English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...

Addressing poverty and promoting good governanceof community forests functioning independently throughout thecountry even without outside support.• The current power sharing arrangement between the state andthe local communities is unbalanced as groups are the users ofthe forest produce and the government is the owner of the land.The current provision of ‘use rights’ is inadequate to empowerlocal communities. ‘Community property rights’ over forestresources will fully empower local communities. This will be inline of the spirit of federalism which has to be reached ultimatelyat the community level.• Addressing poverty can be done cost-effectively and efficientlyonly through viable local institutions and reaching to the poorwith 'a bundle of livelihood assets' in a connected way is theway forward. The role of central authority and local governmentshould be an enabler and the private sector should be encouragedto act as a job creator and service provider.• Despite good practice of community forest, forest sector islargely governed by its centralised structure and functioningmechanism. Almost 70 per cent of the forest resources is stillcontrolled by the central government authority without specifiedmanagement plans. Delay in forest handover process in theTerai, the southern plain land, to local communities, commandand control approach of protected area management, traditionalstyle of patrolling and policing role of government staff mainly ofarmed guards in the Terai and the monopoly of the State ownedTimber Corporation in timber business have ruined the publicimage of the forest service. This has to be transformed alongwith the state restructuring process.To conclude, whilst we do not claim that community forestry is a panacea,our experiences demonstrate that it is possible through CFUG activities toovercome social barriers and bring about positive livelihood changes forthe chronically poor. The full potential of community forestry neverthelesscan be utilised if the provision of handover of land ownership of theforests be made in the new constitution of Nepal as ‘common property’so that CFUGs become fully autonomous and can function to their optimalcapacity. Community forestry has been proven a means by which even thechronically poor in remote areas can raise their voice, have their viewsrespected by others in the community, and claim a right to benefits thoseimprove their livelihood and the prospects of their children.82