The Federation of Community Forest Users is an organization in Nepal that protects and regenerates forests and aids impoverish communities in a democratic way. It was founded in 1988 and has 8,500,000 members.[1]
Organization
The Federation is a network of independent community groups with powers to buy or sell property, to negotiate and sell timber, to hold separate bank accounts and transact independently, to punish offenders, etc. The groups receive 100 percent of the proceeds of a timber sale, and are required to spend it on village development and forest regeneration (although amendments may reduce the percentage).
The organization avoids the expensive tasks of planting and physical fencing, instead using grassroots tactics like allowing local communities to develop rules according to their conditions. In some cases, grazing is totally banned, while in others it is banned for specific time periods. Some villages employ watchmen, while in others, members of each household take turns as guards against violators. Detailed rules are set for how much grass and fuel wood each household can collect, and when. Violators are fined. The result has been natural regeneration of trees.[2]
History
Background
The massive amounts of deforestation in Nepal, corruption and inefficiency in the government forest agency and pressure from environmentalists pushed the governments of Nepal to decentralize the management of forests in the late 1980s.[2]
Founding
The Federation was founded with government support in 1988.
Successes
By 2000, the government of Nepal had given control of 17% of the total forestland in the country to the Federation. A villager from Siranmati commented:
“The surrounding hills you see were totally naked some twenty years ago. Then the Swiss agency planted these pine trees. But nobody was interested in its protection, because it was not ours. Now every household is involved in the protection.”[2]