Forestry Sector
The reforms in forestry sector in Nepal initiated since 1978 has been widely documented, analyzed and discussed. The Master Plan for the Forestry Sector recognized that the restoration of public forestlands in the hills could only be achieved through the participation of the users. It envisaged that people, principally through Community Forestry (CF), should manage all accessible forestland in the hills. The CF concept was institutionalized through the Forest Act (1993) and the Forest Rules (1995) and is the priority program of the forestry sector, which has attracted substantial donor support over the last 20-30 years.
Two decades have passed since community forest management was formally introduced in Nepal. Although, improvements in the physical situation of forest and tree resources on both public and private lands have been widely reported, there is an increasing criticism that the improvement of poor communities' livelihoods through access to forest products such as timber, fuelwood and NTFP has not been clearly demonstrated. As a consequence, from late 1990s there has been recognition by the Government as well as donor agencies of this shortcoming and hence the focus of CF program is being gradually shifted to the livelihoods improvement issues of poor people. As Soussan et al (2003) put it ‘the sustainable livelihood approach has been ‘retro-fitted’ to the ongoing programs’. Hence, several models are now being experimented under the existing CF program to address the livelihood improvement needs of poor communities.
From the year 1992, onwards with support from the IFAD, Leasehold Forestry (LF) program was initiated as a strategy for poverty alleviation and environmental rehabilitation. Small groups of the poorest households were given degraded forestland for 40-year period. The farmers rehabilitate the land and improve their income and livelihoods primarily through increased fodder production, which is used, for stall-feeding livestock. The leasehold forestry program is based on the assumption that improved livelihoods for the poor will be the main direct program benefits stemming from increased and sustainable production and incomes from leasehold plots (IFAD, 2003). The achievement of LF model has lead to its inclusion in the Forest Act (1993) and Forest Rules (1995).