The Influence of Community Level Institutions and Their Governance on Use and Management of Forest Resources in the Hills of Nepal

Abstract

"Between 1965 and 1995, forests including shrub land in Nepal have been shrinking on average 24,757 hectares (0.83 percent) per year. In general, increasing demand for forest products to maintain a rural household, extension of agriculture land in accessible forests, and logging and clear felling particularly in Terai plain and inner valleys are the causes of deforestation in Nepal (Sharma and Amatya, 1978; HMG 1988; NEPAP, 1993 and HMG, 1996). There has been an average decline in forest vegetation and its loss has been much higher in Terai plains and in mid-hills up to 1,600 m. particularly in the vicinity of settlements (Bhattarai 1998). Only about 15 percent of the forests has a crown cover of more than 70 percent (HMG, 1993)....

"While some areas have experienced a slight increase in vegetation during the past 8-10 years, no analytical information exists to provide a sound reasoning for such changes. Community forestry programme initiated in mid 1970s and leasehold forestry in early 1990s paved the way for user's participation in development and management of forests. There are a few examples of successful conservation and forest management systems, where rights to forest use and local organisations are involved (Messerchmidt, 1990; Gilmour, 1991; Shah et al., 1998; Shah and Shrestha, 1997).

"Forestry development projects have formed community level organisations, locally called user groups and user committees, with responsibility to manage the forests given or leased to them for a fixed period. Little is known about the governance in these local level institutions, the structure of which vary depending upon the projects. It has been hypothesised that the local level institutions are greatly influenced by external factors and that their governance largely affect the use and management of forest resources.

"The present paper examined the local level institutions, their rules and regulation and their functioning. Biological and socio-economic aspects of forest resources as influenced by these institutions are analysed in midhill situations, the external factors affecting the governance of local level institutions and the development and management of forests are also assessed."