• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.251-259
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• 2021

The basic for the achievement of the community forestry rests within the Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs). They are responsible to establish good governance, sustainable forest management and improve people's livelihoods. The study aimed to assess the governance score prevailing in CFUGs using stratified random sampling. Our study shows the governance score of 64.17% in community forests with highest 73.94% in Bhotechaur community forest and lowest 56.60% in Tinkanya community forest. Among the eight elements of good governance, consensus-oriented was found highest while responsiveness was lowest in the study area. Further, the independent variables such as well-being ranking (χ²=21.695, df=6, p<0.01), source of income (χ²=20.474, df=6, p<0.01) and education status (χ²=17.450, df=6, p<0.01) has significant impact on governance. Based upon the findings, it is very clear that good governance in CFs are more than average but still not up to the mark. Finally, it calls for rethinking that involving all the stakeholders during planning phases delineating the responsibility and power for correspondents can make possible in achieving sustainability in community forest.