Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

Chapter 3: Adaptiveness and Collaboration in Community Forestry in Nepal • 55
shifted towards more equitable and propoor development, including the
formulation of the Forest Act 1993, which was intended to shift the control
over forest from the state to local communities.
Since approximately 1999, however, the armed conflict between the
Maoist rebels and the monarchy and government has diverted much of
the nation’s attention and resources. As of 2007, a multilateral ceasefire
had been declared, and a democratic constituent assembly was to be
elected. Rural life had returned to ‘normal’, albeit with the aftermath of
prolonged violent conflict to deal with, and community forest users were
conducting their activities without fear. Although the toll on resources,
leadership and livelihoods has been considerable, the promise of an elected
constituent assembly, a return to democracy and further decentralisation
makes many forest stakeholders somewhat optimistic about local rights and
natural resource management. In this period, a whole array of marginalised
people—including Madhesi (people of the Terai region of southern Nepal),
ethnic minorities, Dalits (people of the so-called ‘untouchable’ caste
groups) and women—have come forward to engage in open public politics,
even taking to the streets to assert their claims. Although affected by the
conflict (Box 3-1), community forestry has probably remained Nepal’s most
resilient local institution (Banjade and Timsina 2005; Ojha and Pokharel
2006; Pokharel and Paudel 2005) 6 .
Box 3-1. National conflict and community forestry
The security situation at the time of the ADB research project added complexity
to the community forestry landscape. Although the Maoist insurgents did not
target community forestry as much as other government-related initiatives,
many CFUGs were nonetheless affected. For example, fearing encounters
with the army or Maoists, some CFUGs limited or even stopped their forest
products harvesting. This fear, Fear, the risk of being caught in the crossfire
(Katel et al. 2006), the frequent banda (strikes), the recurring state-of-emergency
limitations and international opposition to the monarchy’s clamp-down on civil
rights and dissolution of the elected parliament suppressed both Nepali and
international community forest-related initiatives, including large gatherings like
CFUG general assemblies. Some CFUG and other local political leaders and
district forest office staff faced threats of physical harm or expulsion from the
community, and some district forest offices were destroyed. Some CFUGs were
pressured to pay a levy to the insurgents, and in a few instances, they were
apparently instructed to dissolve. Although this posed some challenges for the
research project, especially in terms of travel and group meetings, the inclusive,
propoor and flexible nature of the ACM approach was well suited to the volatile
political context.