Browsing by Author "Paudel, Naya Sharma"

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Challenges for Collective Action in Community Forestry Enterprises
(2008) Paudel, Naya Sharma
From p. 6: "My response to David's argument is based on my analysis of the evolution of community institutions under the community forestry in Nepal, particularly the emerging challenges related to increased commonsmarket interface. Nepals community forestry is a well-known example of a modern community institution that has successfully reversed the deforestation in the Himalayan region and turned barren hills into forested areas."
Community Forestry, Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation: Evidence from Nepal
(2013) Paudel, Naya Sharma; Ojha, Hemant
"It is now well accepted both in theory and practice that community control over forest has the potential to improve forest condition, while also enhancing livelihood benefits to the communities. However, this lesson is primarily in the context of subsistence livelihoods, and evidence related to whether and how community management can benefit from the emerging markets for diverse forest ecosystem services is still limited. Moreover, there is also a lack of theoretical consensus on whether increased marketing of ecosystem services can contribute to poverty alleviation. These two questions are particularly intriguing, as some studies claim that the access of the poor to natural resources is more secure in the subsistence--based resource management systems than when ecosystem services are promoted in the market. Drawing from 14 case studies of community forestry in Nepal, complemented by review of grey literatures and analysis of secondary data, this paper brings new evidence to demonstrate how communities promote a variety of innovations, marking a shift away from the narrowly focussed, subsistence oriented management to more holistic management of forest ecosystem services. We also show that community forestry groups have adopted diverse management strategies to capitalise on ecosystem services such as those related to ecotourism and watershed conservation. We also demonstrate that increasing commercialization of such services helps to generate multiple benefits to the poor within the community. These innovations are catalysed by a wide range of factors including the transfer of tenure rights and autonomous institutional spaces for collective action as guaranteed by the prevailing forest law. We further demonstrate that, in Nepals case, such ecosystem services innovations have remained limited to most successfully functioning cases of community forestry, and not a common phenomenon. This is because such market--oriented management of ecosystem services is still not a priority of the government forest policy, which takes highly conservative stance towards such innovations. Analysis of the national forest regime indicates that forest policy and bpractice still nurture a narrowly conceived notion of forests that do not accommodate the holistic notion of forest ecosystem management that is emerging in some of the most innovative cases that we selected for the study. For this reason, the local innovations run the risk of increased policy restrictions at any time, given the fluid political contexts of the country."
Comparing Evidence of Community Organisation Network Building to Manage Complex Commons' Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation
(2013) Thompson, Paul; Sultana, Parvin; Paudel, Naya Sharma; Ojha, Hemant
"In Bangladesh and Nepal there have been considerable efforts to establish community institutions to manage commons, notably wetlands and floodplains in Bangladesh and forests in Nepal. Traditional common property regimes and/or new institutional arrangements based on local collective action have been increasingly recognised as providing more effective management than state control top-down approaches. Yet, there is still poor understanding of how community rights and institutions affect poverty reduction and sustainability of ecosystem services. Both countries have vibrant networks of community organisations. In Nepal a federation of 18,000 forest user groups arose from the desire of grassroots institutions to articulate their common interests in influencing national policies. In Bangladesh a network of 270 floodplain community organisations arose from an interest to learn from each others experience, address complex links between agriculture, water and fisheries, and gain mutual support from peers. These networks emphasise the importance of commons and collective action for the livelihoods of poor people and the ecosystems they depend on. Evidence is taken from a total of 32 detailed case studies, representing the diversity of environments, tenural arrangements over commons, and levels of involvement in networking. The paper focuses on some key questions. What kinds of networks have emerged around forests and floodplains? How do these networks address the governance challenges of these nested commons? How have the federations supported multi-level governance and minimised conflicts around the management of the commons? How has the distribution of benefits and ecosystem services generated from different types of commons changed with community based management and networking? Comparative analysis shows that networking has increased shared learning and political mobilization, enhanced ecosystem conditions and associated livelihoods, and has strengthened bargaining power with outside forces such as state and market. It is concluded that networking adds value in effective management of complex commons."
