Forest land use dynamics and community-based institutions in a mountain watershed in Nepal :|bimplications for forest governance and management | |
| Author | Gautam, Ambika Prasad |
| Call Number | AIT Diss no.NR-02-03 |
| Subject(s) | Forest dynamics Land use |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation; no.NR-02-03 |
| Abstract | Nepal is considered as one of the most progressive countries in the world in terms of community-based forest management. The much lauded community forestry program, however, has been confronting with highest level of debate in recent years regarding the role of government agencies and local communities in the implementation of the program. One of the core issues stimulating this debate is whether the local communities are capable for sustainable management of all the existing forests in the country. In this context, this study analyzed the role of community-based institutions, along with some major ecological and economic factors, in determining the trends of changes during 1976-2000 and present condition of forests in a mountain watershed in Central Nepal and explored factors influencing institutional sustainability of community based forest governance. Changes in availability of major forest products to the user households, soil erosion and flow of natural streams during the last two decades have also been assessed based on the perception of local users. The study used a multi-scale and interdisciplinary approach of data collection and analysis, making combined use of geomatics, conventional forest inventory methods, rapid appraisals, interviews, and questionnaire survey techniques. The methodology used in this research can be useful for addressing various forestry and watershed management related research questions, especially those involving multiple spatial scales. The results show a continuous increase in forest cover of the watershed in between 1976 and 2000 due to effective monitoring and protection of community forests by the local user groups, forestation programs, and agrarian changes. Grasslands and cultivated area decreased during the period. Shrub lands decreased during the first half (197 6-1989) of the study period due to heavy loss of this class to forest and agriculture but increased during the second half (1989-2000) mainly at the expense of upland agriculture and high elevation forests. Together with changes in spatial extent, there were distinct changes in the number and shape of land use patches during the study period. Forest dynamism during 1976-2000 was higher in low-elevation, south facing and less steep slopes that were closer to the roads. Proportionately highest net improvement and gain to forested (forest plus shrublands) area also took place in those locations. Forest degradation was at least two-times higher compared to improvement in high elevation areas (>2300 m). Forests located within municipal areas (market-oriented economy) experienced proportionately higher amount of net improvement and gain compared to the forests in VDCs (subsistence economy). Among the three governance arrangements, proportionately highest net improvement and gain took place in semi-government forests (forested area legally under forest department but with de facto control and claim of ownership by local communities and/or municipality). This was followed by fo1malized community forests (including leasehold). Government forests, which are mostly confined in the southern high mountains and were virtually in open access condition, remained relatively stable during the study period. Above 50 percent of the watershed forests (located mostly in the southern high mountains), have not come under community-based management despite favorable policy and more than two decades of government intervention with continuous donor support. This indicates the limitation of the existing community forestry policy to govern forests in all socioeconomic and environmental settings. The results from the site-specific studies generally indicate that: (i) slope steepness has positive effect, but elevation, forest size, and user group size, have negative effects on the condition of local forest patches, (ii) stocking of trees and saplings is better in warmer and drier slopes whereas moist and cooler slopes are more amenable to higher species diversity, (iii) higher level of historical degradation and higher dependency of users on the forest do not necessarily result in poorer present forest condition, (iv) pine plantations have higher wood stocking but lower subsistence and diversity values compared to natural broadleaf forests, (v) local economy, and ethnic heterogeneity did not have significant role in dete1mining condition of local forest patches, (vi) the condition of formal community forests is relatively better compared to semi-government forests, and (vii) institutional sustainability of community-based forest governance is largely explained by Ostrom's (1990) Design Principles. The results, based on the perception of randomly selected 106 household heads representing 16 forest user groups in the watershed, show that during the last two decades: (i) the availability of fuelwood and leaf litter to the user households have significantly increased, availability of fodder has significantly decreased, and availability of timber and poles have marginally increased (ii) most of the forest user groups have adopted passive (i.e. protection-oriented) approach in forest management; (iii) private lands are impo1iant alternative source of forest products for the households; (iv) level of soil erosion increased due mainly to increased agricultural intensification and village roads constructions; and (v) flow in natural streams have remained largely stable during the period. In addition to forest management, more than 40 percent of the registered forest user groups in the watershed had implemented or taken lead role in one or more type of non-forestry rural development activities in 2001. The findings of this research have the following implications for designing forest governance policy and management strategies: (a) recognition and incorporation of local institutions in the formulation of forest and watershed management policies is important but an umbrella policy does not work in all situations. A flexible policy and multiple implementation strategies may be needed depending on the characteristics of the resource and users; (b) a joint investment by forest user groups and local agencies (VDC/municipality) may improve the prospects for successful forest conservation at the local level, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas; and (c) outcomes from local forest management initiatives might be more dependent on the ability of institutions to overcome challenges than on type of prope1iy right arrangements |
| Year | 2002 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation; no.NR-02-03 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| 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 P.;Webb, Edward L.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Apisit Eiumnoh; Zoebisch, Michael A.;Ostrom, Elinor ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA); |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2002 |