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IMPACT OF ARMED CONFLICT IN
COMMUNITY FORESTRY OF NEPAL
By Mani Ram Banjade and Netra Prasad Timsina
Since 1996 Nepal has suffered from an ongoing, armed conflict between the state and Maoist insurgents. The root of the conflict is believed to be in the stratification of economic classes, ethnic tensions and regional imbalance in development. The armed conflict has led to a decline of state services in rural areas, including forestry services. Development has come to a standstill and economic growth is negative. Management of natural resources receives less attention, due to security related issues. Government staff cannot access remote areas and the presence there of bilateral organisations and NGOs is limited.
There are around 13,300 Community Forest User Groups, or CFUGs, in Nepal. Most of these continue to function at a basic level, even though they are hampered by the conflict. Today, CFUGs are the only remaining democratic institutions that operate in conflict-ridden areas. Where support institutions fail to deliver technical assistance to the CFUGs, opportunities for forest management and production are lost. Therefore, the authors propose to initiate discourses on the issue and to train local resource persons who can fill the knowledge gap and deliver the necessary technical input to community forests (CFs).
Impact of Armed Conflict
Limited mobility Because of the armed conflict in Nepal, community forestry has been affected in many ways. As a rule, community members require a permit from the conflicting parties, government as well as Maoist rebels, for each and every activity they wish to conduct in the forest. This restricts mobility and reduces the level of forest management. The insecurity discourages CFUGs from taking development initiatives and obstructs the organisation of group meetings and assemblies on forest management.
Support organisations have seen their mobility restricted in almost all rural districts of Nepal. They either need to get formal approval from the insurgents and/or in some specific cases government has not allowed them to move freely in the areas. Many bilateral organisations, INGOs and NGOs have to limit their outreach to areas close to the district headquarters because of continuous threats from rebels and for the fear of becoming entangled between the two rivals. The limited mobility of support institutions has impaired the supply of technical services and constrained the potential contribution of community forestry to human well-being and environmental sustainability.
Training and camps inside CFs Insurgents train and take refuge in forested areas, including community forests. When they are present, access to the forest is restricted and those who do enter run the risk of being labelled a ‘spy’. In other cases, e.g., in part of the Khorthali CFUG of the Dolakha district of Nepal, the government has established military camps inside community forests and users are not allowed to enter the periphery of the forest at all.
Levied taxes on forest products sales and restrictions on trade The government levies tax on certain forest products, e.g. 15% on sales of Sal and Khair timber. Now, Maoists demand the same amount of tax, too. This double tax has made it difficult for CFUGs to trade these products since they can no longer cover the cost of production. In this way, many CFUGs are forced to give up on forest management or the collection of forest products. In some cases, Maoists have banned extraction of certain forest products from specific districts. Recently, for example, the Maoists banned all collection and sale of Khair (Acacia catechu) from the Dhankuta district where this species is abundant and provides the only source of income to a number of CFUGs.
Different regulatory frameworks In many hill districts of Nepal CFUGs are faced by two parallel regulatory frameworks. One is by the government where they have to register as CFUG and get approval for their five-year plan of forest operations. Another is by Maoists who implement their own rules and, in addition, forcibly dissolve existing CFUGs in order to form new forest protection committees. Meanwhile, CFUGs have to abide by both regulatory directives. This has discouraged community members away from becoming involved in forest management and forced them to seek alternative ways of making a living.
Income tax for development workers In remote areas, a few development workers from (I)NGOs still operate, but most of them have to pay the monthly levy (or tax) to the Maoists, too. Usually they are paying it informally but the organisations they represent are against it. If these organisations or their staff is found out paying taxes to the Maoists, the government would penalize them or they would be subjected to torture. This very difficult position of the development workers explains their limited presence in the field.
New Initiatives
In response to an increased demand and decreased level of technical inputs in areas of armed conflict, organisations that working in the field of community forestry have realized that skilled manpower at local level, other than forestry staff, is required. In addition, they propose that local institutions including local NGOs and other communitybased organisations (CBOs) be trained to deliver these technical services. As a result, most of these organisations, in different forms and intensities, are engaged in the training of local resource persons. However, due to the ongoing-armed conflict, these initiatives cannot fully address the need for technical assistance.
If local resource persons are capacitated with the technical skills of forest management as well as handling the issues of CF at times of violent conflict, they could better manage their resources than technicians from outside.
Local resource persons can also sense the security situation, negotiate with conflicting parties and help prepare a conducive environment for active forest management. In addition, they can minimize the divide between the government initiated CF programme and the different modality of forest management induced by the Maoists. This can help ensure harmonious and sustainable forest management.
Mani Ram Banjade and Netra Prasad
Timsina
ForestAction
G.P.O. Box 12207, Kathmandu
Nepal
Phone: +9771 5550631
E-mail: mrb@forestaction.wlink.com.np or
npt@forestaction.wlink.com.np