Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MFSC) of Nepal and Regional Community Forestry Training Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will establish a closer cooperation between RECOFTC and government and non-government organizations in Nepal and 'pave the way' for sharing lessons learned in community-based forest management in Nepal with other Asia-Pacific countries. Collaboration on projects and other activities is also expected.
Dr Yam Malla, Executive Director of the RECOFTC, said “Community forestry has progressed so fast and so far in Nepal it really is a shining example to the rest of the region.”
“Most forests in Asian countries are controlled by the state and where countries are beginning to engage local people in forest management, improvements in policy and its implementation are needed. Better planning that reflects local perspectives and realities on the ground is crucial. When these are in place, the opportunities and benefits of community forestry can be achieved and trust between local people and government strengthened. Nepal has already has gone through this process, made its mistakes, learned from them, and is still learning as new issues emerge. We strongly believe that many Asian countries can benefit from Nepal’s experience.” he said.
Dr Malla also sees scope for lessons from the region to be of use for Nepal: “All countries are unique and all have something to learn from each other. Networking and multi-stakeholder engagement is strong in South and Southeast Asia, where private sector, government, and civil society regularly come together to work on important issues such as poverty reduction and climate change.”
One of RECOFTC’s key roles is as a regional knowledge hub sharing lessons on engaging local people in forest management, with a focus on the necessary governance, rights, and incentives to achieve this. “Many lessons have already been drawn from Nepal, but informally and not systematically, and this MoU is the first step towards addressing this,” Dr Malla said.
RECOFTC has long supported community forestry in Nepal through its training programs and collaborations with the Ministry, national civil society organizations such as FECOFUN, and the Institute of Forestry. The link has a more personal touch too with Dr Malla, who is from Nepal and developed his “passion” for community forestry while working in forestry, agricultural, and rural development specialist extension in Nepal during the mid-1970s.
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