How Good is the Governance Status in Community Forestry? A Case Study from Midhills in Nepal

Table 1

Criteria and indicators used in the study.

Criteria	Indicators
Rule of Law	6	(i) Revised and updated constitutions and OP; (ii) Reward and Punishment mentioned in OP and Constitution; (iii) Role in CF management, that is, CFUG, CFUC, and DFO staff; (iv) Work performance of the CFUC; (v) Evaluation of the policies/objectives of CF management; (vi) CF objectives consistent with prevailing forest policies
Transparency	6	(i) Responsible in setting prices of forest products; (ii) Satisfied with the existing forest product distribution system; (iii) Do you know about the CFUG fund?; (iv) Free access to information regarding decisions, fund, and so forth; (v) Know about every decision made; (vi) Overall transparency
Accountability	8	(i) Technical support provided from DFO, if needed; (ii) Are there any I/NGOs and CBOs supporting the CFUG; (iii) The CFUC members accountable to all CFUG members; (iv) The CFUC members biased to any CFUG members; (v) Rules for CFUG and CFUC meetings; (vi) Have you ever read the constitution and OP?; (vii) Has the CFUC been guided by the CFUG assembly?; (viii) Conflict over power in the committee and FUG
Participation	8	(i) Attend in meetings of CFUC; (ii) Attend in meeting of OP/constitution preparation/renew; (iii) Attend in meeting of forest product distribution; (iv) Participated in CF activities; (v) Participated in training, study tours; (vi) Feel free to put your own views at general assembly; (vii) Poor/women/DAGs voice taken into account while making decision; (viii) Decision made by CFUG
Responsive	5	(i) Is CFUC responsive to your needs? How did they response?; (ii) Affected by any decisions of CFUG/CFUC; (iii) Response to the committee in case your cooperation is needed; (iv) Interact with CFUC/CFUG members regarding CF; (v) Participatory and transparent monitoring system
Inclusive and Equitable	4	(i) Mode of the benefit sharing; (ii) Specific schemes/provisions for poorest people; (iii) Specific provisions for female members to include in CFUC or any uplifting programs such as adult education, training and so forth; (iv) Representation of female, low caste and poor members on CFUC is according to rules and regulations
Efficient and Effective	7	(i) Forest condition improved after CF; (ii) Deliveries of services to needy people effectively, if needed; (iii) Methods of the forest operations carried out; (iv) Received more forest products than before; (v) Provided forest management training to the users; (vi) Any measures to reduce the consumption of forest products; (vii) Forest management activities are carried out in line with OP
Consensus-oriented	3	(i) Decisions are made on the basis of consensus; (ii) Mode of the consensus achieved; (iii) How the representatives and leadership positions are chosen