Two decades of community forestry in Nepal: What have we learned?

Two decades of community forestry in Nepal: What have we learned?
An important forest policy actor that came into being in 1995 and whose voice
was growing throughout the period of the civil confl ict was FECOFUN (see section
on human and institutional development). Whilst NSCFP retained its presence in
donor – government meetings on forestry, it also encouraged forest policy debate
and advocacy through civil society. Its role was always to encourage the main
national actors to come together for dialogue. In many cases the project has taken
on the role of impartial facilitator and resource provider in policy interactions
between civil society and government. Thus for example in the latter years of
the project, the Project Director regularly participated in the Natural Resource
Management People’s Parliamentary Committee, Alliance for Natural Resource
Management (ANAR) and in activities related to the Rights and Resources
Initiative (RRI).
To ensure that accurate
information on community
forestry is readily
available, NSCFP has
documented key aspects
in a number of short policy
papers, longer discussion
papers, study reports,
and photo compilations
over the years. All these
reports are now available
in project’s website http://
communityforestry-nscfp.
org. In addition, NSCFP
has been an active
contributor to national and
international community
forestry workshops. It has
also sought to respond to
the increasing demand for documentation in Nepali, and not just in English as the
language of donors and the highly educated.
Nepal has demonstrated in pratice the positive impact of community forestry policy
Box 11: Contribution of NSCFP in community forestry policy development
processes
NSCFP has been a very active partner of both the goverment of Nepal and civil society
organisations representing forest users, participating in various task forces, working groups,
public meetings and workshops. Bringing in knowledge from fi eld experience, it has played
an important role in the national level policy development process. Some of the key points
are highlighted below.
• As an acknowledged effi cient and trustworthy partner of both the government and civil
society organizations, organisation of national gatherings, meetings and workshops for
public debate and policy discussion forums – including at an international level
76