Innovative Forestry: A Synthesis of Small-Scale Forest Management Practice from Nepal

This guidebook is an output of a research project implemented by the International and Rural Development Department of the University of Reading, United Kingdom (UK), in collaboration with the UK Department for International Development (DFID)- funded Livelihoods and Forestry Programme in Nepal. Originally intended to be a set of silvicultural guidelines for forest user groups (FUGs), the experience of the collaborating institutions led to a recognition that improvements in forest management practices could most effectively take place through a process of 'learning by doing' or participatory action research by FUGs themselves. The resulting guidelines therefore try to collate and describe successful innovation and practices to provide FUGs with options they can utilise and adapt to their own site-specific circumstances.

The book is divided into two main parts. The first provides guidelines for small-scale forest management planning dealing with issues such as why planning is needed, how to set objectives, what kind of resource assessments to carry out and how to monitor operational plans. The second provides guidelines for the implementation of various forest management operations from thinning to harvesting, income generation and NTFP management. Each section begins with a simple question such as 'why manage grass?' and then clearly sets out a number of different management options that have been tried by FUGs in Nepal. While the specific detail may not be applicable in other countries, the guidelines are an illustration of the process of helping forest users think through what it is they want to get out of their forest resources and the options available to them to achieve their objectives.

Click here to access this resource online and download each part as a PDF file.