Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sustainable Forest Management: Community Forestry’s Contribution to Build Climate-Resilient Communities in Nepal

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Corporate Approaches to Sustainable Development

Part of the book series: Science for Sustainable Societies ((SFSS))

  • 421 Accesses

Abstract

Community forestry user groups (CFUGs) in Nepal, created multiple livelihood options for the local community while building financial and technical local capacity to cope with climate change impacts. The research reported in this study explored the multiple roles played by community members on different activities aimed to minimize climate vulnerability and building climate-resilient communities equipped with adaptation and mitigation coping mechanisms. This study aims to explore the impacts of climate change on forest and livelihoods while discussing on existing adaptations and mitigations methods on climate change. The methodological approach of this research involved the use of social-ecological production landscapes (SEPLS) resilience indicators applied to measure climate resilience through activities conducted by CFUGs. Additional data were collected through participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools, household survey, field survey with key informants, focused group discussion, systematic literature review, policy, and document analysis. The research was undertaken at four (4) CFUGs in Chitwan district of Nepal selected due to their economic and management status, infrastructural development, and management committee composition. Findings showed that climate change had negative impacts on forest resources, water resources, agricultural crops and people’s daily life through drought, higher temperature, changing crop characteristics, etc. Activities such as control in wildlife hunting, forest fire, encroachment, and control grazing help to increase biodiversity inside the forest. CFUGs had attracted funding, i.e., revolving fund or subsidy, to enhance livelihood of poor and pro-poor households. Applied research was conducted to explore the connections between forest and climate change policy and opportunities to integrate the international development agenda into sustainable forest management.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adger WN, Huq S, Brown K, Conway D, amp; Hulme, M. (2003) Adaptation to climate change in the developing world. Prog Dev Stud 3(3):179–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adhikari B, Williams F, Lovett JC (2007) Local benefits from community forests in the middle hills of Nepal. Forest Policy Econ 9(5):464–478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agrawal A (2007) Forests, governance, and sustainability: common property theory and its contributions. Int J Commons 1(1):111–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen VG, Pond KR, Saker KE, Fontenot JP, Bagley CP, Ivy RL et al (2001) Tasco: influence of a brown seaweed on antioxidants in forages and livestock—a review. J Anim Sci 79(suppl_E):E21–E31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antinori C, Rausser GC (2008) Ownership and control in Mexico’s community forestry sector. Econ Dev Cult Chang 57(1):101–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayres MP, Lombardero MJ (2000) Assessing the consequences of global change for forest disturbance from herbivores and pathogens. Sci Total Environ 262(3):263–286

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Béné C, Belal E, Baba MO, Ovie S, Raji A, Malasha I et al (2009) Power struggle, dispute and alliance over local resources: analyzing ‘democratic’ decentralization of natural resources through the lenses of Africa inland fisheries. World Dev 37(12):1935–1950

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernier P, Schoene D (2009) Adapting forests and their management to climate change: an overiew. Information Service of FAO

    Google Scholar 

  • Betts RA, Malhi Y, Roberts JT (2008) The future of the Amazon: new perspectives from climate, ecosystem and social sciences. Philos Trans R Soc 363(1498):1729–1735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattarai TP, Skutsch M, Midmore DJ, Rana EB (2012) The carbon sequestration potential of community-based Forest Management in Nepal. Int J Climate Change: Impacts and Responses 3(2):2012

