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Natural Resource Management and Poverty Alleviation in Mountain Areas: Approaches and Efforts

By N.S. Johda

December 1, 2002

This paper addresses community-level natural resource management and rural poverty, first by re-examining the mainstream view that blames the poor for natural resource degradation. This is followed by a comparison of the traditional and present-day systems of natural resource management in mountain areas. This helps in the identification of factors and processes contributing to resource degradation. Lessons from past systems and successful experiences of new initiatives on community forest management in Nepal and India are synthesized to suggest possible approaches to rebuilding communities’ natural assets. The final section of the paper looks at concerns and uncertainties relating to new forest-centered initiatives, and at possible ways to address these.

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