Forest User Groups Research Articles

Factors influencing the management regime of Nepal's community forestry

Nepal is one of the first developing countries to adopt community forest management which gives authority to forest user groups to manage forest resources. Over one quarter of Nepal's forests is under community forest management. This study aims to examine whether management regime adopted by the Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) is pro-poor and also what factors influence the management regime of Nepal's community forestry. The study relies on primary data from 100 CFUGs of three different mid-hill districts of Nepal. A set of questionnaire was developed and administered to a small group of 100 CFUGs. The CFUGs adopt rigid and less rigid regimes to manage the community forests. The CFUGs tend to favor poor by adopting less rigid management regime. The age of CFUGs, number of households using community forests, and percent of sal tree species composition in the forests tends to influence the management regime of CFUGs. A higher age of CFUGs, higher number of households and lower percentage of sal in the forests are likely to increase the CFUGs adopting rigid regime to manage the community forests.

Valuing Natural Forest Resources: An Application of Contingent Valuation Method on Adaba-Dodola Forest Priority Area, Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

This research employs a contingent valuation method (CVM) to estimate the respondents' willingness to pay (WTP) to gain use and control rights to a natural forest resource at the Adaba-Dodola Forest Priority Area (ADFPA) in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. The analysis was based on data collected from 295 households residing in and around the forest resource. Both binary probit and ordered probit models were used to examine socioeconomic factors that determine the respondents' WTP to gain these rights. The estimated mean and median WTP were found to be ETB 24.41 (US$2.54) and ETB 22.14 (US$2.30) annually, respectively. Households with more members, have better exposure to education and training, perceive the need for forest conservation, are member of forest dwellers' association, and who are wealthier in terms of ownership of more cultivated land and livestock are willing to pay more; whereas those households characterized by earning better annual household income, those who got higher starting bid value, and those who live farther away from the prime forest resource are willing to pay less. This can be used to signal that there is a considerable non-market value attached to use and control rights to the natural forest. In particular, membership in official forest user groups has shown a strong and positive relationship with WTP in all the models employed. This implies the approach of participatory management using forest user groups is better both for the sustainability of the forest resource and the livelihoods of the people who depend upon it.

Comparative assessment of floristic diversity in a buffer zone community forest and a community forest of Barandabhar Corridor, Chitwan, Nepal

This research was carried out in the Bandevi buffer Zone Community Forest (BZCF) and Satkanya Community Forest (SCF) of Barandabhar corridor area in Chitwan district of Nepal to assess and compare the status of floristic diversity in buffer zone community forest and community forest in Barandabhar corridor in Chitwan district of Nepal, managed under different rules and regulations. Primary data were collected from reconnaissance survey, direct observation, forest inventory, interviews with forest user group members and key informant interview. Secondary data were collected from the forestry stakeholders working in community forestry and buffer zone sectors. The floral diversity was assessed by using Simpson’s Diversity Index (SI), Shannon Weiner Diversity Index (WI) and Margalef Species Richness Index (MI). Information on management practices were assessed by field observation, key informant interview and review of operational plan of respective forests. Diversity index (SI=0.9367 and WI =3.3714) and species richness index of (MI=10) of BZCF were found higher than the diversity index (SI=0.8749 and WI =3.0099) and species richness index (MI=9.0491) of SCF. We conclude that floral diversity is higher in BZCF than the CF outside the buffer zone under similar edaphoclimatic conditions.

A case study of coping strategies and landslides in two villages of Central-Eastern Nepal

Landslides are an increasing problem in Nepal’s Middle Hills due to both natural and human phenomena: mainly increasingly intense monsoon rains and a boom in rural road construction. This problem has largely been neglected due to underreporting of losses and the dispersed nature of landslides. Understanding how populations cope with landslides is a first step toward developing more effective landslide risk management programs. The present research focuses on two villages in Central-Eastern Nepal, both affected by active landslides but with different coping strategies. Research methods are interdisciplinary, based on a geological assessment of landslide risk and a socio-economic study of the villages using household questionnaires, focus group discussions and transect walks. Community risk maps are compared with geological landslide risk maps to better understand and communicate community risk perceptions, priorities and coping strategies. A modified typology of coping strategies is presented, based on previous work by Burton, Kates, and White (1993) that is useful for decision-makers for designing more effective programs for landslide mitigation. Main findings underscore that coping strategies, mainly seeking external assistance and outmigration, are closely linked to access to resources, ethnicity/social status and levels of community organization. Conclusions include the importance of investing in organizational skills, while building on local knowledge about landslide mitigation for reducing landslide risk. There is great potential to increase coping strategies by incorporating skills training on landslide mitigation in existing agricultural outreach and community forest user group training.

Can Bureaucratic Control Improve Community Forestry Governance?

