IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v134y2023ics0264837723003381.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining forest transition and collective action in Nepal’s community forestry

Author

Listed:
  • Poudyal, Bishnu Hari
  • Khatri, Dil Bahadur
  • Paudel, Dinesh
  • Marquardt, Kristina
  • Khatri, Sanjaya

Abstract

Nepal is going through a major socio-economic transition in rural areas and hence in forest management practices, leading to changes in and evolution of new forest-people relationships. Community forests are experiencing an ecological transition resulting a new pattern of growth, regeneration and diversity in forest composition. The ecological transition of forest corresponds to the shifting local collective actions in community forestry which are emerging from the new socio-economic dynamics in rural areas such as income-diversification, declining subsistence utilization of forest resources and outmigration of the rural population. However, these changes are highly differentiated and variable. The hilly areas are experiencing remarkable forest cover changes than in the lowlands of Terai. In this paper, we examine the evolving intersection between new forest transition and community collective action in Nepal. We draw our analysis on the comparative case study of four villages from three different ecological regions. Our findings show that the forest transition is not static, but a dynamic process shaped by diverse local and external factors. Further, declining utilization of forests for subsistence uses has led to a new dynamic in community collective action which has played a central role in driving forest transition. Community participation in forest management is also declining. Hence, we call for reconceptualizing local collective action in this changed context which can help revise forest policies and reimagine forest institutions that can better respond to the socio-economic changes of the mountain landscape and revitalize local collective actions.

