| Author | Pokhrel, Devi Chandra |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.NR-06-21 |
| Subject(s) | Forest management--Nepal--Makwanpur District
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| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. NR-06-21 |
| Abstract | This study aims to asses the socio-economic impact due to the implementation of Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Program (HLFFDP) on participating households and on the forest of Siwalik region along with its institutional strength and policy gap in Makwanpur district from central region of Nepal. Leasehold Forestry and Fodder Development Program is a community based approach of forest management aimed to poverty reduction and environmental improvement in hills exclusively for poor started since 1993 and has been focused as a top priority program for poverty reduction through Forestry sector. A patch of degraded public forest land is leased to a group of poor farmer for 40 years with exclusive use right in this approach. Six leasehold forest groups were selected from two Siwalik VDCs of Makwanpur district for the study. Change in Forest Condition and socioeconomic statues of participating households were assessed by quasi experimental design whereas exploratory qualitative design was used for institutional arrangement and policy gap study. The study was based on both on qualitative and quantitative information collected through HH survey, Forest Inventory, Focus group discussion, Mini workshop, key informant interview and secondary sources. Both statistical and descriptive analytical tools were used to analyze the data. The numbers of available species, regeneration density and herbaceous ground cover in the Leasehold Forests were found significantly higher than in the control forest plots. The reduction of numbers of local cattle and increment in numbers of improved livestock, increased ease of availability of forest products and reduction in time spent in forest products collection were found significantly different in leaseholder households in comparison to non-leaseholders after intervention. Findings of the study conclude that the Leasehold Forestry Program has a great potential of improving degraded forest land in terms of species richness, regeneration density, increased herbaceous forage cover and overall forest composition. The program has contributed leaseholder households in reducing their local cattle and to increase improved livestock. Due to easy availability of forest products in leasehold forest the leaseholders were able to save 3 hours time per working day and diversify their sources of income as compared to non-leaseholders. Moreover the study concludes that the program has highly enhanced the access of leaseholders household to financial and other development institutions as well as women participation in household decision making and confidence. The organizational or institutional arrangement study concludes the cooperative approach of institutionalization effective in enhancing financial accessibility and overall organizational performances. Still there existed some gaps and lacks in LHF policy implementation which need to be fulfilled for better implementation of the program. The study recommends for continued institutional and human resource development support to the leasehold groups; development of rules provision for registration of LHFG for legality; authority delegation to local DFO for better implementation of community based leasehold forestry program and focus on intensive integrated management of leasehold forest land. It also has shown the need of further study on several research agenda |
| Year | 2006 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. NR-06-21 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh Prasad; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt;Gautam, Ambika Prasad; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Biodiversity Sector Program for Siwaliks and Terai (BISEP-ST), Nepal and AIT fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2006 |