JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT

Chapter :: I :: II :: III :: IV :: V :: VI ::

Chapter III

VSS - An Assessment

Government of India policy aims at bringing the entire forest area of the country under Joint Forest Management. The programme covers 20149 hectares in the Southern Circle of Kerala. There are 82 VSS functioning in this area. Out of these 76 are fringe VSS and 6 are Tribal ones. Sixty six fringe area VSS and 5 Tribal VSS are in various stages of implementation. The stage wise status of VSS under the Ranni, Thenmala and Punalur Divisions under this Circle is given in Appendix - IV.

Need for the Study

The Vana Samrakshana Samithies (VSS) are vested with challenging responsibilities. There is need for preparing a balance sheet of the results of the participatory forest management approach. It is in this background that a study on the functioning of the VSS had been taken up by the Evaluation Division of State Planning Board.

Coverage

The study is confined to three fringe area VSS (Vanchiyode, Palaruvi & Kurumbanmoozhy) one each selected from three Divisions in the Southern Circle of Kerala.
Objectives
The objectives of the study are -
" To examine the activities of VSS;
" To study the working partnership in terms of resource utilization and improvement in livelihood;
" To assess the ecological awareness created by the VSS initiatives;
" To analyse the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of the VSS;and
" To highlight the prospects of VSS in its relationship with other institutions/ programmes.

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