Nepal trials Transparency Report Card

Data for the report was prepared in 2010 from desk-studies, and interviews with many government officials, representatives of civil society and some members of local communities. Sources of publicly available forestry information such as reports and decisions of judicial organisations were also assessed. The analysis uses a report card methodology adapted from that of the separate programme, Making the Forest Sector Transparent that hitherto did not operate in Nepal.

Major issues in the legal and policy framework surrounding forest governance highlighted in the study include the lack of transparency in decision making processes, and the lack of information and access on permit allocation. The report also found that public awareness of rights to information, permit allocation, royalties and other benefit sharing mechanisms was extremely low, raising concerns for the transparency of these schemes in Nepal. During the assessment, researchers found that the lack of inter-ministerial coordination and conflicting legal provisions are major drivers of the lack of transparency and accountability.

The report expresses concern that no legally recognised mechanisms exist for the participation of all legitimate stakeholders in decision making processes, despite the fact that the national level Forestry Sector Coordination Committee (FSCC) was established many years ago as a national forestry forum, although some improvements have been made since 2007.

Issues with resource allocation transparency, particularly in relation to non-timber forest products and small scale timber utilisation permits, are also pervasive. Forest land allocation for infrastructure, land tenure and ownership rights were highlighted other problem areas, with complicated land laws and an absence of strong ownership or forest use maps making land disputes a major problem.

The report is presented as a baseline assessment, against which future measures of progress can be made. However it does highlight some recent positive changes, including increased space for multi-stakeholder participation in decision making through the FSCC. In addition, public awareness of community-based forest user groups has improved due the establishment of FECOFUN. The report highlights that there is still room for improvement regarding transparency at the community level.

A number of recommendations are made, requiring action from government agencies and other stakeholders. These include the institutionalisation of multi-stakeholder decision making processes, changes in the traditional ('Memo') types of decision making , awareness and capacity building at community level and development of an independent monitoring system based on defined indicators.

The Annual Report Card methodology shows promise as a robust tool to assess change in forest transparency, and it is hoped that the recommendations made in this report will help contribute to positive changes in the coming year in Nepal.