Suggested Citation

  • Poudyal, Bishnu Hari & Khatri, Dil Bahadur & Paudel, Dinesh & Marquardt, Kristina & Khatri, Sanjaya, 2023. "Examining forest transition and collective action in Nepal’s community forestry," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:134:y:2023:i:c:s0264837723003381
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106872
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837723003381
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106872?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chhatre, Ashwini & Ojha, Hemant & Persha, Lauren, 2009. "Community forestry in Nepal: a policy innovation for local livelihoods," IFPRI discussion papers 913, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. François Libois & Jean-Marie Baland & Nicolas Delbart & Subhrendu Pattanayak, 2021. "Community Forest Management: The story behind a success story in Nepal," DeFiPP Working Papers 2106, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    3. Adhikari, Bhim & Williams, Frances & Lovett, Jon C., 2007. "Local benefits from community forests in the middle hills of Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 464-478, January.
    4. Elinor Ostrom, 2014. "Do institutions for collective action evolve?," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 3-30, April.
    5. Sushma Bhattarai & Basant Pant & Hari Krishna Laudari & Rajesh Kumar Rai & Sharif A. Mukul, 2021. "Strategic Pathways to Scale up Forest and Landscape Restoration: Insights from Nepal’s Tarai," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-16, May.
    6. Krister Andersson & Elinor Ostrom, 2008. "Analyzing decentralized resource regimes from a polycentric perspective," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 41(1), pages 71-93, March.
    7. Elinor Ostrom, 2010. "Analyzing collective action," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(s1), pages 155-166, November.
    8. Bhawana, KC & Race, Digby, 2020. "Women’s approach to farming in the context of feminization of agriculture: A case study from the middle hills of Nepal," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    9. Elinor Ostrom, 2016. "Nested Externalities and Polycentric Institutions: Must We Wait for Global Solutions to Climate Change Before Taking Actions at Other Scales?," Studies in Economic Theory, in: Graciela Chichilnisky & Armon Rezai (ed.), The Economics of the Global Environment, pages 259-276, Springer.
    10. Bhawana KC & Digby Race, 2019. "Outmigration and Land-Use Change: A Case Study from the Middle Hills of Nepal," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-19, December.
    11. Kedar Baral & Hari Prasad Sharma & Ripu Kunwar & Craig Morley & Achyut Aryal & Bhagawat Rimal & Weihong Ji, 2021. "Human Wildlife Conflict and Impacts on Livelihood: A Study in Community Forestry System in Mid-Hills of Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.
    12. Poteete, Amy R. & Ostrom, Elinor, 2008. "Fifteen Years of Empirical Research on Collective Action in Natural Resource Management: Struggling to Build Large-N Databases Based on Qualitative Research," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 176-195, January.
    13. Khatri, Dil B. & Marquardt, Kristina & Pain, Adam & Ojha, Hemant, 2018. "Shifting regimes of management and uses of forests: What might REDD+ implementation mean for community forestry? Evidence from Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1-10.
    14. Julie Guthman, 1997. "Representing Crisis: The Theory of Himalayan Environmental Degradation and the Project of Development in Post‐Rana Nepal," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 28(1), pages 45-69, January.
    15. Bluffstone, Randy & Dannenberg, Astrid & Martinsson, Peter & Jha, Prakash & Bista, Rajesh, 2020. "Cooperative behavior and common pool resources: Experimental evidence from community forest user groups in Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    16. Johan A. Oldekop & Katharine R. E. Sims & Birendra K. Karna & Mark J. Whittingham & Arun Agrawal, 2019. "Reductions in deforestation and poverty from decentralized forest management in Nepal," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(5), pages 421-428, May.
    17. Arun Agrawal & Elinor Ostrom, 2001. "Collective Action, Property Rights, and Decentralization in Resource Use in India and Nepal," Politics & Society, , vol. 29(4), pages 485-514, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nabin Dhungana & Chun-Hung Lee & Samjhana Adhikari & Bishal Kumar Rayamajhi & Udit Chandra Aryal & Pramod Ghimire, 2024. "Integrated Approach to Understanding Perceived Importance and Changes in Watershed Ecosystem Services (WESs): Insights from Central Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Cook, Nathan J., 2024. "Experimental evidence on minority participation and the design of community-based natural resource management programs," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    3. Laudari, Hari Krishna & Sapkota, Lok Mani & Maraseni, Tek & Subedi, Poorneswor & Pariyar, Shiva & Kaini, Tika Raj & Lopchan, Shyam Babu & Weston, Christopher & Volkova, Luba, 2024. "Community forestry in a changing context: A perspective from Nepal’s mid-hill," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aryal, Kishor & Maraseni, Tek & Apan, Armando, 2023. "Examining policy−institution−program (PIP) responses against the drivers of ecosystem dynamics. A chronological review (1960–2020) from Nepal," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Pandit, Ram & Bevilacqua, Eddie, 2011. "Forest users and environmental impacts of community forestry in the hills of Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 345-352, June.
    3. François Libois & Jean-Marie Baland & Nicolas Delbart & Subhrendu Pattanayak, 2021. "Community Forest Management: The story behind a success story in Nepal," DeFiPP Working Papers 2106, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    4. Adhikari, Sunit & Kingi, Tanira & Ganesh, Siva, 2014. "Incentives for community participation in the governance and management of common property resources: the case of community forest management in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-9.
    5. Xu, Tuoyuan & Zhang, Xiaoxiao & Agrawal, Arun & Liu, Jinlong, 2020. "Decentralizing while centralizing: An explanation of China's collective forestry reform since the 1980s," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    6. Sapkota, Prativa & Keenan, Rodney J. & Ojha, Hemant R., 2018. "Community institutions, social marginalization and the adaptive capacity: A case study of a community forestry user group in the Nepal Himalayas," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 55-64.
    7. Tiffany H. Morrison & W. Neil Adger & Katrina Brown & Maria Carmen Lemos & Dave Huitema & Terry P. Hughes, 2017. "Mitigation and adaptation in polycentric systems: sources of power in the pursuit of collective goals," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(5), September.
    8. Armelle Mazé & Aida Calabuig Domenech & Isabelle Goldringer, 2021. "Commoning the seeds: alternative models of collective action and open innovation within French peasant seed groups for recreating local knowledge commons," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(2), pages 541-559, June.
    9. Laudari, Hari Krishna & Aryal, Kishor & Maraseni, Tek & Pariyar, Shiva & Pant, Basant & Bhattarai, Sushma & Kaini, Tika Raj & Karki, Gyanendra & Marahattha, Anisha, 2022. "Sixty-five years of forest restoration in Nepal: Lessons learned and way forward," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    10. Jordan K. Lofthouse & Roberta Q. Herzberg, 2023. "The Continuing Case for a Polycentric Approach for Coping with Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-24, February.
    11. Toft, Maja Nastasia Juul & Adeyeye, Yemi & Lund, Jens Friis, 2015. "The use and usefulness of inventory-based management planning to forest management: Evidence from community forestry in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 35-49.
    12. Holden, Stein T. & Tilahun, Mesfin, 2018. "The importance of Ostrom’s Design Principles: Youth group performance in northern Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 10-30.
    13. Steven E. Orchard & Lindsay C. Stringer & Claire H. Quinn, 2015. "Environmental Entitlements: Institutional Influence on Mangrove Social-Ecological Systems in Northern Vietnam," Resources, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-36, November.
    14. Pandey, Shiva Shankar & Maraseni, Tek Narayan & Reardon-Smith, Kathryn & Cockfield, Geoff, 2017. "Analysing foregone costs of communities and carbon benefits in small scale community based forestry practice in Nepal," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 160-166.
    15. Yadav, Bhagwan Dutta & Bigsby, Hugh & MacDonald, Ian, 2015. "How can poor and disadvantaged households get an opportunity to become a leader in community forestry in Nepal?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 27-38.
    16. Chhatre, Ashwini & Ojha, Hemant & Persha, Lauren, 2009. "Community forestry in Nepal: a policy innovation for local livelihoods," IFPRI discussion papers 913, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Ortiz-Riomalo, Juan Felipe & Koessler, Ann-Kathrin & Engel, Stefanie, 2022. "Fostering co-operation through participation in natural resource management. An integrative review," EconStor Preprints 253261, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    18. Myers, Rodd & Fisher, Micah & Monterroso, Iliana & Liswanti, Nining & Maryudi, Ahmad & Larson, Anne M. & Mwangi, Esther & Herawati, Tuti, 2022. "Coordinating forest tenure reform: Objectives, resources and relations in Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, and Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    19. Cecilia Luttrell & Erin Sills & Riza Aryani & Andini Desita Ekaputri & Maria Febe Evinke, 2018. "Beyond opportunity costs: who bears the implementation costs of reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation?," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 291-310, February.
    20. Takayama, Taisuke & Matsuda, Hirotaka & Nakatani, Tomoaki, 2018. "The determinants of collective action in irrigation management systems: Evidence from rural communities in Japan," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 113-123.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:134:y:2023:i:c:s0264837723003381. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.