IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/forpol/v141y2022ics1389934122000806.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Navigating policy debates of and discourse coalitions on Nepal's Scientific Forest Management

Author

Listed:
  • Aryal, Kishor
  • Laudari, Hari Krishna
  • Maraseni, Tek
  • Pathak, Bhoj Raj

Abstract

The debate over production and protection oriented forest management is long-standing in various part of the world. Taking a case of scientific forest management (SciFM) of Nepal, we aimed to analyze how policy actors, their interests and interactions (networks) shape the discursive shift of forest management practices. We employed the discourse network analysis to diagnose the policy rupture of SciFM, by using various qualitative data collection methods, including experts' consultation (n = 6), key informants' interviews (n = 36 from 9 stakeholders' group), systematic review of Nepal-based literature (n = 30), review of national policy and study reports (n = 12), and experiential observation. We carried out the stakeholder mapping, including their pattern of interactions and inter-dependencies; and analyzed the power and influence over SciFM. Based on the navigation and analysis of the actors' network, pattern of interaction, and coalition for and against SciFM, we have intensively explained how SciFM, which was developed on the background of techno-bureaucrats' dominance for the last 25 years in Nepal, has been demolished within a year because of persistent ideation of the Federation of Community Forest Users, Nepal (FECOFUN), strong and (in) formal networking of politicians, FECOFUN, and high level bureaucrats and investigation committee. The inference that we draw from our study will have policy implications to other countries that have similar socio-political context. Based on our analysis of the discourse network, we suggest navigating the concerns and gaining (in) formal confidence of (possible) policy entrepreneur, including but not limited to political leadership irrespective of the scale and size of their interest (or need) for sustaining policy decision.

