1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

Contribution of community forestry to the livelihood of local participants in the middle hills of Nepal a case study Makwanpur District

AuthorWagle, Sekhar
Call NumberAIT Thesis no.NR-02-08
Subject(s)Community forests Nepal

NoteA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
Series StatementThesis ; no. NR-02-08
AbstractThis study was conducted to assess the contribution of Community Forestry (CF) to the livelihood of the local people of three Forest User Groups (FUGs) in Makwanpur district, located in the middle mountain region in central Nepal. The contributions of CF were assessed in te1ms of forests products' supply and availability, infrastructures development, farming system, women's workload and increase in income to the user. The study compared the user's requirements of forest products and their supply situation from the CF, analyzed the income and expenditures pattern of PUG fund and evaluated the perception of user in fund mobilization, benefit sharing, decision-making process, conflict management and availability of forest products in order to explore the contribution of CF to the local participants. The main objectives were to evaluate the importance of community forest as a source of forest products compared to other sources; to assess the production capacity of community forest to supply the forest products; to analyze the contribution of community forestry on socio-economic development of users group and to examine the decision making process and conflicts in FUGs. The study was based on both qualitative and quantitative information. Household survey; focus group discussion; discussion with forest user group committee (FUGC) members; field observation; key informants survey; record collection from FUGCs' office; review of PUG forest management plan and constitution; and forest inventory for biomass and annual yield calculation were the main research techniques used. The research showed that the overall supply of forest products was much higher from CF than other sources e.g. National Forest (NF), Private Forest (PF) and market. Users still depended upon PF for the preferred fodder and grass species. The CF had contributed to time savings and easiness of collection of forest products. The comparison of timber and fuel wood extraction with the annual yield indicates that out of the three CFs, one had over utilized. The CF had significantly contributed to the development of many small-scale community infrastructures, e.g. schools, road, drinking water facility, and sanitation, thereby providing easier and more access to essential basic services at local level. Community forestry had contributed directly and indirectly towards savings of income of the users by reducing their expenditure on timber and fuelwood and reduced women workload. It had also provided sufficient quantity of bedding materials for compost manure. Forest product sales were the major source of income for the FUGs. A large portion of fund was used in community infrastructure development. There was poor participation of women in the decision making process and they remained passive in decision-making. The participation of general FUG members in decisionmaking process was fairly satisfactory. Some, not so serious, conflicts were observed and FUGs were capable to resolve conflicts within their own circle. In summary, the results of this study showed positive contribution of CF programme on the livelihood factors of local participants.
Year2002
Corresponding Series Added EntryAsian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. NR-02-08
TypeThesis
SchoolSchool of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
DepartmentDepartment of Development and Sustainability (DDS)
Academic Program/FoSNatural Resources Management (NRM)
Chairperson(s)Webb, Edward L.;
Examination Committee(s)Shivakoti, Ganesh P.;Soparth Pongquan;
Scholarship Donor(s)Danish International Development Assistance;
DegreeThesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2002


Usage Metrics
View Detail0
Read PDF0
Download PDF0