The ForestAction Nepal 2011 Annual Report

Message from the Chairperson

I am glad to share that with scholarly research and deliberative policy dialogue”
ForestAction has been able to contribute to democratising policy process and
everyday practice in the field of forest and natural resources management. It is
our belief that a democratic and inclusive policy process contributes to
productive” equitable and sustainable resources management that ultimately
benefit the poor” marginalised and most vulnerable communities.

This year ForestAction has further advanced its research and policy dialogue in forestry”
agriculture and climate change. The involvement in these three areas was primarily aimed at
promoting deliberative and inclusive policy process so that citizens” particularly those directly
affected by certain policy decisions” can effectively participate in and influence the process.
Through Ban Chautari process” ForestAction has advanced informed debate on key forest policy
issues” gaining active participation of wider stakeholders in the forest sector. Similarly” we have
been able to bring the agriculture development strategy process into public debate. On both
fronts” our initiatives have been fruitful in challenging the techno-bureaucratic monopoly in
policy process by bringing wider public attention through critical research and policy dialogue.
With contextually relevant and grounded studies” engaged policy dialogue and citizen
networking” ForestAction has been able to contribute to the informed policy debate and
evidence -based policy- making in forestry and agriculture.

While ForestAction is doing well in conducting locally engaged action research and policy
engagement” there is also a need for linking the huge depository of knowledge and field insight
to academic training programmes. Apart from helping to prepare a new generation of critical
researchers” this will also add another window of knowledge sharing with the epistemic
community.

Finally” I would like to thank all of our working team for their hard work” research enthusiasm”
and commitment to work for the resource- dependent poor and other marginalised people. I
also thank all our partners” collaborators” and well- wishers for their continued support and
cooperation.

Prof. Dr. Abhoy Kumar Das
Chairperson

Letter from the executive coordinator

It is our pleasure to present our 2011 Annual Report with highlights of
ForestAction's activities and achievements of this year. The report
highlights our research” development actions and policy engagement
primarily in three areas – forestry” agricultre and climate change. The report
also discusses how we have been able to integrate our involvement in these
three areas towards strengthening community rights” democratising natural
resource governance” and facilitating deliberative and inclusive policy
processes.

This year” similar to many other sectors” forestry” agriculture and climate change faced
significant techno-bureaucratic domination often without adequate political and citizenry
oversight of policy decisions and programme implementation. The transitional politics”
continued uncertainty and lack of accountable politics and policy environment has reduced the
space for civic engagement in these policy processes. Contrary to the promises of the new”
democratic republic of Nepal” a large section of the citizen networks and civil society
organizations (CSOs) remain excluded” marginalised or ignored from shaping public policies and
government decisions on natural resources management. ForestAction research and
development actions in the year 2011 were therefore aimed at democratising policy process in
these fields through research” networking” alliance- building” policy dialogue and field
innovations.

This year our field actions” research and policy engagements were centred on key issues like
forest act amendment” protected area expansion” benefit sharing and potential areas of conflict
around REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation)” agriculture
development strategy” sustainable agriculture and food security” and community- based
adaptation. This report highlights our key approaches in addressing these sectoral policies and
practical issues. Then it briefly describes our actions and achievements during the year 2011 in
diverse areas. As the report shows” several project-based funding by a range of donors and
partners has supported us in conducting research” field actions and policy dialogue.

We hope that our friends” partners” collaborators and general readers will benefit from reading
this report by getting information about our research” development actions and policy dialogues.
The report will provide them an opportunity to assess our actions in the context of broader civil
society engagement in Nepal’s development and poverty reduction endeavours. We welcome
critical and constructive comments and feedback on our actions and strategies. We thank all
who supported us in our mission and encouraged us in our efforts in 2011″ and expect that this
support and collaboration will expand further in the year 2012 and beyond.

Naya Sharma Paudel” PhD
Executive Coordinator