Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

Chapter 3: Adaptiveness and Collaboration in Community Forestry in Nepal • 75
members in some areas. Additionally, while resource and bureaucratic
constraints of the Community Forestry Programme continued, the ACM
approach dovetailed with some other supporting forces, such as innovative
district institutions or individuals service providers who supported social
empowerment and capacity building. Thus there was synergy between
the CFUGs’ growing interest in collaborating with such forces and the
engagement of these institutions and actors in the district-level participatory
action research 19 .
Institutional capital: goals, meetings, transparency and activeness
The teams observed four main trends in institutional direction and capital.
First, CFUG goals in all sites reflected an increased interest in equity, income
generation and sustainable forest management (elaborated below). Second,
the regularity of general and committee meetings increased in all sites,
generating—and indicating—an increase in momentum and follow-through
by the CFUG, both of which are likely necessary foundations for change.
Third, there were significant increases in transparency and accountability
of the CFUG committees, especially regarding financial management,
and an increase in information flow between users and committees. And
fourth, the number of action plans made and implemented increased, both
of which are necessary building blocks for meeting livelihood goals. Prior
to the ACM project, for example, Deurali Bagedanda CFUG did not have
any specific action plans for enhancing income or forest condition. During
the ACM project, the group developed six plans for forest enhancement
or income generation—a broomgrass trial plantation, nontimber forest
product management activities, bamboo craft training, a sawmill feasibility
study, silvicultural trial plots and a coffee plantation—the first four of
which were successfully implemented.
In terms of ‘transaction costs’ or potential negative effects, probably the
most significant change in the transition towards an ACM approach
involved demands on CFUG members’ time, reflecting increases in the
activeness of the group, the number of activities undertaken and the levels
of participation. More time was demanded of people who had previously
participated very little (and typically benefited relatively little); the
committee members saw a relative decrease in responsibilities as power
was devolved to action groups. Time as a transaction cost is a significant
issue because typically the poor and women have the least available time
and thus bear relatively higher costs. During the project’s final assessment,