This paper reports on the documentation and assessment of different community based traditional and local forest and pasture management practices, drawn from five case examples in five districts of Nepal.

These cases cover aspects including evolution, innovations, and adaptation processes. Using field-based shared learning approaches, the paper explores the challenges and opportunities of integrating, synergising, and complementing indigenous practices with modern scientific knowledge and technologies.

Climate change, as the newest driver of deforestation, forest land degradation in Nepal, has been impacting forest ecosystem by fragmenting habitats, altering species composition, changing growing season, lowering biomass productivity, and increasing risks of fires and floods. The paper highlights that indigenous peoples and local communities have been coping with these changes by using their indigenous local knowledge, skills, and practices (ILKP) and making them more adaptive and resilient.

[Adapted from source]