सूचक

• Nepal has ratified treaties related to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), and ILO Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (ILO Convention No. 169) (1989). It also voted in favour of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) (2007).

•  The Constitution of Nepal (2015) guarantees various fundamental rights for its citizens including Indigenous Peoples and local communities, such as the rights to non-discrimination, social justice, information, property, participation in decision-making, food, housing and social security. It also specifies the rights of women and children, as well as other social groups such as Dalits. 

• The Forest Regulation (2022) Rule 107, Forest Policy (2019), Forest Act (2019), Climate Change Policy (2019), National Environment Policy (2019), Forestry Sector Strategy (2016-2025), NBSAP (2014-2020), Long-term Strategy for Net-zero Emissions (2021) and 15th National Plan (2020-2024) all support the right to participation, emphasising the active participation of stakeholders including Indigenous Peoples and local communities in decision-making for development programs. The right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is recognised in various policies and laws, including the Constitution (2015), Forest Policy (2019), and Forest Regulation (2022).

• The Lands Act (1964, 2021) regulates individual land ownership, including possession, transfer, partition, inheritance, and management of land, including provisions for “landless Dalits”, “landless squatters”, and “unmanaged dwellers”. The Civil Code (2017) also provides a legal framework for the recognition of collective land tenure rights.

• Nepal’s legal framework sets out the process and compensation for acquisition of land, including in the Land Acquisition Act (1977), Lands Act (1964, 2021), Forest Act (2019), Environment Protection Act (2019), and Electricity Act (1992).

• The Forest Act (2019) and Forest Regulation (2022) recognize forest resources management and use rights of communities and provide the legal basis for Community-based Forest Management (CBFM). Forestlands, as per the Forest Act (2019), are owned either by the state (known as "national forests") or by individual landholders ("private forests").
   

• Various commissions and organisations are in place to ensure the recognition and respect of rights, including the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities (NFDIN), Dalit Commission, and Indigenous Nationalities Commission (INC).

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• Nepal’s regulatory framework provides for the recognition of customary and statutory land tenure rights and forest management practices. Procedures and programs for the implementation of the National Land Policy (2019) and the Lands Act (1964, amended 2021) support securing rights to land. These include the Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM), a participatory land information system for capturing the relationships of person/s to land; the Global Land Tool Network; development of the Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration (FFP-LA) approach; and interventions towards the improvement of earthquake recovery and resilience for affected communities.

• The Forest Act (2019) provides statutory recognition of rights within CBFM regimes by granting Community Forest, Collaborative Forest and Leasehold Forest User Groups legal authority to manage, use and benefit from forest resources through approved operational plans. These instruments formalise use rights, benefit rights and participation rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities engaged in forest management.

• The Forest Regulation (2022) further operationalises recognition of customary rights by requiring that forest management plans reflect local forest use practices, user group membership and defined resource boundaries, thereby embedding community tenure and customary practices.

• The Forest Regulation (2022) also requires Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for activities affecting forest user groups and Indigenous Peoples, including in the context of REDD+ and carbon-related initiatives.

• The National Guidelines on Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for REDD+ help to operationalise this provision for FPIC, setting out rights-based processes for information disclosure, consultation, consent-seeking and documentation of community decisions.

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• The National REDD+ Strategy (2018-2022) commits to securing tenure, customary practices and equitable participation of rights holders. Strategy actions include: recognising and integrating traditional and customary forest-management practices (Action 5.5), protecting tenure security for women, Indigenous Peoples, Dalits and forest-dependent communities (Action 5.1), and ensuring meaningful participation of these groups in forest-sector decision-making (Action 10.8). The Strategy emphasises carbon rights clarity, recognition of customary practices, FPIC, and equitable sharing of carbon and non-carbon benefits.

• Findings from the 2024 NRS review identified gaps in awareness of safeguards, unclear understanding of FPIC processes, and inconsistent recognition of rights among Indigenous Peoples and local communities. These findings informed the updated NRS (2025-2034), which emphasises secure tenure for CBFM regimes, integration of customary practices into forest management, gender-sensitive and socially inclusive processes, and recognition of Indigenous Peoples, Dalits, Madhesis, women and vulnerable households as rights holders.

• The National Guidelines on Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for REDD+, finalised in 2025, set out rights‑based processes for information disclosure, consultation, consent-seeking and documentation of community decisions in the context of REDD+ programs and projects.

• For the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) ER Program, statutory and customary rights were assessed through the Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA), which identified risks to tenure, customary practices and vulnerable groups. These are addressed through the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF), which includes FPIC application, Indigenous Peoples and Vulnerable Community Development Frameworks (IPVCDFs), and measures to recognise customary practices and avoid involuntary resettlement.
   

• The LEAF ER Program is based on Nepal's NRS and follows national and sectoral procedures to recognise and protect statutory and customary rights. The development and implementation of the Program include participatory stakeholder and rights holder mapping, and an FPIC process on participation in the Program conducted in accordance with the National Guidelines on FPIC for REDD+.  The role of traditional knowledge, customary practices and community priorities has been integrated into the LEAF ER Program through the NRS actions it implements, as well as discussed and documented through the FPIC process and other consultations. The LEAF Benefit-Sharing Plan is currently under development and embeds rights-based procedures, requiring identification of rights holders and equitable distribution of benefits, in line with national legislation and Indigenous and community rights protections.

• Additional REDD+-related initiatives also apply safeguards instruments to ensure recognition of statutory and customary rights. For example, the Green Climate Fund-supported "Building a Resilient Churia Region" (BRCRN) project has developed Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs), Indigenous Peoples Plans (IPPs) and Social Inclusion Management Plans (SIMPs) for all 26 river systems involved in the project.

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