Prospects and challenges of tenure and forest governance reform in the context of REDD + initiatives in Nepal

Forest Policy and Economics 52 (2015) 1–8

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Prospects and challenges of tenure and forest governance reform in the context of REDD + initiatives in Nepal Naya S. Paudel a,⁎, Paul O. Vedeld b, Dil B. Khatri a a b

Forest Action Nepal, Nepal Norwegian University of Life Science, Norway

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 3 February 2012 Received in revised form 30 November 2014 Accepted 20 December 2014 Available online 16 January 2015 Keywords: Nepal REDD+ Tenure Forest governance Policy Drivers of deforestation

a b s t r a c t This paper argues that the Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiatives in Nepal have not adequately understood and considered institutional and political issues around forest tenure and governance challenges. The paper is developed based on reviews of polices, assessments of project activities, interviews with key informants, and observation of ongoing REDD+ related public discussions. We found that the REDD+ initiatives so far appear to have prioritized technical issues such as carbon assessment, reference scenario, and measurement, reporting and verification of emissions. However, a major policy challenge in Nepal is the substantial deforestation and degradation going on, which leads to substantial challenges of leakage and threatens Nepal's National REDD+ policy ambition. The key drivers of deforestation and degradation in Nepal are still poorly identified, analyzed and understood. Inadequate focus of Nepal's present REDD+ readiness on the core issues of contested forest tenure and frail governance entails that an unrealistic policy and institutional measures would be developed in addressing these issues of deforestation and degradation. Consequently, it would seriously undermine the prospect of achieving emission reduction — the very goal of REDD+. It is suggested that a robust analysis, collective understanding and broadly agreed policy measures for curbing deforestation must be at the core of REDD+ readiness process. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Many tropical forested countries have embarked on Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation policies in recent years. This has involved the conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD +). When countries are preparing for REDD+, scholars and professionals closely watch whether current policy discourses with particular measures and instruments actually can create conditions for forest conservation and reduce forest carbon emissions. Scholars have emphasized that the international REDD framework should be managed under democratic, fair, equitable, transparent and accountable governance arrangements (Angelsen, 2009). The governance architecture, legal and institutional reforms and distribution of resources and powers to forest dependent communities including funding arrangements strongly influence policy outcomes (Vatn and Vedeld, 2013). While REDD+ policies have been designed to provide incentives for forest conservation, critiques argue that a narrowly conceived incentive mechanism alone will have little impacts on reducing emission as a broad range of political and economic

⁎ Corresponding author at: Forest Action Nepal Satdobato Lalitpur Nepal GPO Box 12207. URL: http://www.forestaction.org (N.S. Paudel).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2014.12.009 1389-9341/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

factors shapes the complex processes of deforestation and forest degradation (Fosci, 2012). A plethora of literature indeed suggests that weak tenure and poor governance decisively contribute to deforestation and degradation (D&D) and therefore pose critical challenges to REDD + (Larson, 2011; Persha and Hayes, 2010; Sandbrook et al., 2010). In fact, relevant tenure and competent governance reforms will often induce collective action and rule compliance at the local level and that may result in improved forest conditions (Chhatre and Agrawal, 2008). Thus, governance and tenure reform should be at the core of any initiatives aimed at reducing deforestation and securing carbon sequestration (Griffiths, 2008; Larson, 2011; Seymour, 2008). Nepal introduced community based forest management modalities in the 1980s, after the failure of centralized government management, in order to halt ongoing D&D especially in the hills. Over the past three decades, D&D has indeed been halted, and forest conditions have improved in the Hills (HURDEC et al., 2013). However, the forests in the Terai region have largely remained under government control and have subjected to illegal logging, encroachment and unsustainable management. This is primarily due to lack of tenure clarity and also poor governance (Ojha, 2008; Sinha, 2011). Complex demographic features, weak local institutions, high value timber and market accessibility compounded the challenges. Consequently, the Terai forest continued to experience high D&D rates. This study therefore, focuses its analysis on the issues of forest tenure and governance of Terai.

