South Asian countries such as India, Nepal and Bhutan and their respective governments have embarked on programmes to facilitate nationwide forest management which would be closer to the people and seeks their participation, if not co-operation, to overcome the emerging social crisis of the forest, says Klaus Seeland, respresentive from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. Klaus said this while addressing a two day international seminar, 'Cross-Cultural Research on Forest Mangement' held in Kathmandu.