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonan GB, Levis S, Sitch S, Vertenstein M, Oleson KW (2003) A dynamic global vegetation model for use with climate models: concepts and description of simulated vegetation dynamics. Glob Chang Biol 9(11):1543–1566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branny P, Yadav NP (1998) Changes in community forestry condition and management 1994–1998: analysis of information for the Forest resource assessment study and Socio-217 economic study of the Koshi Hills. Nepal UK Community Forestry Project (NUKCFP), Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • Brosius PJ, Tsing AL, Zerner C (2005) Communities and conservation: histories and politics of community-based natural resource management. Rowman Altamira, Lanham, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter S, Walker B, Anderies JM, Abel N (2001) From metaphor to measurement: resilience of what to what? Ecosystems 4(8):765–781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casse T, Milhøj A (2011) Community forestry and forest conservation: friends or strangers? Environ Policy Gov 21(2):83–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chhetri BBK, Johnsen FH, Konoshima M, Yoshimoto A (2013) Community forestry in the hills of Nepal: determinants of user participation in forest management. Forest Policy Econ 30:6–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Convention on Biological Diversity (2009) Review of the literature on the links between biodiversity and climate change: impacts, Adaptation, and Mitigation (No. 42)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke B, Kothari U (2001) The case for participation as tyranny. Zed Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowther TW, Todd-Brown KE, Rowe CW, Wieder WR, Carey JC, Machmuller MB et al (2016) Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming. Nature 540(7631):104–108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deressa T, Hassan RM, Ringler C (2008) Measuring Ethiopian farmers’ vulnerability to climate change across regional states. IFPRI Discussion Paper 00806. International Food Policy Research Institute

    Google Scholar 

  • Dev OP, Adhikary J (eds) (2007) Participatory forest management in the Nepalese Terai: policy, practice and impacts. Routledge, Abingdon, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • DFRS (2015) State of Nepal’s Forests. Forest Resource Assessment (FRA) Nepal, Department of Forest Research and Survey (DFRS). Kathmandu, Nepal.

    Google Scholar 

  • DOF (2017) Department of Forest, Nepal. http://dof.gov.np/dof_community_forest_division/community_forestry_dof

  • Edmunds D, Wollenberg E (2003) Whose devolution is it anyway? Divergent constructs, interests and capacities between the poorest forest users and states. In: Local forest management: The impacts of devolution policies. Earthscan Publications, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Engelbrecht BM, Comita LS, Condit R, Kursar TA, Tyree MT, Turner BL, Hubbell SP (2007) Drought sensitivity shapes species distribution patterns in tropical forests. Nature 447(7140):80

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Euskirchen ES, McGuire AD, Chapin FS III, Yi S, Thompson CC (2009) Changes in vegetation in northern Alaska under scenarios of climate change, 2003–2100: implications for climate feedbacks. Ecol Appl 19(4):1022–1043

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (1978) Report on the Agro Ecological Zones Project. Volume. 1. Methodologies and Results for Africa. Rome. FAO Publication, World Soil Resources Report. p 158

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2000) The State of the world fisheries and aquaculture. Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2006) Forest and climate change: better forest management has key role to play in dealing with climate change. Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2011) State of the world’s forests. FAO, Rome, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • Folke C (2006) Resilience: the emergence of a perspective for social-ecological systems analyses. Glob Environ Chang 16:253–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folke C, Carpenter S, Elmqvist T, Gunderson L, Holling CS, Walker B (2002) Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations. AMBIO J Hum Environ 31(5):437–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gautam AP, Webb EL, Eiumnoh A (2002) GIS assessment of land use/land cover changes associated with community forestry implementation in the Middle Hills of Nepal. Mt Res Dev 22(1):63–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Girot P, Ehrhart C, Oglethorpe J, Reid H, Rossing T, Gambarelli G, Phillips J (2012) Integrating community and ecosystem-based approaches in climate change adaptation responses. Ecosystem & Livelihoods Adaptation Network

    Google Scholar 

  • Glasmeier AK, Farrigan T (2005) Understanding community forestry: a qualitative meta-study of the concept, the process, and its potential for poverty alleviation in the United States case. Geogr J 171(1):56–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurung MB, Bigsby H, Cullen R, Manandhar U (2015) Estimation of carbon stock under different management regimes of tropical forest in the Terai arc landscape, Nepal. Forest Ecol Management 356(2015):144–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2001) Climate change 2001: the scientific basis. In: Houghton JT, Ding Y, Griggs DJ, Noguer M, Van Der Linden PJ, Xioaosu D (eds) Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, p 944

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2014). Climate change 2014: impact, adaptation, and vulnerability. In V. Braun (Ed.), technical summery report

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2007) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the IPCC

