Prospect of institutional sustainability of community forestry in the hills of Nepal : the case of Dhankuta District | |
| Author | Shah, Narendra Prasad |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.RD-03-01 |
| Subject(s) | Community forests--Nepal Community forests--Societies, etc.--Nepal |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The study focused broadly on the assessment of a prospect of institutional sustainability of community forestry in the hills of Nepal with specific objectives to investigate the changes of forest management system in relation to the change in institutional arrangements, to assess the feedback of FUGs on community forestry with a focus on the level of awareness, satisfaction and willingness to contribute to the CF, to identify problems and conflicts related to institutional support and arrangements of FUGs in community forestry and to suggest recommendations to strengthen the FUG institution based on their strength and weaknesses. An attempt was made identifying the status of user's participation in decision-making, CF management activities, conflict status and its management mechanism, monitoring system, governing rules and regulations, benefits derived, user's satisfaction level and their willingness to participate in future community forest management. The research was conducted in the two FUGs of Dhankuta district in the Eastern Region of Nepal namely Sildhunga and Ghantedanda using a questionnaire for a household survey as a primary source of data collection. The research was focused on both quantitative and qualitative data analysis. The findings revealed that the income level of users in the FUG close to the district headquarters (DHQ) or Sildhunga was found higher than those from the FUG far from the district headquarters (DHQ) or Ghantedanda. The level of satisfaction of FUGs on its structure was high in both FUGs. The co-ordination between line agencies and FUGs were satisfactory. FECOFUN was the main coordinating organization to provide institutional support to FUGs. Monitoring of FUG activities were in poor performance in both of the FUGs. A considerable change had been made in forest resource, institutional arrangement and sense of ownership on CF among the users after handing over the CF to them. Most of users regularly attended the users' assembly in Ghantedanda than in Sildhunga and the conflict of the former was also found less. Most of the users were well aware of CF rules and regulations in Ghantedanda. The distribution of benefits was also differently in both FUGs. A problem related to product distribution was very acute in Sildhunga The research concluded that the income variation among the groups was a determining factor leading to the CF management system in the study area. Losing interest of high-income source people raised mistrust among the users maintaining an equitable share of benefits from the CF. In a long run this might effect to the FUG institution facing serious conflict within group members. However, the high level of satisfaction and users' willingness to contribute in the future CF management were a powerful instrument to maintain the institutional sustainability of FUGs in this study. Certain recommendations were made to improve a performance of CF and strengthen the FUG institution to achieve its goal on a sustainable basis. These were focused on regularization of FUG assembly and meetings, CF awareness raising and campaign, optimal use of available resources, enhancing forest productivity, systematic monitoring and evaluation mechanism, CF management training and extension, income generating activities, DFO staff motivation and incentives. |
| Year | 2003 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Thapa, Gopal Bahadur;Soparth Pongquan; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Schmidt Vogt, Dietrich;Wickramanayake, B.W.E.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Government of Denmark;Asian Institute of Technology |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2003 |