This report focuses on the results of a USAID/Nepal funded project, Strengthening Actions for Good Governance and Utilization of Natural Resources (SAGUN) in various forested regions of Nepal. An analysis was made of the lessons learned and best practices for applying user-group management to forest conservation. Even though a decade of fighting was coming to an end and a cease fire was put into place, the assessment took place during a time of political unrest. An interim government had just taken office, plans for redrafting the constitution were put into effect, and the Maoist party was still trying to re-enter the political mainstream; the country was divided at the time.

Despite the turmoil, the assessment group was able to discover many positive key findings that demonstrated how the user groups approach works well from all perspectives. User group management of a valuable resource built grassroots-level governance capacity as group members learned and supported democratic principles. Excluded groups and the poor were empowered and more capable of improving economic and social status as user groups provide a platform for improving livelihoods. User group approaches also greatly increase the coverage and quality of forests covered, and the biodiversity and organisms protected. User groups were also found to be low cost and effective because of the stable institutional platform already in place. User groups in forest or buffer zones proved to be a great place of entry point for integrating forest conservation with other social issues.

The Final Report discusses the future of the user group approach, and possibilities of integrating it with PHE, community-based development, or community forest conservation. The USAID assessment team would like to see a continuance in user group governance, which includes the use of motivators, local resource persons (LRPs) and literacy training. But they would like to see a more systematic approach to designing household-level livelihood interventions, including incorporated poor programming and taking on community-based family planning to dispel common misconceptions about contraceptives. The USAID team provides what they found to be the advantages and disadvantages to the user group approach to PHE.