    Google Scholar 

  • IUCN (2013) IUCN red list of threatened species. Version 2013.2. http://www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed 1 Mar 2014

  • IUCN, S. IISD (2003) Livelihoods and climate change. Task force on climate change, vulnerable communities and adaptation. Winnipeg, IISD

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson ST, Kearsley JB (1998) Quantitative representation of local forest composition in forest-floor pollen assemblages. J Ecol 86(3):474–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanel KR, Dahal GR (2008) Community forestry policy and its economic implications: an experience from Nepal. Int J Social Forestry 1(1):50–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Koven CD, Hugelius G, Lawrence DM, Wieder WR (2017) Higher climatological temperature sensitivity of soil carbon in cold than warm climates. Nat Clim Chang 7(11):817–822

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kragt ME, Dumbrell NP, Blackmore L (2017) Motivations and barriers for Western Australian broad-acre farmers to adopt carbon farming. Environ Sci Policy 73:115–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence S, Giles CL, Tsoi AC, Back AD (1997) Face recognition: a convolutional neural-network approach. IEEE Trans Neural Netw 8(1):98–113

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lybbert TJ, Sumner DA (2012) Agricultural technologies for climate change in developing countries: policy options for innovation and technology diffusion. Food Policy 37(1):114–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahanty S, Gronow J, Nurse M, Malla Y (2006) Reducing poverty through community-based forest management in Asia. J Forest Livelihood 5(1):78–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maryudi A, Devkota RR, Schusser C, Yufanyi C, Salla M, Aurenhammer H, Krott M (2012) Back to basics: considerations in evaluating the outcomes of community forestry. Forest Policy Econ 14(1):1–5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MOE (2010) National adaptation programme of action on climate change. Ministry of Environment, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Google Scholar 

  • Neupane S, Shrestha K (2012) Sustainable forest governance in a changing climate: impacts of REDD program on the livelihood of poor communities in Nepalese community forestry. OIDA. Int J Sustain Dev 4(1):71–82

    Google Scholar 

  • NPC (2011) Climate-resilient planning. [working document], government of Nepal, National Planning Commission, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Google Scholar 

  • Paavola J, Adger WN (2002) Justice and adaptation to climate change. Tyndall Centre Working Paper, 23

    Google Scholar 

  • Pandey SS, Cockfield G, Maraseni TN (2016) Assessing the roles of community forestry in climate change mitigation and adaptation: a case study from Nepal. For Ecol Manag 360:400–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pandey SS, Maraseni TN, Cockfield G (2014) Carbon stock dynamics in different vegetation dominated community forests under REDD+: a case from Nepal. For Ecol Manag 327:40–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peattie K (2001) Towards sustainability: the third age of green marketing. Mark Rev 2(2):129–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips OL, Aragão LE, Lewis SL, Fisher JB, Lloyd J, López-González G, Van Der Heijden G (2009) Drought sensitivity of the Amazon rainforest. Science 323(5919):1344–1347

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pinkerton, E. (1998) Integrated management of a temperate montane forest ecosystem through wholistic forestry: a british columbia example. Linking social and ecological systems: Management Practices and Social Mechanisms for Building Resilience, 363–389

    Google Scholar 

  • Piya L, Joshi NP, Maharjan KL (2016) Vulnerability of Chepang households to climate change and extremes in the Mid-Hills of Nepal. Clim Chang:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Poffenberger M (2006) People in the forest: community forestry experiences from Southeast Asia. Int J Environ Sustain Dev 5(1):57–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pokharel RK (2008) Nepal’s community forestry funds: do they benefit the poor? SANDEE

    Google Scholar 

  • Pokherel BK, Byrne (2009) Climate change mitigations and adaptations strategies in Nepal’s forest sector: how can rural communities’ benefit? Nepal swiss Community Forestry Projects

