Can Evidence and Voice Influence Policy? A Critical Assessment of Nepal's Forestry Sector Strategy, 2014

Ojha, Hemant; Khatri, Dil; Shrestha, Krishna K.; Bhattarai, Balkrishna; Baral, Jagadish Chandra; Basnett, B. Sijapati; Goutam, Keshab Raj; Sunam, Ramesh; Banjade, M.R.; Jana, Sudeep; Bushley, Bryan R.; Dhungana, Sindhu Prasad; Paudel, Dinesh

doi:10.1080/08941920.2015.1122851

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In addition, developing an FMP is quite onerous for the users [36]. Though Nightangle, Ojha et al [37,38] argued that the technical knowledge of FMP application is important for the management of forest resources in Nepal's CFs, we observed that the FMP has become merely a paper tool to fulfill the criterion of handing over the forest. In recent years, the AAH has been reduced substantially, but without a clear rationale.…”

Section: Tree Harvesting Practices-are They In Compliance With Fmps?mentioning

confidence: 71%

What Governs Tree Harvesting in Community Forestry—Regulatory Instruments or Forest Bureaucrats’ Discretion?

Baral

Vacik

2018

Forests

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Community forestry is required to follow a forest management plan (FMP) to ensure sustainable tree harvesting. However, the role of FMPs or forest bureaucrats' discretion in guiding harvesting decisions and the resultant effects has not been explored. This paper investigates tree harvesting practices in community forests (CF) and its effects on forest sustainability, using the forest inventory panel dataset for three consecutive periods (2010, 2013 and 2016), together with qualitative information obtained by key informant interviews and a review of records of the community forest users' group. Harvesting decisions in the CF are largely guided by the decrees or schematic instructions of forest bureaucrats, where the role of the FMP remains highly contested. Whether harvesting decisions should be guided by the prescriptions of the FMP or should be regulated through decrees is a matter of discourse. Forest bureaucrats are arbitrarily reducing harvesting quantities and rarely referring to the prescriptions of the FMP. Consequently, users are compelled to harvest less than half the quantity of trees prescribed in the FMP. Furthermore, they are only allowed to harvest poor quality and dead trees. As a result, the number of good quality trees has increased, while the number of seedlings and saplings has decreased significantly. Although harvesting of saplings and seedlings is a common practice, it is against the provisions of the FMP. Though the current bureaucratic discretion has shown quick short-term effects on the forest stand conditions, the long-term impacts should not be undermined. Our findings will be useful to implementors and policy makers in Nepal and other developing countries with similar circumstances for deciding the tree harvesting. We argue for a rational approach in designing harvesting prescriptions and complying with them rather than regulating harvesting practices through guidelines, circulars and bureaucratic discretion.

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Section: Tree Harvesting Practices-are They In Compliance With Fmps?mentioning

confidence: 71%

What Governs Tree Harvesting in Community Forestry—Regulatory Instruments or Forest Bureaucrats’ Discretion?

Baral

Vacik

2018

Forests

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“…In water resource management, China has adopted the practice of first piloting, learning from the experience, and then applying the revised policies and laws to the entire country. In contrast, in Nepal's forest sector, policy-making processes are not informed by scientific research (Ojha et al 2016b); despite the growing body of research, policy review and revisions are ad hoc and often driven by external donors or international agencies. In Bhutan, proposed policies are passed through a policy-screening tool developed on the principles of gross national happiness.…”

Section: The Emerging Role Of Knowledge Interfaces In the Shift Towarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governance: Key for Environmental Sustainability in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Ojha

Ghate

Dorji

et al. 2019

The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment

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“…Nevertheless, while tree planting is practiced as a strategy to tackle water scarcity at the community level (Yang et al 2014), the perceptions that forests improve hydrological outcomes, such as water availability, are prevalent in the broader Nepalese society, including the mid-hills, as seen in Table 1. The selected excerpts from media coverage in Table 1 highlight the important role of the media in influencing public debate on broader environmental issues in Nepal (Khatri et al 2016). These suggest the prevalence of the ''more forest-more water'' beliefs in Nepalese society that are also common globally (Calder 2005;Gilmour 2014).…”

Section: Sociocultural Interpretations Of Forest-water Relationships mentioning

confidence: 99%

Management of the Forested Catchments of Nepal's Mid-hills Amid Mismatched Perceptions of Forest–Water Relationships: Challenges and Opportunities

Badu

Nuberg

Cedamon

et al. 2019

Mountain Research and Development

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Can Evidence and Voice Influence Policy? A Critical Assessment of Nepal's Forestry Sector Strategy, 2014

Cited by 20 publications

References 17 publications

What Governs Tree Harvesting in Community Forestry—Regulatory Instruments or Forest Bureaucrats’ Discretion?

What Governs Tree Harvesting in Community Forestry—Regulatory Instruments or Forest Bureaucrats’ Discretion?

Governance: Key for Environmental Sustainability in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Management of the Forested Catchments of Nepal's Mid-hills Amid Mismatched Perceptions of Forest–Water Relationships: Challenges and Opportunities

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