Community Forestry as an Effective Institutional Platform for Local Development: Experiences from the Koshi Hills

Although community forestry is recognized as a successful programme in terms of rehabilitating forest condition, its contributions to local community development are not recognized adequately by the national policies, lagislations and regulatory frameworks. Drawing on the results of a survey of 1100 community forest user groups (CFUGs), rapid social analysis of 24 CFUGs and review of existing policies and practices in wider sectors of local development, this article claims that the organizational scope of CFUGs is not limited to forestry activities but encompasses a wide range of development activities. In addition, the institution provides opportunities of exercising political agency for democratic and equitable governance, and could demonstrate the innovations on poverty reduction through community forestry. This is demonstrated through an analysis of a) significant CFUG investment in livelihoods/development sector outside of forest development, b) wide-ranging collaborative actions between CFUGs and non-forestry stakeholders, and c) innovative initiatives of poverty reduction, and inclusive and deliberative governance. The finding presents a clear opportunity for development agencies and policy makers to promote CFUGs as the institutional platform for pro-poor local development.