JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT

JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT

Evolution of the Concept

Forest resources in India received considerable attention during the British period. The British Government converted the forests of India into a sustainable source of timber to European Markets. The British legislated the control of forests in 1865. With this legislation the tribesfolk became trespassers of the forests and began to be victimized by externally motivated systems of forest management.1 The 1878 Indian Forest Act created three classes of forests viz., reserve in which people have no rights unless specifically recorded; protected, with all rights unless specifically forbidden; and village forests for meeting local needs. "Forest classification fragmented people's holistic livelihood base into different legal categories. Access to reserve and protected forests was further fragmented through the allocation of individual rights, privileges or concessions administered by the State"2 In the year 1882, decentralisation of forest administration took place and thereby the revenues from the forest department went to provincial governments. Revenue raising irrespective of the impact on forests became the guiding principle for forest management by provincial governments.'3

Reservation of forests under these Acts was the most important turning point in forest people relations in rural India.4The introduction of property rights through land revenue policies and forest settlements by the British rulers destabilized the communal resource management systems.5 The authority of local institutions to organize, control and use common property resources including forests was undermined by privatization of agricultural land ownership and appropriation of forestlands as state property. People's access and control over forests were limited for meeting domestic needs through forest settlements. The role of forests in sustaining farming and non-farming livelihood system was ignored.

Forest administration continued to be centralised after independence. In many States like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, forest areas that were under the princely states were added to the forest departments during the period 1948 to 1950. Between 1951 and 1988 the net area under the control of forest departments increased by 26 million hectares, predominantly reserve forests in which people have limited or no rights. In 1976 forests under the jurisdiction of individual states were included in the concurrent list of the Constitution empowering Indian Government to have a decisive say in forest management practices. The Forest Conservation Act of 1980 made Central Government permission mandatory for converting even small parcels of forest land to non forest uses.

Forests in India as per Official Records account for 23% of the land area and 68 million tribal populations and other forest dependent communities have primary dependence on forests for their livelihood. The actual area under forests is comparatively very much less than that in Official Records. Increasing state control delinked forest dependent communities from managing local forest and land resources. The alienation of these communities led to the destruction of forests. Local management systems which had survived the period of British intervention continued to be undermined by new legal and administrative provisions. Environmental concerns and recognition of the human and resource rights of indigenous forest dwelling communities led to major changes in the thinking regarding forest management priorities in the 1980s. It was realized that Forest Management systems were ill equipped to cope with the enormous demands of the growing human and livestock population pressures, industrialization, urbanization, and overall economic development. Further, the demand-supply gap of biomass for energy, fodder, timber and pulpable raw material reached alarming proportions. All this led to the formulation of the National Forest Policy of 1988. The policy laid stress on environmental protection and conservation and "meeting the requirements of fuelwood, fodder, Minor Forest produce and small timber of the rural and tribal populations" and "creating a massive people's movement with the involvement of women for achieving these objectives". (G.O.1, 1988). The 1988 Forest Policy of India articulated the twin objectives of ecological stability and social justice. Social activists supported the policy for forest dwellers' rights and improved livelihoods whereas conservation interests highlighted the environment and ecological objectives. The social objectives have no legislative support whereas the environmental objectives are enforceable through the Forest Conservation and Wild Life Protection Act.