5.3.1 Property rights arrangementThe responsibility of management, development, andexploitation of forest areas has been handed over toFUGs, with property rights given in order to access forestresources (Bhattarai and Ojha 2000–01). FUGs have defacto use rights and rights to control the land (Hobley1996; Gilmour and Fisher 1998), as well as to establishco-operation within communities to effectively managecommunal forests and property granted by the government. In Nepal, current legislation allows local users tohave power to control and access forest products. Incommunity forestry programmes, a community memberpossesses a license to share access of communal forestresources and the benefits gained from them under theagenda of the provision of equal distribution of benefitsand costs to a community,