Determinants and perceptions of women’s participation in community forest management: Evidence from Western Nepal

Community forestry in Nepal has significantly contributed to forest restoration, livelihood enhancement, and local governance since its initiation in the late 1970s. Despite policy mandates for gender inclusion, women’s effective participation in community forest management remains limited. This study examined the demographic and socio-economic determinants of women’s participation and their perceptions of community forest management in Manakamana Community Forest of Western Nepal. Data were collected from 82 randomly selected women community forest users using household surveys, supplemented by key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Binary logistic regression was employed to identify predictors of participation, while perceptions were assessed using a Likert scale. Results revealed that out of 10 independent predictors studied age, years of schooling, executive committee membership, and proximity to the Community Forest Office were significant predictors of participation, explaining 53.4% of the variance. Education had the strongest effect, with the probability of participation increasing from less than 5% among uneducated women to more than 90% among those with secondary education or higher. Similarly, old-aged women and women from households with executive committee representation were nearly twice as likely to participate compared to others, while distance to the community forest office posed a strong spatial barrier. Perception analysis showed that women were highly involved in labor-intensive tasks such as plantation programs and forest product collection but were excluded from strategic roles including operational plan preparation, fund mobilization, and monitoring. The study highlights a persistent gap between women’s representation and actual influence in community forestry governance.