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Abstract:
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"Nepal is currently undergoing a Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation,
sustainable management of forest, and conservation and enhancement of carbon (REDD+) readiness
process. The Government of Nepal has announced a high level political commitment, willingness
and preparedness to attract diverse interests in policy deliberation for its REDD+ process. This paper
examines Nepal’s REDD+ policy deliberation process from a political ecology perspective, focusing on
expressions of discursive power and representation within Nepal’s ongoing multi-stakeholder REDD+
preparation. The analysis is based on interviews, policy document reviews and observations of public
consultations to solicit comments for REDD+ strategy during the year 2013-2014. The analysis found
that Nepal’s institutional REDD+ planning structure is highly dominated by techno-bureaucratic topdown
practices representing government interests and international donors’ requirements, while subnational
and non-governmental stakeholders often find themselves to be merely used to legitimize the
policy process rather than to actively shape it. A considerable share of policy preparations is left to the
outsourced experts, and the multi-stakeholder consultation meetings have proven to be ineffective to
bring the weak actors’ perspectives that actually participate in those meetings. Both the ‘geographical
space’ and ‘political space’ offered in the consultations are not favourable for the local actors, but are
controlled by the dominant actors. Overall, our analysis highlights important challenges and an urgent
need to improve design and practice of the consultation process in order to ensure a sound multistakeholder
process so as to meet the demands of the local forest realities as well as those of the
international REDD+ requirements."
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