Democratizing Terai Forestry Governance: Emerging Innovations in the Western Terai Region of Nepal

The potential of the Terai forest resource has been well cited. With a goal of realising that enormous potential, the Government of Nepal has given special attention to Terai forests with a range of policies and different scientific management regimes. Though the government has high intensions, neither the policies nor the management efforts have been successful in producing the intended outcomes. In fact they have rarely been translated into action. Considering the cases of three districts of the Lumbini Zone in the Western Terai region of Nepal, this paper reflects on the current situation on the ground. It describes current forest management based on government interventions and the pertaining issues, and explores the effectiveness of local innovations that have emerged to address the issues. Finally it claims that despite the controversies and complexities of forestry in the Terai, local level innovations have been shown to be viable options for transforming the Terai forestry debate and maximising achievements in the forestry sector through their wider replication and linkage to wider rural development.