Silviculture-based Forest management, community and collaborative forests, forest user group, cost-benefit analysis, Nepal

Silviculture-based Forest management is one of the sustainable ways of managing forests initiated in Nepal about a decade ago. This paper conducts a cost-benefit analysis of silviculture-based forest management in selected communities and collaborative forests in the Kapilvastu and Rupandehi districts in Nepal's mid-terai region. Related data were collected from the financial records of the forest user groups, and the collected data were complemented and triangulated by conducting Key Informant Interviews. The results exhibited high profitability of silviculture-based forest management in Nepal. Disaggregation by the regime of forest management further showed the high profitability of collaborative forest compared to the community forest. The net present value (and benefit-cost ratio) of the collaborative forest was Nepalese Rs. 1.01 million (and 2.26), while that of the community forest was Nepalese Rs. 0.56 million (and 1.45). The results are robust to cost increment and benefit decrement by a margin of 10%. The study recommends the promotion of collaborative forests as a cost-effective alternative to improve the socio-economic profile of forest-dependent communities. The study also suggests including a cost-benefit analysis of forest management in forest plans to ensure sustainable forest management.