The Embeddedness of Collective Action in Nepalese Community Forestry |
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Authors: | Krishna K Shrestha Phil McManus |
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Institution: | (1) School of Natural and Rural Systems Management, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia;(2) School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia |
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Abstract: | Collective action by local communities has been recognised as crucial for effective management of natural resources, particularly
the management of forests in rural settings in developing countries. However, the processes and outcomes of collective action
in forest management are often analysed through a narrow rational choice model, ignoring the impacts of wider social, political
and economic processes in conditioning peoples’ decisions to act (or not to act) collectively. Optimistic assumptions are
made for collective action being instrumental to enhance both social and ecological outcomes, but there is a paucity of empirical
evidence on how and why the condition of forests has improved (or deteriorated) under collective action, and what impacts
the change in forest condition has on various groups within local communities. This study critically examines the emergence,
evolution and outcomes of collective action in a case of community forestry in Nepal. A mix of qualitative and quantitative
methods has been used to collect primary data from the forest, households, key informants and focus groups. The emergence
and outcomes of collective action is found to be embedded in social, economic and political relationships, where powerful
actors control the use of forests in order to ensure conservation, thereby resulting in the underutilisation of forest products.
Poor users, who depend heavily on forests, are found to be worse off economically under community forestry, but still engage
in collective action for a variety of socio-political reasons. This contradicts the conventional wisdom which assumes that
people only cooperate when they benefit from cooperation. It is concluded that a deeper understanding of the embeddedness
of community forestry is needed in order to achieve the potential of collective action.
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Keywords: | Community forestry Forest users groups Ideological assumptions Equity |
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