Sustainable Forest Management in Community Forest

The case study was carried out in Ashok Community Forest and User group of Makwanpur district. The study aimed to assess the status of sustainable forest management of CF and the condition of forest as well. Different Criteria and Indicators (C&I) were used for the sustainability assessment. Criteria and Indicators used were first selected from C&I made by different organizations (ITTO, CIFOR). Those C&I were re-constructed to fit with objectives and local condition in the study area for their compatibility with management objectives and other prevailing local conditions. In total 77 indicators under 5 criteria were selected for social and ecological sustainability assessment. PRA tools were used for socio-economic data and ecological data were collected through resource inventory and rapid vegetation assessment. Achieved data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by different statistical tools. It was found that the forest condition of growing stock and regeneration of the forest is good. The sustainability of the community forest in social terms is found more effective than that of ecological terms.