Learning Route on women’s empowerment, business development and sustainable natural resource management. Scaling-up programmes for the rural poor in Nepal. 6 to 13 December, 2014. IFAD & PROCASUR. More contents at: http://asia.procasur.org/portfolio_item/nepal-learning-route/

1. SUSTAINABLE USE
OF
NATURAL RESOURCES

2. Strength
• Development of awareness among the people
about the importance of natural resources
(inclusion in the future plan)
• Inclusive and participatory approach
(Involvement of community in user and site
identification)
• Agro-forestry practices introduced in private
land
• Conservation of forests by installing biogas plant
at beneficiaries households
• Access to land - binding factor for the groups

3. Strength
• Reduction in the burden of the women due to
increased production of fodder and firewood
• Livelihood improvement of the poor through
NRM
• Regeneration of the degraded forests,
Productive use of the land
• Integrating various organization for the benefits
of the poor
• Biodiversity conservation and soil conservation
• Reduction in forest fire

4. Opportunities
• A lot of broom grass that can be used for income
generation
• Extra income from the sale of thinning products
• Benefits from REDD + provisions
• Initiation of leasing system in the private land (e.g.
leasing land for organic farming, fish farming)
• Expansion of plantation in public land and canal
side - installation of biogas
• More production of forage – Increase herd size or
shift to large animals thus opportunities for
enterprise development

5. Opportunities
• High potential of development of ecotourism
(Shaktikhor and Khaireni) as it is close to
Chitwan National Park
• Utilization of broom grass (broom, fodder,
paper pulp)
• Possibility of LF inside CF

6. Challenges
• Difficulty in utilization of the forest products (e.g.
thinning products, broom grass in Shaktikhor) in
absence of access to road
• Excessive use of pesticide
• Protection of plantation/cultivation from free
grazing
• Creation of dependency questions sustainability
(many activities promoted /supported by donors)
• Use of manure as fuel for cooking (that might be
more useful for agriculture production)

7. Learnings
• Much more can be learned by direct observation
(e.g. trees in private land, manure used for fuel,
twigs lying in the forest floor)
• Social mapping is an effective communication tool
especially in the rural communities
• Addressing the immediate needs of the
beneficiaries develops ownership and makes the
interventions sustainable
• Linkages with other agencies supports generating
the resources for the benefits of the poor
• Successful management of the NR is the result of
the development of local institutions

8. Learnings…
• Small homogenous groups with similar interest
and needs makes the group functional and active
• Networking the NRM groups into federation
makes them strong enough to influence decisions
at higher level
• Learning by doing and sharing experiences - a
best approach for innovation
• Long term transfer of tenure rights (leasing land)
is the best way for the management of slash and
burn areas
• Although all five capitals are important, financial
capital is the key for the livelihood improvement
of the poor

9. Recommendations
• Adopt convergent approach where empower the
beneficiaries households and non beneficiary
households, men and women, government staff as well
as users
• Local Resource Persons (social mobilization staff) are
crucial for the overall development of the community.
Orient them not only for social and institutional
development but also for NR development
• Consider NRM in all kinds of development agenda to
make the development sustainable
• Learn from each others experiences and implement
considering your social cultural and economical and
environmental situation.