apsara chapagain nepals community forestry has become an example of progressive legislation and policies in the decentralization of forest management. Communityforestry selected activities to maintain or enhance carbon stocks bernhard mohns. The federation of community forestry users of nepal fecofun, established in 1995, is a representative body of the community forest user groups and has the following aims. Apr, 2014 ghan shyam pandey coordinator, gacf chairman, green foundation nepal email. Community forestry adaptation roadmap to 2020 for nepal. It has attracted international attention because in nepal, decentralization is linked with emerging. In 1978, the state initiated a community forestry cf programme and started to hand over the accessible.
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