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 />
An important forest policy actor that came <strong>in</strong>to be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> 1995 and whose voice<br />
was grow<strong>in</strong>g throughout the period <strong>of</strong> the civil confl ict was FECOFUN (see section<br />
on human and <strong>in</strong>stitutional development). Whilst NSCFP reta<strong>in</strong>ed its presence <strong>in</strong><br />
donor – government meet<strong>in</strong>gs on <strong>forestry</strong>, it also encouraged forest policy debate<br />
and advocacy through civil society. Its role was always to encourage the ma<strong>in</strong><br />
national actors to come together for dialogue. In many cases the project has taken<br />
on the role <strong>of</strong> impartial facilitator and resource provider <strong>in</strong> policy <strong>in</strong>teractions<br />
bet<strong>we</strong>en civil society and government. Thus for example <strong>in</strong> the latter years <strong>of</strong><br />
the project, the Project Director regularly participated <strong>in</strong> the Natural Resource<br />
Management People’s Parliamentary Committee, Alliance for Natural Resource<br />
Management (ANAR) and <strong>in</strong> activities related to the Rights and Resources<br />
Initiative (RRI).<br />
To ensure that accurate<br />
<strong>in</strong>formation on <strong>community</strong><br />
<strong>forestry</strong> is readily<br />
available, NSCFP has<br />
documented key aspects<br />
<strong>in</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> short policy<br />
papers, longer discussion<br />
papers, study reports,<br />
and photo compilations<br />
over the years. All these<br />
reports are now available<br />
<strong>in</strong> project’s <strong>we</strong>bsite http://<br />
<strong>community</strong><strong>forestry</strong>-nscfp.<br />
org. In addition, NSCFP<br />
has been an active<br />
contributor to national and<br />
<strong>in</strong>ternational <strong>community</strong><br />
<strong>forestry</strong> workshops. It has<br />
also sought to respond to<br />
the <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g demand for documentation <strong>in</strong> <strong>Nepal</strong>i, and not just <strong>in</strong> English as the<br />
language <strong>of</strong> donors and the highly educated.<br />
<strong>Nepal</strong> has demonstrated <strong>in</strong> pratice the positive impact <strong>of</strong> <strong>community</strong> <strong>forestry</strong> policy<br />
Box 11: Contribution <strong>of</strong> NSCFP <strong>in</strong> <strong>community</strong> <strong>forestry</strong> policy development<br />
processes<br />
NSCFP has been a very active partner <strong>of</strong> both the goverment <strong>of</strong> <strong>Nepal</strong> and civil society<br />
organisations represent<strong>in</strong>g forest users, participat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> various task forces, work<strong>in</strong>g groups,<br />
public meet<strong>in</strong>gs and workshops. Br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> knowledge from fi eld experience, it has played<br />
an important role <strong>in</strong> the national level policy development process. Some <strong>of</strong> the key po<strong>in</strong>ts<br />
are highlighted below.<br />
• As an acknowledged effi cient and trustworthy partner <strong>of</strong> both the government and civil<br />
society organizations, organisation <strong>of</strong> national gather<strong>in</strong>gs, meet<strong>in</strong>gs and workshops for<br />
public debate and policy discussion forums – <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g at an <strong>in</strong>ternational level<br />
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