Overview:
The purpose of this project is to understand how to improve livelihoods of rural communities in Nepal who rely on forestry resources for livelihoods through improved community forestry management. In particular, through community based adaptive learning and action process. This Master’s project will contribute to the ongoing research project on improving governance of Community Forestry Users Groups (CFUGs). The large research project examines and addresses these questions: how can we improve community based forestry governance through adaptive learning and action process and how can we improve livelihoods for forestry-dependent groups?

Goals and Objectives:
The main objectives include: 1) Improved management of community forestry systems including improved institutional and government models. 2). Organizing and empowering local community and their networks to claim their access and to control over land, water and natural resources through raising their voices and engage in the policy formulation. 3). Expanding markets for forestry products and small-scale forestry enterprises. 4). Developing new projects such as eco-tourism that increase the income of forestry communities.

Theoretical Justification, Social Benefit, or Significance:
People living in rural areas of Nepal are largely deprived of the basic support from government. About 38% people are living under the poverty line. Due to extremely limited resource and access to government budget allocation and credit finance, poor people in remote areas are largely relying on community or government managed forests for their livelihoods. To improve their livelihoods, study of how to effectively take advantage of forest resources and how to manage and provide access to the poorest and marginalized groups in Nepal are essential in poverty reduction. Information about the institutional, political, and social factors that drive governance failures will help decision makers in providing more effective forest governance.

Specific Activities & Duration:

 January – May 2016:

i. Conduct a background literature review to understand the extent of previous relevant research
ii. Finalize principal research questions
iii. Identify existing models that are suitable for this project
iv. Define initial model parameters for community based forestry governance
v. Identify institutions, communities, government and other stakeholders in forestry management
vi. Plan logistics for summer 2016 field research

May – August 2016:

i. Training and collaboration workshop with partners in Nepal (May), to exchange an develop skills and knowledge
ii. Students collect and analyze forestry data in Koshi Hills area

September 2016 – May 2017:

i. Perform data analysis to measure effectiveness of adaptive learning and action in forestry governance
ii. Prepare a final report summarizing findings and assessing methods in improving community livelihoods through adaptive learning and action

Integrative Approach
This project approaches the problems of effective community based forestry governance from both a technical and a policy perspective. Understanding the political and economic context of community forestry governance will form a key foundation of the project. Data will be collected through a variety of methods, including stakeholder interviews. The project will enhance scholarship in the area of community adaptive learning and management in natural resources with an explicitly practical purpose—to determine the usefulness and effectiveness of community based forestry management in terms of improving livelihoods for forestry-dependent communities.