The politics of community involvement in conservation and use of forest resources: Lessons from community forestry in Nepal

The involvement of local communities has increasingly been recognised for the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. The management of forests by communities has been at the forefront of a shift in focus from state and private management. There are, however, limited studies indicating that the involvement of local communities has improved the condition of forests, or this has translated into sustainable forest utilisation. This paper examines the experience of forest conservation and utilisation by three Forest Users Groups in Nepalese community forestry. Data were collected by using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, generating information from 72 households, 21 key respondents, 6 focus group discussions and 3 vegetation assessments. The study demonstrates that compared with the highly degraded forests from which most community forests started, the conditions of forests has improved, but community forestry is not ideal for biodiversity conservation. Further, the forests are found to be underutilised, largely because the powerful actors highlight the protection-oriented approach of management to ensure forest conservation. As a result, the local communities, particularly the poorer groups, gain little benefits. It is concluded that achieving sustainable conservation and utilisation of forests managed by local communities is a major challenge. Thi