Joint Forest Management - With special reference to Kerala.

Geo Basil PaulDept. of Forest Management &

UtilizationCollege of Forestry

Kerala Agricultural University

Past System of management

• Till 19th century, local communities used the forest lands as common hunting and food gathering ground

• Ownership of the forest land was either communal or vested with vague forms of sovereign rights

• The forest management was highly decentralized among communities single or groups of households usually controlled forests except in cases of hunting or food gathering areas

• Traditional forest management systems in most part of the country ended when the Britishers in the mid 19th century declared forest lands as Govt. lands

Contd.

• Changing relationship

• commercial exploitation and popularization of monoculture led to massive deforestation

• Majority of India’s rural population living in the forest rich regions are poor

• Sustainable management and proper utilization of forest resources held great potential to alleviate their poverty

• Govt. ownership and restrictions on the collection and use of forest products have rendered these resources inaccessible to village communities

Present scenario

Decentralization and devolution are dominant themes in contemporary discussion of forest policy and management

In 2004, world-wide 370million ha. of forests were being conserved by indigenous communities, with almost half of that are approx. 170 million ha. In Asia( molnar et al 2004)

India was a fore runner in developing policy for involving people’s participation in forest management; Forest Policy of 1988

MoEF, Govt. of India issued guidelines for the involvement of village communities under PFM called Joint Forest Management

Contd.

“The holders of customary rights and concessions in forest areas should be motivated to identify themselves with the protection and development of forests from which they derive benefits ” - Forest Policy1988

Contd.

• Shifted the emphasis of Forest Management

• 90% of India’s forests of about 64mha under state ownership

• A variety of participatory model exists in the country

Conventional Approach

‘Fences and Fines’

Government control and regulation

Problems with:

Monitoring & enforcement

Social justice

Corruption

Þ (Partial) Transfer of rights &

Þ responsibilities to local communitiesIdea:

Sense of ownership leading to incentives for self-regulation & sustainable use

Participatory/ Joint

Joint Forest ManagementA Kerala Model

JFM

“The user and the owner manage the resource and share the cost equally”

Contd.

• In India, failure of social forestry in meeting the objectives of easing pressure on forests led to the formation of JFM

• Central government issued the first JFM guideline in ,1 June1990

• JFM cell and the JFM unit were created under MoEF

• In Kerala JFM was introduced in 1998 with a synonym of PFM(16-01-98)

• It has become mandatory as per the NFP to change the ‘bureaucratic FM’ system to ‘local need oriented management’

Contd.

• JFM in Kerala referred to as PFM

• VSS the organization of the forest dependent community

• Various forms of JFM institutions apart from VSS like AVSS, EDC, ULO and HS are in operation by the state forest department at present

• TVSS (Theerasamrakshana vanasamrakshana samithy in collaboration with fisheries dept.) and JFMC (JFMC of AHADS) are institutions where forest dept. is involved in JFM

The PFM program in Kerala consists of three models: Fringe model, NTFP model, separate model for Cardamom Hills Reserve

Difference between Fringe and NTFP models is- former involves population outside forests while the latter is applied to the tribal minorities still living inside the forests.

Fringe Area

Reserved ForestSettlement of non tribal people

Settlement of tribal people

The area managed by VSS

Scheme of Fringe and NTFP model

NTFP Model

Fringe Model

Organizational Structure of JFM Institutions in Kerala

Forest Development Agency (FDA)

Confederation of JFM committees and their representatives from general

body, 33 FDA’s

Chairman – Conservator of Forests

CEO – Divisional Forest Officer

Contd.

Objectives:

• To arrest and reverse the trend of forest degradation by making the community responsible for monitoring removals from the forest

• To provide sustainable employment opportunities to the tribals and other weaker sections of the population

• To create durable community assets which would contribute to overall village development

• To involve the forest dependent community in the execution of the program

• For the better implementation of various schemes of the MoEF

• To liaison with other Govt. Dept. and agencies to develop and implement eco- friendly village development program

Vana samrakshana Samithi (VSS)

• Basic organisation instrumental for the implementation of JFM in territorial forest division of Kerala

• These samithies are registered under charitable societies act and recognized by the forest department

• The maximum area to be transferred to a VSS is 300 Ha. of reserved forests

• At present there are 277 VSS constituted throughout the Kerala

• Maximum number of households in a VSS is 365

• Membership fee – Rs 5/-

Contd.

• Each VSS is in charge of the core fund, credibility fund for office work, and operational fund for activities

• Each VSS can sell NTFP from the allocated reserve forest or fine forest offenders, and can add the revenue to the core fund

• As per the guidelines of the JFM program, at least 33% of the total executive members of the VSS must be women

• Procedure for the development of a VSS

Contd.

