This case examines the grassroots struggle of a socially excluded low caste group in eastern Nepal to establish their right to the management and use of community forests. The Government brought in the concept of community forestry with the realisation that conservation of forest resource is not possible without popular participation and it should be linked to the livelihoods of poor and marginalised groups. Community Forest Users Groups (CFUGs) thrived as institutions with empowering potentials entrusted with the rights of local management and use of forest. However, due to the unjust social structure and power relations that permeate Nepali society, marginalised social groups were excluded from CFUGs