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Nepal being a poor forested country has sought to benefit from this scheme in conserving its valuable forest ecosystem. Nepal has embarked upon a number of initiatives including the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) supported activities that focus on implementing REDD + Readiness Preparation Proposal (RPP). The major activities during this readiness phase are to: develop scientific analysis of land use change, identify drivers of D&D, develop financing arrangements, design measurement reporting and verification (MRV) systems, and craft specific governance structures and policy frameworks. Diverse actors including government bodies, civil society and international agencies have been involved in these activities (GoN, 2010). The study was conducted using a combination of different qualitative methods. First, content analysis of REDD + related policy documents and policy decisions. The key documents reviewed include a REDD Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP) and a mid-term review of R-PP implementation. In addition, recent forest policy decisions like declaration of new protected areas, declarations of protected forests, restriction of harvesting in CF's and frequent logging bans in Chure region1 were also reviewed. Second, interviews with key REDD + related policy actors like Federation of Community Forest Users, Nepal (FECOFUN), Nepalese Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), REDD-Cell of Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation and members of REDD Working Group2 were conducted. Third, the first and the third authors of this paper have conducted participant observation of key national level REDD + related policy forums and also participated in events like being a member of the REDD Working Group (until 2011), being involved in the National REDD strategy technical review committee and the REDD stakeholder forum and REDD CSO and IPOs Alliance. The above forest tenure and governance will provide a strong context for REDD + implementation in Nepal where land and forest tenure and governance from above have often been contested. This is particularly so in the context of REDD + (Ojha et al., 2013). Though the REDD + process in Nepal has generally been consultative and participatory, the debate has largely been limited to procedural issues and less on building the governance structures or developing the policy architecture (Ojha et al., 2013). In this context, understanding of the D&D policy context; structures, and processes; and transitional measures towards forest tenure and governance reform can be important criteria to assess the REDD + readiness process. To begin to fill these research gaps this paper address three related questions: i) how has the REDD + readiness process considered forest tenure and governance issues? ii) What have been the major areas of focus for the REDD + readiness activities? ii) What policy measures are suggested to address D&D, and to what extent do they address tenure and governance reforms? The paper seeks to address these questions by focusing on three key aspects: analysis and understanding of drivers of D&D, the agenda for forest tenure and governance reform, and a focus on the forest policy processes in general. The paper is divided into five sections. Section 2 reviews literature on trends in land use changes, identifies important drivers of D&D and shows how forest tenure and governance play a critical role in shaping D&D. Section 3 describes REDD+ initiatives in Nepal. Section 4 examines the readiness process against the forest governance challenges and brings insights on the prospects of emission reduction in Nepal. Finally, the paper concludes by highlighting tenure and governance issues and their implications for policy and practices of REDD+ readiness in Nepal.

1 Chure is a geographic zone of Nepal stretching from east to west between the Mahabharat hills and Terai region. This region has one of the highest forest covers but has suffered from high rates of D&D. 2 REDD Working Group is a multi-stakeholder entity formed by the government to provide an oversight to the REDD readiness process in Nepal.

Table 1 Drivers of D&D identified by different studies in Nepal, 1978–2012. RPP-identified drivers

Identified by independent studies

High dependence on forest lands and products — Illegal harvesting of timber and fuelwood — Unsustainable harvesting of timber and fuelwood Resettlements Forest fire Encroachment Overgrazing Infrastructure development (road, hydropower and public buildings) Expansion of invasive species (GoN, 2010)

State exploitation: — The Nepali state maintained exploitative relation with Terai forest — mainly by distribution of forestlands to members of ruling classes, encouraging conversion of forest into agricultural lands and sale of timber to India (Regmi, 1978; Sinha, 2011). — State launched major resettlement programs and encouraged in-migrants from the hills (Gurung, 1989; Sinha, 2011). Insecure tenure and poor governance: — People in and around forestlands in Terai could not exercise secure rights to manage and benefit from forests due to vacillating policies (Bhattarai et al., 2002) and the introduction of multiple and conflicting forest management modalities (Ojha, 2008). — Weak law enforcement, poor governance and corruption flourished (Sinha, 2011; CNRM, 2010). Socio-economic dynamics and conflicts: — Complex socio-economic and demographic dynamics of Terai (Baral, 2002). — Lack of robust institutions (Gautam et al., 2003; Ojha, 2008). Widespread conflicts at different levels (Satyal-Parvat and Humphreys, 2013)

2. Forest governance and drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Nepal According to the latest forest inventory in Nepal, the forested area constitutes 39.6% of the total land with an annual deforestation of 1.7% between 1978 and 1994 (DFRS, 1999). Another estimate, based on Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) study states that Nepal's deforestation rate was 1.6% during 1990–2005 (FAO, 2005:10). These figures vary substantially across the ecological regions, where Terai3 usually is reported with higher rates of deforestation (GoN, 2010a:30). According to the latest forest assessment report, forest area in Terai has decreased at the rate of 0.4% per year during 1991–2010. The rate of forest cover loss is slightly higher (0.44%) during the last decade (2001–2010) (DRA/DFRS 2014). The decreased forest area appears to have converted mainly into cultivation (62%), barren land (15%) and riverbeds (15%) among others (FRA/DFRS, 2014). The situation is even more pronounced for forest degradation. Significant forest areas have been changed either to degraded land or shrub land (Joshi et al., 2010). In fact, the decreased area of forestlands and corresponding increases in shrub lands indicate that forest degradation is as much a challenge as deforestation. Nepal's RPP identifies almost a dozen drivers of D&D (GoN, 2010). The RPP analysis both directly and implicitly point to local communities in and around forestlands as the key culprits of D&D. However, political economy studies to understand the historical trends of land use changes have provided alternative explanations. Table 1 compares the RPPidentified drivers with those identified by other scholarly studies. These studies identify a wider range of drivers, most of which are rooted in forest tenure and governance issues. Though the RPP also briefly refers to some of these issues, there are huge differences between the analysis and understanding of RPP and that of other studies. This further supports the need for a deeper analysis of this issue. A recent study carried out by the Nepalese Parliament's Committee on Natural Resources and Means (CNRM) identifies poor forest sector governance being at the heart of the ongoing deforestation in Terai 3 For the purpose of this study, the term Terai refers to the region with dense valuable forests that has experienced high D&D. In this context the term covers both Siwalik (or inner Terai) and Terai.

