The Nepal Australia Community Resource Management Project began in 1997 with the goal of contributing to the development of sustainable community resource management systems in Nepal. The Project comprised four components to address specific objectives, all of which emphasised participatory decision making by stakeholders and made a particular effort to incorporate greater equity for women and the disadvantaged in the development and support of the Forest User Group model.

Component 1 focused on support for user groups including ways to increase the capacity of Forest User Groups (FUGs), Community Development Groups (CDGs), NGOs, District Forest Offices (DFOs) and District Soil Conservation Offices (DSCOs), while Component 2 explored systems for improved community forest management and utilisation. Component 3 developed methodologies that enable the application of participatory resource management and watershed management to a wider range of ecological and social situations. In particular, solutions to the problems of the upper slope forests were explored. Component 4 was the provision of cost effective and efficient Project Management.

The Project worked closely with the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MFSC) field staff and liaised with MFSC, Department of Forest (DOF) and Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management (DSCWM) senior staff at the central level. The Project also contracted several NGOs as resource organisations to mobilise and strengthen local level NGOs, FUGs and CDGs.

NACRMP Website