Cluster mechanism in Chautara Cluster (Chautara 8 and 13) has brought all the relevant stakeholders together for the better management of forest and CFUG’s institutions of the cluster. The concept of mechanism in the cluster emerged as a response to several concerns of CFUGs, such as low access to technical and institutional services, high operating costs of individual forest management units, and low returns that dis-incentivized the forest managers. As a potential way out for such dominant issues, the idea of clustering the community forests, leaseholds forests and private forests of the cluster was emerged from the ward level CFUGs’ meeting in Chautara 13. After series of meetings with relevant stakeholders (ward representatives, FECOFUN, DFO/S-DFO, CFUGs), an eight membered (2 ward chairs from Chautara 8 and 13, 1 AFO from S-DFO, 1 FECOFUN chair, 2 CFUG’s representatives balancing gender representation, 1 EnLiFT and 1 forest technician mobilized by the committee) entity entitled “Cluster Level Forest Management Committee (CLFMC)” was formed where the stakeholders from the cluster were represented.

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