For A People-Oriented Forest Policy

Indian forest policy, as it evolved in the past two centuries, put great emphasis on commercial use of timber. With this objective, forest departments in the colonial and post-Independence era, steadily extended bureaucratic control over forest resources.

The expansion of industrial and commercial activities and the consequent demand for timber put a distending demand on forest resources. Simultaneously, commercial interests led to an unholy alliance between business and politicians. Forest staff, under political pressure, allowed logging rights to contractors. Parallel to this, there was an abrupt marginalisation of community rights over the benefits from forest resources. The fact that forest people have nurtured forest bio-diversity while using it as the only viable source of livelihood, was of no interest to the forests departments.

 

Reacting to this, NGOs, researchers and individuals focused on the irreparable loss to flora and fauna and took up the deprivation cause of the biomass-dependent ethnic communities. This growing recognition to ecological concerns was reflected in the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, which placed stricter controls on timber extraction, and the National Forest Policy, 1988 which created a provision to reverse the priorities towards ecological balance and conservation.

This book documents cases where rural communities, in the face of growing forest resource scarcity, began imposing strict control on access to forest resources. They took initiative to transform scrub-covered wasteland into biologically diverse secondary forest ecosystems. On the governmental side, state orders and a national resolution were formulated to create a peoples movement to ensure forest protection. Funds were diverted from social forestry schemes to joint forest management (JFM) programmes. This led to plantation of fast-growing tree species on private and common land.

These projects were, however, not geared to build up community forest management. Institutional capacity was needed to protect the newly created canopies and to curb corruption creeping in through infusion of money. Moreover, the provision for improvement of the ecological state of natural forests was not incorporated into the general scheme.

The current JFM approach basically represents a scheme of decentralised forest management. The first step is to establish an effective communication channel between government agencies and local communities. With the understanding and co-ordination achieved between forest departments and villagers, JFM has to ensure the following through appropriate participatory exercises: controlling forest access and use; evolving dispute arbitration mechanisms, and distributing produce equitably.

In the changed scenario, government agencies have to be more accountable to local communities. Successful implementation of JFM demands that funds be diverted to support local management groups.

While community-based ethno-botanical knowledge is extensive, it is often undocumented and rarely used by planning authorities. Each geographic location has a capacity to optimally support a different mix of species. Therefore, to take advantage of the capacities, a more detailed site-specific management plan needs to be formulated.

Interestingly, the last section of the book has drawn up conjectures to trace the future of Indias forest management system. According to these projections, Indias forests will suffer further damage in the near future. Farm forestry, however, will successfully expand growing commercial species. Despite the growing political pressure demanding the transfer of management rights and responsibilities to community groups, forest departments will continue to strengthen their custodial position in near future. Travelling through different phases of transformations, Indian forest departments will have fully transferred reserved and protected forests to local people for management by 2225. Forest departments will then be transformed into technical extension agencies, assisting communities with supportive services.

The demand for forest products will increase with population growth. The interest and attitude of traditional communities towards nature will also change over time as socio-economic changes will draw them into the dynamics of market processes. Moreover, the proposed restructuring of the existing management system implies a reversal of power structure. The same may be viewed by forest departments as a sign of lost authority. Therefore, JFM has a difficult ride ahead to generate a great deal of resilience to cope with vast internal and external variations.Village Voices, Forest Choices

Edited by Mark Poffenberger & Betsy McGean Oxford University Press Rs 345