Two decades of community forestry in Nepal: What have we learned?
Two decades of community forestry in Nepal: What have we learned?
Two decades of community forestry in Nepal: What have we learned?
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<strong>Two</strong> <strong>decades</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>community</strong> <strong>forestry</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Nepal</strong>: <strong>What</strong> <strong>have</strong> <strong>we</strong> <strong>learned</strong>?<br />
FECOFUN has become an organisation with a national membership <strong>of</strong> over<br />
11,200 CFUGs, play<strong>in</strong>g an important and highly active advocacy role with regard to<br />
<strong>community</strong> forest policy and legislation <strong>in</strong> the country. It is also a major NGO<br />
through which the project has channelled much service provision, and <strong>in</strong> this there<br />
has been a somewhat uncomfortable m<strong>in</strong>gl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> roles, with service provision on a<br />
commercial basis sometimes underm<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the credibility <strong>of</strong> its advocacy function.<br />
Views with<strong>in</strong> FECOFUN on this matter vary.<br />
“By mak<strong>in</strong>g an advocacy organisation such as FECOFUN its service provider, NSCFP has<br />
diverted the whole essence <strong>of</strong> the organisation. FECOFUN seems no more than an NGO<br />
now! So FECOFUN should seriously refl ect and reorient its orig<strong>in</strong>al mission and its current<br />
function<strong>in</strong>g mechanism and culture.”<br />
Bharat Pokharel, Project Director, NSCFP<br />
Capacity build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividuals through scholarships<br />
NSCFP adopted the deliberate strategy from 1995 onwards to aim not only at<br />
build<strong>in</strong>g capacities <strong>in</strong> <strong>forestry</strong>, but at generat<strong>in</strong>g a resource pool <strong>of</strong> educated<br />
citizens, particularly girl children, women, and members <strong>of</strong> other<br />
disadvantaged groups (especially Dalits). The long project time scale meant that<br />
this could be done systematically, provid<strong>in</strong>g opportunities for people at very different<br />
stages <strong>in</strong> their education, and <strong>in</strong> some cases cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g this support to enable<br />
them to fully reach their education goals. In total, some 800 school pupils <strong>have</strong><br />
benefi tted from pre-SLC project scholarships, allow<strong>in</strong>g them to cont<strong>in</strong>ue their<br />
studies to SLC level. Some <strong>of</strong> these <strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>we</strong>nt on to further studies that <strong>we</strong>re<br />
also funded by the project, notably social mobilisation (42 women supported s<strong>in</strong>ce<br />
2001) and Technical Certifi cate Level Forestry (I.Sc.) – lead<strong>in</strong>g to work as a Forest<br />
Ranger (69 <strong>in</strong>dividuals supported s<strong>in</strong>ce 1990).<br />
“All <strong>in</strong>terventions had to <strong>in</strong>clude the poorest <strong>in</strong> decision mak<strong>in</strong>g and benefi ts. This is the<br />
only way to reduce or alleviate poverty. One <strong>of</strong> the th<strong>in</strong>gs that was already function<strong>in</strong>g at<br />
the time and which was extremely effective was the scholarship system for Dalit girls ….<br />
This was really a far-sighted <strong>in</strong>tervention, especially for a <strong>forestry</strong> project work<strong>in</strong>g through<br />
education”<br />
Mike Nurse, NSCFP CTA mid 2002 – mid 2004 (and work<strong>in</strong>g for NAFP 1990 – mid 1993)<br />
Scholarships <strong>we</strong>re also provided for higher level tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g – primarily to Forest<br />
Department staff members, but also to members <strong>of</strong> NSCFP staff. Over the entire<br />
project period, 22 persons <strong>we</strong>re funded through the Bachelors course, runn<strong>in</strong>g for<br />
four years, whilst 20 <strong>we</strong>re funded to study to Masters Level. Most <strong>of</strong> these people<br />
returned to the country to s<strong>we</strong>ll the numbers <strong>of</strong> highly qualifi ed <strong>forestry</strong> personnel<br />
(even if not necessarily work<strong>in</strong>g for the project), whilst some are now active <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>community</strong> <strong>forestry</strong> at an <strong>in</strong>ternational level. In this contribution to national<br />
capacities, people tra<strong>in</strong>ed through NSCFP support are currently work<strong>in</strong>g with<strong>in</strong><br />
the Forest Service <strong>of</strong> <strong>Nepal</strong>, NSCFP itself, <strong>in</strong>ternational NGOs, user groups and<br />
federations, and private sector organisations. Whilst <strong>in</strong> earlier phases a selected<br />
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