Community Forestry and Local Participation: Assessing the Socio-Economic Engagement of Community Forest User Group Members in Kageshwori Manohara Municipality, Kathmandu

Abstract

This study examines the socio-economic engagement of Community Forest User Group (CFUG) members in Kageshwori Manohara Municipality, Kathmandu as study area. It also analyses the influence of social engagement, economic benefits, governance and institutional effectiveness, environmental awareness on participation of CFUG members. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 30 randomly selected CFUG members out of 106 committee members, and analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression analysis under descriptive and causal research design. The findings show limited economic benefits from forest resources, whereas social engagement, governance effectiveness, and environmental awareness are perceived positively. Significant positive relationship between socio-economic participation and explanatory variables from correlation analysis. Regression results show that social engagement, governance effectiveness and environmental awareness have significant positive impact on participation where governance effectiveness is emerging as strong predictor. Economics benefits were found to be a significant but weak predictor of participation. The study contributes to the community forestry literature by demonstrating the importance of effective governance mechanisms and social inclusion in enhancing participation beyond economic incentives. The study recommends strengthening institutional transparency, promoting inclusive participation, enhancing environmental awareness and expanding forest-based income generating opportunities to local communities.