Project Overview
Community forest user groups protect a third of Nepal’s forested land, more than 2.2 million hectares. However, their rights remain tenuous, although established in law as far back as 1993, and the designation ‘community forest’ can be withdrawn at any time by forestry officials. Local communities have no automatic authority to draw up and put into practice forest maintenance plans, harvest timber, make use of it, or market forest products. This puts communities in a precarious position and impedes livelihoods improvement through forest enterprises.
Nepal’s 2015 constitution presents a new opportunity to promote CFUGs and Indigenous Peoples’ forest rights. This constitution restructured the country as a federal republic, completing a process of thorough reform that followed a decade of civil war and the abolishment of the monarchy along with the remnants of historical feudalism. In many ways, this constitution upholds benefits for landless and disadvantaged groups, especially due to the creation of a Land Reform Commission.
Building on this event, the project’s main objective is to support local governments and forest communities in securing rights over 160,000 hectares of land for inclusive, community-based forest governance and for the benefit of local economies. Specifically, the project aims to:
1. Support 100 local governments enact laws and regulations to secure community rights over at least 160,000 hectares of forest.
2. Establish an online data portal and inventory for community forestry.
3. Identify, map and legally demarcate community land and create a formal cadastre of forest territories within 35 local government areas covering at least 1200 local communities.
4. Develop the capacity of local women and young people to support inclusive forest governance and development and promote other skills and financial literacy.
Upon its completion it is expected that around 100 local governments will have drafted, enacted and implemented laws and regulations that recognise and secure community forest rights. This will help define and defend Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ rights under the provisions of the new constitution, protect existing positive achievements in the sector and extend the range of community forest rights which are recognised in law.
It is also expected for the project to increase the ability of targeted communities to manage their own resources independently and inclusively, while improving their capacity to promote inclusive forest governance and thereby enhance the betterment of local economies. Finally, it is anticipated that by demonstrating high standards of best practice, the project will set an example for other local governments and communities in Nepal to follow.
