Seeing the Forest Through the Trees: Community forestry in Nepal

This paper describes the emergence of community forestry in Nepal. Community forestry implies that the state cedes forest land under its control to cultural communities. These communities become the primary caretakers and beneficiaries of the natural forests, with the state providing varying degrees of guidance and support through public policies and programmes. While community forestry in Nepal have directly contributed to improving rural welfare by increasing household access to both food and income sources, it is the indirect impact of these programmes that are the underlying success. Community forestry in Nepal illustrates the vital importance of 'getting the governance right' or providing the poor with the capacity to own and manage their natural resources.