Managing the Risks of Community- based Processing: Lessons from two Community-based Sawmills in Nepal

摘要

The development of community-owned and operated sawmills is often proposed as a way for local communities to increase their returns from harvesting community forests. However, sawmills represent significant investments that, if they do not succeed, can create a substantial burden for local communities. This paper examines the experiences of the Chaubas and Shree Chhap sawmills in the Kabhre and Sindhu districts of Nepal. These sawmills were established to process timber originating from community forest plantations. The plantations have been established by community forest user groups with assistance from a series of Nepal-Australia forestry projects since the 1970s. The experiences of the Chaubas and Shree Chhap sawmills illustrate some key factors that should be considered when planning and implementing such investments. These include financial and economic returns of alternatives, risks associated with the investments, community business skills, market access and the policy environment. The lessons learned from these experiences are presented in the form of a checklist of issues that could be used in the planning of future community sawmill investments.