| Abstract | This study was designed to examine broadly the impacts of the current Nepal Australia Community Forestry Project (a bilateral aid project funded by the Nepal government and AusAID, and managed by ANUTECH, Canberra) in Sindhu Palchok and Kabhre Palanchok Districts of Nepal, as well as those of two earlier projects dating back to 1978. It also sought to document the functioning of Forest User Groups, the development of which has been the main concern of the current Project. It sought to provide insights into the needs, problems, expectations and aspirations of households and communities in the Project area which might assist both in managing the current work and in designing any future development assistance in the community forestry sector of Nepal and more widely. The study relied on observations of a number of indicators to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts of Project components and activities. It involved formal questionnaires, group appraisals using a number of participatory techniques, use of key informants, and reference to a mass of Project trek and consultancy reports and other published material. Over the longer term the projects have facilitated the establishment of 20000 ha of plantations and assisted Forest User Groups to manage native forest to provide basic timber and fuelwood needs as well as fodder and bedding for animals, and minor forest products. As part of this work, questions of income generation, equity and resource conservation have been addressed. Significant human resource development has taken place, with the transfer of management and technical skills. Concurrent social and economic change taking place in the Districts has been partly influenced by the Project but it is difficult to attribute specific cause and effect. Over the shorter term the concept of Forest User Groups has been firmly embedded within the institutional system of Nepal, with Groups taking primary responsibility for community lands within their environs and developing a capacity to undertake development activities on a broader front. The 6 chapters of the report are: Objectives and methods; Summary of Australian development assistance to forestry in Nepal; Background; Socio-economic characteristics of project districts; Impact assessment: findings and analysis; and Discussion and conclusions. |