Joint Forest Management (JFM) has emerged as an important intervention in the management of India's forest resources. This report sets out an analytical method for examining the costs and benefits of JFM arrangements. Two pilot case studies in which the method was used demonstrate interesting outcomes regarding incentives for various groups to participate. The main objective of this study is to develop a better understanding of the incentives for communities to participate in JFM.

Originally published in 2004. In a radical breakaway from colonial and postcolonial policies that were based on centralized and revenue-orientated control of forests, the government of India announced the Joint Forest Management (JFM) policy resolution in 1990. JFM promised important managerial concessions, including share in cash profit from the timber harvest to forest citizens, in exchange for management of state-owned forests. The government also asked the Forest Departments to invite village councils and NGOs to take part in the joint forest management schemes. Over a decade since its inception this volume examines the JFM, highlighting how state bureaucracy, local institutions and NGOs attempt to achieve the multiple goals of meeting subsistence needs, rural equity, sustainable forestry practices, and forest cover conservation. Investigating four institutions - village-based forest protection groups, the Forest Department, village councils, and NGOs - across the States of Jharkhand and West Bengal, the book focuses on forest citizens and how they interact with other JFM institutions. In doing so, it challenges notions of assumed virtues of moral economy and romanticized views of gender and indigenous knowledge and practices. The monograph also raises issues of social capital (local history, politics and leadership), common property resource (CPR) management and incentives for participation. While pointing out various inconsistencies that exist in the participatory forest framework, the book also shows the potential of JFM and suggests future directions forest management should take in India and elsewhere.

How do policymakers, businesses and civil society in India approach the challenge of climate change? What do they believe global climate negotiations will achieve and how? And how are Indian political and policy debates internalizing climate change? Relatively little is known globally about internal climate debate in emerging industrializing countries, but what happens in rapidly growing economies like India’s will increasingly shape global climate change outcomes. This Handbook brings together prominent voices from India, including policymakers, politicians, business leaders, civil society activists and academics, to build a composite picture of contemporary Indian climate politics and policy. One section lays out the range of positions and substantive issues that shape Indian views on global climate negotiations. Another delves into national politics around climate change. A third looks at how climate change is beginning to be internalized in sectoral policy discussions over energy, urbanization, water, and forests. The volume is introduced by an essay that lays out the critical issues shaping climate politics in India, and its implications for global politics. The papers show that, within India, climate change is approached primarily as a developmental challenge and is marked by efforts to explore how multiple objectives of development, equity and climate mitigation can simultaneously be met. In addition, Indian perspectives on climate negotiations are in a state of flux. Considerations of equity across countries and a focus on the primary responsibility for action of wealthy countries continue to be central, but there are growing voices of concern on the impacts of climate change on India. How domestic debates over climate governance are resolved in the coming years, and the evolution of India’s global negotiation stance are likely to be important inputs toward creating shared understandings across countries in the years ahead, and identify ways forward. This volume on the Indian experience with climate change and development is a valuable contribution to both purposes.

This Book Assesses The Performance And Impact Of The Joint Forest Management (Jfm Programme) From The Community S Perspective, Based On The Studies Conducted By The Ecological And Economics Research Network In Six States--Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tripura And West Bengal. The Approach Adopted By The Network Involved The Development Of A Common Methodology, Based On Which Studies Were Undertaken During 2001--2002.This Book Presents The Evolution Of The Jfm Policy In India, Information About The Status Of Jfm With Respect To Its Spread, Performance And Impact In The Six States, Case Studies Of Successful Jfm Committees And Ecological And Silvicultural Aspects Of Jfm, Besides Suggesting A Strategy For Monitoring And Evaluation Of Jfm, And Advancing Policy, Institutional And Silvicultural Strategies And Options To Sustain Jfm.

Presents a reinvigorated agenda on agricultural and rural development in Asia both for research and policy discussions in the coming decades.

The future of the world's forests is at the forefront of environmental debate. Rising concerns over the effects of deforestation and climate change are highlighting the need both to conserve and manage existing forests and woodland through sustainable forestry practices. The Forests Handbook, written by an international team of both scientists and practitioners, presents an integrated approach to forests and forestry, applying our present understanding of forest science to management practices, as a basis for achieving sustainability. Volume One presents an overview of the world's forests; their locations and what they are like, the science of how they operate as complex ecosystems and how they interact with their environment. Volume Two applies this science to reality; it focuses on forestry interventions and their impact, the principles governing how to protect forests and on how we can better harness the enormous benefits forests offer. Case studies are drawn from several different countries and are used to illustrate the key points. Development specialists, forest managers and those involved with land and land-use will find this handbook a valuable and comprehensive overview of forest science and forestry practice. Researchers and students of forestry, biology, ecology and geography will find it equally accessible and useful.