Abstract
Nepal is rich in Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) because of its diverse physiographical, altitudinal, and climatological conditions. Many of these products provide an important supplemental livelihood resource for families who can grow only enough crops to feed themselves for a few months of the year. Most of these NTFPs are open access and are over-harvested as a result. Their management is vital to any forest management scheme. NTFPs are important to reduce poverty in rural areas. Increased NTFP production and sales have been impressive in Nepal and associated income generation has been a significant boost to the local economy.
Nepal has been pioneer in promoting local people’s access to resources as a mechanism for promoting natural resource decentralization and good governance. Due to accelerating deforestation, the government realized that forests would not be able to meet the demand of the people. It thus required shifting government forest policies to encourage local people to form user groups that would take over forest management responsibilities. Community forest user groups have been the focus of Nepal’s Forestry Sector policies since 1976.
This case study deals with how Calamus tenuis, a common cane species, was brought under management in a "community forest" by the local people in Kailali district, in Nepal and how the income from this product has been used for implementing community development activities.
Calamus tenuis is found in sub-tropical forests in Nepal. It is extensively used for making furniture, baskets, walking sticks, and umbrella handles. It has also a great cultural and spiritual value to Tharus, an indigenous community in the area. Research shows that this species was abundant in the past but has been declining fast because of overexploitation, immature harvesting and habitat destruction. Nepal imports considerable quantity of rattan from India, Indonesia, and Malaysia to meet its local need.
Some people of the Sati Karnali area realized that general environmental degradation was a problem in their locality. They took initiatives to make other farmers aware, particularly about forest resource degradation and its possible negative impacts on local people’s livelihoods. An institution was needed to organize the farmers and motivate them to take collective actions for sustainable resource management. This led to the formation of Community Forestry User Group (CFUG) for the management of forest. In 1994, a forest area of 298 ha was handed over to this CFUG.
The objectives for forest management were defined by the users: to fulfill the basic needs of the local people for forest products, to protect the area from soil erosion, and to generate incomes through an intensive land management. The forest area was divided into management blocks. The five-year rattan management plan was prepared that included simple management prescriptions for each year.
From the initial stage of development, people provided inputs required for protection, management, and harvesting of rattans. The forest area was considered as a common property. All beneficiary households shared the cost of forest management. A general assembly was called once a year, where users participated in decision-making on various aspects such as election for the executive committee, group level policy formulation, operational plan revision, fixation of the rates for sales of rattan and other forest products, investment in community development, and examination of incomes and expenditures. Financial transactions were transparent. All types of incomes were deposited in the bank. Audit was done annually and the report submitted to the general assembly. During the assembly, users discussed their problems to identify the solutions. Women and disadvantaged communities were represented in the CFUG executive committee. Rights and responsibilities of the committee, the CFUG, and the DFO were clearly specified in the operational plan.
The financial return from rattan management resulted impressive. Researchers estimated that, after deducting the cost for administration and management, the annual net benefit from rattan is US $ 40,000. In the past, the Indian contractors used to harvest rattan from this forest. However, the annual revenue never exceeded US $ 3,000. This is a medium sized community forest in Nepal. However, the return is remarkable at least at the local level.
The financial resources generated by the group have been mobilized in forest management and community development activities. Those activities include rattan and forest management training, cross visits to other project sites, seedling production and distribution, and plantation of trees and cash crops. The group has provided support for construction of school, hospitals, toilets, and a community hall. It has provided scholarships for poor and lower caste students and has paid for school teachers’ salaries. In addition, an agro-veterinary shop and an agriculture cooperative have been established. Since the area is flood prone, the CFUG has been protecting the area from floods through river bank protection activities.
Some income generating activities such as bee keeping, ginger cultivation, saving and credit schemes, seedling production training, and broom making have been conducted. Some employment opportunities have also been created. The group has paid for non-formal education facilitators and supervisors, forest watchers, an office secretary, and a treasurer. Village elders have been provided with social welfare grants. An ambulance has been purchased. Awareness-raising training has been conducted for users. A local library has been strengthened. The group used its tractor to construct and maintain the road. Other neighbouring CFUGs have attempted to replicate this success.
Community-based local resource management in Sati Karnali Community Forest shows that the term "community forestry" or the traditional "forest management" may go beyond mainstream forestry, which tends to focus on trees for timber. Others may profit from learning that components of the ecosystem, other than trees ? such as rattans, may provide quickly and probably more returns than the management of trees for timber. The locally generated incomes can be an alternate source for funding for local development activities, where the government does not have enough resources to satisfy the needs of the people at the grassroots level. Sati Karnali Community Forest can be considered as a pilot for replicating successful management of similar resources elsewhere.
Acknowledgement:
This research was supported by the START secretariat of Asia Pacific Network through the "Role of institutions in global environmental change”.
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