The document provides guidance on the process of community forest user group formation and constitution development in Nepal. It outlines key steps including identification of forest users and forests, empowering users, forming user committees, drafting the constitution, and registering the new community forest user group. The constitution development process involves gathering input from households, interest groups, and tole meetings to ensure all user needs and rights are addressed in an equitable and inclusive manner.

1. COMMUNITY BASED FOREST MANAGEMENT
Lecture by Khem L. Bishwakarma
9813143285
4. Process of user group formation
3. Forest users (primary/secondary/tertiary)
User group committee
User assembly

2. Emergence and evolution of CBFM in
Nepal (Recap)
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Key words
• Private –State –Community
• before nationalization-nationalization-
devolution
• Birta, kipat, guthi-Panchayat Forest-
Community Forest
• 1957/1961-1976/1977-1989/1993

3. CF Process
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Identification and
Empowerment
CFUG Formation, Constitution
Preparation, and Registration
OP Preparation and Registration
Implementation
OP and Constitution Revision

4. Identification and Empowerment
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• Identification of Users
• Identification of Forest

5. Categories of Forest Users
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• Based on proximity to the forests
Primary Secondary Tertiary

6. Categories of Forest Users
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• Based on interaction with forests
Primary
Users

7. Categories of Forest Users
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• Based on interaction with forest
Secondary
Users
Tertiary
Users

8. Forest Users
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Bases of identifying prime users
• Traditional user
• Proximity to the forests
• Interested to be the user
• Dependent on forest resources
• Interested to contribute to forest protection and
management
• Located at far from the forest but have no
alternate forest area

9. Forest Users
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Identifying distant users
• Start a dialogue (CF process, benefits, roles and
responsibilities) from the very beginning of the CF process
• Get information about the dependency of distant users on the
forest in question and their willingness to contribute in
conservation and management
• Make sure of not seizing people’s traditional/historical use
rights on forests in question
• Try to make consensus among users for including the distant
users in the group

10. Forest Users
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How to address distant user’s need?
• Providing forests products in subsidized rate by the one or
many CFUGs
• Establishing forest products depot at appropriate locations
• Assisting in seedling production and distribution
• Assisting forest plantations
• Assisting in community development activities
• Mobilizing the CFUG funds in income generating activities
(IGAs)

11. Bases of identifying Forests for CF
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• Forest area traditionally being used
by the community
• Forest area feasible for proper
protection and management

12. Process of Users & Forest
identification
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• Prepare a participatory resource map

13. Process of Users & Forest
identification
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• Facilitate discussion about the anticipated
state of forest protection, management, and
benefit sharing on the basis of location of
settlement (Tole) and forest area and the
relation and dependency of the people on the
forest
• Make a list of forest users (use index)

14. Process of Users & Forest
identification
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• If any disputes seen regarding the
identification of the users, take time and try
to make consensus, with adequate discussion
• Make sure of incling genuine users (customary
use right)

15. User’s Empowerment
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• Talk to each individual household (HH) about
the CF processes, benefits, and anticipated
outcomes
• Conduct HH Survey and meetings

16. Subject matter for discussion during
Empowerment
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• Existing legal and policy framework about
CF
• User’s roles, responsibilities, and rights
• Traditional practices of forest management
• Dependency on forests
• Forest OP and Constitution making process
• Existing exemplary customary practices

17. Subject matter…
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• Potential contribution of CF to the livelihood
improvement of women, poor, dalit, and
indigenous people
• Characteristics of CF (active participation,
consensus building, equity, gender
equality/equity, livelihood improvement, access
and rights to forest resources, integrated
management of the resources, transparency, SFM
etc)

18. Identify poor and interest groups
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• Identifying interest groups including poor,
women, dalits is crucial to contribute to
promoting poverty reduction, equitable
resource distribution, and increasing their
access to the decision making.

