The forest management policies for Nepal formulated after 1951, of which the major change was the nationalization of forests in 1957, are compared with the pre-1951 system of forest management, where the right to use and manage forests was through land registration or by special documented permission from the higher authority under the oversight of the chiefman of a village. Forest management rules and the use of fuelwood and timber were detailed in the administrative document. This policy had been formulated by the then rulers of Nepal in 1907. The present policy, enacted in 1978 and amended in 1980, encouraged the implementation of community forestry programmes. The Master Plan for the Forestry Sector (1988) recognizes community forestry, in which Panchayat Forest and Panchayat Protected Forest management require the active participation of local people, as the main strategy for the conservation and management of forests in Nepal. A multi-party system of government has replaced the Panchayat partyless system, but the same development and administrative policies are being followed.