4 Nepal

The Constitution obliges the state to conserve the environment and natural resources and provides that local communities shall have a right to the use of forest and water resources in their locality. The Forest Act provides for community, leasehold and collaborative forest management; the Water Resources Act and irrigation law regulate use; and sector statutes cover minerals, wildlife and protected areas. The recurring legal question is the same: a resource is declared public, a licence is granted to a private party, and the community whose use is displaced asks what right it had and what remedy it has.