Extending Nepal's community forestry programme and its protected area network into lekh forests has been hampered by the assumption that people who live in or near lekh forests treat them as unregulated open access resources. This study tests this assumption by examining the interaction between local people and forests in two lekh areas of the central Middle Hills. The research is comprised of an action research approach, a theoretical framework of ecological anthropology that was also informed by forestry science, and tools and methods drawn from ethnographic fieldwork and rapid rural appraisal. The belief that lekh forests are treated as unregulated open access is challenged by demonstrating that there are clearly defined local use rights to lekh forests. Access to forest resources is regulated by forest users and relatively sophisticated and dynamic indigenous systems of forest management have been developed. The potential for implementing community forestry in the two lekh areas was explored by incorporating an element of action research in the study. A number of challenges are highlighted for the Nepal government to facilitate the improved management and conservation of lekh forests while ensuring an equitable flow of benefits to the people who depend on these forests. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)