Migration in both its internal and international dimensions is not a new phenomenon. However, there has been an exponential growth in the scale of migration in the last few decades and it has directly impacted lives and livelihoods of people all across Nepal, directly as well as indirectly. There is a lacuna of scholarly work on how migration implicates social life. Burgeoning studies on migration and community forestry have tended to focus on how male migration has provided a ‘window of opportunity’ for women in forest governance. However studies on migration, gender and agriculture, suggest that the higher work burden resulting from male migration is disempowering for women because they lack the capacity to undertake the new responsibilities imposed on them and pushes them further into the sphere of unpaid and unseen domestic work. This partial increase in authority in decision making outside the household also appears to be temporary as male migrants tend to resume their positions as patriarchs when they return home.
Based on qualitative and quantitative data collected in high and low migration areas in Sankhuwasabha, Tanahun and Kapilvastu districts of Nepal, this article sheds light into the changes happening within migrant and non-migrant households, and how these changes impact household’s gendered participation in forest governance It argues that migration may impact household gender relations in varying ways, but it does not necessarily mean that they become more egalitarian. An impact of this changed gender roles and relations can also be seen in how Community Forest Users Groups (CFUGs) function. The study finds that increased male migration results in CFUGs being run by middle-aged and elderly men and that although forest policies mandate that 50 per cent of the CFUG executive committee should be women, it is hardly the case and even when it is their roles are marginal. There is a general decrease in youth participation in forest governance and forest management activities. Finally, this article looks critically into the importance and relevance of institutions like CFUGs to rural lives and livelihoods, in the context of accelerated migration.