FECOFUN is a national federation of forest users which advocates for community forestry user group rights, locally, nationally, and regionally. FECOFUN’s membership stands at about 5 million people. This comprises rural-based farmers – men, women, old, and young – from almost all of Nepal’s 75 districts. Since its establishment in 1995, FECOFUN has been instrumental in representing concerns of community forestry user groups in deliberations about policy formulations and forest futures. FECOFUN is an autonomous, non-partisan, socially inclusive, non-profit organization. It is Nepal’s largest civil society organization.
Among more than 14 thousands community forest user groups more than 10 thousands user groups are the members of FECOFUN. This predicts that more than 85 lakhs of people are being directly involved in forest protection and development.
Vision
Self-reliance and empowerment of community forest users, through the application of social and economic justice in the equitable use and sustainable management of community forests.
Mission
To provide leadership and communication channels which empower forest users to engage negotiations about forest use-rights and democratic decision-making processes at the local and national level.
Community forestry has succeeded in Nepal because of provisions for the inclusion of, participation within, and devolution through community-based user groups. The social and physical capital generated by this congruence of group interactions, rights, and resources has been instrumental in creating a constituency that has since found national voice in forestry sector deliberations through FECOFUN.
The seeds for forming a national forest-user federation were planted in the study tours, workshops, networks, and training sessions that for a number of years encouraged forest users from all parts of Nepal to share and compare experiences. In1991, forest user concerns were discussed in a joint forum for a few members community forestry user groups in Dhankuta District of eastern Nepal. Based on a request from these individuals, the District Forest Office (in collaboration with the Koshi Hills Community Forestry Project) organized a workshop for participants from all of the user groups in Dhankuta District. This idea was later replicated in other districts and, eventually, integrated into district-level networking workshops for District Forest Offices’ preparation of annual work plans.
The first national forest user seminar was held in January 1993, in Dhankuta District. This seminar and the increasing number of district-level networking workshops being conducted across Nepal, helped to build momentum for the formation of FECOFUN.
The idea of a national federation of forest user groups was first formally raised during the “First Regional Community Forestry Users Workshop” in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu (1995), organized jointly by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Forest Tree People Programme (FTPP), and Women Acting Together for Change (WATCH). This was followed shortly thereafter by a formal declaration of FECOFUN, during the "Community Forestry and Private Plantation Users Group Workshop” in Budol, Kavre District.
The formation of FECOFUN, as a forest-user advocacy organization, has proved essential for representing local people’s rights in national debates about resource management. Through FECOFUN, forest users are learning legal and parliamentary procedures, lobbying politicians, and working within the court system to protect their rights granted by law. They have also started using the media, publicizing their concerns by providing information to newspapers and through their quarterly newsletter, national radio program and community FM radio.
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