Facilitating deliberative governance: Innovations from Nepal's community forestry program – a case study in Karmapunya

This paper discusses the use of a deliberative approach to governance of environmental resources at the local-level. Used in conjunction with external facilitation, a deliberative approach to governance at the local-level can be used to build dialogue between diverse perspectives, interests, knowledge, and ideas of different stakeholders. A case study of a community forest user group (CFUG) in the central hills of Nepal is used to analyse the application of deliberative processes for promoting deliberative governance. The findings indicate that there is great potential for deliberative processes to make local governance of community forests more democratic and inclusive. Effective governance at the local-level can contribute to the creation of social equity and to the sustainable management of community forests. Key words: Nepal, deliberative democracy, community forestry, Participatory Action Research, external facilitation