We selected Nepal and Tanzania as the focal countries for our
study because they have a long history of CFM and have played
leading roles in developing and establishing national REDD+ strategies.
In addition, the countries represent geographically and nstitutionally distinct forms of CFM. Because Nepal and Tanzania
have played a leadership role in devolving forest management rights
to local communities they cannot be considered representative of
forest management arrangements among less-industrialized nations.
But extensive experimentation with CFM and early pursuit of
REDD+ in these countries makes them excellent cases for exploring
how REDD+ and CFM can interact.
We used two methods to gather data for our cases of Nepal and
Tanzania: a thorough literature review, and interviews with leading
in-country experts. First, our literature review synthesized information
from peer-reviewed journals, gray literature (including government
documents and civil society organization (CSO) reports), and websites
(of government agencies, CSOs, and projects). Second, we conducted
semi-structured interviews with experts on CFM and REDD+ in each
country to learn about recent developments around REDD+ in their
country. In all, we conducted 32 interviews during June–August 2012,
and May–June 2013 in Nepal and Tanzania, respectively, with actors
involved in CFM and the REDD+ process. These actors included government
officials, leaders of CSOs managing REDD+ pilot projects, and
representatives of donor agencies (Appendix 1). Interviewees were
selected based on a snowball process, with a guiding aim of gathering
perspectives from a diversity of interviewees that represented communities,
CSOs, and government agencies. A key aim of the interviews was
to fill gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the interactions
between REDD+ and CFM in the two countries. The interviews were
particularly helpful, since the development of REDD+ in both countries
was occurring at the time of our fieldwork, and many details were not
yet reported in published or gray literature.