Conflict resilience among community forestry user groups: experiences in Nepal

This article explores the impact of violent conflict in Nepal on the functioning of community forestry user-groups (CFUGs), particularly those supported by the DFID funded Livelihoods and Forestry Programme. The key questions are: what explains the resilience of CFUGs operating at the time of conflict? What institutional set up and strategies allowed them to continue working under conflict? What lessons can be drawn for donor supported development around the globe? The work contributes to other research on the everyday experience of living in conflict for residents of Nepal. The study suggests that CFUG resilience was due to the institutional set up of community forestry and the use of various tactics by CFUGs. The institutional design of community forestry (structure) was very important for resilience, but it was the ability of groups to support and use that structure effectively that was the determining factor in their resilience.