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(CNRM, 2010). According to the report, timber traders often involve local leaders of political parties, bribe forestry officials and become protected by these groups (Paudel et al., 2006). Widespread illegal activities have flourished, including illegal logging, timber smuggling and encroachment of forestlands (CNRM, 2010). Similarly, the report acknowledges the formidable challenges in maintaining law and order in Terai partly due to prolonged political transition, series of identitybased movements (e.g. Madhesh Movement and Tharuhat Movement) and several underground armed groups. The weak tenure security of local communities, poor forest governance in Terai, and resulting high deforestation clearly indicates the political economic nature of the challenges of addressing D&D in the region (Sinha, 2011; Satyal-Parvat and Humphreys, 2013; Paudel et al., 2013). On the other hand, the Nepalese example brings strong historical evidence on how tenure and governance reform can bring about positive changes in forest conditions. The negative impacts of the nationalization of forests in 1957 that led to heavy deforestation during 1960s and 1970s are well-documented (Gilmour and Fisher, 1991; Hobley, 1996). These trends were reversed with the introduction of Community Forestry and other community based forest management schemes after the 1980s. The impacts of community forestry in regenerating the once denuded hills, improving forest conditions and conserving biodiversity are also well documented (Branney and Yadav, 1998; Gautam et al., 2003; NSCFP, 2011). Similarly, introduction of buffer zones with increased recognition of local rights and access to benefits has helped enhance resource conservation and improve biodiversity in and around protected areas (Paudel et al., 2007; Baral and Heinen, 2007). In these cases transferring management rights and ensuring access to benefits have provided strong incentives for conservation (Thoms, 2008). On the other hand, high deforestation rates in Terai can partly be attributed to poor forest governance and the weakly stated and enforced community rights (Ojha, 2008). While bringing these generally positive outcomes of the CF program, there are several critical areas (e.g. including focusing on decision making and benefit sharing, access to markets, contribution to livelihoods and food security), which must be addressed for the CF to result in a productive, sustainable and equitable forest management regime (Nightingale, 2002; Giri and Darnhofer, 2010). These historical, action-verified lessons of Nepal's forest tenure reform indicate strong links between tenure rights and improved forest conditions. The impressive gains in forest conditions in the Nepalese hills due to the tenure reform emanating from the 1980s are globally [and nationally] renowned (Thoms, 2008; NSCFP, 2011). At the same time, two major government commissioned studies in recent years have explicitly recognized poor governance at the crux of the deforestation especially in Terai and have recommended a range of tenure and governance reform steps towards this end. One of them is the ‘Report of the Task Force to Democratize Forest Sector 2008’ (NFA, 2009) and another is the ‘Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Means’ (CNRM, 2010). The CF experiences and the two

Table 2 Examples of recent forest policy decisions in Nepal (2009–2014). Sources: Collected by the authors from MOFSC website and other official sources. Dates

Key decisions

Dec 2009 Sept 2010 July 2010 July 2010

Declaration of three new protected areas through the meeting of the Council of Ministers in the Everest base camp Declaration of half a dozen of protected forests

June 2014

Implemented President Chure Conservation Programme, that restricted resource use in the region Proposal to amend the Forest Act 1993, the key legal foundation of community forestry, with an intent to empower forest officers and restrict community rights Declaration of Chure Conservation Area under the Environmental Protection Act and implementation of President Chure Terai Madhesh Conservation Programme