The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) of Nepal has recently passed a proposal and drafted an amendment bill to revise the Forest Act 1993. This Act provided the legal foundation for community forestry programme in Nepal during the past two decades. However, the MoFSC has justified its recent move for legal change by citing anecdotal cases of irregularities and illegal felling in some parts of Terai and Churia region. But the Federation of Community Forest Users, Nepal (FECOFUN) and other civil society organizations have strongly opposed this move. As a result, positions on the move have polarized, and sparked off resistance and opposition at local to national levels. In this context, this paper examines the proposal in terms of the process and contents, and assesses how it impacts the community forestry programme and whether the proposed change would bring about expected outcomes. Doing this we hope to enrich the deliberation on this issue.We suggest that, in terms of the process, MoFSC has undermined the multi-stakeholder and deliberative process, which was being progressively adopted over the past few years in forestry sector policy making. Some key assumptions behind this proposal have therefore become flawed. We also find that the proposed changes stipulated in the proposal are likely to aggravate the problems in community forest user groups — particularly corruption, illegal felling, and inequity — that MoFSC commits to resolve. We suggest that multi-stakeholder based and deliberative process can help identify the problems and remove flaws of this proposal. This process needs to be informed by a robust and independent study of the problems in order to be able to determine workable solutions.

Study of gender equality in community based forest certification programmes in Nepal

SUMMARY Gender equality has been studied in community based forest certification projects in two forest user groups in Nepal. contributing to an understanding of gender equality with a focus on participation of women in a forest certification project and on awareness levels of forest users. Experts from the project and local people were interviewed. Committee meetings were conducted and household interviews were also carried out. The results include information on the background and lives of respondents as well as the effects of forest certification on their lives today; on age, caste and occupation; attitudes of men and women regarding forestry and their opinions on conditions before and after forest certification; non-timber forest products (NTFP), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification processes in Nepalese forests; forest committee meetings. This paper summarizes selected findings from George (2010); results and suggestions may serve to improve plights of forest users in Nepal.

Is gender an important factor influencing user groups' property rights and forestry governance? Empirical analysis from East Africa and Latin America

This article explores the effects that gender composition of forest user groups has on property rights and forestry governance, based on data from 290 forest user groups in Kenya, Uganda, Bolivia, and Mexico. Findings indicate gender composition of user groups is important, but not always in the expected ways. Female-dominated groups tend to have more property rights to trees and bushes, and collect more fuelwood but less timber than do male-dominated or gender-balanced groups. Gender-balanced groups participate more in forestry decision-making and are more likely to have exclusive use of forests. Female-dominated groups participate less, sanction less and exclude less. Although policy makers and practitioners are advised to seek interventions that strengthen women's groups by delivering information, technologies and capacity-building programs in formats that take into account women's constraints, it is also important to gain better understanding of the dynamics of mixed-gender groups, including the nature and types of cooperation among males and females.

Linking Population, Health, and the Environment: An Overview of Integrated Programs and a Case Study in Nepal

Population, health, and environment programs are cross-sectoral development initiatives that link conservation, health, and family planning interventions. These programs are generally located in biodiversity hotspots, where population pressure is among the factors contributing to environmental degradation. This review describes the general structure of population, health, and environment programs and provides selected examples to highlight various aspects of this approach. We focus in depth on a case study from the Integrating Population and Health into Forestry Management Agendas program in Nepal that simultaneously addressed deforestation from fuel-wood harvesting, indoor air pollution from wood fires, acute respiratory infections related to smoke inhalation, as well as family planning in communities in Nepal's densely populated forest corridors. Keys to the success of the Nepal project included empowerment of community forest user groups with population, health, and environment program know-how and appropriate technology. Lessons learned in Nepal point to the critical role that nongovernmental organizations can play as catalysts of cross-sectoral responses to complex development issues such as this one. The population, health, and environment approach can be an effective method for achieving sustainable development and meeting both conservation and health objectives.

Common property rights, adaptive capacity, and response to forest disturbance

This paper reports the results of a statistical analysis which measures the effects of adaptive capacity on forest conditions in response to a prior disturbance. Particular emphasis is placed on common property rights as a form of institutional adaptive capacity. Common property rights are delineated in terms of rights of access, withdrawal, management, exclusion, and alienation. Using statistical analysis of 326 forest user groups from 13 countries in the database of the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) program, the effects on user group rankings of forest conditions are estimated with a probability model. Overall, the results indicate that user groups with more complete property rights are more likely to rank forest conditions favorably. However, the effects of property rights also depend on the level of other forms of adaptive capacity such as the organizational capacity of the group and the number of rival user groups.

Commercial management of non-timber forest products in Nepal's community forest users groups: who benefits?

