active· Governance· Education

F.a: Enhancing knowledge and leadership capacity of youths for appropriate recognition of bio-cultural rights in Federal Nepal

Hundreds of communities in different eco-regions (mountain, hill and low land tarai) of the country, are maintaining bio-cultural conservation practices in Nepal. Appropriate legal recognition of bio-cultural practices of these communities has become one o f the crucial but critical policy issues in Nepal. Numbers of new legislations are under formulation with little inputs from forest communities, civil society organisations including the youths. Studies, knowledge and capacities of youths are vital for the sustainability of bio-cultural conservation practices and critical and constructive public policy debates in Nepal's ongoing policy making processes. However, presence as well as voices of the youths in bio-cultural conservation practices and ongoing publ ic policy debates is completely absent. This project is developed to contribute in this policy gap. The expected result of the proposed project is better functioning and appropriate recognition of the bio-cultural conservation practices of forest communiti es through enhanced knowledge and leadership capacity of youths for the effective and sustainable bio-cultural conservation practices and constructive public policy debates in federal Nepal. This project aims to develop knowledge and leadership capacity of youths by facilitating them in self-documentation, self-analysis and self-dissemination of the knowledge on bio-cultural conservation practices so as to promote their effective participation in conservation practices and networking with concerned CSOs for public policy debates. The youths studying in grade 9 to 12 in four piloting sites (representing three eco-regions of the country) and all the community members in the respective piloting sites will be direct beneficiaries of the proposed project. Similar ly, all the members of ICCA Network Nepal (an informal civil society network formed by 29 local forest and conservation communities-"Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas-ICCA") including related CSOs will also be benefited from the collaboration and pa rtnership for policy advocacy and lobby. Project is implemented by Ribdung-Jaleswori Education Foundation (REF), www.ref.org.np.