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recent studies show the centrality of tenure and governance reform for any forest conservation initiatives including REDD+. However, contrary to these well-proven lessons and suggested reforms, Nepal's REDD + initiatives have not adequately recognized and prioritized the tenure and governance aspects (Ojha et al., 2013). Instead, the government has recently sought to further centralize forest governance and withdraw rights delegated to local communities (see Table 2). Some of the recent forest policy decisions have strong links with the climate change agenda. For example, the decision to establish three new protected areas was made just one week before the fifteenth Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Copenhagen 2009, and the government [proudly] announced the decision in the summit itself. We will examine the key areas of forest and REDD+ policy processes against general principles of governance. One model is provided by the FAO (2011) policy analysis framework that identifies the following three pillars: i) policy, regulatory and institutions, ii) planning and decision-making; and iii) implementation, enforcement and compliance. It also suggests accountability, transparency, participation, effectiveness, efficiency and equity as core principles or criteria for good governance. Practitioners assert that fairness, legitimacy, predictability, trust, confidence, participation and equity are the key elements of forest governance (Magrath et al., 2013). More importantly, this paper draws on the forest tenure related literature (Larson, 2011; Persha and Hayes, 2010) to examine Nepal's forest tenure regime. By tenure, we refer to the three dimensional elements that shape forest-people relations. These are patterns of ownership (state owned, private property or collectively owned), the bundle of rights (rights to access, use, manage, exclude and alienate) and the basis of claim (de jure, de facto or customary). In the context of REDD+, the transfer of a bundle of rights to local and community institutions and the devolution of management rights are central issues largely determining REDD+ benefit sharing. 3. REDD+ readiness initiatives in Nepal The REDD+ process began in Nepal after the COP 13 of the UNFCCC in Bali in December 2007. Today, the Government of Nepal has established a three-tiered REDD+ institutional framework consisting of: (a) A high-level, inter-ministerial REDD+ Apex Body — the ultimate body regarding any REDD+ policy decision; (b) A multi-stakeholder REDD+ Working Group (RWG) — working as an advisory body to the overall REDD+ readiness process in Nepal including the functioning of the REDD Cell; (c) The REDD Forestry and Climate Change Cell (REDD Cell) within the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation — an administrative unit. The REDD Cell has been carrying out preparation work with the support from the World Bank (under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility — FCPF).

In this process, the REDD Cell carried out an appraisal of the D&D status in Nepal, helped establish an institutional mechanism to coordinate and facilitate REDD + initiatives, and facilitated exchange and sharing between diverse initiatives that are working towards developing a National REDD+ strategy. The REDD Cell within the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation is the hub for REDD + readiness in Nepal. It implements activities as planned in the RPP (Table 3). As indicated, there is a range of activities covering scientific, technical and general political issues, while few are related to forest tenure and governance. Priority activities of the REDD Cell relate to general awareness and capacity building, the study of D&D, developing REDD + strategy elements including strategic policy options and developing systems for MRV and crafting new policies and strategies that clarify tenure and benefit sharing.

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Table 3 List of forest and REDD related priority projects proposed by the RPP; Nepal 2014. Source: Interviews with officials at the REDD Cell (21 Apr 2014). Key activities proposed

Implementation status

Capacity development, awareness and consultation Political economy of land use change

Four donors committed; actual action not begun Expected completed within few months Study of forest carbon tenure and benefit sharing is ongoing under the Hariyo Ban Programme

Implementation framework which includes the study of forest carbon ownership and tenure and the cost of REDD+ implementation Strategic social and environmental assessments The development of a reference scenario Monitoring, reporting and verification activities Carbon database

Expected completed within few months Expected completed in June 2014 First draft ready On-going process of recruiting consultant

In addition to these REDD Cell activities suggested in the RPP, there are a number of national and international agencies working on various aspects of REDD +. Table 4 summarizes the key activities of major agencies involved in REDD+ in Nepal. We see (Table 4) that the major activities under REDD + readiness have been the measurement of forest carbon, awareness and capacity development of local communities and stakeholders, piloting on benefit sharing mechanism, developing systems for MRV and crafting policy and legal frameworks. Birkha Shahi and Pasang Sherpa who represent the CSOs and IPOs in the REDD Working Group sensed that there is little work on understanding drivers of deforestation and developing measures for addressing the drivers, especially policies towards tenure and governance reform.

Table 4 Overview of key activities of non-state actors in REDD+ in Nepal, 2013. Project name

Agency/ies

Key areas

Design and setting up of a Governance and Payment System for Nepal's CFM under REDD+ (2009–2013)

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

Grassroots Capacity Building for REDD+ in Asia and Pacific (2009–2013) Climate Change and Partnership Program

The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC)

Forest carbon measurement, development of pilot Forest Carbon Trust Fund structures, demonstrational payment in 3 watershed, capacity development Developing grassroots capacity in REDD+

Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN)

REDD+ Reducing Poverty in Nepal (2009–2010) Forest Resource Assessment Nepal

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

The Hariyo Ban project

WWF, CARE Nepal, National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) and Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN)

Department of Forest Research and Survey (DFRS)

Piloting of climate change and REDD+, enhance awareness among Indigenous Peoples (IPs), advocacy and lobbying on the issues of IPs Carbon measurement and capacity building of partner organizations Gather forest related data, maintain forest information system and develop institutional capacity of DFRS mainly for MRV Supporting REDD+ strategy development, study on benefit sharing and capacity development

