Social Structure, Livelihoods and the Management of Common Pool Resources in Nepal
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ANNEX A Social Structure, Livelihoods and the Management of Common Pool Resources in Nepal Final Report NRSP Project R7975 September 2003 Overseas Development Group (ODG) University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ Natural and Organisational Resources Management Services (NORMS) P.O. Box 3671, Maitidevi, Kathmandu ANNEX A Project Overview: This research investigated the links between new systems of management of common pool resources and existing social and political relations around natural resource use. It was based on the premise that new systems of resource management are embedded within existing social and political relations, and that an understanding of these is essential for the successful design and implementation of new policies. The research focused on two districts, Rupandehi and Nawalparasi, in the Terai region of Nepal and sought to map information on the livelihoods of different social groups with access to forests and forest products. This information is used to examine the implications of proposed and actual changes being implemented in forest resource management, especially for more vulnerable groups, and to suggest ways in which participative management approaches that are designed to improve resource access of poorer groups might need to be modified to enhance the livelihood security of these groups. Our research highlights the importance of understanding the broader institutional setting in which `forest user groups' operate and that merely adjusting the membership criteria of the FUGs, for example, cannot ensure that poor women and men have access and control of the CPRs that they need to sustain their livelihoods. Keywords: Social structure and social and processes, livelihood security, poverty, natural resource management, common pool resources, Nepal Project location: Five fieldwork locations in two districts in the Terai of southern Nepal (selected from Nawalparasi and Rupandehi). Start date: March 2001 (November 2001 actual start date because of delay caused by political situation in Nepal) End date: 31 March 2003 Project team: Janet Seeley, Paul Francis, Adam Pain and Vegard Iversen, Overseas Development Group (ODG), University of East Anglia, Norwich. Ghanendra Kafle, Madhu Gurung and Birkha Chettry, Natural and Organisational Resources Management Services (NORMS), Kathmandu. With contributions from the Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu. ii ANNEX A Acknowledgements We are grateful to many people who have contributed to this research project. We would like to thank the people from the VDCs of Makar, Harpur, Suryapura, Rajahar and Devdaha for their willingness to share their experience and knowledge with us. We would also like to thank the Terai-based staff of the Livelihoods Forestry Project, Department of Forest and local NGOs for all their help and co-operation. We are grateful to the Board of NORMS, for their support and guidance throughout this work and to Prof. Vidya Kansakar and colleagues of the Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University for their invaluable contribution in the midst of the many problems that they have faced in the last two years in Kathmandu. We are indebted to K.B. Shrestha, former Chief of the Community and Private Forest Division, Kathmandu and his colleagues for their help and support. We are particularly grateful to Peter Neil, James Bampton and Gaia Allison of the DFID-supported Livelihood Forestry Project, Sam Bickersteth (former Rural Livelihoods Adviser DFID-N), Frances Winter (former Social Development Adviser, DFID-N) and Anupam Bhatia, ICIMOD, for all their support and interest in this work. Their friendship and guidance were very much appreciated, particularly during the initial months of this project and, following the tragic events of June 2001, in shifting this research to the Terai. Thank you to all those who attended the `Final Workshop’ in Kathmandu in April 2003 and contributed their views. We are grateful to Jane Bartlett, Jo Jones and Karen Parsons of the Overseas Development Group of the University of East Anglia for the smooth management of this project through the many changes and to the staff of NORMS for their hard work and support in Nepal. We would also like to thank Margaret Quin, Christopher Floyd and colleagues at HTS for their advice. We also acknowledge our debt to the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) through its Natural Resources Systems Programme for funding this research. This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID. The project was funded under the DFID Renewable Natural Resources Knowledge Strategy (RNRKS) by the Natural Resources Systems Programme (NRSP) portfolio for Forest/Agriculture Interface systems. iii ANNEX A CONTENTS Acknowledgements............................................................................................................. iii Tables, Boxes, Figures and Attachments ......................................................................... vi Acronyms and abbreviations .......................................................................................... viii Nepali Units and Conversion Factors............................................................................... ix Nepali Calendar: ................................................................................................................. x Botanical Names:................................................................................................................ xi Summary......................................................................................................................xii 1. Background ...............................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Theoretical Issues..........................................................................................................2 1.3 Background to Community Forestry in Nepal........................................................... 4 1.4. Overview of the main findings .................................................................................... 9 2. Project purpose and expected outputs....................................................................13 3. Research Orientation, design and methods ...........................................................18 3.1 Overall approach to research..................................................................................... 18 3.2 Research under conditions of chronic political instability ...................................... 20 3.3 The research-dissemination process.......................................................................... 22 4. General Information on the Research Area ..........................................................39 4.1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 39 4.2. Settlement and land since the 1960s ......................................................................... 39 4.3 Common Pool Resources. ........................................................................................... 42 5. Community Forestry Processes: outside the FUG.................................................50 5.1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 50 5.2 A Framework for Analysis ......................................................................................... 51 5.3 Drivers External to the Community......................................................................... 54 5.5 Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 67 6. Inside the User Group: Community Forestry and the Community .....................77 6.1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 77 6.2 Community Level Drivers. ......................................................................................... 77 6.3 Origins of Community Resource Management Organisations in the Terai .......... 79 6.4 Formalisation, membership and office...................................................................... 81 6.5 The Price of Membership ........................................................................................... 85 6.6 Management: plan and reality................................................................................... 88 6.7 Institutional strengths and weaknesses of FUGs...................................................... 90 iv ANNEX A 6.8 Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 93 7. Outcomes: Livelihoods, hidden economy, equity and the state of common pool resources......................................................................................................................95 7.1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 95 7.2 Impact of access restrictions on livelihoods .............................................................. 97 7.3 Impact of access restrictions on the livelihoods of poor households......................