For Environment, Democracy and Livelihoods
Can bureaucratic control improve community forestry governance? An analysis of proposed forest act amendment.
In order to understand the polarisation around this proposal, it is important to examine whether this proposal is based on the objective experiences of community forestry over the past 30 years, and whether its formulation entailed at least a basic understanding amongst stakeholders. As such, the proposal has triggered debate, contestation and protests1. It has generated a debate within the political parties, received attention at inter-party dialogues and created fissures within the bureaucracy. In addition, coverage of the issue in national and local media, including newspapers, radio and television channels have made the amendment proposal as a public concern throughout the country. Consequently, revising the Forest Act has become a matter of huge public debate for the last few months, challenging the existing public policy process in Nepal to make it more inclusive and deliberative…..
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