Contextualizing Common Property Systems: Action Research Insights on Forging Effective Links between Forest Commons and Meso Layer Governance
(2006) Paudel, Naya Sharma; Banjade, Mani Ram; Ojha, Hemant R.; McDougall, Cynthia; Prabhu, Ravi
"The literature on common property resources is heavily focused on understanding how users of the commons interact with each other regarding production and appropriation of these resources. There is, however, relatively little attention paid to understanding how meso level governance - i.e., that layer between local level and national (policy) level - interacts with users of the commons in shaping the social and environmental outcomes of commons management. The meso level consists of actors, institutions and processes which interact with each other and with users of commons, interpret and enforce policies and regulations, and can also reinterpret or misinterpret policies according to their own interests and agendas with beneficial or deleterious effects on the actors and the commons. We contend that the dynamic link between meso level governance and the commons is not sufficiently appreciated and poorly understood. Taking Nepal's community forestry as a case study, this paper seeks to explore the dynamic links between meso level processes and the commons. Based on the learning and reflections from an 'adaptive collaborative management' research project implemented in five districts of Nepal over the past two years, the paper seeks to: a) develop a preliminary conceptual framework for understanding meso spheres of governance in relation to local level commons; b) describe the nature of linkages between the meso level and community forestry and their influences on the condition of the commons and the livelihoods of forest users; and, c) share action research insights on how mesocommons linkages can be improved."
Impacts of Forest Tenure Reform on Livelihoods: Experiences from Nepal
(2008) Paudel, Naya Sharma; Banjade, Mani Ram; Dahal, Ganga Ram
"This paper analyses the impacts of forest tenure reforms in Nepal on livelihoods, income, forest condition and equity (LIFE). Tenure reform process that began during late 1970s was institutionalised during early 1990s has promoted decentralised and participatory processes in forest management. These reforms towards increased community tenure have significant positive impacts on all the LIFE indicators but have relatively better results on forest condition and livelihoods. Though the impacts on equity and income are relatively small, institutional innovations on the ground and policy responses for increasing community tenure are showing optimism of addressing equity issues and increasing household income through community forestry."
Predicting Future Conflict Under REDD+ Implementation
(2013) Patel, Toral; Dhiaulhaq, Ahmad; Gritten, David; Yasmi, Yurdi; De Bruyn, Toon; Paudel, Naya Sharma; Luintel, Harisharan; Khatri, Dil B.; Silori, Chandra; Suzuki, Regan
"With the current complexity of issues facing forest and land management, the implementation of the REDD+ initiative comes with significant risks, including conflict. While the exact nature and shape of conflict in REDD+ implementation is difficult to pinpoint, this study aims to build a preliminary predictive framework to identify possible sources of impairment that may result in conflict over management of forests and natural resources. The framework was developed from an extensive literature review and was tested in three REDD+ pilot project sites in Nepal. The results indicate that most of the sources of impairment are present in all study sites, particularly issues relating to benefit sharing, which have been main drivers of conflict prior to REDD+. While we found that the application of the framework has been useful in the Nepalese context, there are some limitations in its scope and precision. Nonetheless, this study points to important implications with regards to REDD+ implementation and conflict management that can be useful for policy makers and practitioners involved in REDD+ strategy designs, as well as other areas of forest management involving outsiders and communities."
Secondary Level Organisations and the Democratisation of Forest Governance: Case Studies from Nepal and Guatemala
(2012) Paudel, Naya Sharma; Monterroso, Iliana; Cronkleton, Peter
"This paper examines the emerging role of secondary level organisations in the democratisation of forest governance by analysing two cases of forest-based collective action in Nepal and Guatemala. It explores the conditions surrounding the emergence and growth of these secondary level organisations, and examines the nature of their organisational approaches, strategic actions, and the resulting outcomes in terms of democratising forest governance. The organisations discussed in this paper are products of broader decentralisation processes and represent organised and empowered forest people. They are capable of shifting the balance of power in favour of community level institutions, and can compel state agencies to become more accountable to the needs of forest-dependent citizens. As a result, by leading collective action beyond the community to a secondary level, these organisations have influenced forest governance by making it more democratic, equitable and productive."