Initially, REDD+ was understood and presented as a win–win game, and there was little disagreement between the government, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders on the importance of such a policy. Almost all key civil society organizations (CSOs) working in the forest sector in Nepal, collectively participated and conducted public consultations during the RPP preparation phase and fully supported the government initiatives.4 Accordingly, Nepal's RPP development process is said to have adopted a participatory and consultative process involving local community groups, forestdependent poor people, local governments, NGOs, community networks, and professional groups (Dangal, 2008:12). Many stakeholders actively participated and collaborated with the REDD Cell in advancing REDD + readiness, particularly during the preparation of RPP. The practice of collaboration continues to some extent on grassroots educational activities, capacity development, carbon assessment, and piloting on benefit-sharing mechanisms. In many cases, the government, international agencies and CSOs are jointly implementing projects and producing various outputs. For example, the REDD Cell, RECOFTC and a few other actors have jointly produced a training manual for REDD+ stakeholders and grassroots actors. There appears to be good cross-institutional sharing and learning processes, particularly on technical issues such as measurement of carbon, developing reference scenarios, reporting and verification. Generally, the processes appear to have received persistent involvement of major forest and REDD + stakeholders. Despite apparently active participation of CSOs and collaboration between the state and non-state actors, there is little progress on core issues of forest tenure and governance reform. We observed and documented the agendas for discussion in all key REDD+ consultations, particularly at the national level. The REDD+ Stakeholder Forum is an important arena initiated by the REDD Cell in 2010 to provide space for wider stakeholder consultation as many important actors are not represented in the REDD Working Group. More importantly, there is the REDD + civil society and indigenous people's alliance (REDD + CSO and IPOs Alliance) — a loose network of CSOs and IPOs working in forestry and natural resources comprising about 15–20 NGOs, civic networks and IPOs. They meet frequently to discuss key REDD+ issues. Table 5 shows the major agenda discussed in this Alliance; the issue of forest tenure and governance has not very often been discussed. However, after Nepal started to implement the RPP, several issues have begun to surface. In particular, local communities' access to forest resources, clarity on carbon rights, benefit distribution, and potential threats to various forest dependent groups. Among these, women, Dalits and IPs have perceived threats that REDD + may restrict their traditional practices including collection of fodder, fuelwood, charcoals, herbs, wild foods, and construction materials among others.5 Interviews with landless people who live inside official ‘forestlands’ revealed that they were especially concerned about whether they would be evicted due to REDD+ or not. CSOs, particularly FECOFUN, NEFIN and the Dalit Alliance for Natural Resources (DANAR), have been raising concerns that their rights might be compromised under REDD + (Bleaney et al., 2009). Critiques argue that marginalized groups' have had a token participation during the RPP development process and REDD+ initiatives in general (Gurung et al., 2011). Women in particular did not get opportunities to express their views due to their limited access to public space, poor representation and weak capacity to articulate their concerns in formal settings (Gurung et al., 2011). Though there are multi-stakeholder bodies, government officials tend to dominate the key decision-making bodies. For example, nine members 4 The consortium of seven organizations involved in carrying out the stakeholder consultation and participation (component 1b of the RPP) includes FECOFUN, NFA, ForestAction, DANAR, HIMAWANTI and ACOFUN and NEFIN. 5 For example, NEFIN recently organized a national level workshop, working out the potential areas of threats from REDD+, developed their position on REDD+ and formally submitted their written concerns to the secretary of the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (18 Apr 2014).

N.S. Paudel et al. / Forest Policy and Economics 52 (2015) 1–8 Table 5 Meeting agenda of REDD+ CSO Alliance, Nepal, 2009–2012. Source: Participation and observation during the meeting of REDD+ CSO and IPOs Alliance. Date

Agenda

22 Sep, 2009 14 July, 2010

• Discussion on National scenario of REDD+ • Draft CSO position on RPP preparation process • Review of experience of alliance and REDD+ consortium • Updating on RPP and other REDD+ initiatives in Nepal • Discuss about the future role of REDD+ CSO Alliance • Reflection of CSO engagement on RWG • Present status of REDD+ readiness process and role or CSO Alliance • Revision of CSO strategy/vision on REDD+ • Reflection on CSO role in RWG • Role of CSOs in National REDD+ strategy • Reflection on CSO role in RWG and REDD+ policy process • CSO position on National REDD+ strategy of Nepal • Develop CSO position on Framework Structure of National REDD+ Strategy • Discussion on UN REDD Targeted Support to Nepal • Provide feedback to UN-REDD for its future action in Nepal

