Defining indicators of active community forest management: basis for assessing sustainable forest management in Nepal

The community forestry program of Nepal is one of the leading forest management approaches in the world. Despite several success stories, this program has been criticized for its passiveness or protection-oriented management approach. Though several recommendations from previous researchers have been made to shift the management approach towards active forest management, few studies have been conducted to identify the measurable indicators of it. Therefore, this study aimed to identify measurable indicators of degree of active community forest management using the renowned Delphi survey techniques. The survey consulted ten experts with a minimum of twenty years of direct experience in community forestry projects, either in implementation, research, or policy development, were participated to identify themes, indicators, and verifiers of active community forest management. The study revealed seven themes, thirty indicators, and ninety verifiers for considering the community forest to be managed actively. These seven themes include objectives and management practices, forest health and ecosystem, participation and governance, policy and legal framework, institutional capacity, forest goods and services, and climate change. Among these themes, clarifying management objectives was found to be the major step, followed by the production of forest goods and services. The findings of this study offer a robust framework for assessing the activeness of community forest management and assessing the performance of community forest user groups to identify areas for improvement. Similarly, policymakers and practitioners can utilize these indicators to develop effective monitoring tools and design capacity-building initiatives that directly address key elements of active community forest management for improved outcomes. Further, research exploring the framework's strengths and weaknesses through empirical validation in different settings and under changing socio-economic, policy, and environmental conditions is recommended.