Biodiversity conservation in Nepal : an appraisal of national policies and local practices under community forestry | |
| Author | Khadka, Sarba Raj |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.NR-07-02 |
| Subject(s) | Biodiversity conservation--Nepal Community forests--Nepal |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. NR-07-02 |
| Abstract | Nepal's forest resources are regarded as being of tremendous importance for biodiversity conservation and for supporting the subsistence livelihood of the people. Forests together with shrub lands occupy about 39.6% of the country's total land area. There are different national policies in place for the conservation and management of these resources. However, the forest and shrub areas are decreasing by 0.5% per annum. Therefore, the forest biodiversity is under constant threat. These threats to biodiversity in Nepal have been reported to be due, largely, to the inadequate policies and regulations, and deficient local implementation practices. This study was undertaken with general objective of exploring the gaps between the national policies and the local practices for forest biodiversity conservation and forest based livelihood improvement of local people. The specific objectives of the study were: to examine the local practices of biodiversity management in the Buffer Community Forestry (BCF) under Protected Area (PA) and Community Forestry (CF) outside the PA; to investigate the effects of national policies and local practices on the forest biodiversity and livelihood of local communities with a focus on poor households and women; to identify and evaluate the causes of success or failure of implementing the national biodiversity conservation policies in BCF and CF, and to recommend suitable options for national policies and local implementation modalities for conservation of biodiversity in BCF and CF. An actor-oriented conceptual framework approach was used to analyse national policies and local practices. This analytical framework has been used to assess functional roles and linkages between the actors responsible for national policies and the local practices. The sustainable livelihood analysis with a particular focus on the livelihood asset building processes was used for studying forest based livelihood issues. Information was gathered from different actors at central, district and village levels. These actors included individuals and institutions active in BCF and CF for managing forest biodiversity and forest based livelihood. Eight Forest User Groups (FUGs); four under the CF from the middle hills ecological zone located in Kathmandu and Nuwakot districts and four under the BCF from the lowlands ecological zone located in the Buffer Zone area of Royal Chitwan National Park were randomly selected for field information collection. Participatory and rapid rural appraisal tools and techniques of data acquisition at FUGs, women focus groups, household and other institutional actor levels were used for primary data collection. A comparative study of policies and practices was done to locate the gaps between them and to study the difference in practices between the BCF and CF forest management types to identify the gaps. The study has identified various state mechanisms existing to conserve forest biodiversity and improve forest based livelihood opportunities of the people, which were evolved through different periods of political power regime changes. These mechanisms are policies, regulations and institutional arrangements for their implementation. The policy objectives and regulations included maintenance of natural and ecological balance and life supporting systems, conservation of vegetation and wild animal species, meeting people's basic needs of forest products to improve livelihood and promote people's equitable and active participation in forest resource governance through appropriate institutional mechanisms. Despite involvement of different actors, the study findings have revealed gaps between the policies and practices, with various levels of occurrence between BCF and CF forest management types. None of the FUGs under CF have realized any obligation to implement awareness and education activities on biodiversity conservation, whereas some such activities are implemented under BCF. The practice of conserving biodiversity was found more focused towards economic usefulness than ecological importance. None of the FUGs have carried out a comprehensive inventory of the forest biodiversity; neither have they undertaken biodiversity monitoring activities. Both government as well as the community actors have placed less emphasis on biodiversity conservation, particularly under CF. Even though some special policy objectives were formulated to address the livelihood issues of the people dependent on forest biodiversity, there are inadequate responses to implement them at the grassroots level. The status of inclusion and empowerment of the socially marginalized and economically vulnerable users in the governance of forest biodiversity and economic activities was found unsatisfactory. Not only the knowledge and skills of the individual members but also the institutional management capacity of the FUGs was found not up to satisfactory level. Unless these gaps are mitigated suitably and timely, further destruction and degradation of forest biodiversity may accelerate in future, continuously affecting livelihoods of the people. |
| Year | 2007 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. NR-07-02 |
| 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) | Schmidt-Vogt, Dietrich; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Webb, Edward L. ;Kusakabe, Kyoko ;Mueller-Boeker, Ulrike ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Austria; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2007 |