15 May, 2011

8 Jan, 2012 26 April, 2012 9 July, 2012 27 Aug, 2012

out of 12 in the RWG are government officers, only two emanate from civil society. There is only one woman in the RWG and none in the REDD Apex body. It appears that a relatively small circle of professionals working with the government at policy level, international agencies, and NGOs play the dominant roles in defining problems and designing structures and processes for addressing D&D. It is observed that the REDD+ process did not overcome the shortcomings of the community based forest management, where the poor, women and Dalits are usually excluded and marginalized (Nightingale, 2002; Giri and Darnhofer, 2010). The issue of inadequate participation and involvement applies equally to the government agencies. Interaction with the forest officials at the local level revealed that the forest bureaucracy in general is neither fully aware of nor much involved in the REDD + processes. According to a District Forest Officer, they are too few to reach to the large networks of government forest officials at different governance levels and across the country. They still have arranged a couple of training events in some geographical areas; The REDD Cell is at present “hanging” as a separate wing of the Ministry, largely isolated from the vertical institutional structure of the forest bureaucracy that works with forests and the local communities. While the Department of Forest is the key agency managing forests, the REDD+ process has yet to be institutionalized within the whole organization down to the level of forest rangers. It will clearly pose a huge challenge to implement the program in a comprehensive way at the local level. The proposed framework for benefit sharing may also constitute a challenge. A general assumption is that the government would receive payments for government-managed forests and communities will get their share for community managed forests. But what about the local people who directly rely on forests, but are not organized in any groups and are not recognized by the law? For example, the landless people living in forestlands, flood victims taking refuge in forest fringes, herders/grazers and those groups currently using various forest products such as non-timber forest products, fodder and firewood are not recognized as legitimate beneficiaries. While these groups are likely to lose their access to substantial livelihood resources, the proposed benefit sharing arrangements will not reward them with REDD+ payment under the current scheme.

4. Examining the REDD+ readiness against governance challenges As already mentioned, three important aspects that emerged out of the above review relate to drivers of D&D, tenure and governance. This section discusses these three aspects and shows how these would

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determine the prospect of a successful implementation of REDD + in Nepal in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and equity. 4.1. Analysis of drivers Identifying and analyzing the drivers of D&D are crucial in developing commonly agreed policy measures and instruments towards reducing emission. However, from Table 1 it appears that Nepal's RPP has not adequately analyzed the underlying causes of D&D. Though there is a cursory reference to forest tenure, governance and institutions, the focus clearly appears on high dependency, over-use (over harvesting, grazing, encroachment etc), and some technical aspects (like forest fire and invasive species). The analysis has not adequately considered the broader issues of governance and the political economy of the resource use conflicts. The gaps in the understanding of D&D as shown in Table 1 pose a potential challenge in addressing the ongoing deforestation. As indicated by Table 1, the political economy of deforestation in Terai involves a historical exploitation by the central state, insecure tenure, poor governance, high opportunity costs of land and widespread conflicts around resource access and control. There is a danger that a thin and shallow analysis of drivers would lead to unrealistic and misguided policy measures that would ultimately weaken the prospect of curbing D&D. The analysis shows that several drivers and their underlying causes operate beyond the conventional forest sector actors. These drivers are easily forgotten, ignored or at least not considered within REDD+ policy documents and dialogues. For example, groups like indigenous people, landless, fuelwood collectors, timber entrepreneurs, grazers and nomadic pastoralists have high stakes in forest management and therefore play important roles in forest conservation — and in deforestation processes. Unfortunately, RPP and the current REDD + discussions appear to ignore these groups in formal policy debate, capacity building, and also exclude them from benefit sharing mechanisms. Most of the capacity building activities have targeted members of forest user groups, state forest officials and NGO staff so that forest dwellers in and around government managed forests are not accounted for (Bushley and Khatri, 2011). While inclusion of these new actors will add complexity to the forest policy, it will also increase the possibility of a smooth REDD + implementation. It may lead to, using FAO's criteria, more efficient and effective policies in terms of delivering less D&D. These broader initiatives may also improve governance including issues of transparency, accountability and involvement. 4.2. Tenure reform Nepal's tenure reform initiatives in introducing new policy and legal framework that transferred access, withdrawal, management and exclusion rights to the local communities have been quite effective in curbing D&D. This further implies that REDD+ initiatives could learn from these successful experiences and adopt them in order to reduce D&D beyond community forests especially in Terai and Chure. Unfortunately, the government decisions in recent years, particularly since Nepal embraced the REDD + initiatives, are mostly oriented towards recentralization of forest management and restriction of local rights. The expansion of protected areas, declaring new protected forests, withdrawal of previously given rights, putting additional restrictions on CF user groups and sudden bans on timber harvesting have undermined the rights of local communities (Paudel et al., 2012; Sunam et al., 2013). Centralization of forest management decisions and restrictions on access and use has not only created an environment of mistrust, insecurity and alienation among the local communities, but has also induced conflicts in and around forestlands (Satyal-Parvat and Humphreys, 2013). Such development may potentially undermine the prospects of REDD+ implementation in Nepal.

