Forest Management and Utilization Under Community Forestry

作者：Nagendra Prasad, Yadav Dfid Lfp, Oliver Springate‐Baginski, Soussan Stockholm · 发表于：Journal of Forest and Livelihood · 年份：2003 · 被引用次数：105 · 研究领域：Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management、Forest Management and Policy、Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology

This paper examines the impact of community forestry on forest resources, based on a study of 11 Forest User Groups (FUGs) in Nepal over three years. The findings confirm that the impact on forest resources has been very positive. Prior to the formation of FUGs, forest resources at almost 75% of study sites were deteriorating, and now all are improving to a greater or lesser extent. However, there is a great complexity of situations on the ground and various weaknesses in the process which need to be addressed, especially forest boundary conflicts, inequity within FUGs due to low participation of poorer households in decision-making, and the prevalence of 'passive' forest management. This paper presents the results of the project in relation to the impact of community forestry on forest resources. The first section of the paper focuses on forest composition, and describes how forest resources are managed by the FUGs. The second section discusses the needs of forest users, and the distribution of forest products within communities. The third section concludes with a summary of the policy implications of the findings. METHODS The present paper draws on the results of participatory resource mapping and resource assessments carried out in the 11 study FUGs. The ' mapping' focused on the characterization of the forest resource, including the spatial breakdown into areas (including formal blocks if the FUG had them), the condition and changes to the condition of the different areas...