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Understanding the Barriers to Community Forestry Delivering on its Potential: An Illustration From Two Heterogeneous Districts in Nepal

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Abstract

Community forestry (CF) is increasingly recognized as one of the key solutions to forest management and governance challenges in the developing world. At its heart is the participation of local communities in forest management, bringing multiple benefits in forest health as well as the wellbeing of the local community and the wider society. However, CF in Nepal is felt by many to not be delivering on its potential. This paper presents illustrative examples from a capacity development needs assessment (CDNA), which was conducted to understand challenges CF in Nepal faces, focusing on two districts: Rupandehi and Sindhupalchok. The application of the CDNA framework revealed the multiple challenges facing the CF program. They range from lack of multi-stakeholder platform at high level for discussion and resolution of CF-related issues, lack of system to review the program as well as systematic capacity development opportunities for stakeholders and weak governance, altogether contributing to costly and complex process for local community to participate and benefit from the program. We argue that behind these challenges underlie the distrust to local communities and tendency to retain power inequality that is tilted toward techno-bureaucracy, limitation of the program within sectoral boundary of forestry as well as lack of political commitment and overall weak capacity of the status apparatus. We highlight that revitalizing the CF program requires utilization of state restructuring process to expand its scope and improve its governance. Similarly, we emphasize the need for coordinated efforts among stakeholders to relax regulatory burdens, to engage local communities in policy processes, and to set up a capacity development system for supporting community rights mainly in the commercial management of community forests—to ensure that CF delivers.

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Notes

  1. We use community forestry as an umbrella term which encompasses other terminologies such as collective forestry, community-based forestry, participatory forestry and social forestry that are used to denote local people’s involvement in forest management.

  2. We use community forestry as an umbrella term which encompasses other terminologies such as collective forestry, community-based forestry, participatory forestry and social forestry that are used to denote local people’s involvement in forest management.

  3. RECOFTC—The Center for People and Forests is a non-governmental organization with 30 years of engagement in capacity building of stakeholders in the area related to community forestry.

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Acknowledgements

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency supported this study. We also thank local communities as well as other stakeholders, from district to national level, for actively participating in this study, and Mayumi Sato for language editing support and anonymous reviewers for providing valuable suggestions to strengthen the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RECOFTC—The Center for People and Forests, Bangkok, Thailand

    Lok Mani Sapkota, Bishnu Hari Poudyal, Binod Chapagain & David Gritten

  2. Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Hari Dhungana

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  1. Lok Mani Sapkota
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  2. Hari Dhungana
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  3. Bishnu Hari Poudyal
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  4. Binod Chapagain
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  5. David Gritten
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Correspondence to Lok Mani Sapkota.

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Sapkota, L.M., Dhungana, H., Poudyal, B.H. et al. Understanding the Barriers to Community Forestry Delivering on its Potential: An Illustration From Two Heterogeneous Districts in Nepal. Environmental Management 65, 463–477 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-019-01224-0

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