19. Identify poor and interest groups
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• Discuss about rationale of identifying poor
group
• Facilitate Participatory Well-being Ranking
(PWR) (Poor: having the least access to the
livelihood assets- Physical, Natural, Human,
Social, Financial)
• Also identify common interest groups (eg.
goat farming, forge operator, NTFP farmers)

20. Forest User Group (FUG) Formation
and Registration
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• Analyzing HH Survey Data
• Meeting with common interest groups
• Meeting with socio-economically marginalized groups
(Dalit, Women, Poor)
• Meeting with elite groups
• Tole meetings
• Drafting constitution
• User Assembly and endorsement/pass of constitution
• Form User Committee
• Group Registration in Division Forest Office

21. Analyzing HH Survey Data
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• HH number
• Family size
• Livestock
• Socio-economic status
• Occupation
• Literacy
• Human resource
• Caste/Ethnicity
• Demand and Supply
situation of forest
products
• Existing problems
• Special
interest/problem of HH
• Miscellaneous

22. Meeting with interest groups
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• Separate meetings with dalit, women, poor,
madhesi, aadibasi/janajati and other
marginalized groups
• Meeting with distant users
• Encourage and empower the interest groups
to express their ideas/feelings during
discussion and General Assembly

23. Meeting with interest groups
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• Make notes about what provisions they want
to make in Constitution
• Draw information about what possible
provisions would be made especially targeted
to income generation and livelihood
improvement

24. Meeting with the poor and
Disadvantage Groups (DAGs)
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• The voice of the voiceless may not be heard in
the mass meetings
• Their interests and problems may differ
from other users
• Encourage and empower the poor and DAGs
to express their needs and interests in General
Assembly

25. Meeting with elites
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• To identify the special interest of the elites
and their roles in forest protection and
management
• To inform and aware elites about the
provisions made for the poors

26. Tole Meeting
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• Voce of each and every users may not be heard
in the General Assembly
• The special interests, roles, responsibilities, and
rights of the users should be discussed with the
users in a small groups to ensure the informed
decision making in GA
• Tole meeting should be held in the convenient
location for all the users of particular settlement

27. Drafting Constitution
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• Constitution is drafted on the basis of the
information acquired from
– HH Survey
– Tole meeting
– Interest group’s meeting

28. Outline of Constitution
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• Name and address
• Objectives
• Stamp/Seal
• Name, address of the users (HH
heads)
• HH number and population

29. Outline of Constitution
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• Membership provision
• Socio-economic status of the group
• Group’s roles, responsibilities, and
rights
• Provision of electing user committee

30. Outline of Constitution
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• Working guideline for user committee
• User committee member’s resign and
fulfillment
• Fund mobilization
• Auditing (Public auditing, Internal
auditing)

31. Outline of Constitution
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• Provision on Forest Operation Plan
(FOP)
• Crime and punishment
• Provision on crime control
• Punishment to the users working against
the FOP

32. Outline of Constitution
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• Roles of Service Provider and Division Forest
Office
• Indigeneous/ethnic people/institution’s roles
• Pro-poor programs (based on PWR)-
• Interest group targeted activities- fund
mobilization, Income Generating Activities
(IGAs), skill development etc

33. Outline of Constitution
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• Activities based according to PWR
• Programs and activities according to Tole
meeting
• Sub-group formation, their roles,
responsibilities, and rights

34. Outline of Constitution
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• CFUG’s working rules
• General assembly
• Decision process of user’s assembly
• Handover of responsibilities/goods/documents
to new committee

35. Outline of Constitution
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• Amendment of constitution
• Miscellenous
• Annex:
– Name list of executive committee
– Name list of users (woman+man)

36. Endorsing constitution by assembly
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• Point by point discussion on each provision
made by the constitution
• The constitution is passed by the assembly (at
least 51%)
• Interest groups and DAGs are encouraged to
participate in discussion

37. Form an Executive Committee
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• Elected by either general consensus or election
• Composition of the committee:
• 50% Women
• 50% (poor, dalit, aadibasi/janajati, others-
proportionate representation)
• Thematic sub committees are formed as per
necessary

38. User’s Assembly
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• At least 51% of the HH heads should be
present in the assembly
• Rights of assembly:
– dissolve EC committee and elect new one,
– decide on selling forest products outside the group
– revise FOP and constitution
– take other important decisions

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