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Contrary to its very goal, the recentralization measures have largely failed to curb deforestation. Apsara Chapagain, the chairperson of FECOFUN, claims that most of the illegal logging in Terai CF is actually in those community forests that are not formally handed over to local communities and that they are therefore treated as no man's land. She added that the limited transfer of forest management rights to local communities has failed to generate the required incentives for conservation. Though most of the Terai forests are under government management in theory; they are open to all types of illegal activities due to a weak sense of ownership in local communities and weak monitoring and enforcement capacity of the state forest authority (Paudel et al., 2013; Sinha, 2011). Unfortunately, the current REDD+ readiness initiatives have not focused adequately on the role of local stewardship. As shown in Tables 3 and 4, neither government policy documents nor the ongoing REDD + project activities have put tenure reform on the priority action agenda. For example, though the RPP sees a need to clarify forest tenure (GoN, 2010: 45), it does not point out any particular policy direction. Even the REDD+ CSO and IPOs Alliance meetings have not explicitly focused on these issues. Though citizen federations such as FECOFUN and NEFIN have promoted a rights based discourse within REDD +, these campaigns have met with little success (Bushley and Khatri, 2011). It appears that recent forest policies and REDD+ national discourses have chosen to keep silent on forest tenure issues, though there is persistent emphasis on procedural rights in the REDD + readiness process. The relative emphasis on the procedural aspects and inadequate attention to the substantive part is due to the discourse of inclusive representation in contemporary Nepal's political transition. Consequently, the REDD + policy process has not internalized the tenure reform as a core issue. The debate on forests tenure and the REDD+ process have become two stand-alone processes with little linkages in the policy debate (Ojha et al., 2013). The omission of tenure as a theme in the REDD + process is obviously a challenge in relation to accountability, transparency and responsiveness which will ultimately threaten the efficiency, effectiveness and equity in REDD + implementation. 4.3. Forest sector governance improvement Research indicates that the government managed forests in Terai in particular have suffered from weak governance resulting in poor management, unsustainable and illegal harvesting, and weak law enforcement and monitoring (Schoubroeck and Karna, 2003; DoF, 2005; Sinha, 2011; Satyal-Parvat and Humphreys, 2013). The crisis in forest management, especially in Terai can partly be attributed to unstable politics, vacillating forest policies and poor forest sector governance at the center, and weak local institutions (Ojha, 2008; Satyal, 2006; Baral, 2002). In addition, market accessibility; high opportunity cost of agricultural expansion and associated demand for land in the contexts of food scarcity and emerging regional politics6 threaten the forest resource base and open for land clearing (Miklian, 2009; Shrestha and Conway, 1996; Brown, 1998). In spite of the well-established knowledge of links between governance and D&D, the government has not taken any initiative towards improving forest sector governance. Even the forest sector governance issues identified and highlighted by the government's own studies have not been addressed. The status quo and reluctance to take action can partly be attributed to the prolonged political transition and resultant negative impacts on accountability, institutional legitimacy and the rule of law (Ojha et al., 2013). Consequently, many wellintended policy measures have either not been implemented or have not delivered the expected outcomes. This is largely the case for the REDD + readiness process. Review of the REDD + related activities, current project priorities, and public debates shows that the current 6

In recent years, regional based political parties are getting stronger in Terai demanding regional autonomy.