• The members of VSS are responsible for:

1. To work with forest dept. to prevent the forest encroachment, forest fire, poaching etc.

2.implementatio of micro plan

3. Sensitize and educate people

4.Ensure protection of forest land outside the activity area

Adivasi Vana Samrakshana Samithi (AVSS)

• AVSS are constituted entirely of forest dependent tribal communities

• have the right to collect, process and market NTFP in addition to the duties and rights bestowed up on the Fringe VSS

• The most important distinction with Fringe VSS is that the area allotted is considerably larger covering all tracts frequented for NTFP collection

• At present there are 63 AVSS constituted in the state

Eco Development Committees (EDC)

• EDC is a JFM institution created in protected areas of the state

• Major activities are eco tourism and serving as guides for visitors apart from the activities undertaken by the VSS and AVSS

• Any forest dependent person can be a member

• 193 EDC’s operating in the protected areas of the state

Unit Level Organizations (ULO)

• Unit level organizations are basic JFM implementers in Cardamom Hill Reserve Area (CHR)

• The cardamom tract in the High Ranges of Idukki District has a century old history in cardamom cultivation

• The Cardamom rules 1935 prescribed the rights and privileges, the duties and responsibilities of leaseholders towards cardamom cultivation and forest protection

• Over the years these rules have been violated and forest cover has extensively degenerated

• At present there is complex tenure system existing , with land under revenue, trees with forest Dept. and crops owned by farmers

• The cardamom farmers have formed ULO’s for checking deforestation and encouraging afforestation, 33 ULO’s

Haritha Samithies (HS)

• Kerala Govt. started Participatory Habitat Management (PHM) to undertake environmental protection and conservation outside forest areas through people’s participation

• Designed for areas outside reserved / vested forests facing ecological degradation

• Micro level organizations under PHM are:– Grama Haritha Samithy : operating at village level– Panchayat Haritha samithy : Operating at grama panchayath level– Block Haritha Samithy : Operating at block panchayat level– District co-ordination committee : Operating at district level

Haritha Theeram (Green Coast)

• ‘Haritha Theeram’ is a program aiming at afforestation of coastal areas

• This program is operationalized through TSVS

• These institutions are created along the coastal line Kerala

• protection of natural ecosystem by establishing a bio shield along the coast

• These institutions were created under the Tsunami Rehabilitation program (TRH) of Kerala Govt. as a joint program of forest dept. and fisheries dept.

JFMC

• JFM organizations operating from the operational areas of AHADS in Attappady

• Formed under the guidelines of Fringe VSS

• JFMC in AHADS is a sub group of User Associations formed on a watershed basis by AHADS throughout the area

• All JFMC’s are registered as fringe VSS by AHADS

• 54 JFMC’s

Ooru Vikasana Samithi (OVS) (Hamlet Development Committee)

166 committees

13 members Executive committee(minimum- 6 Women)

These are exclusive tribal committees. Hamlet development committees are formed in 166 out of 187 Hamlets of Attappady

Thaikula Sangam (TKS)

111 Groups

12 Members Executive Committee

These groups of tribal women have emerged as a result of their empowerment as a social corrective force

Income Generation Activity Group (IGA)

219 Groups

Groups with 12 to 15 members

These groups are meant to take up sustainable income generation activities through promotion of micro credit among members in the project area.

Association for Revitalization of Tribal Medicine in Attappady (ARTMA)

AHADS has organized the leading tribal healers of Attappady to form this association

and provided them space to function

JFM Envisages Movement

From ToCentralized management Decentralized management

Production motives Sustainability

Large working plans Micro-plans

Unilateral decision making Participatory decision making

Controlling people Facilitating people

Department People’s institution

Achieving single, pre-set objective Fulfilling multiple, need based objectives

Timber production Multiple products combined with bio-diversity

Plantation as first option Low input management and regeneration

ReferenceChundamannil, M., 1993 history of forest management in Kerala, Kerala forest

research institute, Peechi, Kerala. 67pMaheshwar, D; Masuda, M and Mishra, J Implementation of participatory forest

management in Kerala. Graduate school of life science and environmental sciences, University of Taskuba

Molnar, A.Molnazr, Scherr,S.J. and Khare, A. 2004 who conserves the world’s forests? Community Driven Strategies to Protect Forests and Respects Rights. Forest Trends.(http://www.foresttrends.org/documents/ who%20conserves_final_rev.pdf accesses on 15/10/2007)

Santhoshkumar, A.V 2008. Joint forest management in Kerala- an analysis of institutions, impact and constraints. Phd thesis, Forest Research Institute University, Dehra Dun, Uttaranchal

KFD (Kerala Forest Department). 2010 KFD home page (on line). Available http://www.keralaforest.org (18 Nov. 2010)

Gupta K.H. 2006 Joint Forest Management Policy, Participation & Practices in IndiaI International Book Distributors, Dehra Dun

Thank Yougeocof@gmail.com