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Document Author(s): Singh, B.K. , Chapagain, D.P.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between forest resource tenure and forest management, with a focus on the implications for poverty alleviation. The term “tenure” is used here to imply a bundle of rights that are recognized by law and custom and that a person, a group of people or a private or public entity holds in land or trees. The paper seeks to examine the nature of these rights, their origin, their operationalization and the ways they relate to other activities, including the planting, conservation and utilization of trees. This study looks closely at the relationship between Nature and Wealth and how the Power systems in Nepal are helping or hindering the improvement of both. It looks as the history of legislation and it's effect on the incomes of rural forest dependent communities. It provides a very good case for the importance and interconnectivity of all three aspects of NWP and posits some good reccomendations for making community forestry in Nepal more effective at improving households' incomes (wealth).

Reviewer: Kelly Gibbons

Review Date: 2013-01-11

Journal: Understanding Forest Tenure in South and Southeast Asia

Document type(s):

• Book/chapter

Star rating: ★★★★

Regions:

• Asia

Country: Nepal

Natural resource(s):

• NTFPs
• Biodiversity
• Forest
• Timber

Ecosystem service(s):

• Biodiversity
• Forest Carbon

NWP Principles - Nature

• Fostered innovation, social learning, and adaptive management - [Critical]
• Promoted local land use planning and appropriate resource tenure systems - [Critical]
• Built capacity and invested in human resources - [Critical]
• Improved information and knowledge management systems - [Critical]
• Promoted cost effective technical advisory and intermediary services - [Critical]

NWP Principles - Wealth

• Promoted or developed economic strategies for natural resource management - [Critical]
• Assured that resource managers have access to NRM means and benefits - [Critical]
• Invested in local organizations - [Critical]
• Created a framework for better NRM choices - [Critical]
• Strengthened markets and NRM market incentives - [Critical]
• Proportional equivalence between benefits and costs - [Critical]

NWP Principles - Power

• Procedural rights for all people, especially vulnerable or marginalized groups - [Critical]
• Natural resource authority and functions distribution - [Critical]
• Local stakeholder input into public decisions and policy - [Critical]
• Continuous and inclusive consultations - [Critical]

Tools used

• Devolution to communities
• Participatory processes for social change
• Land use planning
• Land tenure securitization
• Resource user groups
• Devolution to local governments
• Tree tenure rights
• Information/knowledge management technology
• Participatory Planning

Constraints

• Environmental/productivity - [Yes]
• Governance/empowerment - [Yes]
• Economic/income generation - [Yes]

Solutions

• Environmental/productivity - [Yes]
• Governance/empowerment - [Yes]
• Economic/income generation - [Yes]

Impacts

• Environmental/productivity - [Yes]
• Governance/empowerment - [Yes]
• Economic/income generation - [Yes]

Additional Discussion Topics

• Lessons learned (Cautionary Tale)
• Lessons learned (Success Story)
• Governance - [External or structural policies that influenced success or failure]
• Economic - [External or structural policies that influenced success or failure]
• Resources - [External or structural policies that influenced success or failure]