Suggested Citation

  • Aryal, Kishor & Laudari, Hari Krishna & Maraseni, Tek & Pathak, Bhoj Raj, 2022. "Navigating policy debates of and discourse coalitions on Nepal's Scientific Forest Management," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:141:y:2022:i:c:s1389934122000806
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2022.102768
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934122000806
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.forpol.2022.102768?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philip Leifeld, 2020. "Policy Debates and Discourse Network Analysis: A Research Agenda," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 180-183.
    2. McCONNELL, ALLAN, 2010. "Policy Success, Policy Failure and Grey Areas In-Between," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(3), pages 345-362, December.
    3. Rutt, Rebecca Leigh & Chhetri, Bir Bahadur Khanal & Pokharel, Ridish & Rayamajhi, Santosh & Tiwari, Krishna & Treue, Thorsten, 2015. "The scientific framing of forestry decentralization in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 50-61.
    4. Normann, Håkon Endresen, 2017. "Policy networks in energy transitions: The cases of carbon capture and storage and offshore wind in Norway," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 80-93.
    5. Omkar Joshi & Rajan Parajuli & Gehendra Kharel & Neelam C Poudyal & Eric Taylor, 2018. "Stakeholder opinions on scientific forest management policy implementation in Nepal," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-15, September.
    6. Leonore Haelg & Sebastian Sewerin & Tobias S. Schmidt, 2020. "The role of actors in the policy design process: introducing design coalitions to explain policy output," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(2), pages 309-347, June.
    7. Rudnick, Jessica & Niles, Meredith & Lubell, Mark & Cramer, Laura, 2019. "A comparative analysis of governance and leadership in agricultural development policy networks," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 112-126.
    8. Stefano Ghinoi & Bodo Steiner, 2020. "The Political Debate on Climate Change in Italy: A Discourse Network Analysis," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 215-228.
    9. Philip Leifeld & Sebastian Haunss, 2010. "A Comparison between Political Claims Analysis and Discourse Network Analysis: The Case of Software Patents in the European Union," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2010_21, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    10. Hasanagas, Nikolaos D., 2016. "Managing information in forest policy networks: Distinguishing the influential actors from the “postmen”," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 73-80.
    11. Hemant R. Ojha & Sharad Ghimire & Adam Pain & Andrea Nightingale & Dil B. Khatri & Hari Dhungana, 2016. "Policy without politics: technocratic control of climate change adaptation policy making in Nepal," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 415-433, May.
    12. Basnyat, Bijendra & Treue, Thorsten & Pokharel, Ridish Kumar & Baral, Srijana & Rumba, Yam Bahadur, 2020. "Re-centralisation through fake Scientificness: The case of community forestry in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    13. Maraseni, Tek Narayan & Bhattarai, Nabin & Karky, Bhaskar Singh & Cadman, Timothy & Timalsina, Niroj & Bhandari, Trishna Singh & Apan, Armando & Ma, Hwan Ok & Rawat, R.S. & Verma, Nemit & San, Su Mon , 2019. "An assessment of governance quality for community-based forest management systems in Asia: Prioritisation of governance indicators at various scales," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 750-761.
    14. Jacob Torfing & Christopher Ansell, 2017. "Strengthening political leadership and policy innovation through the expansion of collaborative forms of governance," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 37-54, January.
    15. Ayana, Alemayehu N. & Arts, Bas & Wiersum, K. Freerk, 2018. "How environmental NGOs have influenced decision making in a ‘semi-authoritarian’ state: The case of forest policy in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 313-322.
    16. Laudari, Hari Krishna & Aryal, Kishor & Maraseni, Tek, 2020. "A postmortem of forest policy dynamics of Nepal," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aryal, Kishor & Maraseni, Tek & Apan, Armando, 2023. "Examining policy−institution−program (PIP) responses against the drivers of ecosystem dynamics. A chronological review (1960–2020) from Nepal," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Aryal, Kishor & Awasthi, Nripesh & Maraseni, Tek & Laudari, Hari Krishna & Gotame, Pabitra & Bist, Dhan Bahadur, 2023. "Calibrating Nepal's scientific forest management practices in the measure of forest restoration," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maraseni, Tek & Poudyal, Bishnu Hari & Aryal, Kishor & Laudari, Hari Krishna, 2022. "Impact of COVID-19 in the forestry sector: A case of lowland region of Nepal," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Ojha, Hemant & Regmi, Udeep & Shrestha, Krishna K. & Paudel, Naya Sharma & Amatya, Swoyambhu Man & Zwi, Anthony B. & Nuberg, Ian & Cedamon, Edwin & Banjade, Mani R., 2020. "Improving science-policy interface: Lessons from the policy lab methodology in Nepal's community forest governance," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    3. Laudari, Hari Krishna & Aryal, Kishor & Maraseni, Tek & Pariyar, Shiva & Pant, Basant & Bhattarai, Sushma & Kaini, Tika Raj & Karki, Gyanendra & Marahattha, Anisha, 2022. "Sixty-five years of forest restoration in Nepal: Lessons learned and way forward," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    4. Yadav, Bhagwan Dutta & Shrestha, Krishna Kumar & Acharya, Bishnu Prasad, 2021. "Contested forest management and the Nepalese Government’s forest policy," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    5. Busck-Lumholt, Louise Marie & Corbera, Esteve & Mertz, Ole, 2022. "How are institutions included in Integrated Conservation and Development Projects? Developing and testing a diagnostic approach on the World Bank’s Forest and Community project in Salta, Argentina," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    6. Shrestha, Krishna K. & Paudel, Govinda & Ojha, Hemant & Paudel, Naya Sharma & Nuberg, Ian & Cedamon, Edwin, 2022. "Community entrepreneurship: Lessons from Nepal's Chaubas community forestry sawmill," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    7. Aryal, Kishor & Awasthi, Nripesh & Maraseni, Tek & Laudari, Hari Krishna & Gotame, Pabitra & Bist, Dhan Bahadur, 2023. "Calibrating Nepal's scientific forest management practices in the measure of forest restoration," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    8. Basnyat, Bijendra & Treue, Thorsten & Pokharel, Ridish Kumar & Baral, Srijana & Rumba, Yam Bahadur, 2020. "Re-centralisation through fake Scientificness: The case of community forestry in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    9. Paudel, Ganesh & Bhusal, Prabin & Kimengsi, Jude Ndzifon, 2021. "Determining the costs and benefits of Scientific Forest Management in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    10. Jacob Torfing & Eva Sørensen, 2019. "Interactive Political Leadership in Theory and Practice: How Elected Politicians May Benefit from Co-Creating Public Value Outcomes," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-18, July.
    11. Kasper Ampe & Erik Paredis & Lotte Asveld & Patricia Osseweijer & Thomas Block, 2021. "Power struggles in policy feedback processes: incremental steps towards a circular economy within Dutch wastewater policy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 54(3), pages 579-607, September.
    12. FitzGerald Cathal & O’Malley Eoin & Broin Deiric Ó, 2019. "Policy success/policy failure: A framework for understanding policy choices," Administration, Sciendo, vol. 67(2), pages 1-24, May.
    13. Fernando Filgueiras & Pedro Palotti & Graziella G. Testa, 2023. "Complexing Governance Styles: Connecting Politics and Policy in Governance Theories," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, March.
    14. Bjerkan, Kristin Ystmark & Seter, Hanne, 2021. "Policy and politics in energy transitions. A case study on shore power in Oslo," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    15. Matt Andrews, 2022. "This is How to Think About and Achieve Public Policy Success," CID Working Papers 413, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    16. Minna Havukainen & Mirja Mikkilä & Helena Kahiluoto, 2022. "Climate Policy Reform in Nepal through the Lenses of the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-21, June.
    17. Creutzburg, Leonard & Lieberherr, Eva, 2021. "To log or not to log? Actor preferences and networks in Swiss forest policy," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    18. Yung-Lun Liu & Pen-Fa Ko & Jui-Te Chiang, 2021. "Developing an Evaluation Model for Monitoring Country-Based Tourism Competitiveness," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, September.
    19. Pathak, Ravi & Thakur, Shinny & Negi, Vikram S. & Rawal, Ranbeer S. & Bahukhandi, Amit & Durgapal, Kamini & Barola, Anjali & Tewari, Deep & Bhatt, Indra D., 2021. "Ecological condition and management status of Community Forests in Indian western Himalaya," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    20. Benedetta Barchielli & Clarissa Cricenti & Francesca Gallè & Elita Anna Sabella & Fabrizio Liguori & Giovanna Da Molin & Giorgio Liguori & Giovanni Battista Orsi & Anna Maria Giannini & Stefano Ferrac, 2022. "Climate Changes, Natural Resources Depletion, COVID-19 Pandemic, and Russian-Ukrainian War: What Is the Impact on Habits Change and Mental Health?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:141:y:2022:i:c:s1389934122000806. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.