    Google Scholar 

  • Ribot JC, Agrawal A, Larson AM (2006) Recentralizing while decentralizing: how national governments reappropriate forest resources. World Dev 34(11):1864–1886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schusser C (2013) Who determines biodiversity? An analysis of actors power and interests in community forestry in Namibia. Forest Policy Econ 36:42–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweik CM, Adhikari K, Pandit KN (1997) Land-cover change and forest institutions: a comparison of two sub-basins in the southern Siwalik hills of Nepal. Mt Res Dev 17:99–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweik CM, Nagendra H, Sinha DR (2003) Using satellite imagery to locate innovative forest management practices in Nepal. AMBIO: a journal of the human. Environment 32(4):312–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma BD, Karky BS, Dahal N, Chapagain N, Basnet B (2004) Prospects and Challenges in Bringing Nepal Community Forestry under Kyoto Protocol’s Carbon Trading Regime, In the proceeding Fourth National Community Forestry Workshop held at Kathmandu, Nepal, 64–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit IPJ et al (2007) Do artificial waterholes influence the way herbivores use the landscape? Herbivore distribution patterns around rivers and artificial surface water sources in a large African savanna park. Biol Conserv 136:85–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subedi BP (2006) Linking plant-based enterprises and local communities to biodiversity conservation in Nepal Himalaya. Akhil Book Distributors

    Google Scholar 

  • Sunderlin WD (2006) Poverty alleviation through community forestry in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam: an assessment of the potential. Forest Policy Econ 8(4):386–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunderlin WD, Angelsen A, Belcher B, Burgers P, Nasi R, Santoso L, Wunder S (2005) Livelihoods, forests, and conservation in developing countries: an overview. World Dev 33(9):1383–1402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tachibana T, Adhikari S (2009) Does community-based management improve natural resource condition? Evidence from the forests in Nepal. Land Econ 85(1):107–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson I, Mackey B, McNulty S, Mosseler A (2009) Forest resilience, biodiversity, and climate change. In: A synthesis of the biodiversity/resilience/stability relationship in forest ecosystems. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal

    Google Scholar 

  • Trosper RL (2002) Northwest coast indigenous institutions that supported resilience and sustainability. Ecol Econ 41(2):329–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNCTAD (2016) The least developed countries report 2016. United Nation conference on Trade and Development. United Nations

    Google Scholar 

  • UNFCCC (2007) United Nations framework convention on climate change. Climate change: impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation countries

    Google Scholar 

  • UNU-IAS, Bioversity International, IGES and UNDP (2014) Toolkit for the Indicators of Resilience in Socio-ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes (SEPLS)

    Google Scholar 

  • Victor DG, Zhou D, Ahmed EHM, Dadhich PK, Olivier JGJ, Rogner H-H, Sheikho K, Yamaguchi M (2014) Introductory chapter. In: Edenhofer O, Pichs Madruga R, Sokona Y, Farahani E, Kadner S, Seyboth K, Adler A, Baum I, Brunner S, Eickemeier P, Kriemann B, Savolainen J, Schlömer S, von Stechow C, Zwickel T, Minx JC (eds) Climate change 2014: mitigation of climate change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Wainwright C, Wehrmeyer W (1998) Success in integrating conservation and development? A study from Zambia World development. 26(6):933–944

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JB, Agnew AD (1992) Positive-feedback switches in plant communities. In: Advances in ecological research, vol 23. Academic Press, pp 263–336

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. International Economics Dept. Development Data Group (1978) World development indicators. World Bank

    Google Scholar 

  • Wunder S (2001) Poverty alleviation and tropical forests—what scope for synergies? World Dev 29(11):1817–1833

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Nations University – Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, Tokyo, Japan

    Jyoti Sedhain

  2. Australian Institute for Business and Economics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Isabel B. Franco

  3. The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Summer Lamont

Authors
  1. Jyoti Sedhain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Isabel B. Franco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Summer Lamont
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Institute of Business & Economics (AIBE), University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Isabel B. Franco

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sedhain, J., Franco, I.B., Lamont, S. (2022). Sustainable Forest Management: Community Forestry’s Contribution to Build Climate-Resilient Communities in Nepal. In: Franco, I.B. (eds) Corporate Approaches to Sustainable Development. Science for Sustainable Societies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6421-2_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation