Restoring Forests and Improving Livelihoods in Nepal by Ojha, Hemant; Shrestha, Krishna K.; Paudel, Naya S.;

Rövid leírás:

This book presents a review of Nepal’s four decades of community forestry development, delving into when and how community-based management can lead to forest landscape restoration and equitable livelihoods. It will interest students, scholars and practitioners in forest conservation, community development, and environmental policy.

Hosszú leírás:

This book presents a comprehensive review of new research and practice-based insights from Nepal’s four decades of community forestry development, delving into when and how community-based management can lead to forest landscape restoration and equitable livelihoods.

With over four decades of formal program history, Nepal’s community forestry is a rare case from the Global South showcasing the trajectories and outcomes of a community-based environmental management initiative. It offers historically proven lessons of what it takes to restore degraded forests in a way that empowers local communities to make decisions. The book showcases research and experiential insights of those who became part of Nepal’s community forestry movement from the early years to the current stage. Tracing stories of change from the era of "Himalayan degradation" in the 1970s to the globally hailed success of community forestry in the 2000s, the book demonstrates how the policy, political economy, and changing community dynamics have shaped the everyday practice of community forestry and its contribution to livelihoods and forest restoration. It reveals how small-scale work in the early years evolved into a complex system of community forestry, exposing the challenges associated with social exclusion, resource management, and policy environment. As such, it makes an important contribution to the global knowledge on community-driven forest landscape restoration in the Global South where forest ecosystems are inseparable from the everyday life and livelihoods of local communities.

This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners working on forest restoration and conservation, community development, environmental policy and planning, and sustainable development more widely.

Tartalomjegyzék:

Introduction 1. Nepal's community forestry journey: Themes, challenges, and contributions 2. Looking back, moving forward: The evolution of community forestry policy and practice in Nepal Theme 1: Resource tenure and governance 3. The politics of policy evolution: community forestry governance and regulatory shifts in Nepal 4. Contested tenure: Legal rights, administrative barriers, and the everyday negotiations for community forest access 5. Cross-scale governance: technocracy and local resistance in community forestry in Nepal Theme 2: Community dynamics, local institutions, and planning 6. Crumbling commons? The transformation of forest-dependent societies in changing contexts 7. Institutions at crossroads: The evolution of collective action in community forestry 8. Unveiling the elite nexus: The political economy of progress and stagnation in Nepal’s community forestry 9. Reframing community forestry: Critiquing planning practices and charting a path for revitalisation in Nepal Theme 3: Forest ecology and management 10. Community forestry ecologies: Forest dynamics, biodiversity, and emerging challenges 11. Rethinking forest management: Silviculture, technology, and the future of community forestry 12. Restoring forest ecosystems? Impact of community forestry on biodiversity, restoration, and ecosystem services 13. Forest-farm interface: Integrating private and community forestry for landscape-level management Theme 4: Climate change 14. Restoring systems thinking: Climate risks, autonomous adaptation, and enabling policy in community forestry 15. The carbon promise: climate change mitigation potential of community-managed forestry in Nepal Theme 5: Livelihoods, gender, and equity 16. Beyond natural capital: Leveraging community forestry for livelihoods and local economies 17. Beyond tokenism: Women's leadership and the struggle for inclusive participation in community forestry 18. The business potential of community forestry: Regulatory barriers, market uncertainty, and community struggles Conclusion 19. Reimagining forest communities: key insights from Nepal’s community forestry