Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS) together with Forest Action, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN) organized Sindhuli Ban Chautari (a district level workshop on forestry issues) on 18 June, 2023 in Kamalamai Municipality, Sindhuli. Researchers from Forest Action and SIAS presented their findings and facilitated the discussion. A total of 32 participants from the Divisional Forest Office (DFO), sub-division office, district and province level FECOFUN, five Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) and few forestry stakeholders attended the event. The workshop was organised to share key findings of five-year research on changing dynamics of farming and community forest as well as to foster open dialogues on the challenges of community forestry management.
The workshop commenced with reflections and experiences of DFO Sindhuli, Mr. Krishna Raj Neupane, divisional forest officer, provided an overview of forest management and the impacts of changing socio-economic context in community forestry practices. Dr. Bishnu Hari Poudyal then presented the findings and insights from the ongoing study conducted by the SIAS and ForestAction in Sindhuli district. Highlighting the issues and common problems of community forest management, Dr. Poudyal provided some of the action areas as a way forward. After the presentation, Dr. Dil Khatri, Executive Director of SIAS moderated the discussion. In the discussion, the participants shared the problems they have been facing such as wild animals intruding on farms and livestock, decreasing interest of communities in forest management, and complexities arising from the implementation of scientific forestr management schemes. The members of CFUGs were concerned about the multiple policy hurdles to access the forest resources. They also shared their difficulties in getting timber required to rebuild their houses damaged by disasters such as house fires, and earthquakes. A question was also raised on the roles of the FECOFUN, an advocate of CFUGs, for not actively and effectively fighting for the rights of the community. The event emphasized on the need for a longer-term collaboration between FECOFUN, district forest officials, and other stakeholders with research organizations such as SIAS and ForestAction for evidence-based policymaking.
