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Chapters Strengthening inclusive governance in Chitwan’s buffer zones

Introduction

  1. Foreword
  2. Message from the Executive Director
  3. The year that was
  4. Working towards impact

Ensuring forest landscapes provide climate solutions

  1. Eight forests, six countries and a shared framework for learning
  2. New terms for community forestry in Riau, Indonesia
  3. Community forest groups in Nepal invest in recharge ponds
  4. Moving beyond monoculture in Viet Nam’s coffee farms

Securing rights and inclusive governance

  1. Making forest tenure processes work for women
  2. Planning for forests through participation
  3. Strengthening inclusive governance in Chitwan’s buffer zones

Supporting growth of forest landscape-related businesses

  1. Building a mangrove business around mud crabs
  2. From forest management to forest income
  3. Building stronger coffee businesses in Viet Nam’s Central Highlands

Securing finance for sustainable forest landscapes

  1. Restoring watersheds, one tree at a time

Generating evidence for influence

  1. Chiang Mai’s community forests take ownership of biodiversity data
  2. Building a regional research community
  3. From development site to urban conservation area
  4. Mapping oil palm from the ground up
  5. Thai community forests earn Green Globe recognition

Engaging the public on forest landscape issues

  1. A new generation of forest guardians
  2. Community members map their forests in western Thailand
  3. Peering into curtained forests
  1. Board of Trustees
  2. Our project donors, partners and networks
Workshop on inclusive governance in Chitwan
Securing rights and inclusive governance

Strengthening inclusive governance in Chitwan’s buffer zones

Buffer zone user committees in Chitwan National Park become more representative through legal reform

Buffer zone user committees (BZUCs) in Nepal's Chitwan National Park hold an important space between park authorities and local communities. They support the co-management of resources and ecosystems within buffer zones, ensuring communities and conservation authorities share responsibility for managing the land.

However, BZUCs also present governance challenges. Unclear legal roles and limited representation can weaken their ability to function effectively, and some have been operating with expired five-year mandates. Furthermore, Indigenous Peoples and marginalized groups, who actually live alongside the park, have often had limited influence in decision making.

From assessment to reform

Through the 'Scaling-up equitable governance in area-based conservation' (SEGA) project, RECOFTC Nepal conducted participatory assessments of governance and equity in Chitwan's BZUCs. Using the 'site-level assessment of governance and equity' (SAGE) approach, we worked with 10 BZUCs to identify governance gaps and support more inclusive processes.

The work included conservation-related legal literacy programmes and governance orientation sessions for BZUC members. These sessions covered conservation laws, buffer zone management guidelines, the BZUC reformation process and barriers to inclusion.

As a result, by 2025, five BZUCs had been legally reformed and institutionalized with renewed five-year mandates and more inclusive structures. Other BZUCs are undergoing reformation processes, with progress made towards stronger representation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Strengthening institutions through inclusion

The reformed BZUCs have already begun putting community priorities at the centre of buffer zone management. This includes distributing relief funds for human–wildlife conflict, protecting buffer zone forests and supporting community-based conservation activities.

"Our members have lived their whole lives along these buffer zones," said Maya Ram Chaudary, Chair of the reformed Meghauli BZUC. "They know how the animals move and how the forest behaves across seasons. They know what it means to manage resources in the buffer zone."

RECOFTC’s work is made possible with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Government of Sweden.