SUMMARY Forest policies in Nepal encourage community forest users to commercialise non-timber forest products for income generation. This study sought to understand the ability of forest users to increase their household income benefit through commercial non-timber forest product management by conducting a multiple linear regression analysis. Furthermore it compares the income generation potential of traditional to enterprise-oriented approaches. Results indicate that, in the enterprise-oriented approach, low wealth category households derived income benefits only when they had equitable access to forests and a reliable market. The findings also show that, under the traditional approach, income benefits are the highest for rich households and the least for female-headed poor households. In contrast, the enterprise-oriented approach strengthens the role of disadvantaged poor households. The study concludes that commercialisation of non-timber forest products does not automatically result in equitable incom...

Commercial management of non-timber forest products in Nepal's community forest users groups: who benefits?

Commercial management of non-timber forest products in Nepal's community forest users groups: who benefits?

Biomass fuel use, burning technique and reasons for the denial of improved cooking stoves by Forest User Groups of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh

Use of biomass fuel in traditional cooking stoves (TCS) is a long-established practice that has incomplete combustion and generates substances with global warming potential (GWP). Improved cooking stoves (ICS) have been developed worldwide as an alternative household fuel burning device, as well as a climate change mitigation. A study was conducted among female Forest User Groups (FUGs) of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh, to assess the status of ICS disseminated by the Forest Department (FD) under the Nishorgo (2009) Support Project, along with the community's biomass fuel consumption pattern. Wood consumption was highest (345 kg month−1 household−1) followed by agricultural residues (60 kg month−1 household−1), tree leaves (51 kg month−1 household−1) and cow dung (25 kg month−1 household−1). Neighbouring forests of the sanctuary was the core source for wood fuel, with little or no reduction in the extraction even after joining the FUG. Twenty-two species, both indigenous and introduced, were preferred as wood fuel. None of the respondents were found willing to use ICS although 43% owned one; either as a status symbol or to meet the conditions of the FD for membership in FUG. Seven negative features of the disseminated ICS were identified by households, which made them unwilling to use them further. Manufacturing faults may be responsible for some ICS demerits, while the FD failed to convince the community of the benefits. A proper examination of the disseminated ICS efficacy is crucial, with active involvement of community members. The Sustainable Energy Triangle Strategy (SETS) could be implemented for this purpose. Findings of the study are of immense importance in designing a strategy for the introduction of ICS into Bangladesh.

Gender and Sustainable Forest Management in East Africa and Latin America

This paper presents a comparative study of forest management across four countries in East Africa and Latin America: Kenya, Uganda, Bolivia, and Mexico. It focuses on one question: Do varying proportions of women (low, mixed, high) in forest user groups influence their likelihood of adopting forest resource enhancing behavior? We found that higher proportions of females in user groups, and especially user groups dominated by females, perform less well than mixed groups or male dominated ones. We suggest that these differences may be related to three factors: gender biases in technology access and dissemination, a labor constraint faced by women, and a possible limitation to women's sanctioning authority. Mixed female and male groups offer an avenue for exploiting the strengths of women and men, while tempering their individual shortcomings.

Advancing equity in community forestry: recognition of the poor matters

SUMMARY The community forestry program in Nepal has been advancing as a successful means of improving the condition of forests. However, as in other areas around the world, Nepal's community forestry initiative continues to face unresolved equity issues. This paper seeks to explore underlying causes of inequity using contemporary theories of justice. Examining two community forest user groups in the middle hill districts, the study finds that lack of recognition in interpersonal and public spheres exacerbated the powerlessness of marginalized people, reducing their participation in decision-making. The paper argues that, while distributional rules advanced by the program are crucial, the problem of recognition remains an unaddressed but necessary pre-condition for achieving equity. This suggests that policy and practice in community forestry needs to focus on broader political questions, including representation in decision making, making space for the voice of members to influence decisions, and transfor...

Nepali Women Using Community Forestry as a Platform for Social Change

Successful implementation of decentralized programs such as community forestry depends on participation of local users. Although women in Nepal have been recognized as the primary users of forests, they are widely reported as marginalized in decision-making processes. Previous studies mostly take a static view, focusing on exclusionary structures to explain how and why women are marginalized. A focus on social change processes would allow better understanding of whether and how women use interactions with the executive committee or during general assemblies to renegotiate their social role and rights. Based on a survey, interviews, and group discussions in two community forest user groups, we argue that women are engaged in an ongoing contestation of current structures to widen their participation in decision making and become increasingly active agents in community forestry. We point out the need to understand participation as an ongoing and open-ended process of social change rather than as a predefined outcome.

Social Heterogeneity and Community Forestry Processes: Reflections from Forest Users of Dhading District, Nepal

Community forestry has been characterized as a successful model of community-based forest governance in Nepal that shifts forest management and use rights to local users, often socially heterogeneous in caste, gender and wealth status. This heterogeneity forms the basis of social groups, which differ in their needs, priorities and perceptions regarding community forestry implementation processes. This paper explores the dynamics of three community forestry processes—users’ participation, institutional development, and decision-making and benefit-sharing—among forest user groups as perceived by three social groups of forest users—elite, women and disadvantaged—from eight community forests of Dhading district, Nepal, using qualitative and quantitative techniques. It is found that social groups have differing levels of perception about community forestry processes occurring in their user groups. In particular, social elites differ from women and disadvantaged members of the group in users’ participation in community forestry activities and institutional development of forest user groups. An important policy implication of the findings is that social inclusiveness is central to the effective implementation of community forestry processes, not only to safeguard its past successes but also to internalize the economic opportunities it poses through reducing deforestation and forest degradation in the future.

Outmigrating men: A window of opportunity for women's participation in community forestry?

Encouraging women to become active participants has been an important goal of the community forestry program in Nepal. Achieving this goal has been elusive, and studies have identified a range of formal structures and informal processes that can exclude women. This study explored whether there is a relationship between men's outmigration and women's participation in community forestry. Data were collected using a semi-structured survey, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with women from two community forest user groups. The analysis indicated that men's outmigration provides a “window of opportunity” to increase women's participation, as the left-behind wives were more likely to attend and voice their opinions during the general assembly. However, the extent to which outmigration represents an opportunity depends on family type and composition. The women who do not have an adult man in the household are those who become most involved in the community forest user group. By participating in the general assembly, they may achieve increased participation in forest decisions.

Resilience of community forestry under conditions of armed conflict in Nepal

SUMMARYArmed conflicts pose a serious and potentially long-term threat to institutions, societies and environments across the world. This study focuses on the small mountainous country of Nepal, which has experienced high levels of armed conflict for many years. This paper analyses the relationship between local forest institutions, institutional embeddedness and forest condition under conditions of active armed conflict. Seven community forest user groups with similar forest governance structure were examined, located in similar biophysical and ecological zones, but experiencing different degrees of conflict. Those forest user groups facing severe armed conflict showed a decline in institutional arrangements but improvements in characteristics of institutional embeddedness, such as trust and reciprocity, whereas the forest user groups in low conflict environments had more stable institutional arrangements and stable embeddedness characteristics. Both types of locations showed an increase in forest density. These results emphasize the capacity of local institutions to organize and cooperate even in extremely vulnerable situations, building trust and reciprocity for sustainable forest use and management.

Forest stakeholders' value preferences in Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Abstract The study investigates societal states of forests that are perceived to enhance human and environmental well-being in Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Villagers, foresters, park employees, entrepreneurs and environmentalists were surveyed. The survey applied a multi-group social choice method, following six steps: (i) identification of all relevant social states for sustainable forest management; (ii) elicitation of preferences, for different social states, of forest user groups' members; (iii) determination of attributes of users and social states; (iv) aggregation of individual forest value preferences into social value preferences; (v) inter-group comparison of preferences; and (vi) estimation of predictors of social forest value preferences. A distinction is made between the household-perspective and the citizen-perspective of evaluations. As well, socio-economic and institutional-legal attributes of stakeholders were tested as predictors of stakeholder preferences. The major findings include the following. First, non-consumptive forest uses, including ecosystem services, were given highest priority by all stakeholders. Second, consumptive values were weighted more discriminately, while non-consumptive values were viewed more holistically. Third, forest dependence and environmental-resource-entitlements lead to more household consumption-based valuations; whereas, the appreciation of diverse forest values increases with the education of people. Fourth, the stakeholders exercise higher consensus on the importance of non-consumptive uses when such values are evaluated in the context of societal needs but not as household needs; consumptive uses registered the opposite effect. This finding signifies the separation between individual-conscience and social-conscience corresponding with the evaluation of consumer needs and societal needs, respectively. Thus, societal allocations, such as biodiversity conservation or ecosystem services, must be based on valuations specifically formulated in the context of eliciting collective social judgments.

Economic Lives of People - A Case Study of Paluthan Community Forest Users in Dang District of Nepal

This study deals with the lives of people living in the area under Paluthan Community Forest User Group in Dang district. It looks at the economic aspect of their lives and the help the community forest has been able to provide to improve their livelihood. The primary data were collected through field visits, direct observations using a series of questionnaires, personal interviews and consultation with key informants. Similarly, the secondary data were obtained from reports and records from the community forest user group and service providers such as Livelihood Forestry Program (LFP) and District Forest Office, Dang. Through the study, it has been approximated that 17% of the annual household income is generated from the community forest and its user group.