Utilization and marketing of wood products under community forestry program in Terai Region of Nepal : a case study in Kanchanpur District | |
| Author | Bhatta, Krishna Datta |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.NR-05-08 |
| Subject(s) | Wood products--Nepal Wood products--Marketing--Nepal Community forests--Nepal |
| 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 |
| Abstract | This study explores the existing harvesting, distribution and marketing practices of wood products employed by community forest user groups (CFUGs) and the associated problems. Moreover it tries to analyze CFUG demand of wood products and the resource condition of the community forests (CF) and also the policy issues that are creating difficulties at operational level. This study was carried out in two CFUGs of Kanchanpur district and information was collected from primary and secondary sources using various data collection techniques. The method used for household survey was random sampling. The data collected from the survey were analyzed with the help of SPSS and Microsoft excel soft wares. The analysis of biological resources revealed that the average condition of forest was good where sal (Shorea robusta) was the dominant species. The comparison of annual yield of forest and household demand of wood product shows that the productive capacity of forest was much higher than annual demand of those products. However, the utilization part of operational plan (OP) is weak in terms of carrying out various silvicultural operations because of which users are collecting the products in a haphazard manner. The provision and practice of collecting fallen trees only can exceed the risk of overstocking of mature and over mature trees while unregulated and haphazard collection of pole by the individual users has decreased the proportion and proper distribution of pole sized trees. Thus the harvesting part of operational plan and the methods of harvesting are found to be neither scientific nor sustainable. The marketing aspects of this study shows that CFUGs of study area have stepped into monetized sector of economy by selling the surplus wood products in the commercial market. They are selling the timber in unprocessed form i. e. log form and the method adopted is auction. Market analysis reveals that users are not getting the proper market prices, the main reason for which are the lack of proper market promotion strategy and the monopoly of traders. The findings also indicate that, average level of understanding/knowledge among users on different aspects of harvesting, distribution and marketing was too low. Further, the perception and satisfaction of users on those aspects falls under the category of good and moderate. High prices, uncontrolled felling, identification of users needs, conservation of logs into fuelwood, not obtained whenever needed, not obtained as per need, lack of group decision, no pre-information users during distribution, lack of equity, conflicts are some the key issues associated with harvesting and distribution of wood product in CF. Policy review/analysis implies the CF policy in the country as the progressive one which involves the handing over the government owned forest to local communities for the proper management, utilization and marketing of surplus product. However, several gaps, contradictions and anomalies still exists in the present policy which has been created uncertainty and difficulties at the field level in many ways and thus affecting the true sprit of community forestry process. This study recommends that there is need of elaborating the harvesting part of OP based on the principle of scientific management and also strengthening the technical capability of CFUG members for its execution. Like wise, CFUG should be encouraged and supported for the adoption of proper market promotion strategies. Furthermore, the CF policy, rules/regulations should be revised, make coherent and also reconciled with the field level realities. |
| Year | 2005 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Thesis ; no. NR-05-08 |
| 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 P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Routray, Jayant K. ;Gautam, Ambika P. ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Norwegian Agency for International Development and Cooperation (NORAD) ; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2005 |