initiatives have not adequately recognized and dealt with forest sector governance (Ojha et al., 2013; Bushley and Khatri, 2011). The relative emphasis on technical issues and the escape from core issues of tenure and governance challenges can in part be attributed to the strong influence of aid and donor agencies in supporting, and shaping forest policies in Nepal (Ojha et al., 2013). The REDD+ initiatives of the government, international agencies and CSOs operate within a donor framework so different channels of aid funding activities tend to shape the political development agenda for Nepal. REDD + is no exception. The themes and approach of activities, the institutional landscape, the REDD+ policy forums, the studies conducted, and the policy documents prepared are usually directly supported by a particular aid agency. All these actors as well as the policy processes have tended to systematically ignore the thorny issues of tenure and forest governance. These issues are either seen as too politically hot to engage in for aid projects or that they demand a move beyond the comfort zones of development enterprise. Consequently, the debate and action keep revolving around more technical and procedural issues of participation. One important aspect of REDD + initiatives has been its apparent participatory and consultative processes (Maraseni et al., 2014). Participation of relevant actors is emphasized in current activities and also in the proposed framework at different levels of governance. However, participation at the national level is limited to a small number of people at the Ministry, I/NGOs and CSO representatives like FECOFUN & NEFIN (Ojha et al., 2013). The processes are yet to reach the large network of forest officials, the hundreds of NGOs and diverse groups of forest dependent communities. Despite the stated emphasis on multistakeholder processes under the REDD + readiness, the CSOs and private sector have, as mentioned earlier, had weak presence in these forums. There are also challenges of representation, accountability and legitimacy of CSO representatives. More importantly, the deliberative competence of the stakeholders to contribute and influence any multistakeholder process varies greatly (Ojha et al., 2013). There have been several occasions where the powerful actors have tended to manipulate the process and thus undermining the true spirit of the multistakeholder process. In this context, and unless the REDD + process adopts a fundamentally different route for stakeholder engagement, this will simply become another ‘participatory drama’ or even what could be termed the “tyranny of participation” (Cooke and Khotari, 2001). One of the critical issues is the lack of long-term policy orientation in Nepal's forest sector. While the tenure of the Master Plan for the Forest Sector (HMG/N, 1989) has expired, there is still no official document to guide the long-term forest sector program and activities. This combined with a prolonged political transition has undermined the prospects of a much needed tenure and governance reform in this sector. Instead, state institutions are heavily relying on short-term measures by investing only in policing and strengthening law enforcement, which alone may not produce the expected outcomes in reducing D&D. The current state of policy vacuum in the forest sector could be seen as an opportunity for advancing key issues of forest tenure and good governance. There is a scope, currently in progress, for incorporating such reform agendas in the Forest Sector Strategy, the REDD+ Strategy, the Biodiversity Strategy and the Conservation Strategy. These new strategies can be capitalized towards transferring more secure tenure rights to community level institutions, reforming the forest-sector agencies, promoting multi-stakeholder policy platforms, and establishing an accountable and transparent decision-making process.

5. Conclusion and implications This paper discloses how Nepal's REDD + readiness process has been concentrated around procedural and technical issues and thus has tended to avoid the politically problematic issues of forest tenure

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and governance that we see as core issues. We draw three conclusions from the analysis of current initiatives on REDD+ readiness in Nepal. First, a major part of the current REDD+ related activities is focusing on measurement of land use change, biomass stock and computation of carbon content. Developing knowledge of methods for measurement, current stock and trends of change in emission is of course necessary to device appropriate and effective policy measures and also a precondition to enter into market based carbon trading. However, this will not be adequate in addressing the persistence of D&D in Nepal. Second, current understanding and debate on D&D should go beyond the narrow analysis that hides the complex and multiple drivers. Current understanding of D&D appears rather thin and does not adequately consider the wider political economy of resource control and struggle for access to forest resources and forestland. As forestlands are subjected to multiple and competing uses with high economic stakes, the problem cannot be seen or treated only as a law and order issue. Third, the REDD + initiatives in Nepal have initially promoted as a rather straightforward win–win discourse. There has been little discussion of potential trade-offs or any emerging conflicts of interest. The key actors include government officials, NGO leaders and some experts on the subject — who mostly see little risks involved in a comprehensive REDD + policy. Consequently, collaboration between these actors was established under a participatory and consultative framework. However, this collaboration was founded on a developmental framework that implicitly sought to avoid the politically contested issues of resource conflict and power struggle. Consequently, the core issues such as forest tenure and forest sector governance are largely left in the shadow, and this has gone unnoticed across the REDD + readiness process. However, unless we understand and make the potential trade-offs explicit, Nepalese policy decisions will continue to be little informed of the complex dynamics of D&D. This will raise the risk of failure for the REDD+ implementation in the future. Finally, while there are good prospects of REDD+ implementation in Nepal, there are also huge challenges. These challenges arise from broader political, economic and poverty contexts in general and the tenure arrangement and forest governance context in particular. The REDD+ process has just begun. There is still much enthusiasm among the stakeholders and local communities, many of which are far from what can be realistically achieved. Without a deeper understanding of the political economy of D&D and a sound plan of action towards forest tenure and governance reform, deforestation is likely to be continued particularly in the forest frontiers of Terai. These lessons and insights are relevant for many developing countries with high degree of social differentiation, high forest dependency, diverse and complex drivers of deforestation, fragile political governance and strong donor presence. It implies that the National REDD+ policy process and aid supported REDD + projects must explicitly recognize and support concrete initiatives for a forest sector reform as a key part of the REDD+ scheme. This is crucial in order to achieve accountability and transparency as well as involvement of people in the policy implementation and thus securing effective policy outcomes. Acknowledgment This paper is based on the research funded by the Norwegian Research Council (Grant no: 203909). The research project is entitled ‘Forest and soil restoration and land use change impacts on carbon pools and fluxes in the Himalaya: Research and capacity building in Nepal’. The authors are thankful to the project manager Bishal Sitaula for his valuable inputs. References Angelsen, A. (Ed.), 2009. Realising REDD+: National Strategy and Policy Options. CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia.

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