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?
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<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 />
<strong>in</strong> most <strong>of</strong> the territory <strong>of</strong> Dolakha, Ramechhap and Okhaldunga districts, with little<br />
more than the district headquarters be<strong>in</strong>g safe for government personnel. Offi cial<br />
fi gures <strong>in</strong>dicate that as a result <strong>of</strong> the confl ict, hundreds <strong>of</strong> people <strong>in</strong> these three<br />
districts lost their lives, although this is probably an underestimate; hundreds more<br />
<strong>we</strong>re physically <strong>in</strong>jured or deeply traumatised by events. That the Maoists had<br />
considerable local support is demonstrated by the fact that <strong>in</strong> the subsequent<br />
elections to constitutional assembly all the districts returned Maoist MPs.<br />
Faced with the deteriorat<strong>in</strong>g security situation, SDC adopted a conflict sensitive<br />
programme management (CSPM) approach, which essentially aims to contribute<br />
to the prevention <strong>of</strong> violence and the peaceful resolution <strong>of</strong> confl ict whilst cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g<br />
to channel development assistance to rural population, tak<strong>in</strong>g due security<br />
measures. As part <strong>of</strong> CSPM, SDC worked with other donors to develop<br />
comprehensive Basic Operational Guidel<strong>in</strong>es (BOGs); these became the rules<br />
by which most development agencies operated. NSCFP staff members <strong>we</strong>re bound<br />
by the BOGs (see box), and <strong>in</strong> addition adopted the follow<strong>in</strong>g work<strong>in</strong>g practices<br />
(see Pokharel and Paudel, 2005).<br />
• Confl ict sensitisation exercises <strong>we</strong>re conducted with project staff and partners<br />
us<strong>in</strong>g various tools (e.g. relationship analysis; confl ict mapp<strong>in</strong>g; time l<strong>in</strong>e analysis;<br />
trend analysis <strong>of</strong> confl ict <strong>in</strong>cidence and effect on project activities etc).<br />
• Flexibility to adapt to the context became the key for all plann<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
implementation<br />
• Staff engaged <strong>in</strong> jo<strong>in</strong>t confl ict analysis with the SDC country <strong>of</strong>fi ce<br />
• Staff and partners together developed a common understand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> what the<br />
BOGs meant <strong>in</strong> practice (“should” and “should not” do), and <strong>in</strong>ternalised the “do<br />
no harm” approach<br />
• Regular communication was held with the SDC-<strong>Nepal</strong> Programme Coord<strong>in</strong>ation<br />
Manager and Security Offi cer and Liaison Offi cer, and bet<strong>we</strong>en project staff<br />
to jo<strong>in</strong>tly and constantly assess and analyse the security situation, and decide<br />
upon activities accord<strong>in</strong>gly.<br />
• Staff participated <strong>in</strong> security and confl ict related meet<strong>in</strong>gs to share <strong>in</strong>formation<br />
and develop a common understand<strong>in</strong>g bet<strong>we</strong>en projects and SDC country<br />
<strong>of</strong>fi ce. These developed <strong>in</strong>to “district cluster meet<strong>in</strong>gs”, attended by team<br />
leaders <strong>of</strong> all SDC-funded projects – which cont<strong>in</strong>ue to be held dur<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
peace-build<strong>in</strong>g period.<br />
46